| GAME THREAD 🏈 Week 0️⃣ /Week 1️⃣ :
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planomateo
Member
Welp, we made it.
So are you pulling for Miami or Florida tomorrow night? I'll be an SEC homer tomorrow night and get a small fix.
I'm gonna miss Alabama's opening weekend as I'll be camping and fly fishing across Montana into Idaho Saturday and Sunday with no cell reception. Said differently, Duke Blue Devils. ¯\(ツ)/¯
Kind of a shitty opening weekend if you ask me. There are better games in week 2 which is strange.
So are you pulling for Miami or Florida tomorrow night? I'll be an SEC homer tomorrow night and get a small fix.
I'm gonna miss Alabama's opening weekend as I'll be camping and fly fishing across Montana into Idaho Saturday and Sunday with no cell reception. Said differently, Duke Blue Devils. ¯\(ツ)/¯
Kind of a shitty opening weekend if you ask me. There are better games in week 2 which is strange.
I will problem not be on too much tomorrow. I'm having an processed on both of my legs. I don't know how I will be feeling, it's going to be an outpatient deal.
TerryP
Staff
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}Deflection, justification, but more importantly an attempt to save face in the eyes of football fans as one have chosen to go wade in a stream of chemical spill-offs while throwing a fishing line around in the water all the while calling it fly fishing. 
BamaFan334
Member
Ha Ha, peaking too early. Pretty funny.
I think Florida rolls Miami. Miami breaking in a new quraterback, Florida is always solid on defense, they have better receivers on offense, an experienced quarterback finally. I am taking the Gators. But I am not buying them as a threat to Georgee.
I think Florida rolls Miami. Miami breaking in a new quraterback, Florida is always solid on defense, they have better receivers on offense, an experienced quarterback finally. I am taking the Gators. But I am not buying them as a threat to Georgee.
TerryP
Staff
Miami and Florida on Saturday. A good way to start the season.
When I look at the following story I"d like to see how UCF looks, we have a tie to the changes at GT and Clemson is a team we'll watch, the opportunity for an early glance at A&M and there's a night of surfing around a few games.
Utah is a team we should keep an eye on. A little late for Thursday night.
Friday...two ranked teams but not games of major interest.
When I look at the following story I"d like to see how UCF looks, we have a tie to the changes at GT and Clemson is a team we'll watch, the opportunity for an early glance at A&M and there's a night of surfing around a few games.
Utah is a team we should keep an eye on. A little late for Thursday night.
Friday...two ranked teams but not games of major interest.
planomateo
Member
Well played!
If I was trying to save face, I wouldn't have mentioned it
. Judge if you will, but I'm gonna enjoy the mountains and no-cell service next weekend.
Florida's OL will have to come together quickly to challenge, but they are good on D and skill positions. If Miami can exploit the OL issue, they might make a game of it.
RTR,
Tim
TerryP
Staff
SEC Now had a brief clip from the ACCN on their show last night. It was featuring picks and Richt was one they highlighted. He called for a 13-10 Miami win on late field goal. The one thing that struck me about his bit? He'll be heavy homer Miami in their studio. Blatant last night.
How appropriate that the sign sits among the cupcakes.
TerryP
Staff
All you ACCNites can continue your hating this morning if you wish ... but here's something this morning we've never really experienced before today.
ESPN's GameDay, SECN's SEC Now, and the ACC pregame show (whatever its title is) are all three going to be covering one ball game today. It's not unlike what we've seen the last few years in the playoffs. We're going to have what's basically two homer broadcasts along with a self-professed neutral crew.
ESPN's GameDay, SECN's SEC Now, and the ACC pregame show (whatever its title is) are all three going to be covering one ball game today. It's not unlike what we've seen the last few years in the playoffs. We're going to have what's basically two homer broadcasts along with a self-professed neutral crew.
S
SEC Sports
Why Florida vs. Miami means so much this year
If recent history is an indication, the loser of Florida-Miami will be in for a rough season. But the winner could use it as a serious springboard.
Miami linebacker Shaquille Quarterman walked into his local supermarket on a Tuesday over the summer to pick up some taco seasoning. As he glanced through the shelves, a lifelong Hurricanes fan walked up to him.
He told Quarterman he was a season-ticket holder, with instant recall about every game he had attended, listing off Santana Moss, Devin Hester and other players he had watched make memorable plays. Then the conversation turned to the season opener against the No. 8 Gators (7 p.m. ET Saturday, ESPN), and the renewal of the first in-state rivalry in Florida.
