I Just Have a feelingabout...

I kind of have the same feeling...and I'm old but not nearly as old as you! JK. Go GATORS!

 

People had these same feelings last year.

 

I feel good enough that we should barely become bowl eligible. Too many question marks heading into the season, and we will soon have some answers in 30 days!

 

Good chance against Utah if we can contain QB Rising and TE Kuithe. Those two Yutes wore us out last year.

 

Am I wrong? We were excited about last.year. Sorry, if the truth hurts.

 

I did. But only between the first and second game.

 

I was excited last year because of AR, by the end of the year I felt more letdown than anything.
I’m excited this year because I can see the plan so much better now. A lot of variables and a tough schedule makes it an guarded optimism but It’s still optimism.

 

The few people who thought a new staff would magically fix problems that had been festering over the course of several seasons, like starting safeties that run a 4.8 40, were setting themselves up for disappointment. Those of us with realistic expectations and even a slight understanding of how this team had been playing knew there was nothing to be excited about.

That being said, the lack of depth at key positions makes it hard to get excited about this season as well. Hopefully i'm pleasantly surprised

 

It’s always optimism time when we are undefeated preseason, then reality comes knocking. Too many unknowns on this team right now and I’ve been crushed so many seasons when I come in with high hopes, so until I see it on the field I’m expecting we squeak in to a bowl game.

Now I would really like to see week over week improvement and that’ll let me know Napier has us going in the right direction. Just going to take lots of time

 

If we can beat Utah, I think we have a shot at going 5-7.

If we lose to Utah, then I think we have a shot at 4-8.

SOS had us pegged at 8-4 last year in the pre-season.

 

" I want to see week over week improvement".

This is oft stated here, but is almost a complete fantasy, an Alice in Wonderland Through the Looking Glass alternate reality. I don't even know what it means. Hypothetically, if we lose our first three games by an average of 14 points, the next three we lose by an average of 7 points, the next three we lose by an average of 3 points, is that "week over week improvement"? Does it matter who our opponent is? And how does one judge this "week over week improvement"?


Since no one knows what "week over week" improvement is, unless we start winning them all at some point in the season, this is a silly notion, but people like to repeat it. If we lose the first two, and win all of the rest, i would say that is "week over week" improvement, otherwise, who knows?

When teams start getting beat, players lose motivation and morale and things tend to regress "week over week". That doesn't mean they won't come back next year and be much, much better, but this "week over week improvement" fantasy is so vague that I cringe when I hear it.

 

I was excited mostly because the dead sports zone known as the summer was over (not a big baseball fan anymore) and CFB was back.

However, I hoped our LB and secondary would be better than I believed, but my inner voice knew they were about as bad a unit UF has fielded in, well, forever. The offense actually exceeded my expectations even with a very green QB and a first year install. We were competitive in most of the games last year. I didn't think last year's team had the bones to be an 8 or 9 win team going in, but they did have a legitimate shot at it. Just, that defense...

One thought about this year, it was most of Napier's players that performed very well last year and more positions are now being filled up in the two deep by his evaluated players. Still, we will be inexperienced so eight wins is probably the ceiling again. I'll drink the kool aid and say 7 wins, but the schedule and youth means that kool aid was probably spiked. I think I just want CFB saturdays back.

 

I think being excited about your team going into the season is part of what being a fan is about. Otherwise, what’s the point?

 

The KY game was like taking them two arrows in the leg in Montana! Kinda slowed Ole Gus down.

 

To quote (sorta) Ben Grimm - It's football smack talking time!

 

Teams usually look like a mess in year 1 of any college coach.
Then they look much more settled with a cohesive strategy in the year 2- if the coach is good at all.
Spurrier had a good first year, but the offense was slow to click. We lived off the D he inherited.

So I hope we see better fundamentals and more discipline in year 2.
If so I will feel Billy Ball is on the way even if we go 6-6 again.

 

Unfortunately, he would talk smack when he was normal human Ben Grimm, not The Thing. We need to see some tangible results on the field before we even get comfortable, let alone cocky. I believe the post 2009 years took the swag out of us. Since 2010, we went 101-64 (.612). To put it in perspective, Ron Zook's winning percentage was (.622). Now we understand corrections to our problems involve more than a simple head coaching or coordinator change or player upgrade. Green teams with lots of lost starters matter, as does the strength of schedule (not every schedule we have is the toughest in the nation), and with the variables of the Portal and NIL, I find it difficult to get comfortable until I see it on the field...

 

Yes
And of course you’re not sorry - this is what you do