And I have to admit that I was shocked by how well the young Gator Defense played today. And I even have to say the offense exceeded my expectations also. One thing that has surprised my about Tennessee the last couple of years when we play them is the lack of a running game. I'm used to seeing a couple of 1,000 yard per season runners in a Vol uniform. The offense now seems to be a short passing game without much running. The Gators have three injuries of which one seems to be serious, a broken ankle, by Jeremy Finch who made the last interception. It was a fun game for a Gator but I don't imagine for a Vol. But my expectations are that Tennessee will right the ship this season. On another note I was shocked to see Kentucky beat Louisville. We'll be getting up in the morning and driving back to North Carolina. So you all have a great day until I can get this way again.
Bill, Florida looked mighty impressive to me against Tennessee! I think I have seen that type of speed and output before, but just can not remember where? Don
Well, that was an unexpected result. Anytime you hold a UT offense to less than 1.8 yards per attempt on the ground - with no QB sacks - you should be able to win the game. This defense looks much like last years - give up a lot of passing yards but play tough against the run. They've allowed a lot of yards but only 3 TDs versus 3 INTs. Offense was more productive that I thought it would be. I think the momentum and heat really worked into UF's favor in the second half. One interesting stat after 3 games .... with 9 punts opponents have -0- punt return yards. Got to say "hi" to Fred Thompson and the blue stadium was really neat.
serious question <t>Serious question from a guy who doesn't have a dog in this fight.<br/> <br/> <br/> I've watched a lot of UF/UT over the years... It seems that in damn near every game... UT will control long flows of action in the game, but then Florida scores on a kick return, busted coverage or some other quick strike... and then controls the scoreboard.<br/> <br/> Unless my memory is going bad, this pre-dates Urbie and goes back to SOS. Does it go back any further than that?<br/> <br/> Its almost frustrating to watch, and I was honestly not rooting for either team...but year after year I find myself shouting at the TV "DEAR GOD TENNESSEE just put them away!!"<br/> <br/> But they dont.... and they lose... Is it just me or is this a constant theme to these games? It seems that there comes a point in time where UF just takes over, but doesn't really control the early action.</t>
Tenn had the 96 yard int return early in the second half that made it seem as if they were in the fight and made me lose some of my fingernails. However....the UF offense and defense completely dominated the second half otherwise. Tenn should have been able to exert more control early on and yet it was 14-3 Gators due mostly to the James punt return. I did worry when it was 28-20 because UT had been in the game in the first half and moved it so convincingly on the last drive of the 1st half. In summation though.....I don't think Tenn had 300 yards of offense and they only scored 13 points on offense. That was huge.....
I thought the game was a huge disappointment for Tennessee. They must hinge their hopes on being better than Georgia and South Carolina. We'll see how that pans out. Erik Ainge is a great quarterback and it's a shame to see his career go to waste. Tennessee since 2001 has just not been on the same level as other top college programs. They don't seem to have any toughness whether it's trying to run the ball or stop the run. Their offense is a finesse offense but they don't have the right personnel to really make it work. I'm not sure what it will take to right the ship. I know that programs go through down times but how long do you give Fulmer to try and make this thing better? On another note, the tandem of Tebow and Harvin along with Ingram and a host of talented receivers makes the Florida offense scary good. This team will give LSU a run for its money. I am looking forward to watching that tilt, as it may be the game of the year and definitely should be SEC football at its finest. I was a bit surprised at Urban Meyer seemingly wanting to run up the score with the game decided. I thought it was a little disrespectful and I don't care what kind of justification you make based on the BCS system, etc. a 49-20 score would've looked just as impressive. But whatever, he's just continuing a Florida tradition I guess.......
Lol, the old claim of RUTS!! Just remember, Meyer learned to coach while an assistant at tOSU and ND.
