- Defenses in the SEC may have caught up with the Buster Faulkner offense. Or maybe the Gators need to get stronger to compete in the league.
- Florida basketball anticipation is growing with key players attending SEC Media Days and an exhibition game against Baylor scheduled for Jacksonville.
The Front 9 comes at you after another weekend that is difficult to explain.
1. Yeah, I could lay a lot of mumbo-jumbo on you after how a team that looked like a playoff team in September looks like it can only hope to limp into lower-tiered bowl game two Saturdays into October. You watched it. You know what this team’s weaknesses are. You thought you had hired the people who could smack the entitlement right out of these guys. Jon Sumrall saw this coming in the preseason when he told people close to him that they would win early, but the losses were going to come and the noise has to be kept outside the building. Well, the noise has arrived.
2. One theory is that the defenses in the SEC have caught up with the Buster Faulkner offense. Another is that Florida needs another cycle of weight training before they stop somebody. Or that covering receivers is optional. Whatever it is, Texas and Georgia await with Gator-baited breaths.
3. FOMO game of the week
This isn’t really a game but the anticipation for this Florida basketball season is building. On Wednesday, the Gators — Todd Golden, Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon and Rueben Chinyelu — will take their turns at SEC Media Days (on SEC Network) in Birmingham and also play an exhibition game against Baylor Sunday in Jacksonville.
4. Four questions with starting guard/center from the 1996 national champion Florida Gators Ryan Kalich
- How does a Texas guy (Houston) end up at the University of Florida?
Kalich: I was a decent Catholic kid and always wanted to go to Notre Dame but the letter and phone call never came. My dad was a UT alumnus and I loved Austin but could not go there because every year they seemed to get beat by rival Texas A&M. I could not go to A&M because I was a city kid and did not like the small town of College Station at the time. The surrounding bigger schools of LSU and Oklahoma were going through coaching changes so I ruled them out. My choice was going to be Florida or a California school and I chose the Gators. - How often do you now feel the more than 2,000 plays you had in college?
Kalich: I was lucky to play as a freshman and probably played the most snaps my first year. I suppose I was younger and healed faster. The next three years I always had to deal with injuries or a suspension but never had a significant injury so I would say my body feels decent as I age. I will say I somehow tend to injure myself at least one time a year. I also credit our coaching staff for running a very pro-style practice in which the majority of our reps were against the scout teams and spring ball is easy if you were a veteran. - How did your time at UF get you ready for the rest of your life?
Kalich: I was able to get a degree from our university so it prepared me for life after football. I was fortunate enough to continue my football career after college for about three years and was still able to get a job in my field with my construction degree. In fact, I used my contacts from school to get my first job with Centex homes. I made solid contacts and teammates while playing at UF. - What was the best part about playing for Steve Spurrier?
Kalich: Coach was always prepared and very competitive, so it was easy to play for him. I was an offensive lineman so our contact was minimal with him but he was always ready to offer advice. My best example was against FSU the year they came to the Swamp and lost. Coach preferred to throw the ball, but I believe he knew we had a decent line with excellent RBs. So coach sacrificed throwing the ball and we ran all over a number 1 FSU team. Bobby Bowden said his team could not stop that darn number 21. We had an average team that year but the Gators beat FSU.
5. Five key stats from Saturday
- For the first time this season, Florida was under double digits in explosive plays (6).
- Aaron Philo’s two turnovers were the difference in the game.
- Florida allowed an erratic quarterback to throw for 279 yards and four touchdowns.
- After averaging 53.5 points in the first four games, the Gators have averaged 18.0 in the last two.
- Only Campbell has been held to fewer than 271 passing yards by UF.
6. It Just Means More Report
- Could win it all: Georgia, Alabama, Texas.
- Other playoff teams: Ole Miss, Kentucky.
- The Big Flops: Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, LSU.
7. Hot take of the week
So, baseball has proposed shortening the season to 154 games and expanding the playoff games. I’m all in favor of shortening the season (100 games would be better), but I wonder if some of it is that the owners know that steroids are not allowed anymore and the home run records will never been broken anyway. Playoff baseball is way better than any regular season game. MLB is also proposing that higher seeds can choose which team they want to play. That’s dummy. Just get rid of divisions and let the best teams duke it out. It is working in college football even for those of us who miss divisions.
8. Tweet of the week
From FloridaGators.com’s Scott Carter: “Sumrall warned us two weeks ago that the Gators had not arrived. Now, they have been exposed.” What he said.
9. Remote drop of the week
Like many of you I was mesmerized by Monty Python growing up and “The Holy Grail” still gets quoted a ton even though it doesn’t enjoy the airtime of a Tom Cruise movie. “What is your favorite color?”