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UF v. UT, The Feud Continues

September 22, 2009 in Gators, Vols | No comments

kiffinmeyerIf UT ever beats Florida again, this Kiffin-Meyer rivalry is going to be fantastic. 

The latest comes in the wake of Ut’s recent loss to the Gators, their 4th in a row bye the bye, when was asked whether he was worried about the flu hitting Tennessee, he said: “I don’t know. I guess we’ll wait and after we’re not excited about a performance, we’ll tell you everybody was sick.”  This thinly veiled barb is Kiffin’s crack-back against Meyer for saying that UT wasn’t trying to win the game on Saturday, which they weren’t, and that Florida’s conservative play was partially spawned by UT’s evident offensive impotence, and partially due to some key players having the flu. 

Kiffin wasn’t done either, telling the same reporter that “he wished he could play Florida again,” and “[n]ext time they [Florida] will be without Tebow.” 

The more conciliatory of the Gators have attempted to mitigate Kiffin’s comments by recalling the brash OBC, who coined such memorables as “Free Shoes University” and “[y]ou can’t spell Citrus without UT.”  True, we Gators lapped it up while the rest of the league fumed.  More discerning minds, however, might point out a small difference between the OBC and Kiffin:  Florida was winning games before the OBC wnet public, a lot of them. 

Until now, SNL has staunchly defended Baby Kiffin’s right to poke at Urban on grounds that Kiffin’s comments were the only thing that spawned any interest in this game outside of Gainesville and Knoxville.  This latest round, however, has cast Kiffin in a new light, making him seem petulant rather than precocious, boastful rathern than brave, pouty rather than competitive.  There is now enough evidence to believe that Kiffin is little more than spoiled brat who has had doors opened for him by his legendary father.  Kiffin’s track record certainly bolsters this assertion, he is now 7-17 as a head coach and UT’s appearance in a bowl game in 2009 is tenuous at best.  For comparative purposes, Kiffin’s former colleague, Sarkisian, has 2-1 record with a narrow defeat to a top-10 team and an upset win over a top-5 team, but has yet to take a shot at any of the PAC-10 coaches. 

Kiffin’s Vols did some good things against UF, but they did more mediocre and bad and all but the most partisan would agree that UT was never a threat to win against the Gators.  And yet, the mouthing-off continues.  The UT faithful will continue to drink the Kiffin-punch, for awhile.  But the time will come when losing to UF and Alabama year in and year out, no motter how fine the margin, will be unacceptable.  Until then, Kiffin’s barbs will rightfully be construed by the rest of us as the tantrums of a boy playing in a conference for men. 

-So Sayeth the Shepherd

Tags: Gators, UT, Vols

College Football: The way it is is the way it was (for the most part).

September 15, 2009 in ACC, BCS, BIG 10, Dr. Saturday, E-SPIN, Foolmer, Gators, PAC 1 + 9, The Hat, The Poodle, Vols | No comments

  The season is a mere 2 weeks old and, as always, the drama of CFB has seen the fortunes of many diametrically altered in a span of 3 and a hal hours this past Saturday.  In general, what stands out the most to SNL is not the ostensible resurgence of the Wolverines or comeuppance of the Houston Cougars, it’s the plodding inefficiency of specific regimes who thought  they were something other than what they are, but are in reality, are who they already were.  There’s also a few, who are what they never have been.  Make sense?   Let Me explain:

1.  The Vestwas bludgeoned again by The Poodle.  There is a great write-up on the Buckeyes’ offensive ineptitude on Dr. Saturday’s site, and SNL would be re-plodding plowed ground were he to get into all of them.  But some of the more noticeable deficiencies include the complete absence of the zone-read, which is the staple of every spread offense from Ann Arbor to Gainesville (and about a thousand high schools in between), and the failure to make USC cover the field (all of it, that is) by checking to a bubble screen when the Trojans (purposefully neglected) to place a man over the slot receiver.  

In laymen’s terms, Ohio State was advertised as a newly constructed offense built on the skills, shoulders and tattoos of its phenom QB (save some canvas TP, you may want to add a few more when you’re languishing on the bench in the NFL).  What Ohio St. is, however, is the same unimaginative, poorly coached and schemed offense that hasn’t been able to beat a team of equal talent since 2002-for those of you parochial by nature, this means a team outside the Big 10.  What is certain, or as certain as anything after 2 weeks, is that  Rich Rodriguez-irrespective of this year’s outcome-is a better coach than The Vest, and Big Blue will run The Vest out of town in another year or two.  Even worse, there is nothing left on the Buckeye schedule sufficient to buoy this year’s Buckeyes into the national consciousness.  In sum, OSU remains the team that is better than the other teams in its conference, but incapable of beating the best teams in the SEC, Big 12, or PAC 1 + 9, at least for now.

