I have watched Meyer enough to know he's not stupid. That TD would have made it 38-7 and by the time UF would have the ball back after kicking off to Kentucky it most likely would have been the 4th quarter. I guess I can't lay it out for you any better than that so draw your own contrary conclusion if you must.
Dave, You have scored 4.5 times the points that the other team has scored by the end of the first half. Is that not correct? You have a defense that has not allowed a monumental come back in your three previous games. Is that not correct? Tebow should have been in his party clothes at half time. You can blame the refs all you want. But until you even think of sharing that blame with Meyer, I will discount it. The coach is responsible for the player being on the field. Those Nazi refs that call bogus calls (and they're all bogus if they are against the prefect, do no wrong Gators) are not. It amazes me at how many times we hear that the calls that should go against the opposition are not made and the ones called on the gators are bogus. Tell us Dave, why is that?
All calls against the Gators aren't bad calls and I never try to contend that. All teams have bad calls go against them ( except for Tenn when playing UF... :wink: ) but of course I focus on the Gators for obvious reasons. On Meyer....the 1st string offense had not scored since the 1st quarter and I don't think Meyer wanted to end the game like that with LSU coming up. Also....the offense had scored only 24 of the 31 points as 7 came on a blocked punt. I don't think any coach in college football would have done any differently.
I was reading that aritcle on ESPN about Tebow. I see that the Gators (and according to the article a lot of team now) do baseline testing before the season so that they can evaluate better the severity of the concussion and the progress in recovering. That's great that teams are doing this now, I mean you know it's tough for any team MD to tell the head coach his top player isn't really ready to go, but with this type of data available he has something to back his opinion up. Probably in the past too many players were allowed to play again before they were truly ready to play because the team needed them.
Probably not. But you also will not find any coach of any team, including Meyer, blaming the ref for an injury to a player.
Can't "blame" the ref Tom but if he makes the right call....does his job a little better....then the scenario never has a chance to unfold.
You supposedly have the #1 defense in the nation. You were winning 31-7. It was late in the 3rd quarter and you were in their red zone. If that lead isn't safe, either your defense isn't really that good (which it is) or Tebow should've been pulled.
Corey....my last comment on this but add it all up: The offense had only scored 24 points and nothing since the 1st quarter. It was 7:34 left in the 3rd when UF received the ball....own 26. They only had the ball 2:30 of the 2nd half up to that point. The decision came then and Meyer wanted the 1st team offense to finish the drive and finish with polish and momentum. Easy decision and one that any coach would make.
Not to support MCG in his paranoid feelings about how every Gator game is negatively impacted by the officals, but I would have to say that in similar circumstances that Mack Brown and Bob Stoops both would have left their Star QB's in the game, in most if not all games last year Mack and Stoops left their guys in till late in the 4th Qtr. Clearly the intent was to help them build stats and run up the score for the voters. Had either of them sustained serious injury it could and should have been severely criticised. This year Mack has a big need to get Garret Gilbert into games so it's possible we'll see him earlier than the backup would have last year. Gilbert is a highly recruited Freshman who will be the starter next year and needs to play, it's not the same situation as UF where Brantley is well positioned playing time wise and time in the system to take over for Tebow next year. And of course Bradfords replacement for next year has gotten lots of PT due to Bradfords injury. I expect that Bradford when he returns will play well into the 4th qtr of games where the game is way out of reach. So what Meyer did IMHO is pretty much the norm in football at pretty much any level.
just because people do it doesn't make it right. No one seemed to have an issue with the RUTS issue until the greatest player of the generation took one to the teeth (and then the back of the head)..and at that point in time, people finally began to look at the situation rationally.. Every situation is unique and there are always circumstances to consider. Dave is explaining this game to me like I didn't have it on one of the multiple TVs in the living room on game day. I watched almost every snap of this game. It was a blow out and to suggest that a Kentucky come back was right around the corner is laughable and insulting to anyone who actually watched that game.
