Cam Rising (Utah) out- (update 10-6-23 at #113 on extent of his injury)

I'm far more concerned we will let down and not be as focused with Rising out, than not getting respect if we win.
At this point Utah is top 20, and we are predicted to win 3-5 games. And we are on the road.

Oh my goodness- this is huge. Rising or no Rising. A win would change so much.
But yeah- we've had so many years of making the backups look good because of a mental let down.
This is what I'm worried about.

 

I'm just going to take it for what it is. One game. We skyrocketed up the polls after we beat them in the Swamp last year and it was still a rough season. Just take it one game at a time.

 

Hopefully that is past behavior....

 

People who say 3-5 wins are full of ----. You can't predict what the Gators will do this year. We had 28 players transfer out, many of those who played those last few games where we didn't show up. We have new players all over the field, new DC, etc. We'll have a much better idea about our team after tonight but even still a loss tonight isn't the end of the world.

 

I'm not saying that we shouldn't respect them, they could very well win just running the ball if our front 7 isn't up to the task. But I don't think Barnes is going to beat us.

 

Wut? If this team is not focused for the first game of the season against a ranked opponent, regardless of Rising, then we have far bigger problems to be concerned about.

 

Nope, if we win we win and that’s it.

 

They did lose four games and one of them was to a team that lost to Vandy. They are a decent team but we really need to be the better team if we want to improve our record from last year. To me, this is like playing Kentucky or Ole Miss.

 

I have a long memory.
I'll never forget facing the Rooster in Tallahassee vs FSU.
A win and we probably play for the NC.
Plus FSU was far more hated than they are today- this being 98.

So facing our archrival, with an NC chance on the line we...
had a mental letdown and let the Rooster roll.

So yeah- if we can do that vs FSU, we can do that vs Utah.

 

That’s how I feel about it. These guys aren’t competing for a natty, but they’re a good team and you better show up or they’ll beat you.

 

With Rising sitting out, Utah fans will downgrade their expected win margin from 35 points to 28 points. They also expect at least half of the Gators to go to the hospital mid-game due to the altitude and/or noise injury from the huge home crowd.

 

I think they are gonna show up like they are playing for a natty. Lots of pride and redemption on the line for them. They are still mad we stole Urban. Tix are hard to come by (pricey) because of the demand, and that demand is not by us lizards. This is almost a rivalry game for them. Scored a couple tix for the daughter and SIL last night and paid more than for me and the wifey. Standing room only tix were at $170 last night. Let’s go Gators and make all the hoopla worth it

 

In my opinion, that possibility is 100% the responsibility of this coaching staff to mitigate. We will have a much better idea of who our coaches are based on how prepared they appear to be for this game. My greatest hope is for an amazing turnaround that erases all doubt. My worst fear is 5th Quarter of the Las Vegas Bowl.

 

Fans tend to overreact based on the first game, but yes I'm interested to see if our coaches have gotten the team to turn the corner in terms of attitude and discipline.
It will be a tough game no doubt.

 

I understand where you're coming from, and to an extent, I agree that we have to beware of possible letdowns. But after the last two and a half seasons, if we actually go into that game without anything other than a do or die attitude, we will pretty much deserve the butt kicking we'd almost certainly receive. I don't see it happening. Gators may lose, but I believe they will compete to the last whistle.

 

I wish some of our other posters were as confident in UF showing up and making a game of it as you are in Utah showing up ready. PTSD is a terrible thing I suppose.

 

I think we’ve all got some PTSD after the last 13 seasons

 

Some of the crap I'm reading from their fans is quite comical. They honestly believe that their 35k fans are going to rattle us. So many college football fans still have zero understanding of SEC football. They think our league is mostly ESPN hype. We might lose this game, but it will not be because of respiratory issues or an intimidating environment.

 

It seats over 50,000
Just sayin