There are reasons my opinion of Florida in 2014 remains pessimistic. A lot of that comes from stories we see circulated after coaches and players are interviewed during their times at SEC Media Days.
Lipstick on a pig:
Preface: We see this every year. A reporter, in this case Scarborough, takes something that lacks substance when it comes to football and due to its style it's a precursor for how a season or team will fare.
I find it ironic to see Alex talk about how Mason had the media eating out of the palm of his hand due to how he handled his question and answer session, how he went even further to attempt to paint of picture of Mason based on his gold jacket and black bow-tie, and laud it as something new, something fresh. Yet, he fails to mention a key fact; it's still Vanderbilt.
In regard to Florida we've seen the media to the same. They praised first year offensive coordinator Weis three years ago during this week. Citing Florida AD's Jeremy Foley's track record of hiring coaching like Urban Meyer (while dismissing Ron Zook,) they forecasted UF's offense to by dynamic under Weis (while forgetting his time at Notre Dame.)
Taking what I know and combining that with the circus media days can be I'm still left with a degree of doubt with Florida.
What I'm still thinking today:
I see no reason to doubt the Gators will have a strong defense in 2014. If we combine the last three years under Muschamp their defense have averaged allowing less than 300 yards a game. I don't see any reason to expect that trend to continue.
When the Golden Nugget released their spreads on 2014, Bama came in as a three touchdown favorite. I still think that's high. Taking into account what we know will be a solid Gator defense and a Bama offense which will likely still be finding its identity expecting the Tide to win isn't unrealistic. Winning by that margin? I'm not betting on this game.
A lot question their offense and that's quite understandable. I never believe Charlie Weis was an answer or even serviceable coordinator for college ball. Last years OC, Brent Pease, was a step but had his legs taken out from under him (much like Driskell) due to the team getting ravaged by injuries.
Kurt Roper, coming off an impressive showing at Duke, should be another step in the right direction. There's still a question as to how much of that is Cutcliffe's influence. However, seeing him at Ole Miss and then at Duke I'm tempted to say it's safe to count on the UF offense improving.
The biggest thing to consider with Roper is his style of offenseāshotgun based, spread attack, with a fast paced theme. That's the kind of offense Driskell came up in when he was in high school. It's similar to the type of offense he was recruited to run (Meyer recruit.) And it's the complete opposite of the ball control, run heavy, time of possession approach we've seen from Muschamp's offenses.
The reason I think Bama wins is still the same even with all these changes.
Roper wants Driskell to make decisions quickly based on reading the defenses; specifically the MIKE position and seeing the coverages from that point. Driskell can win some of the battles against the Bama defense here, but winning the war is a different story. This approach plays right into what's been one of our stronger suits.
It'll be Driskell's mistakes that decide the game. It reminds me of facing Mallett/Petrino's offenses at Arkansas. The biggest difference being there will be two defenses on the field.
Lipstick on a pig:
Preface: We see this every year. A reporter, in this case Scarborough, takes something that lacks substance when it comes to football and due to its style it's a precursor for how a season or team will fare.
I find it ironic to see Alex talk about how Mason had the media eating out of the palm of his hand due to how he handled his question and answer session, how he went even further to attempt to paint of picture of Mason based on his gold jacket and black bow-tie, and laud it as something new, something fresh. Yet, he fails to mention a key fact; it's still Vanderbilt.
In regard to Florida we've seen the media to the same. They praised first year offensive coordinator Weis three years ago during this week. Citing Florida AD's Jeremy Foley's track record of hiring coaching like Urban Meyer (while dismissing Ron Zook,) they forecasted UF's offense to by dynamic under Weis (while forgetting his time at Notre Dame.)
Taking what I know and combining that with the circus media days can be I'm still left with a degree of doubt with Florida.
What I'm still thinking today:
I see no reason to doubt the Gators will have a strong defense in 2014. If we combine the last three years under Muschamp their defense have averaged allowing less than 300 yards a game. I don't see any reason to expect that trend to continue.
When the Golden Nugget released their spreads on 2014, Bama came in as a three touchdown favorite. I still think that's high. Taking into account what we know will be a solid Gator defense and a Bama offense which will likely still be finding its identity expecting the Tide to win isn't unrealistic. Winning by that margin? I'm not betting on this game.
A lot question their offense and that's quite understandable. I never believe Charlie Weis was an answer or even serviceable coordinator for college ball. Last years OC, Brent Pease, was a step but had his legs taken out from under him (much like Driskell) due to the team getting ravaged by injuries.
Kurt Roper, coming off an impressive showing at Duke, should be another step in the right direction. There's still a question as to how much of that is Cutcliffe's influence. However, seeing him at Ole Miss and then at Duke I'm tempted to say it's safe to count on the UF offense improving.
The biggest thing to consider with Roper is his style of offenseāshotgun based, spread attack, with a fast paced theme. That's the kind of offense Driskell came up in when he was in high school. It's similar to the type of offense he was recruited to run (Meyer recruit.) And it's the complete opposite of the ball control, run heavy, time of possession approach we've seen from Muschamp's offenses.
The reason I think Bama wins is still the same even with all these changes.
Roper wants Driskell to make decisions quickly based on reading the defenses; specifically the MIKE position and seeing the coverages from that point. Driskell can win some of the battles against the Bama defense here, but winning the war is a different story. This approach plays right into what's been one of our stronger suits.
It'll be Driskell's mistakes that decide the game. It reminds me of facing Mallett/Petrino's offenses at Arkansas. The biggest difference being there will be two defenses on the field.