Well since your star player can get hurt on any play from the 1st play to the last, I'm not sure that injury to a player in the 3rd qtr can fairly result in criticism of the coach when the offense has scored less than 40 pts. One of my biggest criticisms of Chuckles is that he doesn't play to score a high number of points, he plays the NFL way get a lead and sit on it. I personally think that once you approach 50 and you are in the 3rd QTr that's when I'd sit my "star" qB. But I'd let the backup run the regular offense and try to score till mid 4th qtr. I'll leave you with last years ND/Navy game as case in point.
Corey, I have not read one writer who has criticized Meyer for leaving Tebow in the game. Now Greg Doyel has already written a column saying Tebow should not be brought back for LSU and already criticizing Meyer just in case he does bring him back. But no one I have read says he should have been out of the game by that time. Florida had a 28 - 7 lead over Rutgers in the late 80's when Rutgers wasn't that good, brought in the 2nd string QB in the 3rd quarter and the game ended up 28 - 28 and we darn near lost. We had a 31-3 lead over FSU at their home field in the 4th quarter and it ended 31 - 31. Then of course what Terry said is also true. You are entitled to your opinion on this but I don't agree.
I have not suggested that was the case Corey but as Terry and Bill point out in the previous posts things can and do happen. That being said it is more about what I have said about it being mid-3rd quarter when UF took over on it's own 26 and Meyer trying to finish with a little offensive momentum that he had not seen from the Gators since the 1st quarter. I'll bet if Meyer were asked these are precisely the reasons he would give for why Tebow was in the game at that point. The field position with that much time left in the game played a big role in his decision also. Once the drive was started it was highly unlikely Meyer wouldn't let the first team offense finish it. That's why the holding call played a big role in the logical sequence of events leading to the injury because if the TD stands the drive is finished and Tebow rides the pine the rest of the game.
If you are going to leave your star in the game to pad his stats ( and yours ) then you must be prepared for an opposing player to take exception and to take it out on said star. In this case the player has Tebow in his sights and delivered a blow that would make Dick Butkus blush. Florida won the game handily but the only thing anyone ( except Tebow ) remembers is the hit that removed the film from his teeth. Those are the chances you take in football. As far as the referees being responsible for the de-cleating, I have consulted with an expert in matters such as these..... You're traveling through another dimension -- a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's a signpost up ahead: your next stop: the Twilight Zone! You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension: a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into... the Twilight Zone. There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call "The Twilight Zone".
Bill, It's been a busy week so I'll have to go back and look up who said it but there were quite a few that did.. Now, to be fair, they said that most any other coach would have done the same thing but that's because the game has accepted the RUTS mindset and see that stuff as acceptable. There was a point in time in which you defended SOS piling on by saying 'we're a passing offense, we're just doing our thing'... but you guys haven't been a passing offense in some time now.. yet somehow the passing in the end zone thing to RUTS is still acceptable. Like you said, we can agree to disagree.
Corey let me get this straight, you like Chuckles NFL approach and things like last years Navy game don't bother you??
Corey, I did defend Spurrier and still do. He used a lot of players and a lot of the complaints came about with subs in the game and I see no problem with it. As far as the Kentucky game it was way to early to call off the offense, way to early.
Bill.....it's pretty much a given this is true considering all of the facts at hand but some just feel better about ignoring the facts and what makes sense. This was not about RUTS...... George.....that's pretty funny but I do think you're smart enough to see the logic in what I am saying. I stress the bad call's influence on the injury was merely circumstantial and random but it did have a direct bearing on the outcome of events because without the call Demps scored and Tebow was through. I do believe you can understand the concept.
Terry, Indeed I do. I think the RUTS issue is a BS cop out to cover a coach's own insecurities. I sincerely believe that. Blowouts are going to happen. You can do something about not letting them get out of hand. How about placing some trust and faith in your defense? What message are you sending to them? ' yeah guys, I know we're up 45 and you're the nation's leading defense.. but these guys just might score 50 on you next quarter.. we can never be too safe.' People can expect more of themselves. Taking the low hanging fruit is awfully popular.