The Back Nine: Addazio owed a break from Gator Nation
Published: Monday, September 6, 2010 at 11:56 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, September 6, 2010 at 11:56 p.m.
After an enjoyable first weekend of college football, we look ahead to see what may be the best Thursday-through-Monday of the season. That's why the Back Nine loves football season. Weekends last five days.
10. For all of you who are jumping all over Florida offensive coordinator Steve Addazio, the Back Nine has something to say. Tons of e-mails and Tweets have rolled in and the cliche of all cliches has sprung up — a firesteveaddazio.com website. Just remember this — Steve Addazio held your program together during a crisis. He held together the best recruiting class in the nation when the head coach was too ill to be a major factor and other coaches were negative recruiting.
If I was Addazio, I might go all Colonel Nathan R. Jessup on the Gator Nation and say, “I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way, otherwise, I suggest you pick up a helmet, and snap the ball. Either way, I don't give a (bleep) what you think you are entitled to.” This is still the same guy who called the plays in routs of Georgia, FSU and Cincinnati. Like I said, you owe Addazio a debt of gratitude. You at least owe him more than one game this season before you start carving him up.
11. Look, I wasn't happy with some the play calls Saturday, especially the screen pass from the 1-yard line that should have been ruled a safety. But with Addazio as coordinator, Florida is now 14-1. I think that has to count for something.
Let's see what happens the rest of the way. Off the ledge, people. Like I've said a million times, nobody suffers winning like Gator fans.
12. Had a nice conversation with one of my favorite coaches to come through UF. It will be odd to see Carl Franks wearing a South Florida shirt at The Swamp on Saturday. “It will be a little different,” said Franks, who coached at Florida from 1990-98. “I've never been on the other sideline. Not even for a spring game,” he said. Franks was a big part of Steve Spurrier's success before taking the head coaching job at Duke. He was running backs coach at USF until Jim Leavitt was canned and Skip Holtz moved in. Not wanting to lose Franks, Holtz named him director of player personnel.
“The interesting thing for me is that I have so many close friends who are Gators,” Franks said. One of those friends? John Brantley. “I remember Johnny when he was a little kid and we went on vacation with the Brantleys,” he said. “Three days somewhere off Pine Island with my sister and the two families. You never know how things are going to work in the sports business.” Franks still has the game balls from big wins and the rings from all of the championships he won as a Gator coach. “I'm getting a lot of requests for tickets,” he said. “But they usually back off when I remind them they have to sit in the South Florida section.”
13. So I told you all not to take too much from one game, but the way Oklahoma played against Utah State in its opener I'm inclined to pick the mighty Seminoles this week. (It's early). The Sooners had to hold on to win 31-24. The defense had no answer for Utah State quarterback Diondre Bell. Still, it sets up to be a beautiful extended weekend with Miami-Ohio State and Georgia-South Carolina not to mention Notre Dame-Michigan and Penn State-Alabama. It starts with a terrific Thursday night — Auburn-Mississippi State and Vikings-Saints.
14. Maybe it's the provinciality in me but I bristle every time some NFL talking head raves about Jake Locker after the gnashing of teeth in the spring every time someone suggested Tim Tebow was a first-round pick. Locker certainly has the tangibles but on Saturday the Jake Locker Era of Washington football saw its record drop to 9-29 after the Huskies were shut out in the second half by Brigham Young. Remember, these are the same pundits who thought Matt Leinart was a can't-miss prospect.
15. Nice debut for Jimbo Fisher. Same for Brian Kelly and Derek Dooley. Turner Gill? Not so good. His Kansas Jayhawks lost 6-3 to North Dakota State. You should only lose 6-3 to North Dakota State in hockey. The two teams combined to convert 6-of-28 third-down attempts. And how about the debut by Ruffin McNeill? His East Carolina team won an a Hail Mary pass. It's downhill from here, Ruffin. ECU and Tulsa combined for seven fourth-quarter touchdowns in the game. It's why we watch games like that. Or at least why I watched it.
16. If you have been playing golf your whole life and have never made a hole-in-one, you might want to stop reading. Because Mike Roth's story will make you ill. Roth is a 65-year-old retiree living in Ocala. He recently made three holes-in-one in a span of 44 days. Two of them came within four days at the 11th hole at Ocala Municipal. The third came in early August on the third hole of the same course. That's four for the year and nine career aces. And this is where I cue Rod Stewart. “Some guys have all the luck.”
17. This week's top Tweet goes to Florida volleyball coach Mary Wise, whose team is rolling. “Who would have seen this 5-0 start? Beating 3 top-15 teams and the season is only a week old!” Wise tweeted Sunday.
18. The week was made sweeter by some new music the Back Nine highly recommends — “From Above” by Ben Folds and Nick Hornby, “Memories” by Weezer and for the old-school in you, “Jealous Guy” by John Lennon.
Contact Pat Dooley at 352-374-5053 or at dooleyp@gvillesun.com. You can listen to The Pat Dooley Show weekdays from 4-6 p.m. on 104.9 FM. And follow at http://Twitter.com/Pat_Dooley.
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