2.  Kiffin’s credentials, aside from his bridal selection, are worthy of questioning.  In fact, if you closed your eyes during the UCLA/UT game on Saturday for any reason other than excessive alcohol consumption, this game looked exactly like last year’s crap-bowl between these teams which was coached not by UT’s blonded boy-toy, but by his corpulent predecessor, Fool-mer.  The offense was straight outta’ Crompton, with the 5th-year senior throwing for less than 100 yards and 3 picks.  It seems safe to say the Fulmer could have could have produced this result and saved the school a ton of money and off-season embarrassment.  Speaking of which, Kiffin should be mouth agape by midway through the second-quarter this Saturday and suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder by 6:00 EST or so.  Best part:  Fulmer is CBS’ SEC analyst.  In sum, Kiffin is just a mouthier version of the old boss, and he’s also the Jabrone that marched into CFB’s most hyper-competitive conference (and its not even close) and made an ass out of himself without any independent achievements to support his sophomoric hubris.  

3.  Rich-Rod.  Say what you will about this guy, he’s a liar, he breaks the NCAA’sludicrous practice constraints for the NFL feeder league that is NCAA football etc…  This guy can Coach.  True, Michigan and ND both looked undersized and slow on the defensive side of the ball, but how can you not like this Forcier cat?  He’s small and ornery, like NCAAF’s version of Tanner from The Bad News Bears, and, unlike USC’s frosty-tipped signal caller, looks like he’s not a complete douche. 

4.  The OBC can still draw up some plays and, still struggles on occasion in the red zone.  3 field goals on possessions inside UGA’s 20, along with the worst kickoff coverage this side of Zook undid the Cocks, but credit the OBC for putting on a show following the nationally televised cat-fight with NCSU.   

5.  It’s official, USC is now poised for 2 weeks of BCSCG hype, followed by an untimely loss-or 2 if Saturday’s vanilla performance is a harbinger-and a season-ending win streak which will prompt the E-SPIN heads to sing in unison “SC is playing as well as anyone in the country right now.”   While it would be nice for Florida deliver a solid a**-kicking of the prophylactics in the BCSCG, the key to this wish is the phrase “right now,” which impliedly points out that the Trojans will have sucked against someone else that also sucks a month or so before. 

6.  Florida’s trip to Baton Rouge looks a little rosier to the uninitiated.  LSU was outgained by over 200 yards in Washington last week and judging by the scoreboard, struggled to put away Vandy.  This sentiment, which seems common amongst Florida fans, belies the fact that LSU was never threatened by Vandy, and coasted to relatively convincing victory nonetheless.  And, playing Vandy is about as exciting as drunk-dialing an ex-girlfriend at 2 a.m. becuase the girl you were buying drinks for all night lef with your buddy.  Still, it would be nice to see  The Hat joining The Vest and the cherub-faced Kiffin on the first train outta’ town if the Tigers get cleansed by the Gators on October 11, but don’t count on it.  

7.  Florida State’s trip to Gainesville looks like a horror show.  Hell, the ‘Noles may get pummeled so bad by the polygamists next week that they may just forfeit the remainder of the season.  The only upside for SNL is watching Bownden hem and haw on his
Sunday program, dropping punchy 1-liners like “I don’t know who #19 is,” and “I can’t remember what play we had called there.”  Like all sentient beings, SNL likes Bowden, but his equity in the program has dwindeld to an all-time low and it may be time to move on.  Bowden for Senate!  For the uninformed, the ‘Noles squeaked by Jackson St. last week after trailing most of the 4th-quarter.  Would it be an overstatement after 2 games to say the Florida State sucks-again?  Probably not.  But always looking to err on the side of caution, SNL will refrain from making so strident a statement for fear of a bellicose response from the ‘Nole readers, who don’t know what that last sentence means.  But, after Tech kicks the crap out of Da’U this Thursday, all bets are off.

-So Sayeth the Shepherd

Tags: BCS, Degenerate Gambler, LSU, Meyer, The Hat, The OBC, the Vest, UT

Saturday’s Picks (1-1 ATS YTD) and an absurdly premature assessment of the Kiffin Regime

September 5, 2009 in ATS, Degenerate Gamblers, Main Content, Pope Meyer, UGA, Vols | No comments

Georgia (+5.5/61u) at Okie St.:  The more I look at this game, the more I like it.  UGA seems to have more talent on both lines of scrimmage, and more overall speed.  In addition, there’s some value here because this year’s UGA is (ostensibly)O a pedestrian outfit while Okie St. is everyone’s “dark horse” in the Big 12.  Not sure of UGA has the firepower to win this on outright, but like getting the 5.5 with a dog that can win outright. 

