The Back Alley Archives

Not too hopeful about this game and the first half has not made me feel any better. I do think the offensive coordinator needs a change.

But anyone who is surprised about this shouldn't be. Did you not see USF play the last few years? They are not a cupcake...sort of inconsistent but not BAD.

Oh well, they have prettier helmets than UF so there ya go...

Wow...dead in here.

How about how horrendous our beloved Noles did? That was way more fun to watch than the Gator game. Although we like to see USF do good and if they had a deeper team they probably could have come close if not won. We just have too many studs at too many positions and can constantly put in others and give our first string some rest. But if we had just played our first team against their first team all game long, I'm not sure we would have won that one.

Agreed. But we pulled away in that third quarter, and FSU is getting creamed, so it's a good day. Plus, VT losing to an FCS them lessens the win over them by Boise State.

^^^That is so true. Gators win...UGA, FSU and Miami all lose. Isn't this Gator heaven?

OH, AND Notre Dame loses. Yep, heaven.

I thought the play calling improved greatly, it certainly did in the 2nd half. I think we will be ok. I do think we lose to Alabama. The race in the east will come down to the USC-UF game in November.

When was the last time that Tennessee, Georgia, FSU, and Miami all lost on the same day? I will sleep easy tonight.

UT really got blasted last night. They will very likely finish just above Vandy in the east. It looks like it will come down to UF and USC for the east. USC has a tougher SEC schedule IMO though. They play the 3 A's (Alabama, @Auburn and Arkansas) where we have LSU, @Alabama and Miss St.

UT really got blasted last night. They will very likely finish just above Vandy in the east. It looks like it will come down to UF and USC for the east. USC has a tougher SEC schedule IMO though. They play the 3 A's (Alabama, @Auburn and Arkansas) where we have LSU, @Alabama and Miss St.

Agreed. We better learn though that football is a 4 quarter game.

I look forward to this weeks game. I think we will do well up there in Knoxville.

I'll tell y'all what. I think we're going to play a lot of close games this year. I think we'll pull them out, but man I just feel like they are all gonna be close.

agreed wes. This is going to be a season of close games. We won't be up 35 at half.

Which brings up another thought I had about this team. I have been following the Gators since 1983 and since that time, we have NEVER been a great team when it comes to coming from behind. Even though we haven't been "behind" by THAT much this season, it's comforting to know we seem to get better as the game goes along rather than blowing our wad in the first quarter and then going downhill from there.

That's my glass-half-full POV anyway.

Bama frightens me. They man-handled Penn State.

Bama is going to beat us soundly. There is no doubt in my mind. I think they will have 200+ rushing yards against us. This team is just too young. Hopefully they can grow up enough to compete with Bama by the end of the year but I'm not expecting it.

Which brings up another thought I had about this team. I have been following the Gators since 1983 and since that time, we have NEVER been a great team when it comes to coming from behind. Even though we haven't been "behind" by THAT much this season, it's comforting to know we seem to get better as the game goes along rather than blowing our wad in the first quarter and then going downhill from there.

That's my glass-half-full POV anyway.

I am interested in this, because I have had that perception too.

Then I thought: coming from behind is the story that is presented EVERY week. Example: VT comes back and leads Boise. Then Boise takes the lead back. It's natural to like lead changes. That means you have a competitive game. That's why NASCAR > Indy. That's why 32-29 is the greatest Gator game ever, even if 52-20 won the rings. (It's why 62-37 is my fave -- we were down 16 points twice in that game.)

Lead changes make the front page.

So -- yes, sometimes the Gators come back and sometimes they don't. I bet you'd find there are plenty of fans who also think their team is not so great at coming back. I think it's a perception created by sports press and its fixation on the comeback.

Statistics about comebacks -- say, coming back from any two-score deficit, eight points or greater -- are probably kept. What percentage of the time can a team that trails by ten tie the score? Lead? Win?

Given that statistical backdrop, I wonder how Florida fares.