Aquila, I just realized what you had posted when Gaterzfan spoke up. It is not Meyer's job to regulate the score. If we can't stop the Gators, it is our fault that the score was escalated. I did think that Meyer was exercising STUPIDITY :shock: in leaving his starting QB in and placing him in danger with a 30+ point lead. What would the Gator nation be saying right now if Tebow suffered a broken leg while still playing with a 30 point lead and less than 8 minutes left in the game? With that said, the second team deserves a chance to run the normal offense and it was the second team that scored the last TD. I have no problem with the RUTS issue. Stop their offense or shut the heck up!
"that Meyer was exercising STUPIDITY in leaving his starting QB in" It was one series too many I agree and I'm not sure why. Thankfully nothing happened.
Just got back to North Carolina a bit ago and unloaded the car and am just getting time to get on the internet. Before I say anything else though, a post I made about a week ago was how HOT it was in Florida. Not here, it's 63 right now and I understand it was in the 40's this morning. Back to the game, Corey, there is not really much history on Florida and Tennessee prior to the Spurrier years. We only played them a fraction of how often we played other teams and were not even competitive until the 80's. I believe we held our own in the 80's and have done very well in the 90's and 20's. I am in agreement about thinking we should have had Tebow out earlier. However I am a fan of our coach so hope he knows what he's doing there. Tom, thanks and I agree about the RUTS stuff, but will have to say I was a bit surprised with the last score with Tebow. But one of those plays, the long pass to Harvin was the most spectacular of the day. One observation about our defense above is our lack of sacks but still being able to limit the production of the other team, I'm not quite sure what to make of that. Also I'm wondering if the lack of a running game for Tennessee is a change of philosophy or because the Vols don't have the running backs they used to have. The rest of you thanks for the input.
Just to clarify myself, I was referring to when the game was 49-20 not when Meyer finally decided to put his second team in the game. The drive that led to the field goal that made the score 52-20 was led by Tebow with a few minutes left in the fourth quarter. I hadn't really given it a lot of thought until one of my co-workers (who hates Tennessee) mentioned that he thought it was a bit bush league to leave the first team in with the game clearly out of hand. I don't want to come across as a sore loser because Florida was clearly the better team but I felt leaving Tebow in at that point was downright stupid and as I said before, a bit disrespectful. Just my opinion. On a positive note, the SEC at the top at least looks like the best conference in the nation again. So good luck to the Gators and Tigers who can hopefully bring home another NC to its rightful home, the SEC.
Nothing wrong with questioning Meyers' intentions or second guessing his player decisions but ...... given the stated objectioves of this message board is this comment really necessary? "But whatever, he's just continuing a Florida tradition I guess......." 8)
Hey look, I'm not trying to start up something with the Florida fans. I think very highly of Florida athletics, how can you not with 2 BB championship and a football championship in two years? I was simply referring to the fact that the ole ball coach ran up a few scores in his time at Florida. I shouldn't have brought it up, I apologize for questioning your program's integrity. Throwing deep up by 29 in the fourth quarter with your first team just doesn't seem like the right thing to do to me. Call me crazy if you want to. It's all crying over spilled milk anyway. Tennessee is not yet ready to compete for the East again and Florida is clearly a national title contender.
Wasn't it SOS who said "we don't worry much about punting around here"? Stoops, who is a SOS disciple will tack a big number on you whenever he has a chance. One thing about RUTS, it does get you attention and votes in the poll and while margin of victory is not a factor in the BCS, poll position is and anything that gets you moved up in the various polls gets you moved up in the BCS. So winning big, even RUTS, still is a factor. You might get criticized a little by opposing fans and the press but you won't get fewer votes from the poll voters or the computers.
Exactly my point, Terry although. I wasn't trying to make an offhanded jab at Florida or UF fans I was just bringing up a point for discussion. I personally believe that 49-20 sounds about as good as 59-20 and I didn't think any more scoring needed to be done to impress the voters. I suppose Mr. Meyer was looking for style points. I can see why he would want style points after nearly getting left out of the title game last year when Florida was certainly the more worthy opponent. I personally think it isn't a good thing when humiliating your opponent to the utmost extent is necessary to succeed.
Unintentionally lopsided?? 33-14 isn't lopsided, it's a good strong win for sure but JT could hardly be called for RUTS on this one.