umm <t>who said that Auburn is tougher than Miss State?<br/> <br/> On- field results seem to provide you with an alternative reality.</t>
I guess I would base that Corey on Auburn finishing second in the SEC West. But maybe it is a push since MSU beat Auburn....still.. Fla played the #1 and #2 teams in the SEC West and Tenn did not.
Pretty smug comment Corey.....yeah....let's see....excuse me while I don't bow down to the Great Vols when my 2007 memory of on the field results seems to be permanently influenced by the biggest beating ever administered in the Tenn-Fla series....UF 59-20.... As I said....congrats to the grittiness of UT players for taking what they could get but I tend to agree with Tom on this Vol coaching staff and it would be great if this SEC East title keeps Fulmer around another few years.
I think the SEC fixed it so Florida would have to play (and lose to) LSU and Auburn, and Tennessee wouldn't have to play them, because we all know that everyone hates Florida. :wink:
Well, just a point of reference, UF's schedule is rated 5th toughest in the nation by the NCAA, while UT's is a very respectable 26th most difficult.
well <r><QUOTE><s> </e></QUOTE> Perhaps something similar drives Tailback to believe that Tebow is not the Heisman winner...??<br/> <br/> You see, Tennessee put one on Georgia.. you had the chance to beat Georgia, but you didn't. You can whine about having to play an SEC giant in LSU and Auburn. Two teams who have proven most beatable...but had you taken care of business vs. Georgia... We aren't discussing this.<br/> <br/> No conspiracy there.<br/> <br/> Here is something for you to chew on. While Tennessee's team seems to be fighting thru the season to get better and improve, they never gave up on themselves and always kept their eye on that brass ring at the end. Florida seemed to give up on their other offensive 'threats' and just keep giving the ball to Tebow.. Hell, you guys have been talking Heisman for this guy for a while..<br/> <br/> Maybe you will both get what you want, Florida a Heisman winner and UT a shot at the SEC title?</r>
Gotta give UT a lot of credit for (1) finding the defense to stop (relatively speaking) a very good Arky run offense and (2) winning their close games against USCe, Vandy, and UKy. UF wasn't able to pull out their close games against LSU and Auburn. Just a little more maturity on defense and/or a longer punt at the end of the AU game, and it could have been just a little different for the SEC-East.
Florida took LSU to the wire and came up a tad short in BR. Tenn got crushed in T-town by Bama. Florida killed SC and Vandy and beat Ky fairly easily.....Tenn was taken to the wire by all three. Tenn beat Ga and that did indeed prove to be the best thing they did. You want to favorably compare Tenn and Fla with what transpired on the field go ahead....I will just find that amusing and really who cares? UF embarrassed Tenn in no uncertain terms and unless Tenn beats LSU the Gators will have a better bowl game and probably improve on their top ten BCS ranking. The East title is great for Tenn.....it's just that the Vols have a lot more to do to make this a successful season in the minds of their true fans....just ask Tom. [/list]
Yes they did Terry and for that I have offered my congrats. Does that alter my opinions that they were not impressive and caught a schedule break.....nah. The Vols still have a chance to impress however. If they win the next two games my congratulations will be without caveats. On Florida's offense: UF averaged 38 ppg in the 8 SEC games. I would be ecstatic with that average for Fla for the rest of my years following the Gators.
Yes, and Appalachian State embarrassed Michigan on that one day. Can you tell me in no uncertain terms that AS is better than UM? Any given Saturday MCG, any given Saturday. I do have a question for you though: “With three losses, would you feel as I do about your team going to the title game? … or would you be crowing about how great the Gators are for playing through adversity and climbing to the top?
