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Post by Deleted on Oct 13, 2013 22:34:22 GMT -5
Time to say goodbye to Dandy Don for another season:
10/13/13 6:00 am CST
Good morning, Tiger Fans,
The 10th ranked LSU football team came away with an impressive 17-6 victory over No. 17 Florida in a classic, old school SEC battle in which LSU’s defense had the upper hand. Each unit of LSU’s defense played by far its best game of the season, while LSU’s offense and special teams turned in solid, though not flashy, performances.
It was great to see LSU take care of business in the trenches, on both sides of the ball. On offense, LSU’s line did a good job of protecting Mettenberger and didn’t allow any sacks or quarterback hurries. They also did a great job of fostering LSU's running game, which pounded out 175 yards on the ground against a Florida defense that had given up an average of only 65 rushing yards per game. As for the defensive line, they did a better job of getting penetration and pressuring the quarterback than at any time this season, and they held a Gator team that was determined to run the ball down their throat to only 111 yards rushing 40 carries. Jermauria Rasco had his best game as a Tiger and finished with four tackles and four quarterback hurries, while Danielle Hunter recorded seven tackles and batted down two passes.
I was also pleased to see LSU’s linebacker corps really step up its play. Lamin Barrow led the team in tackles with a career-high 13, including one for loss, and also broke up a pass. Kwon Alexander had a big day with seven tackles and seemed to always be around the ball. What impressed me most about the play of the linebackers was their improved tackling and the fact that they didn’t allow as many yards after contact as in previous games. This is still an area that needs improvement, but it was clearly better yesterday.
The defensive backfield had a big night, although Florida really didn’t test them all that much. It appears to me that LSU has zeroed in on a winning combination of personnel with freshmen Tradavious White and Rashard Robinson at the corners, Jalen Mills used in nickel packages, and Corey Thompson and Craig Loston at the safeties. Loston came away with nine tackles and one pass breakup, while Thompson had a career-high seven tackles. Mills had one of his better games this season and came away with his first career sack while blitzing from the nickel position.
On offense, Jeremy Hill had a big night and tallied 121 yards on 19 carries. Really, until yesterday's game I had some doubt as to whether LSU could pound out a successful running game against a stout defense, but those doubts were put to rest. What's particularly impressive about Hill's 121 yards is that they came in pretty consistent chuncks. In other words, there were no long 40+ yard gainers to inflate the numbers.
Mettenberger didn’t have his best night throwing the ball, and that’s okay. The fact is he managed the game well and did enough to secure the win against a team that features one of the best defensive secondaries in the country. Mettenberger ended the night 9-of-17 for 152 yards. Jarvis Landry, who showed no lingering signs of his ankle injury, led the Tigers in receiving with 58 yards on four receptions. Odell Beckham, Jr. had 47 yards on two catches, Hill added 30 yards on one catch and Terrance Magee added 17 on another.
All in all, it was a great win over a quality opponent, and one that the team can build upon as the season continues with some big games ahead. The Tigers will return to action this coming Saturday when they travel to Oxford to face a dangerous Ole Miss team that came close to beating Texas A&M last night but fell by a score of 41-38.
One more thing for now: A lot of you have asked me about the injury that Jordan Allen suffered on LSU’s last defensive play of the game. All I know at this time is that Allen was helped off the field with an apparent leg injury, and it looked pretty bad. Coach Miles did not offer any additional info after the game. I know I speak for the entire Tiger Nation when I wish Allen a full and speedy recovery. Many of you will recall that Allen had knee surgery and missed almost all of last season after suffering an injury against Washington in Week 2.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 14, 2013 8:18:54 GMT -5
The basketball team will be a mess to open the season due to suspensions and injury:
Written byFranz Beard, October 14, 2013, 0 Comments,
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Kasey Hill might be the most heralded point guard recruit that Billy Donovan has ever landed at Florida. Looking at the first month of the season, Hill might also be the only point guard Donovan has. With All-SEC defender Scottie Wilbekin doing penance for violating team rules until December and Rutgers transfer Eli Carter, who is as comfortable at both the point and wing, coming back from a broken leg and still working himself back into good enough physical condition to practice, Hill is Florida’s only certain option when the season begins in less than a month.
