We have a long way to go to prove that we are not a poor team. A half time score in game two is NOT proof of anything. Just a knee jerk reaction to previous offensive misery. Just let Napier rise..or fall..watch the games, as painfully as that may be. Each game will provide a step out of the massive hole we have dug, or one more nail in his coffin. This year will tell the tale. The revelations begin next week. Jmo.
Some, me included, think that BN has shown all we need to see to believe he is not the guy. I want us to win every game but I believe BN somehow winning 6 games and staying would be bad for Gator football. A 6 win losing season is not enough progress in year 3 in my opinion. You and I will cheer this team, and I will also hope we have a new staff next year that I can believe has the potential to make us conference contenders. I respect folks who say cheer the team unreservedly, and ask that holding those two competing thoughts in their minds (cheer the team and rationally believe we need a new coach) be respected. As you say, in the end it won’t matter, as BN’s history has put him where he is (tenuous footing) and the season will tell the tale.
His record says different. Granted, he started out the usual for a UK coach, but he quickly got to a point no other UK coach has done, win more games than lose. Since 2015, he has only 1 losing season, 5-6 back in 2020. He has 2 10 win seasons and is 4-4 in bowl games. He is the longest active HBC in the SEC. And he's just in his late 50s. What he has done is turn UK into a blue chip football program where the fans now expect 10 win seasons every season. They want SEC titles and be in the CFP. Before Stoops, Kentucky fans looked forward to basketball, now he has them looking forward to football and they skip basketball.
Well said. As an alum, I want the team to win. I personally don’t believe that 6 wins gives CBN another bite at the Apple. Florida is a graveyard for coaches. I don’t like that, but facts are facts. Even our great SOS said everybody gets fired here so..so I best be moving on..( at his resignation press conference). He is not wrong. Each firing tarnishes our image further. I hate that too, along with the rebuilding amidst bad publicity. I personally think that the bar must be higher than six wins. I know we have a tough schedule. So be it. For me, 8 wins is the fewest wins we should achieve to let the train move on. Hate to say it but Lagway is the savior. Or not. I wasn’t correcting how anyone should feel. I get it. But being pissed about 14 points (should have been 21 points) at half is being picky. Win or not. That is the standard.
If you guys thought UF had penalty problems, go check out the UK / USCe film. UK's demolition started on a drive in the second half, it was penalty after penalty. U-G-L-Y. Their QB was, well, if this is a representative sample - terrible.
As noted above, I expect we we will lose to the Cats because we haven't shown ourselves to be good enough to beat them and they LIVE for this one game. I guess they have a coach that makes even perceived rivalry games more meaningful. Interesting concept, that.
I think you are misunderstanding what I was saying... Last year UK struggled w/ Eastern Kentucky and Vandy before us, while we beat UT. I guess we watched that film and said WE GOT THIS- after all again, we had just beat Tennessee. So we were still sleeping during kickoff, UK was amped to the moon, and they destroyed us. We never knew what hit us. I'm sure our players were saying "You didn't play like this vs Eastern Kentucky" as Ray DAvis churned and burned his way to 280 yards. And after our game, UK reverted to form losing to USCe among others. So IMO we need to disregard this horrible loss by UK as we prepare for them next month. We need to FINALLY understand they will be amped to the max to play us, and not sleepwalk into the UK game. Like we have done the last 3 years.
I completely disagree. Did you watch the crap show we put on vs UK last year??? We ABSOLUTELY took them for granted. We ABSOLUTELY thought we just had to show up to win. We didn't act that way vs Tennessee, UGA, or USCe, or Mizzou or FSU. Some we won, some we lost, but we were ready to play in these games. We were not ready to play at UK last year. Was it the crap film they put up? Was it the noon kickoff on the road? I have no idea- but I know the Gators didn't take UK as seriously as other teams on the schedule. I also know that we will get 2x the effort that UK showed vs USCe last Saturday.
Being ready to play and overlooking an opponent are two different things. I think UK last year just dominated us at the lines of scrimmage. I don’t think we overlooked them. This team isn’t good or confident enough to loaf to a victory.
Nice post. I would add that every team that plays the Florida Gators is highly motivated for that game. That’s why I think we need to treat every game as the most important game of the season.
But we lost again, as well as many other games. So if a staff cannot prepare and motivate the team to beat teams we are more talented than, aren't we still a middle of the road type team?
Lets cut to the chase, this staff and many of the players, better have maximum intensity for every game here on out, or they will be relocating next year.
I think something happened last year. Nothing else adds up. My only conclusion we overlooked them. We THOUGHT we were good enough to loaf to a victory- IMO. Obviously we weren't. I'm a numbers guy so let me state my case with bullet points... We lost to UK 33-14 but it frankly wasn't even that close. So 19 point differential. We beat USCe in a close game. USCe beats UK in a close game. (Both played in Cola.) Mizzou beats UK by 17. We lose to Mizzou on a last second FG. We both get crushed by UGA but UK actually gets beat worse than us. So we are about the same as USCe, slightly worse than Mizzou. UK is slightly worse than USCe, much worse than Mizzou. Yet they dominate us. When we still had Shemar James, by the way. It's fine if we disagree. But as an evidence guy, and a guy who just re-watched this game last month, it was clear we were not ready for this game. Maybe we finally take them seriously this year.
I think Stoops has checked out. The whole A&M debacle in the offseason and his constant complaints about UK not doing more for football has affected him. I think he’s a good coach. He’s done a good job at Kentucky, but after a while when a coach has been at a school for an extended period of time you can tell the energy starts fading away. I see it with Stoops. They have a lot of talent on both sides of the ball to get absolutely humiliated like they did against SC.