what <t>is with this 'caught a schedule break' bullsh*t?<br/> <br/> They played Alabama who beat them bad.<br/> <br/> They also played Arkansas. Now Arkansas is a 'schedule break?'<br/> <br/> I'm sure Les Miles will be glad to hear that.</t>
MCG, You bring up one valid point. Florida beat Tennessee 59-20. I could argue that the beating wasn't as bad as the final score might indicate but that would be ridiculous because 39 points IS 39 points. Similarly, 6-2 SEC record = 6-2 SEC record and 5-3 SEC record = 5-3 SEC record. You can say all you want about the schedule but as has been brought up here already, Mississippi State beat Auburn and Arkansas beat LSU. Also, Tennessee thoroughly spanked Georgia while Georgia convincingly beat UF. You can play this game all day long. As it has been said before and I've never seen anything to change my mind, comparing who beat who is a useless passtime in football at any level especially at the level of the SEC. What it comes down to is wins and losses not scoring margin or anything else. What that means is Tennessee took care of business against Georgia and they finished 6-2. They didn't back into the game, they won it outright on the field. Florida isn't even in the discussion because they lost 3 games. Florida is a very good team but like Tennessee they don't have a defense. I love Tim Tebow but they don't have a consistent running game outside of him and some gimmicky plays for their other skill position players. They didn't get it done all season for those two reasons, IMO. So, cry all you want and make excuses all you want but head to head doesn't amount to a hill of beans when you're talking about 2 losses vs. 3 losses.
Not making any excuses for Florida....you see any of those? Three losses would make us very fortunate to be in the title game and not in a position to crow about how great we were....when we were not. LSU lost to Arkansas sure but not many if anyone would agree that over the course of the season Arkansas was a tougher foe than LSU was...especially if you played the Hogs at home vs. LSU in Baton Rouge. After the result of the Tenn-Fla game itself and the comparative results of Tenn playing Vandy, SC and Kentucky vs. UF playing those same teams no one would claim Tenn is better than Florida. Hey if you guys want to somehow claim that tall tale go ahead....I will just laugh myself to sleep over that one. :lol: :lol: Then there is the Ga game and yes the UF defense took the day off and Tebow was hurt and Ga had their act together unlike when they played Tenn. Check that one in favor of Tenn and realize that once in awhile Ky beats LSU too and Stanford beats USC...especially when the Trojans have some injuries. No excuses for Florida but that Ga win does not excuse Tenn either for other SEC shortcomings....not even their fans thought that. For the UF season, two close losses to LSU and Aub combined with the huge Tenn and FSU wins, the stomps over the three SEC also rans mentioned above and any kind of win over Ga would have made me feel very good about Florida..... The Georgia loss prevented that "championship feeling" but all in all a pretty good year for Fla that I wouldn't trade with Tenn unless they could pull out an SEC title and BCS bowl win. If Tenn loses either of those combined with some of their other 2007 failures then I wouldn't trade UF's season with the Vol's season at that point. In 1992 I wasn't that thrilled with Florida's team as whole but we did beat Georgia and managed to steal away the SEC East from Tenn. who had soundly beaten us in Knoxville. I wouldn't have said at the time that UF was better than Tenn by any stretch but certainly I was proud of the effort and hopeful of winning the SEC in Birmingham vs. Bama. Here is that team's record: W 09-12-1992 35 Kentucky 19 Gainesville, FL L 09-19-1992 14 Tennessee 31 Knoxville, TN L 10-01-1992 6 Mississippi St. 30 Starkville, MS W 10-10-1992 28 Louisiana St. 21 Gainesville, FL W 10-17-1992 24 Auburn (AL) 9 Gainesville, FL W 10-24-1992 31 Louisville (KY) 17 Gainesville, FL W 10-31-1992 26 Georgia 24 Jacksonville, FL W 11-07-1992 24 Southern Mississippi 20 Gainesville, FL W 11-14-1992 14 South Carolina 9 Gainesville, FL W 11-21-1992 41 Vanderbilt (TN) 21 Nashville, TN L 11-28-1992 24 Florida St. 45 Tallahassee, FL L 12-05-1992 21 Alabama 28 Birmingham, AL SEC Championship Game W 12-31-1992 27 North Carolina St. 10 Jacksonville, FL Gator Bowl 315 Season Totals 284
If it wasn't great....it was certainly a good year in 2007 for Florida... http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/football/ncaa/11/25/bc.fbc.floridast.bowden.ap/ ...and to think FSU handled one of Tenn's "tougher" SEC opponents rather easily. :wink: 8)
uhm <r><QUOTE><s> </e></QUOTE> LSU was 'this' close to being a 4 loss team this year. <br/> <br/> Let's not start writing fables that this was a team blowing the doors off of everyone that got picked off in two close OT games. Your beloved media sources would like you to buy into that, but it simply is not true.<br/> <br/> LSU could have gone down to Florida and damn well should have gone down to Alabama and Auburn...but bonehead plays/decisions allowed Team Miles to slip by.. Hell, looking at that, they could have been a 5 loss team!</r>
That's pretty true about LSU but they are representing the SEC West so playing them in Baton Rouge certainly is not a picnic....( they also were #1 ranked until the 4 OT loss on Fri. and were #2 I believe when UF played them) This is a small part of my comments. There is a lot more to it.