A McDonald’s All-American from Clermont via Montverde Academy, Hill is easily the quickest guard Donovan has ever recruited but for all his ability, he still has to learn a complicated offensive scheme – Florida runs as many offensive sets as any team in the country – while also picking up a defensive philosophy rooted in shutting down the perimeter and taking away the three-point shot. It’s a lot for any freshman to take on, especially someone who will have the responsibilities of principle ball handler and starting the offense.
Through Florida’s first two days of practice, Donovan says he hasn’t had to dumb things down so that Hill can keep pace.
“I have not been in a situation where I’ve had to hold back and go a little bit slower,” Donovan said Saturday morning. “He’s kind of absorbing and picking up everything we’re putting in so far.”
Donovan hasn’t hesitated to pit Hill against Wilbekin head-to-head in practice, figuring that the experience Wilbekin has picked up while playing a vital role in three straight Florida appearances in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament will rub off against a precocious freshman. Although he can’t play until December while working his way back from suspension, Wilbekin is allowed to practice with the team.
It’s a chance for Donovan force Hill to learn on the fly against a premier defender who has earned his lock down who has earned his lock down reputation.
“I’ve separated those guys because I think that for Kasey to go against Scottie as a veteran guy is a good thing,” Donovan said. I also think that Scottie’s future based on him holding up his end of the bargain and taking care of his responsibilities in the next phase here before he actually comes back to playing in games and those kind of things – I think that Kasey needs to be in a situation where he may have to stand on his own two feet a little bit right now.”
* * *
It is possible that Carter will be able to contribute at some point in the month of November, but Donovan can’t begin to tell you when or how much. A junior with two years of eligibility remaining, Carter comes to Gainesville with a scorer’s reputation but he was an outstanding point guard in high school and filled in at the point at Rutgers where he averaged 14.9 per game last year and 13.8 in 2012.
Ideally, Donovan would like to keep Carter on the wing opposite shooter deluxe Michael Frazier where he could balance the floor with a three-point shooter on either side. Frazier, whose job it was to come off the bench and bust up zones last year as a freshman for the Gators, gained valuable experience playing for Donovan and the USA team that won the gold medal at the under-19 world championships in Prague during the summer.
Donovan has actually toyed with the possibility of Frazier taking some backup minutes at the point but thought better of it.
“I don’t know if a guy like Mike Frazier if that would take away too much of what he does well in terms of shooting the ball and scoring by putting the ball in his hands,” Donovan said.
So with Wilbekin sidelined the first month, Carter out until who knows when and Frazier probably not an option, who gets the backup minutes at the point until the Gators are back at full strength? One option would be 6-4 sophomore Dillon Graham, who averaged 3.5 minutes a game last year as a freshman. The other would be Virginia Tech transfer Dorian (Doe-Doe) Finney-Smith, a 6-8 athletic freak who can play and defend all five positions on the floor.
“Right now that’s who we would probably be looking at – Doe-Doe, Dillon Graham – those guys would be the most logical right now,” Donovan said.
In high school in Orlando, Graham was Mr. Basketball for the state in his classification. He has a good shooter’s touch from long distance and is a high flyer who first caught Donovan’s eye by dunking on Shabazz Muhammad at an AAU tournament in Atlanta.
“Dillon is a very good passer,” Donovan said. “He’s a good distributor and he’s got good speed.”
As a freshman at Virginia Tech, Finney-Smith actually played all five positions, sometimes in the same game. Playing on the same AAU team (Boo Williams Summer League) with James Michael McAdoo (North Carolina) and Justin Anderson (Virginia), Finney-Smith was the full time high post and backup point guard.
