Thoughts on Saturdays Debacle
yeah, it wasn't pretty. Well, alright then. It downright sucked. But we lost, and gator nation should get off their 9 month Urban high and deal with it. It's a loss. Sports would get boring if your favorite team won all the time.
So its hard to discern all the mumble jumbo and questions that arose after saturdays slaughtering, but here are a few things that are clear.
1. Urban Meyer is our football coach. Lets keep in mind, Urban hasn't lost a game since 2003. He was humbled as was our whole team. It doesn't mean Urban is the second coming of Zook, it doesnt mean he's a lousy coach who doesn't prepare his team, and it doesn't mean the spread option cant work in the S.E.C.
2. The spread option can work in the S.E.C., and Chris Leak can run it. Scheme has nothing to do with this loss. We were simply outplayed, outcoached, and outhustled on every play. We couldn't push the ball through the one inch line into the endzone. The spread option is a unique offensive scheme. It requires players to make the right read and have an instinct on where to go with the ball. On a simple option play from a Quarterback to a RB, the O-Line, TE's, and WR's have to make the right blocking reads along with the qb and rb making the right run and pitch reads. And for the most part, the offense does make the right reads. The problem is the offense does not have the instinct down yet. They can't go out and run the Spread Option with a sixth sense because they are still learning, thinking, and hesitating. Opposing defenses, on the other hand,don't need to think. They play with instinct and run to the ball. Wanna know why our defense has so far been better than the offense? They didn't have to learn a completely new, complex system from scratch. The spread option will eventually work in the S.E.C. And it will be unstoppable. The trick lies in perfecting it.
3. How awesome was that fake punt. I guarentee, Zook would have never done that. The whole thing was elaborately set up, stemming from the offense stalling on the field wanting to go for it and consequently pumping up the crowd, then the punt team trotting on, almost dissapointing the opposing defense and leaving them complacent, followed by a beautiful pitch to Everette. The one highlite of the game.
4. So where do we go from here? We drop to 13, but the most important point is that the Gators still control their own destiny. A win verse Georgia could mean a berth in the S.E.C. Championship game. Its not time to panic. It's just time to delve back into reality.
So its hard to discern all the mumble jumbo and questions that arose after saturdays slaughtering, but here are a few things that are clear.
1. Urban Meyer is our football coach. Lets keep in mind, Urban hasn't lost a game since 2003. He was humbled as was our whole team. It doesn't mean Urban is the second coming of Zook, it doesnt mean he's a lousy coach who doesn't prepare his team, and it doesn't mean the spread option cant work in the S.E.C.
2. The spread option can work in the S.E.C., and Chris Leak can run it. Scheme has nothing to do with this loss. We were simply outplayed, outcoached, and outhustled on every play. We couldn't push the ball through the one inch line into the endzone. The spread option is a unique offensive scheme. It requires players to make the right read and have an instinct on where to go with the ball. On a simple option play from a Quarterback to a RB, the O-Line, TE's, and WR's have to make the right blocking reads along with the qb and rb making the right run and pitch reads. And for the most part, the offense does make the right reads. The problem is the offense does not have the instinct down yet. They can't go out and run the Spread Option with a sixth sense because they are still learning, thinking, and hesitating. Opposing defenses, on the other hand,don't need to think. They play with instinct and run to the ball. Wanna know why our defense has so far been better than the offense? They didn't have to learn a completely new, complex system from scratch. The spread option will eventually work in the S.E.C. And it will be unstoppable. The trick lies in perfecting it.
3. How awesome was that fake punt. I guarentee, Zook would have never done that. The whole thing was elaborately set up, stemming from the offense stalling on the field wanting to go for it and consequently pumping up the crowd, then the punt team trotting on, almost dissapointing the opposing defense and leaving them complacent, followed by a beautiful pitch to Everette. The one highlite of the game.
4. So where do we go from here? We drop to 13, but the most important point is that the Gators still control their own destiny. A win verse Georgia could mean a berth in the S.E.C. Championship game. Its not time to panic. It's just time to delve back into reality.