Though the teams play only rarely now, Hurricanes fans are clear in their dislike for the Gators, who ended the annual series in 1987 for scheduling reasons. The fan looked at Quarterman and told him point-blank: You have to win this game.
"He didn't give me an option," Quarterman said with a big smile.
You can bet the feeling is mutual on the other side in the teams' first meeting since 2013. But more than picking up in-state bragging rights -- until they both play Florida State later in the season -- there are much bigger stakes on the line when they kick off in Orlando on Saturday night to open the 150th season of college football.
For Florida, the game is about proving preseason expectations are very much for real. For Miami, the game is about proving Manny Diaz has his program headed in the right direction. For both, championship implications cannot be ignored, even if we are talking about Week 0.
"This makes guys want to prepare a little bit harder," Florida receiver Josh Hammond said. "We've been through Coach [Dan] Mullen's system. We know what to expect. We're coming off a top-10 season, a New Year's Six bowl win. All offseason, all camp, we've grinded and had that mentality that we can be one of the better teams in the country to go compete for a playoff spot if we want it."
Teams have proved they can survive a loss and still play for and win championships. But what happens in the opener against a major nonconference opponent can also have a large impact on a team from a momentum, confidence and emotional standpoint.
Let's rewind a year. Miami was in the same spot as Florida is now: coming off a surprising 10-3 season, ranked in the preseason top 10, opening against LSU in Arlington, Texas. Miami was the favorite, but the Hurricanes were never in the game and lost 33-17. The flaws we all saw on offense continued to show themselves throughout the season, and the Hurricanes simply could not recover, going 7-6. Head coach Mark Richt resigned after the season.
Let's rewind two years. Florida went into its opener against Michigan in Arlington with a preseason top-25 ranking, coming off an appearance in the SEC championship game and what appeared to be a momentum-turning bowl victory over Iowa. But the Gators were also noncompetitive and lost 33-17.
They finished 4-7 and Jim McElwain was fired midseason.
Let's also use their mutual rival, Florida State, as an example. Two years ago, the Seminoles went into their opener against Alabama in Atlanta as the favorite to win the ACC and a popular choice to make the College Football Playoff. They lost the game and quarterback Deondre Francois, and needed a rescheduled game against Louisiana-Monroe to keep their bowl streak alive. Jimbo Fisher left for Texas A&M before the season ended.
The trend as it relates to schools in Florida is not a great one. But the experience last season might be instructive for Diaz, who was Miami's defensive coordinator at the time. Diaz knows all the issues that plagued the Hurricanes both on the field and in the locker room, and has used this offseason to try to get his players to be more focused and accountable.
"It's going to be a highly emotional night," Diaz said. "Both teams will be supremely motivated to play against each other. Who can keep their competitive will through adversity? Because it's going to be a night with all kinds of adversity, for both sides. And that's why it's about finding the right mix of guys that don't blink in that setting. We have to find out who are the guys that will fight their way off the ropes. Both teams are going to land some blows. When you get put on the ropes, you have to fight your way out of it."
Miami did not do a good job of that last season, and Florida did not do a good job of that early in 2018, either. Many even wrote off the Gators after a rare loss to Kentucky in September. But Florida slowly learned how to win, even though there were bumps along the way, including a poor performance in a loss to Missouri.
By the time the Gators engineered a comeback to beat South Carolina, the confidence seemed to bloom. Florida scored 40 or more points in its final three games, including big victories over Florida State and Michigan, two teams that had their number in recent seasons.
"We know where we were last season. We know we have guys to possibly win it all," Florida linebacker David Reese II said. "We're as talented as anybody in the country. It's the challenge of, can we work hard day in and day out every day?"
Anyone who tunes in Saturday night will get to see for themselves. They will also get to see a high-stakes game, and a rivalry renewed and reintroduced to a new generation.
Players included.
"I just don't too much like them," Quarterman said. "That's how a rivalry works for me. The alumni come and whenever I get a chance to speak to them, they say, 'What's your record since you've been here?' They're talking about Florida State, and in the off chance you play Florida. Did you win or did you lose? That's where it's at with me."
50+yeartidefan
Member
shoot. Its cf. and got bud light.
And have to watch no stinking movie on sat nite.
And have to watch no stinking movie on sat nite.
TerryP
Staff
Don't undersell tonights game.
A few weeks ago I mentioned the Sportsbook to ya. Now, here you ore, a night to kill. Instructions in the thread...
Corso picks Florida.
50+yeartidefan
Member
I pick Florida by 20