Finney-Smith’s versatility allows Donovan to go big or small with his lineup. Donovan is already contemplating using Finney-Smith and senior Casey Prather together quite often because they can interchange from the wing to the high post. But, Finney-Smith is such a good passer and ball handler that Donovan knows he can use him to eat up some minutes at the point until Wilbekin and Carter return.
“Right now that’s who we would probably be looking at – Doe-Doe, Dillon Graham – those guys would be the most logical right now,” Donovan said.
Having a versatile player like Finney-Smith will help Donovan compensate until his roster is intact. Right now he’s without Will Yeguete, who can defend all three front court positions, along with Carter and Wilbekin. After the semester break in December, Donovan will also pick up 6-10 Chris Walker, who should be declared eligible by the NCAA.
When everyone is healthy and eligible, Donovan will have a roster that from top to bottom gives him more options than he’s had perhaps the 1999-2000 season when the Gators reached the NCAA title game.
“I think that with a full complete roster that we have a really athletic team,” Donovan said. “We don’t have great depth right now at certain positions because of the injuries.”
At some point that changes. The only question is when.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 14, 2013 9:14:14 GMT -5
Written by Franz Beard, October 14, 2013
CONTENDERS OR PRETENDERS?
By this time next week, we’ll know plenty more about both the Gators (4-2, 3-1 SEC East) and Missouri (6-0, 2-0 SEC East) than we know now. We’ll know if the Gators are resilient enough to bounce back from that loss to LSU and hang in the race to win the SEC Eastern Division championship. Florida only has to win its final four SEC games to win the division. If Missouri is able to win without stud quarterback James Franklin, sidelined for at least the next month with a separated (right) throwing shoulder, then the Tigers are definitely legit. When Franklin went down, the Tigers were on the verge of choking away an 18-point halftime lead that had shrunk to two points. In the final nine minutes with backups at quarterback, the Tigers put 13 points on the board and held Georgia scoreless
HOW THE GATORS LOST IS THE PROBLEM
It is not the fact that Florida lost to LSU that has so many in the Gator Nation either singing the blues or venting their anger today. It’s how the Gators lost to LSU. Even before Zach Mettenberger morphed into the reincarnation of Johnny Unitas, most Gator fans had LSU in Baton Rouge tagged as a potential loss so it was no shock that the vastly improved Tigers took out the Gators Saturday afternoon. The final score was 17-6 and the score would seem to indicate that the Gators were in it from start to finish but they weren’t. LSU dominated every phase of the game and despite the closeness of the score, the Tigers had no reason to feel threatened and that is why so many Gator fans are on edge.
HOW THE GATORS LOST IS THE PROBLEM, PART II
Les Miles was so confident that his team would win that he went retro and dialed back the LSU offense to the last two years when everyone in the ball yard knew the Tigers were going to line up and ram the ball between the tackles. Oh, they threw it 17 times, just enough to show the Gators they could fling it around any time they wanted, but they were content to knock the Gators off the football and pound them into submission. At the end of the game, the Tigers looked like a team that could keep playing for another two or three quarters. Florida looked like a team that had just been thrown off a cliff.
DON’T EXPECT WHOLESALE CHANGES IN THE OFFENSE THIS WEEK
There is no question the Gators need a substantial upgrade in the passing game, but if it happens the soonest will be against Georgia and not this week against Missouri. Why? Because there is a bye week after Missouri, so an entire week of practice can be devoted to implementing changes. The NCAA limits the time for practice, preparation and playing games to 20 hours per week so this week the Gators are limited in what they can change. Monday the team will watch film of Saturday’s game, then watch film of the next opponent (in this case Missouri) plus they get their game plans. Tuesday and Wednesday are full contact practices. The first part of the Tuesday practice is to correct mistakes made Saturday and the second half is spent working on the game plan. Wednesday is a full contact day going against the scout team and Thursday is spent clearing up any rough edges. Friday is travel day and Saturday they play. So any changes this week will be minor in nature and most likely will involve personnel.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 14, 2013 10:53:55 GMT -5
The biggest reason why Jay-nard Bostwick needs his redshirt removed and the D going back to 4/3:
Thomas Goldkamp @goldkamp247 3h #Gators were allowing 2.9 yards per carry with Dominique Easley healthy. Since he went down, allowing 4.8.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 14, 2013 11:08:05 GMT -5
Not a big surprise, starting RB Matt Jones has been lost for the season:
By SCOTT CARTER GatorZone.com Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – If there was a repellent to buy for the injury bug, Gators coach Will Muschamp would stock up.