Wake Forest (-2) v. Baylor:  Like Skinner & Co. laying the small number against another team coveted by the E-SPIN heads.  Wake always plays well at home and has a tendency to under-promise and over-deliver as they did when Ole Miss came to town last year.  Still, can’t help but feel the ACC is the AIG of the CFB world, and Baylor is, well, a nice small-cap.  Take the points with confidence. 

Tennesseelooks alot like the kid you beat up on the last day of school who went home and juiced all summer for the sole purpose of kicking your ass in the fall.  Crompton is crisp, the o-line is strong, and the defense is big and athletic.  Kiffin is using alot of sets with a power running game and the offense looks like a big, ugly, orange version of the old Trojans.  In fact, UT looks like UT used to look every year albeit slightly more advanced. 

This really should come as no surprise as SNL posited last year that the “eyeball test” rendered UT a top-10 team.  In other words, it wasn’t talent that was lacking at UT, it was a team and administration torn by loyalty to a coach who’d done some great things, but was no longer capable of winning.  SNL will leave the reasons for UT’s demise under Fulmer to the loyalists, but suffice it to say that the Kiffin experiment looks good so far.

Is UT ready to beat Florida at The Swamp?  Probably not.  Still, UT will have a shot at a PAC-10 unit before coming to Gainesville while the Gators are digesting a D-II cupcake and a worse than expected Troy.  UT looks hungry and the Kiffin regime, which was so easy to mock during the summer, now appears to be a formidable foe.  Bryce Brown, by the bye, has a nice TD run and UT looks ready to ascend into the ranks of the SEC elite, which is a good thing for the league.  One thing’s for sure, Florida could use the SOS, but better be ready for a battle when the Vols come to town.

Bold prediction:  UT finishes with 9 wins, plays on Jan. 1, and finishes in the top 15.  The way Kiffin recruits, a the UF-UT rivalry is going to be great in the years to come.

-So Sayeth the Shepherd

Tags: Kiffin, Okie St., UGA, UT, Vols

FLORIDA: THE BIG PICTURE

September 28, 2008 in Fans, Main Content, SEC, SEC Fans, UGA, Vols | No comments

The Big Picture:  The big picture is what SNL, and most if not all Gators will use for solace in the days ahead.  Aided by Georgia’s humbling defeat, the fact is that the Gators’ goal of winning the SEC East is still very much alive.

In fact, and somewhat ironically, the Gators chances of winning the East look better than they did last week, due in large part to the Dawgs’ undressing at the hands of the Tide (who look damn good on both lines of scrimmage by the way).  This assessment is not an indictment of Georgia, who remains more than capable of making it 2 in a row against Florida, but more of an educated guess based on Georgia’s (un)fortunate draw this year, which sends them to Baton Rouge to play a very strong LSU squad, and includes games against Auburn and UT, who remains “game,” at least for now.

However, the big(ger) picture is still less than peachy as the SEC West seems to be far and away the stronger of the divisions and the Gator squad that played Saturday would have little, if any, chance to beat LSU or Alabama (or even Auburn or Ole Miss for that matter) in the ATL. 

Nonetheless, part of Urban’s reconstitution of his team this week will be to point out that the Gators’ goals of winning Championships (East, SEC and arguably, National), remain unscathed for the most part-though the margin for error has been drastically diminished.  Before Saturday, the most likely scenario was a Gator split of the LSU and Georgia games, with the Gators taking the East by virtue of a second Georgia loss to LSU, Auburn, ‘Bama (done), or UT. 

Today the Gators are losers at home as 23-point favorite, which apparently is deemed by the national media to be a worse loss than the Trojans Thurday night beatdown by the Beavers.  For those who watched both games, it seems that USC’s loss was clearly the worse of the two, but to spend an inordinate amount of time on this issue is clearly missing the forest for the trees.  The upshot of the CFB landscape in Gainesville today is that Florida no longer has the “luxury” of losing to LSU or Georgia as a loss to either, while not fatal to SEC East aspirations, would be damaging enough nationally to assure being omitted from any BCS-title consideration (assuming the Gators could win the SEC, which as stated above, seems unlikely at this point).

The sum total of this fine mess is that everything remains on the table for Florida, but not for long if there is not significant improvement between now and October 17, when a very capable LSU squad comes to The Swamp.

