Per CFN, Georgia does have 3 starters back on the O-line who are all sophomores so it would appear they did, in fact, start 3 freshmen last year. The other two new starters are a Jr. and another So. Obviously the sophomores who started last year are more experienced and should be improved. I think you make an excellent point about beating Tenn.'s D by beating press coverage. I think that makes Tennessee's D match up nicely with Georgia's O since they don't have any big time threats at WR. It seems like every year you hear someone say that it'll be the year Massoquoi or however you spell that kid's name, will break out. I'll believe it when I see it. I do know that UT has two game changers at the safety positions and an underrated CB group with Willingham, Rogan, Vinson, and others. I think the game against Georgia will be a Dawg-fight. On the other hand, Florida has the gamebreakers at WR including probably the most dynamic player in Harvin. I still think Tennessee matches up well with Florida this year as well. It all comes down to that D-line though, in my opinion.
I never, never, never underestimate Tennessee. They came within a touchdown of beating the eventual BCS Champ in the SEC Championship game.
Tenn was better than the debacle at Florida and not as good as the close loss to LSU....( read: injuries ). Humiliation was Herschel Walker and Ga by 44-7......42-30 could have been Florida's except for Kestahn Moore's fumble.
Look, I understand that Glen Dorsey and Matt Flyn missed a lot of the SEC championship game but I don't think that had as much to do with the final score as you would like to lead me to believe. Sure, Dorsey would have made a huge difference in some aspects of the game if he had been 100%, but he wasn't 100% all season. Something that is often overlooked about the LSU D-line in the SEC championship game compared to the rest of the season is the fact that Ricky Jean-Francois made his 2007 debut in that game. He is a game changer and according to some, every bit the D-lineman that Dorsey is esp. considering Dorsey never really was at 100%. I personally believe that Perilloux is a better QB than Flynn. He obviously didn't display the same maturity and leadership skills which does make a significant difference but as far as athletic ability, Perilloux was light years ahead of Flynn, IMO. Now, there might be more injuries that I'm overlooking but I think that the injury aspect is a lame argument in most cases because teams deal with injuries all season. I would consider it more if LSU didn't have capable back-ups. I could actually argue that Erik Ainge not being 100% all season had much more to do with Tenn. big losses early in the season than any injury LSU had to deal with during the SEC champ. game; but like I said it's sort of a lame argument esp. considering he played all season although he was severely limited in his touch on deep passes. As far as Florida's humiliation, I was referring more so to the end-zone celebration than I was the final score of the game.
Ah, but MCG needs the "injury aspect". It's a convenience that he can use in one of two ways......as an excuse when his team loses and as a way to demean the performance of any team not named Florida, e.g., TN's performance vs. LSU or OSU's 2007 win over MI. That way, he never has to give due credit to a team he doesn't care for or care about.
Aquila, I'm not meaning to start an argument with MCG over this because we all do this to a certain extent. Dave takes it to another level. I have learned over the years of dealing with Dave that he will use the statistics that best serve his arguments. Statistics/facts that help his case are relevant. Statistics/facts that work against him are irrelevant. The amount of help he gets from that statistic/fact has a direct proportional relationship to the relevance he gives to that statistic/fact at that time.
Agree Aquila...he is a great player and likely first round pick. He was the defensive MVP in the national title game overshadowing his buddy Dorsey. It was only your Vols and my Buckeyes that had the misfortune to have to deal with Ricky Jean last year.....That defense was plenty good without him, with him next to Dorsey inside they play at whole different level....
Tenn did play well vs. LSU but the Tigers were banged up as Dorsey sat out and Flynn did also. RP and RJF did fill in nicely but a few others were pretty dinged up like all world safety Craig Steltz with a bad hammy. In any event Tenn hung close and made it interesting and I give em credit for that. I just don't believe that Tenn was all that close in talent to LSU but the SEC was pretty competitive amongst it's members last season so maybe that languid month of oh so close wins in November belied how good the Vols really were and those blow outs to Florida and Bama were totally misleading mirages. This year Tenn has to play a little bit heavier of an SEC schedule so the close wins if they occur will be more impressive in the overall resume. Look....I've said it before but you guys just look at things so much differently than I do. In 1992, after getting punched by the Vols by a 31-14 score in Knoxville, I was damned proud that UF hung around and did what was necessary to win the SEC East but I would never have sat there and tried to tell you just how great and talented they were because I knew they were not great and maybe just a little better than average. Even though Florida won the SEC East that year deep down I thought Tenn. should have won the East and tripped all over itself by not doing so. In the SECCG the Gators were extremely game vs. eventual unbeaten National Champion Bama and I was equally proud of that effort but again....while hopeful I wasn't kidding myself about how good that team was not and I sure as hell wouldn't have debated someone about it whose team laid a 59-20 lick on my team earlier in the season :roll: . I guess my point is that Florida played a healthier LSU down to the last minute on a Sat. night in Baton Rouge and yet the Gators finished with 4 season losses. Now...since Tenn. ostensibly had a better season because they won the SEC East which team do you truthfully think was a better team and most importantly why between Florida and Tenn. last year?
Well it is a Florida/SEC topic and a somewhat minor debate ( I sure as heck don't see it as anything serious ) between two of the SEC's elite. I can see that you don't care for for the read so why open the topic then?
Let's see... I believe that you spent the whole off season belittling OSU for losing their bowl game (didn't UF do the same thing). By those standards, since Tennessee won our bowl game, I think I'll take our season. With a chance to win the SECCG and winning the bowl game, that beats not getting into the SECCG at all and then losing the bowl game.