Muschamp announced Monday that sophomore running back Matt Jones, who is averaging a team-high 67.8 yards per game, is out for the year with a knee injury.
Jones is undergoing surgery today to repair a meniscus tear in his left knee. Jones was hurt in Saturday’s 17-6 loss at LSU.
"Very unfortunate,'' Muschamp said. "I hate it for Matt. He is a great young man. To have this setback is disheartening for all of us."
Jones carried four times for 17 yards Saturday on Florida’s first drive, a 14-play, 60-yard march that ended with a field goal. However, after a 3-yard run on first-and-10 at the LSU 36, Jones left the game and did not return.
He went to the locker room and briefly returned to the sideline in uniform, but by the second half, Jones was in his warm-up suit with his left knee heavily bandaged.
“When we (saw) him go down, it hurt the whole team,’’ said running back Mack Brown afterward. “We just knew we had to pick it up a little bit more at the running back position."
The injury is the latest setback for the Gators and Jones.
A product of Armwood High near Tampa, Jones is the third starter in the past month to go down with a season-ending injury. Quarterback Jeff Driskel suffered a broken fibula against Tennessee and three days later, defensive tackle Dominique Easley went down in practice with a season-ending knee injury.
The Gators also have lost offensive lineman Chaz Green (shoulder), receiver/return specialist Andre Debose (knee), linebacker Matt Rolin (knee), and defensive back Nick Washington (shoulder) to season-ending injuries.
All seven players figured prominently into Florida’s plans this season.
The knee injury ends what was a difficult season for Jones, who rushed for a career-high 176 yards in a 24-6 win at Kentucky, the most by a Gators running back since Ciatrick Fason in 2004.
Jones contracted a serious viral infection right before fall camp opened and lost more than 10 pounds. He missed all of fall camp and Florida’s season-opening win over Toledo. In his first game back, Jones lost a fumble early in the Gators’ loss at Miami.
He finally had a breakout game at Kentucky and led the Gators in rushing the following week with 17 carries for 50 yards against Arkansas.
Jones was projected to be the Gators’ starting tailback after a solid freshman season backing up Mike Gillislee. The 6-foot-2, 226-pound Jones is a physical between-the-tackles runner and a good receiver and pass blocker.
Jones finishes the season with 339 yards and two touchdowns in five games. In 17 career games, Jones has 614 yards on 132 rushes.
Brown, who is averaging 56.7 yards per game, and freshman Kelvin Taylor, coming off a 10-carry, 52-yard performance at LSU, are expected to get the bulk of the work in Jones’ absence. The Gators also have Valdez Showers and Mark Herndon on the depth chart.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 14, 2013 11:51:26 GMT -5
Punter Kyle Christy, a Ray Guy Award finalist last season, has been benched in favor of true freshman Johnny Townsend, Muschamp said.
"We've got to punt the ball better,'' Muschamp said.
Opening the competition didn't motivate Kyle. I don't know what is wrong with Kyle, but this move is overdue. Kyle has the talent, but he isn't using it.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 14, 2013 15:40:40 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Oct 15, 2013 18:24:57 GMT -5
UF's depth chart for Mizzou: www.gatorzone.com/football/stats/depth.pdfI am not pleased with DT, not moving Jay-nard Bostwick into the 2 deep, and TE, not developing a pass catching TE. If Jay-nard Bostwick keeps his redshirt after being pronounced ready to play by Durkin prior to LSU, we can kiss any chance of winning the SEC East goodbye.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 15, 2013 22:07:07 GMT -5
Note to Gators - I'd like to know if you have any interest in this team board. There has been a lack of Gator discussion to what I have delivered here. It has been one stop shopping with no feedback or discussion.
