If our OL can just not commit all the penalties they did against Utah, the offense will move. Mertz is fully capable of dinking and dunking down the field and getting rid of the ball quickly.
Good info. I watched their games and they have talent but problems executing. Milton has looked pretty poor. Will he get it together in the Swamp? That would be a shock. Even if the whole team plays better. In some ways you can say the same about Mertz. Huge stage and pressure he hasn't seen yet. He's been cool so far but Saturday night will be different. Time for our Oline to emerge and our dynamic RB duo keep the O moving.
There was a lot of talk about shoulder chips and shocking the world preseason. Utah should be a wake up. Along with the Netflix series. Our defense may very well shock the world tomorrow. Will they be able to handle the pace is main question.
Just a quibble with you. It isn't so much where the team is in the rankings of each particular year because some teams will get ranked higher even though their quality per player is less because they load up that year. In '23, which is really BN's first chance at a class of his own, and '24 so far, there are only three teams that clearly outrecruited Florida in quality per recruit (Bama, Pups, and tOSU), and a couple close with UF in horns and aTm. This suggests that recruiting is about as good as it could be for future success. Pop in to AR regularly where more of the recruiting discussion happens.
Great post Rick. Ok so UT ain't played nothing yet, UVA is a shell of what it used to be. UF has greater depth and speed everywhere on defense than last year. Austin will challenge Milton and that OL. Napier and Co fully understands the implications of this game. And it's at night in the most raucous venue in all of football. This is not the UT offense of last year having only 3 offensive plays over 20 yards. The big play offense is an illusion, stop the run, play press man and let the Swamp work its magic. These kids and staff have been lampooned enough, many in the press having Napier fired. I say the Gators put 3 water rolls on that Hillbilly facade and drown the Vols season!
I'm still really concerned about the OL. McNeese came at the right time to try some different players in roles they didn't play in the Utah game. There were still issues, and hopefully more of those issues have been fixed to some degree. I can't believe I am actually saying this considering his track record, but we need Eguakun for pass pro (or Harris if he can snap). I think TN's front 7 is a decent SEC squad and can give Mertz problems. So far when he has been clean his accuracy is almost Trask like. Some of the misses we have seen are also a matter of how Mertz expects the receiver to continue the route and that will get cleaner as they get used to each other. He often throws the receiver into a window that the receiver needs to get to, making it look as though he is not as accurate as he is. So far I notice him being very conservative though. If a db waits longer to commit run or pass, he will give up a route with more potential to a relief valve for fewer yards. That bodes well for turnovers but less so for an explosive offense.
All signs point to Milton being quite pedestrian, but the last three years hasn’t given us much confidence going into this game. How many times have our recent defenses made mediocre QBs look like world beaters out there? Here’s to hoping this group is different.
I understand the concerns with the OL completely. FTR, I hope that the return of the starting center, along with some time together as a unit will right the ship. Whether or not that happens during the game on Saturday is TBD. Frankly, I think it will be a little later in the season before we see what they can really do. That goes for GM with the quick checkdowns as well. But fortunately, I have every confidence in UT's ability to come into Florida Field and promptly lay an enormous egg. I've just been here too many times before to be anywhere near certain of a UT win - no matter what the line says. GG...beat UT!
ATM is a good point though. Jimbo is underperforming his talent. Napier is so far (although he has 15 months to turn it around). Recruits without results isn’t much different than no recruits with no results.
Difference between what Zook left Meyer with and what Mullen left Napier with. No difference right now, but a helluva lot of difference moving forward.
Way overstated and somewhat revisionist. The 2006 team had lots of Meyer guys play huge roles Meyer left Muschamp the greatest recruiting class of all time Mullen left Napier a top 5 QB and quite a bit of talent. Not as much as what Zook or Meyer left. But not two years of losing record bad either. Shark left Mullen with about the same as what Mullen left Napier. I think it’s fair to say Napier got a less talented than normal Florida team but is also underachieving the talent level. We were tied for 5th in the country with drafted players in the 2023 NFL draft. That shouldn’t equal a bottom tier P5 team
The real dilemma Bruichladdich Black Art Glenmorangie 16 Golf in Dornoch Dalmore 21 I open a nice bottle every year around Fall and the start of SEC play. Crappy season or not at least I got something good to drink.
Nothing in my reply argues he has not improved the talent nor improved the talent acquisition. It argues that the services that rate talent know what they are doing to a least some degree as backed by evidence. He 100% has recruited players with more potential, that is my other arguement. They have to beat some people before anyone should be crowning them. Some are already there, Shemar James and Etienne are studs, Wilson is knocking on the door, but we all understand where we were and that we need A LOT of guys to get there. The whole S&E thing was just to comment that you don't have to be a great recruiter to recognize talent and others who are great recruiters.
We will have 3-5 guys drafted this year depending on who leaves early. Meaning we could easily be in the top 5-10 of college teams with drafted players DURING Napiers tenure. Of course we have holes. But do you think teams with 10-20% of our drafted players do not have holes? We’ve clearly been underperforming our talent level. This shouldn’t even be a matter of question Of course we want the talent level to equal UGA. But first we should want the on field play to match the talent we do have.
For crying out loud, from what I typed how are you coming to the conclusion that I don't think our recruiting has improved? I argued the services know what they are talking about and those same services say our recruiting is better! What is going on in here.
I don't know what to say to properly convey the message I think BN has significantly upgraded the talent acquisition. That talent has also not beaten anyone yet. These are not mutually exclusive statements, they can both be true.
Napier (to me anyway) has until the FSU game to beat a rival. I've said it before, but if he just beats one of our three rivals I wont lose hope. If he goes two straight seasons without beating a rival we have a problem, we are already on rare ground in losing to all our rivals in a single season (Pell in 1979), but two seasons in a row, that might put us in a category the program has literally never been in...ever (maybe not ever...I don't remember any seasons before Pell). That being said, I like Napier and will not get too worked up until the final whistle blows at the FSU game.