Agreed. Agreed WRT pass defense, however UF run was decent, ending the regular season, save SECCG, at #10 in the nation and #1 in the SEC. Overall, UF defense ended year in the top third of Div 1 total defense. "Gimicky plays" or not .... I'll take it and look forward to the time UF has a bona fide "SEC calibre" tailback. RUSHING OFFENSE G Att Yds Avg TD Yds/G -------------------------------------------------------- 1. Arkansas............ 12 575 3561 6.2 32 296.8 2. LSU................. 12 516 2634 5.1 34 219.5 3. Florida............. 12 455 2372 5.2 37 197.7 - #26 in Div 1A. 4. Georgia............. 12 469 2145 4.6 29 178.8 5. Kentucky............ 12 449 1878 4.2 19 156.5 6. Auburn.............. 12 496 1850 3.7 21 154.2 7. Alabama............. 12 453 1808 4.0 19 150.7 8. Vanderbilt.......... 12 481 1802 3.7 13 150.2 9. Tennessee........... 12 404 1786 4.4 18 148.8 10.Mississippi State... 12 467 1624 3.5 17 135.3 11.Ole Miss............ 12 379 1578 4.2 8 131.5 12.South Carolina...... 12 382 1364 3.6 16 113.7 I'd be a little more specific and say UF "didn't get it done" because of an unusually poor 1st half of offense against a very good Auburn defense (incluing a missed FG and fumble in the red zone) and not being able to handle that "crazy cajun mojo" late in the 4th quarter in Baton Rouge.
Not to mention tackleitis and fumbleitis against Georgia. Next year Moody will add that 3rd dimension to this offense and then maybe UF can score some points...... :shock: :roll: :lol: :lol: ........what a poor offense.....heh heh.....
Again, I don't think you can compare how teams fare against similar opponents. While the players and coaches may be the same, often the atmosphere, motivation, etc. are not. Florida is a very, very good football team and I wouldn't feel very comfortable with Tenn. playing them again as I think there's a good chance that UF could win again. All I'm saying is that when it comes down to it, Tennessee was able to get by with only 2 SEC losses (albeit lopsided ones) while Florida had 3. I don't care if the Patriots, Colts, and Cowboys were their three losses, until the SEC institutes a system similar to the BCS to determine a champion, it is totally irrelevant. I hate Florida when Tenn. plays them but I generally root for them in non-conference match-ups and I enjoy watching them play in any match-up because I am very intrigued with Urban Meyer's offensive wizardry. I love the spread option offense. I think it's exciting and good for college football. The downside to it is that if a good defense plays fundamental and sticks with their assignments, it can be beaten if the opposing team has adequate team speed. I loved watching the Gators take OSU to the woodshed last year and I believe that WVa would do the same to them this year. We're not really disagreeing here, MCG, it's just that my points are valid in the discussion and any "excuses" or whatever it is that you choose to call them are not.