If you aren't interested in having an active Gator board for participation and discussion, I'm inclined to stop bringing the information to this thread. It's up to you.
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Now THIS here...is a member
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Post by lz2112 on Oct 15, 2013 23:20:20 GMT -5
Note to Gators - I'd like to know if you have any interest in this team board. There has been a lack of Gator discussion to what I have delivered here. It has been one stop shopping with no feedback or discussion. If you aren't interested in having an active Gator board for participation and discussion, I'm inclined to stop bringing the information to this thread. It's up to you. Sorry ET that I haven't contributed, but I do read most of the stuff you post if I have time, and enjoy it a great deal since I don't have time to find all the stuff you post myself.
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Gator Bait!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 16, 2013 7:53:25 GMT -5
Note to Gators - I'd like to know if you have any interest in this team board. There has been a lack of Gator discussion to what I have delivered here. It has been one stop shopping with no feedback or discussion. If you aren't interested in having an active Gator board for participation and discussion, I'm inclined to stop bringing the information to this thread. It's up to you. It has been the case that I've been very busy for the past few weeks and so I have not been able to post hardly at all. Of course, even when I do have a fair amount of free time available I haven't posted that much anyway (as is evidenced by my relatively low total post count since I first signed on to this board back around Feb. 23, 2012...the day AOL pulled the plug on their messageboard system over there). Having said that, I've never been a fan of this setup....that of having a board stuck in an area separate from the main posting area. I have made that known already so that's not a surprise. The original topic that I had set up in the main area was meant to mimic the setup that had existed over on the old AOL board where all sorts of Gator-oriented topics were discussed. It was only when the AOL UF board devolved into the political discussion crap that I finally left that board for good. I stayed away from that one for upwards of 2 or 3 years (until AOL pulled the plug on everything) if memory serves. So, to your point, I have been reading everything you've been putting up....though I usually do it in short visits that come only when I have a little free time to access the boards. thanks for your efforts to post all of that info, but if you decided to stop doing it I would completely understand. It's not a lot of fun to just post all that stuff with little feedback or discussion. - David ( now, about Muschamp tying Pease's hands offense-wise... ) PwrMc
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Post by Deleted on Oct 16, 2013 8:51:48 GMT -5
Thanks for the feedback.
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Enter your message here...
Godlike Member
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Post by trnyerheadncough on Oct 16, 2013 13:05:58 GMT -5
I read some of the football stuff you post. That's saying a lot, coming from a Nole fan.
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That's TrnYerHeadnCough...
"Champion Douche -- 2012 AND 2013"
Back to Back...they may have to retire the contest...
"Bowl Champion Douche --2012-2013"
Get it right.
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Post by roxalot on Oct 16, 2013 22:02:31 GMT -5
Punter Kyle Christy, a Ray Guy Award finalist last season, has been benched in favor of true freshman Johnny Townsend, Muschamp said. "We've got to punt the ball better,'' Muschamp said. Opening the competition didn't motivate Kyle. I don't know what is wrong with Kyle, but this move is overdue. Kyle has the talent, but he isn't using it. Kind of makes one wonder why it took Driskel getting hurt before Muschamp gave Tyler Murphy an opportunity to step up and lead this team.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2013 8:37:52 GMT -5
Punter Kyle Christy, a Ray Guy Award finalist last season, has been benched in favor of true freshman Johnny Townsend, Muschamp said. "We've got to punt the ball better,'' Muschamp said. Opening the competition didn't motivate Kyle. I don't know what is wrong with Kyle, but this move is overdue. Kyle has the talent, but he isn't using it. Kind of makes one wonder why it took Driskel getting hurt before Muschamp gave Tyler Murphy an opportunity to step up and lead this team. Kyle's dad posts on Gator Country under the name of Proud Poppa. He said he warned Kyle of the pending demotion and that we should all get behind Johnny. He didn't offer up any reason why Kyle went from a Ray Guy finalist to second string.
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