Big difference in many ways. Shane has never been a HC and is still trying to adapt. He has a lot to learn, but I think he can be successful. He’s had some big wins in his short tenure, but SC has to give him time because he’s gonna fail in games.. He has to stop crying about certain parts of the team, yet not willing to make changes. I’ve got no issues with him calling out the defense, but dang grow some and make changes on the staff and stop being loyal.
Couldnt watch the game as i'm away, but just checked my phone to learn this great news. Seems like I missed a good one. Go Gators.
Full house, everybody has a homer hanky, home-coming, the fall fair turning it up, every Pundant on the SEC pre game picked SC except Tebow. Glorious!
These are the kind of days you need to hang in when times are tough. Gators showed lots of heart today. They really answered the bell this time.
Mertz is playing much better than when he was with Wisconsin. A good pickup from transfer portal for sure. He should hang around and give DJ a year to get some experience.
For example, on the second touchdown to Jackson, Mertz didn't see Hansen who was uncovered and wide open. Not a hater, just pointing out a flaw. I watched Mertz play at Wisconsin and he single handedly demoralized that team with bad decisions, but he's different here, his bad decisions aren't leading to turnovers. He's proved a lot to me and the coaching staff deserves a lot of credit for working with the kid and getting the most out of him. To Mertz's credit, he's taken the coaching and has a great attitude. He clearly loves this team and they seem to love him. He's turned me into a fan despite his flaws. For me, College football is a mess, but watching a kid like Mertz put everything out there is one of the few joys left.
I don't need to dig up old threads to prove that there are fans who aren’t enamored with Mertz as the gators QB. You don't need to write à novel to give me a lesson in my posting. I'd rather you just give me the bacon and leave it at that.
People forget that Rattler at one time was a leading Heisman candidate at Oklahoma. He's the same Rattler that ended one of the best post-Meyer seasons, our 2020 campaign with a 55-20 thumping in the Cotton Bowl. He had the similar stats in that game too - threw 3 TDs, ran for another for almost 300 yards combined.
Every QB has flaws. Even LSU's Daniels has flaws. The difference is Daniels has all the time in the world to survey the field and floss his teeth and he's rarely put in a position where he has 1 second to make a decision. Mertz has had to learn how to make quick decisions and yes he misses wide open receivers but he also does one thing most QBS aren't doing, finding an open receiver most of the time. His % attests to that. Yes he doesn't have the arm strength of Milton, but that shouldn't be a marker for how good a QB is. His intermediate distance is fine, which is more important because it's what we lack.
Rattler is a good one. This draft is packed with great qb. That is why I think Mertz will return (if he thinks the OL will improve).
Great Gator win. I’ll admit I had my doubts on Coach’s ability to rally on the road towards the end. On the radio broadcast, Shane suggested taking the safety and I don’t know if I was self-guessing CBN’s game awareness, clock management, or potential stubbornness but told myself he’d never make that decision. Glad I was wrong and my confidence in the direction greatly increased.
He is coming back, he is at best right now, a late round draft pick or UDFA. And that is not a knock on GM, as you said the draft is stacked with Qb's.
This. I'd like to know who the flawless college QB is this year. Mertz has played damn well, but every compliment of him seems to come with an asterisk. I don't get it. I'm way more concerned with our O-line and defense than I am with Mertz. On defense, I am bumfuzzled as to why Kimber plays so much. If you zero in on him, it isn't pretty.
I’m with the consensus here as to this was a defining moment for Napier and this team. Our boys grew up a lot tonight. We had to win these games and we finally broke through and won a tough road game even after trailing by 10. It’s something this young team needed to get some confidence in what they are doing is actually paying off. Some notes from being at the game… -Went to Gator Walk and the players were all business, very serious -During the game, our sideline seemed very low energy. It didn’t seem like they were enjoying themselves…like they were too much in their heads. -Players were just waiting for someone to make a play it appeared instead of rallying one another -Celebrations were a bit forced until that late TD which was more of a relief than anything. -One play stuck out to me, when Pyburn made that big tackle for loss only one other defender high fived him. I know they were all concerned about getting the next playcall, but you can see how much this team is wound kinda tight and in their own heads. -Offensive line did not give Mertz much time and he got a little happy feet there at times and had to force quite a few throws early and scrambled a ton. That caused a few errant throws today that has not been what we’ve seen of Mertz this year. There were some accuracy issues which at one point had me thinking if he was playing hurt. -Defense tried blitzing a lot more early, but nobody got home and Rattler really made us pay. We did much better rushing 3 and 4 late and making Rattler pick us apart. -I need to watch the game on replay today, but I thought SC really outplayed us as far as the LOS went on both sides of the ball, especially their supposedly crappy Oline. -On the sidelines, Mertz is the real deal leadership wise. He’s there thanking his linemen and talking to his guys. This is an area we really need to grow in as there’s not a lot of players hyping each other up, especially when it comes to offense/defense interactions. -Overall, a huge win with a lot of teaching moments. I think we will look back at this game as the game when the team turned a corner. We had to win this one and we finally did.
Based off the teams that lost yesterday in the top 25. This win should push the gators back into the rankings. With 2 weeks to prepare for Jax and get healthy let’s hope we go into the this game ready to fight.
