Gators 23 LSU 10
Posted Oct 7, 01:19 PM in Gators by Scott Conley
For starters, I feel compelled to mention that this was the second-consecutive Florida game this season that I’ve had to completely mute the television for a large portion of the game. There is perhaps no better word than ‘astonishing’ to describe how poor the duo of Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson performs every week. I’m actually considering taking next week’s CBS spotlight game (since The Boys will be on ESPN at 7:45) and using it to log all of the errors, inanities and other worthless agitation that comes out of these two awful professionals. I’ve honestly seen crews from the now defunct ‘JP Sports’ deliver more professional results…
The game. WOW! First, Auburn loses in the early game (if you didn’t see the game, Arkansas really just manhandled the Tigers, in their own house), which made me realize going in that LSU might just be the best defense in the league. (I’d also seen enough of UGA against Colorado and Ole Miss to dismiss their candidacy.) I love our defense too, especially the front four rotation, Siler, Smith and Nelson, but LSU’s looked ferocious, with a better consistency in generating pass rush than we’ve been able to produce.
The Bayou Bengals defense did not disappoint- while we started very crisply, their defense would utlimately dictate what we were able to do the rest of the game. Well, every time Tim Tebow wasn’t behind center, that is.
STEPHEN M. DOWELL, MCT
I can tell already that this will be viewed as his national awareness coming out party. He’s already got Sunday morning articles at the national level, and every highlight package from the game clearly features his plays. This game had a very Weurffel-to-Doering breakout feel to me and it’s clear that there is no getting the horse back into the barn.
Not that we want to. But I just hope that Coach Meyer is able to keep my man Chris Leak focused and confident with his contributions to the team. There is no question that, as Rexie put it on a pregame call- as Leak goes, so go the Gators. Chris, if you’re reading, please know that Gator Nation is completely behind you and I, for one, believe that it is ONLY you that can lead The Boys to the ring this year. Keep bringin it, kid.
That said, our defense outplayed LSU’s Saturday, creating four turnovers off of Russell, a critically-timed blocked punt, and ending even the endless drives (the center-qb exchange fum rec at the UF 1 came on the 17th play of a VERY long drive).
Some things to watch for on the replays:
- Cooper’s MONSTER hit on Dwayne Bowe on the second-half kickoff: I’ve never seen us score on a kickoff when we were the ones kicking!
- Reggie Nelson’s MONSTER hit on (Doucet?) on Russell’s first INT.
- Ryan Smith on every play. ESPN should put an iso on him when they do the whole Full Circle treatment this Saturday. He tackles well, is smart around the ball, and rarely gets caught in mistakes.
- Jarvis Moss taking advantage of Marcus Thomas’ return. We only got one sack (that I saw, and even that was mysteriously scored ‘Russell rushes for one yard loss’), but Moss was a nice surprise with Thomas drawing attention.
- Again, Leak, particularly in the roll-out pocket. I love what he does when we protect him. The INT he threw was simply not throwing it long enough- and even then, Cornelius should at least try to defend the pass—interfere if need be!!
- Can anyone cover Dallas Baker? COACH: Throw at Baker until his arms fall off!
STEPHEN M. DOWELL, ORLANDO SENTINEL
- The “Pop Pass”. Even on replay, I think Casey is going to fall out of the endzone every time.
- The “Helmet Throw”. Pete and I have been waiting for the Big Fake from Tebow, and we finally got it in this game (too bad he missed the game, playing cards in Vegas). It was gorgeous, nonetheless, and while I thought we’d be saving it for Auburn, it may yet be proven that this was the more important game..
- Both Herbstreit AND Corso (from GameDay crew, see below) catch errant passes while hanging out on the LSU sideline.
Finally, don’t know if anyone watched the GameDay crew, present in Gainesville again, but the fans really delivered- noise, color, and of course, flavor:
- Poster reading: ‘Hetland for Groza’ was my favorite.
- Stick sign with Borat on it, wrapped in Florida gear..
- Guy in bronze paint pantomiming the Heisman looked great.
- Glad to see the Fire Millen network is alive and well- they had a nice banner up.
- Poster: “Chuck Norris is afraid of Tim Tebow”
- The Oregon Ducks guys in body paint were genuine lunatics.
- Lee Corso is quite probably losing his mind.
I’m not going to focus on what we might ‘have to do’ to beat Auburn. Who cares. This team has trailed in all four of our SEC contests this season, and prevailed each time. They’ve got heart, trust, and talent, and that’s enough for me to sit back and let them play.
PS. Texas beat OU in Dallas, btw. Get to hookin’, Horns!!
Rate this article:
(1 ratings)
