SI Article: Florida Gators Must Cash In On Key Stat

Don't say that out loud... His head is already huge. Lol...

 

DCs probably figured it out that our OL was not good enough to sustain drives and eventually they would shoot themselves in the foot with a stupid, drive-killing penalty.

 

Agree we should be better and if our Defense is improved we will win more this season regardless of the schedule. But there's the perception that better game management and training would have made last season more of a success. If all that goes away- offense is as good(OL), Defense is a level better, and staff plans and manages games well, the rebuild will look good and feel good to recruits.

 

Burning clock is a losing strategy when the game revolves around stopping the clock for commercials. In 2024 they want to see fast points and commercials. Burning clock cuts out what football is about in the modern era and it's a strategy where both the other team and the administration fights against you.

 

Burning clock with a tenuous lead and losing the game as a result has been tried here before. It didn't go well as I recall. But it's hard to imagine that anyone here is clamoring for a return to Muschamp ball - at least on O. For me, ball control in its most palatable form takes place in the portion of the game that permits you to practice overpowering your opponent with a punishing run game and sealing victories. Stress free fourth quarters that feature points being scored on the ground because the opponent can't stop us would suit me just fine. Of course, the part about scoring plenty of points early is still my favorite.

 

We were 2nd to DEAD last in the entire country in turnovers last year

 

Winning TOP is a who cares. In theory, if our Defense is better we will have even more TOP because we get the ball back. To me, it's a question mark that our Defense could not get offenses off the field but we still won TOP. Napier does not have a score-at-will, score fast mentality. There was no two minute offense his first season, cannot recall if that changed last season. If our D gets the ball back to our offense more often this season our opponents score fewer points, providing our Offense doesn't turn it over with pick 6s or inside the RZ.

Was our staff so smart they methodically held the ball on offense knowing our Defense would not likely make a stop before a score or is that our Offense, regardless?

 

That stat will improve significantly this season. But if it turns out our D manufactures so many more stops, may not matter- same effect. However, since we are here focused on a stat one previous failing coach was so proud of, I just want to say "we're getting better and better".

 

Time of Possession. Hmmm. I seem to remember a Muschamp game vs Missouri (?) at UF in which we had something like 40 min or more TOP yet managed to lose.

 

Ball control has not historically been a winning strategy here. Attack in space with relentless speed so that you can score repeatedly throughout the game with big plays. With the types of athletes we have at our disposal in our recruiting backyard, it is almost criminal that we run Napier’s style of offense.

 

Time of possession teams remind me of lower level teams that want to keep the far better opponent from scoring 50+ points. Like Ga tech of old or some other triple option teams that grind away. They reduce the number of offensive possessions the superior opponent gets, like reducing it from say 13 to 8 or 9. Those teams tend to lose games 35-10 or 28-17 making them look "respectable" instead of going all in and losing 56-10.

Great teams can score on any play, they will score and keep scoring, then with a big lead oft times eat the clock. See UF vs UT in 1996. We took a big lead into the half then only threw 10 passes in the 2nd half to eat clock and beat UT. SOS was not a Time of Possession coach, but one who would use in on occasion to seal a win.

 

I'm fine with a "win the time of possession" attitude as long as it's because we're winning the TOP by getting a bunch of three-and-outs on defense. Trying to achieve TOP by doing it on offense is not the way to go... IMO.

 

A college football team is measured by the Scoreboard.
Actually all of the scoreboards for the entire season.

A college football team is dynamic.
The team is always in a change (roster, coaches, player injuries, player discipline, and whatever).
The biggest impact to the scoreboard:

• Is the mental and physical condition of the team.
• The developement of the talent and skill sets of the team.
• The coaches knowing of the above two bullet points.
• The coaches knowing of the tendencies, the strengths, and weakness of their opponents.
• And the team work between the coaches and the team.
• And execution of the plays.

The scoreboard will be the barometer this coming season.

 

Just gotta score 7. Doesn’t matter how long it takes. 06 and 08 were great examples of scoring inevitable td’s and not fg’s. As long as you score seven each possession, you won’t lose many.