Never asked who had the better season Tom....it was obvious that Tenn had the better season. It's also equally obvious who was a better team between Florida and Tenn. The bottom line is it makes a difference who you play...where you play them and what your injury situation is when you play them. That statement is very relevant to the conversation started a few posts ago and it's relevant to Georgia's chances this year. Now maybe you, Sid and Aquila just don't believe any of that is true but I doubt it.
Woo hoo .... Go Gaterz!!! MCG, loaded the boat with reds this afternoon ..... and emptied the cooler in the process. Damn it's hot!!!! 94-95 + humidity!! UF's defense will be better ..... but good enuff for UT, Uga, LSU, USCe, and The Citadel?? Who knows? If Uga runs the table with that schedule, they should win it all vs the Big-10/11 champ.
Cedar Key reds there Gaterz? In that boat that you showed me a pic of? Man that would be a great afternoon...
I don't say much on here, but on this topic I just have one comment: On any given Saturday any team can win or loose depending on many factors. It can be injuries, motivation or just luck. On any given Saturday......
All of those can be factors Cindy that's for sure in whether a team wins or loses...especially in close competitive games. For the balance of a season's success it also matters what kind of draw you have vs. your league competition with regard to difficulty of opponents and where the games are played. For example I think Florida is set up much better this year to win the SEC East than last year by replacing Auburn with Arkansas and getting LSU at home. Of course the game at Tenn and the game with Georgia will still be difficult wins to secure.
MCG, I have given Florida plenty of respect for last year and the upcoming season. On paper, I think they're #2 in America with your favorite team from Ohio being #1. That's just my take though. Florida was a great team last year. They soundly beat Tennessee in the Swamp. If you really want me to make excuses here about why I think Tennessee lost that game I will. Here goes: First and foremost, the Gators had more talent at the skill positions as Tenn. was still trying to find playmakers at WR and Foster cannot carry the load by himself when the opposing D can stack the line. 2) Erik Ainge was suffering from a broken finger which is important in a couple of respects. The first of which being that he lacked considerable touch on his deep ball. Tennessee's dink and dunk offense could not sustain itself without a running game which was hampered by the fact that the threat of a downfield pass was minimal. I'll get to the other reason later. 3) Tennessee, IMO, controlled the game early in the first quarter. The D contained Tebow and the offense somewhat controlled the flow of the game but they could not seal the deal and get touchdowns and the Florida punt return TD hurt really bad giving UF the 14-3 lead at the end of the frame. 4) Tenn.'s D-line started to fail in the 2nd Q and came completely unraveled later in the game. 5) This was magnified even more because Tenn.'s secondary was very green early in the season. Eric Berry and Brent Vinson were freshmen last year and Vinson was learning CB and didn't really come alive until late in the season. Berry was already a game changer (as evidenced by his huge INT return) but he was green nonetheless. Rogan, another freshman, came on late in the season as well. Deangelo Willingham (a JUCO) was also in his first season in major college football. Everyone of those guys were in their first seasons in the SEC (in their first SEC game). Those guys were difference makers late in the season. 6) I think this one is perhaps most important. Tennessee had finished the 1st Half with a touchdow and then Tennessee opened the second half and appeared to change the momentum that had started to snowball in favor of Florida in the 2Q with Berry's INT return. The Vols then stopped Florida around midfield and appeared ready to make it a ballgame. This is when Ainge's bum pinky really showed up. By trying to handoff with the other hand, Foster fumbled the handoff and the Gators got a score to reverse the momentum once again in their favor. 7) Tennessee never recovered. I hate to say it but I think the boys in Orange kind of packed it in in the final frame. Meyer, however, certainly didn't call of the dogs and the final margin was the most embarrassing loss of the season until, perhaps, the Bama game. Now, I'm not sure what happened in the Bama game but somewhere between there and the SECCG, Tennessee grew up considerably. Instead of throwing in the towel when they were down they began to fight back. I'm not trying to say that I think Tennessee was the best team in the SEC at the end of the season or even second best for that matter. What I am saying is that they could have beaten any team on any given day.
Oh yeah, all that being said....I think Florida was the better team in September. Plain and simple. No excuses. I also don't think Tennessee owes anybody any apologies for making the SECCG. I was literally sickened by the national media's fawning over Georgia at the end of the season. Many acted as though Tennessee was bound to slip and "let the real team" get in the game against LSU. What a load of crap!!! How quickly they forget 35-14 beatdowns. Tennessee was certainly the better team in October and since the Gators lost to the Dawgs, no apology needed.
That is a good recollection of the game and I agree with those points. I also agree that the Florida return game and the Florida wide receivers along with Tebow's surprising ( to Tenn ) arm was a huge factor. ...and you're right in that Tenn could have beaten anyone in the country on any given Sat. as evidenced by the big win over Georgia. That goes for just about the top 5 or 6 teams in the SEC however because that is the nature of the conference and is what makes it so damned hard to win in the SEC. I also think Tenn's SEC schedule will be more difficult this year than last so it will be quite a feat for Tenn to repeat as SEC East Champions.
Tenn.'s schedule this year is perhaps a little more difficult but that's saying something when you consider that the two biggest rivals are coming to Knoxville this year. I like Tenn.'s chances against both Florida and Bama at home. I think the game at Auburn is as sure of a loss as there is on the schedule. I'll be very surprised if Tenn. wins that one. I also think playing at So. Car. will be tough. I know playing between the hedges is never easy but the big win two years ago gives me some hope there. I think 6-2 SEC finish is a best case scenario and I think 4-4 is worst case with losses to UF, AU, UGa, AND So. Car. I think Tennessee has the team to get back to the SECCG but will need some positive breaks along the way.