Up Next:  The Little Picture

-So Sayeth the Shepherd

Tags: Cap 1, SEC, UGA, Urban Meyer, UT

THE DEATH OF A RIVAL AND UF’S 2008 HOROSCOPE

September 22, 2008 in Main Content, SEC, Vols | No comments

  As one might imagine, if one were allowed to imagine football by one’s significant other, the UT chatboards are literally overflowing with calls for Fulmer’s resignation and at least one man has been arrested for setting his home afire in a poorly thought out (and doubtless whiskey-fueled) attempt to burn Fulmer in effigy.  SNL knows that the more calous among you, whose antipathy toward Gator opponents is embedded so deeply in your reptilian  brain you are incapable of even considering the lamentations of opposing fans, will probably lagh at this man’s misfortune which doubtless arose from his decision to use a life-size effigy.  

While this is a logical deduction, SNL has chosen a higher, and therefore morally superior, road and chooses instead to mourn for the loss of the Gators now former rival, the Volunteers, which have been vanquished in Vandy-ish fashion for 4 years running. 

For the lifelong Gator fan, the “noise in the system” in Knoxville is eerily similar to the cacophonous clamoring for Zook’s head after Ole Miss handled the Gators in The Swamp in 2004.  Let there be no doubt, Fulmer is already “constructively terminated” following Saturday’s humiliation, which included a number of gaffes that seem to epitomize that satire that “Fool-mer” has become in Tennessee.  According to my blogging idol, Dr. Saturday, the national pundits seem to agree:

Gary Parrish says Fulmer’s ship is going down, Andy Staples wonders if we watched the end of an era, Mike Bianchi writes Florida probably just got Fulmer fired and even terribly-toupeéd New Yorker Dick Weiss thinks the Vols are out of touch with reality. Good luck on the Plains, coach!

Think about it, how exciting will it be to beat UT next year in The Swamp with Fulmer at the helm as a 2-touchdown favorite?  Will any Gator-backers be giddy with excitement in the week before the matchup?  Will there be fear?  Anticipation?  And ultimately, will Gator-fans experience the visceral endorphin-laced high that used to accompany a victory over the Vols?  Nope.  And, while there is certainly a plausible basis for Gator fans to hope Fulmer coaches out his ridiculously long contract at UT, the fate of this once bitter-rivalry will fade further from the national consciousness with each successive year.  So, as the cliche’ goes, careful what you wish for Gators-at least Vandy is ranked!

ERSTWHILE, IN THE HALLS OF JUSTICE…

  In yesterday’s post, SNL alluded to seeming inability of the Gator offense to find offensive synchronicity early in the 2008 season.  For the feeble-minded, Saturday’s showing did little to assuage the notion that the Gators will be upended when SEC heavywights, LSU and Georgia come calling absent the surfacing of the offensive nirvana was supposed to be this team’s modus operandi. 

Upon further review of Saturday’s game, however, SNL is beginning to believe that reliance on Gator offensive woes to support your position that Florida will get its “comeuppance” when LSU comes to the Swamp is not only misplaced, but is a wooden interpretation of Saturday’s game.  Let SNL ’splain this to you:

First, you should know that Florida punted once Saturday-as in, UT successfully forced Florida’s offense from the field without scoring on 1 occasion.  Here’s a summation of Florida’s offensive possessions for those of you who played grabass with the token “tipsy-hottie” at the UF/UT party you attended:  Touchdown • Field Goal • Field Goal • Punt • Touchdown • Field Goal • Kneel down. Feel better now?

The other ingredient present in the cocktail of mediocrity that Florida’s offense wasn’t on Saturday was a 17-0 lead at the end of the 1st quarter, and Brandon James nearly 200 return yards.  In other words, this game became one of field position and grinding the clock after less than a quarter.  As a result, Tebow passed for less than 100 yards while Florida’s running backs amassed almost 150 rushing and averaged 5 yards per carry.  The offensive line and Moody showed up in a big way and the Gators are, despite the lack of E-SPIN worthy highlights, passing each test with fliying colors albeit in a manner that none of the faithful saw coming. 

Florida’s defense, conversely, continues to impress-making it more difficult each week for Mr. “Florida has no interior lineman” to mount a cogent argument.  This week, UT’s behmoth O-line, touted as the best in the league coming in to the year, got little push against the active octuplets roaming the line of scrimmage for Florida. In  fact, by day’s end, UT’s trio of Backs had managed less than 3 ypc and only 60 (or so) total rushing yards.

Naturally, it is difficult to say with certainty that the hallmark of this young Gator team today, defense/turnovers/special teams, will remain static from week to week.  However, as long as Coach Meyer is driving the bus, the preparation and heart of this group of nascent Gators will remain unquestioned.

-So Sayeth the Shepherd

Tags: Fulmer, SEC, UF, UT

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