While Gator Nation melts down around them, the Florida Gators are vowing to stick together and try and fix things. They’re also standing behind their beleaguered quarterback, redshirt freshman Feleipe Franks.
“There’s really no difficulties,” senior cornerback Duke Dawson said. “One thing we preached after this game — and just all the time — is just stand together. Just stand as one unit. Don’t let everybody go to their own little corners or go into their own little groups. Just everybody stand together.”
Junior defensive end Cece Jefferson said the mood in the UF locker room is good.
“There is nobody fighting and bickering,” Jefferson said. “There is a lot of coming together and leaders stepping up, which is exactly what we need at times like this. The mood is pretty mellow right now.”
Standing together means standing behind their quarterback, and that’s what Franks’ teammates plan to do coming off another disappointing SEC home loss, this one to Texas A&M, 19-17, on Saturday night.
It was another struggle for Franks and the offense, which was playing without two of its top playmakers — wide receivers Tyrie Cleveland and Kadarius Toney.
Franks threw two interceptions, was sacked five times and had issues again converting third downs (4 of 15).
“As the quarterback, I’ve just got to do a better job,” Franks said. “Ultimately, it’s on me.”
But junior offensive tackle Martez Ivey said all the blame should not fall on Franks. There’s plenty to spread around, he said.
“We’ve got to protect well and we’ve got to run the ball effectively,” Ivey said. “We’ve got to make everything easier for him. We know he’s a young guy and he hasn’t played much, he’s developing every week. I trust him, I believe in him. I go up to him before every series and let him know, ‘I got your back, dog. Do your thing, I believe in you.’
“It’s no mistakes. He’s also got to learn the game, everybody doesn’t start out the best. You learn over time and get in certain situations, you develop working hard for the game. And right now, yeah he’s learning. But he’s also doing his best and he’s out there trying. That’s all you can ask for in the guy, right?”
Disgruntled fans seem to have lost patience with Franks and the sputtering offense, but UF’s only other option appears to be Notre Dame graduate transfer Malik Zaire, a dual-threat quarterback who was ineffective coming off the bench in the second half in the loss to Michigan in the opener. The plan is to redshirt true freshman Jake Allen.
UF coach Jim McElwain was asked after the game if the quarterback position would be re-evaluated during the open date this week.
“We’re going to do just what we do every week,” he said.
McElwain said the Gators need to get to work on fixing things this week in preparation for the Georgia game in two weeks.
“It’s hard to have a loss going into a bye week, yet we have an opportunity to work (on) some things this week in practice,” he said. “We’ll get some good work in getting ready for Georgia. I believe in these guys. I believe in this team and I will continue to do that and we’ll continue to push and get a little bit better. We’ve got a lot of ball ahead of us. A lot of good teams. Just going to go take care of business.”
Coming off the back-to-back losses, this is a critical time for a young football team. Will the Gators hang in there together, or will they fracture?
Franks said the team’s leaders will hold things together and keep things positive.
“We’ll come back after this next week, have a really good, hard practicing week,” he said. “The leadership will really show. The guys are really great and we’re going to really step up. We’re going to be just fine.”
Franks said the Gators will tune out the negative noise blaring throughout Gator Nation.
“I don’t think motivation is a problem for us,” he said. “We have a bunch of great leaders in the locker room. People are going to say what they want to say. That’s the big thing. You can’t listen to the outside sources. Nobody is in the locker room with us. People actually don’t know. We have a bunch of great leaders in the locker room and we’re going to be just fine.”
Contact Robbie Andreu at 352-374-5022 or robbie.andreu@gvillesun.com. Also check out Andreu’s blog at Gatorsports.com.
(Eyes rolling…). <>
#FireMcElwain
JoeGator. No way. But a change at OC would be a good thing, and maybe let the OC make some adjustments to the offensive scheme in order to bring the offense into the 21st century. But McElwain is here for the long term if he makes the necessary adjustments mentioned above and continues to recruit well, which he is at the moment. Just fix the damn offense and find a QB who can execute consistently in the SEC. Has to happen or your wish will likely come true.
Good Post The scheme can work we need an OC that has a flair for calling plays. The right plays at the right time would make a tremendous difference. Good play calling does not seem a quality Nuss exhibits. Two top 5 classes on the way for the next years should help especially when you add the missing players from this years class to next years class. Even with the expected talent infusion we still need better play calling. Its up to Mac to fix that problem and it won’t help to fire Nuss mid year, but I would like to see Mac take over play calling during the by week.
Except that the Gators won’t be able to keep the commitments if they continue playing like they are.
Rick, I’ve got an idea. Let’s fire Nuss and then bring in Beth Mowins to be the new OC. Mac would have to call the plays then, but that voice alone would motivate the offense to perform, if only to get away from it. Of course, we’d have to disconnect Mac’s headset, since he’d no doubt go stark raving mad if he had to listen for 60 minutes of football. Like I said before, I could only listen for one quarter before I muted the TV for the rest of the game!
Gator-6: Thought I was the only one that had a problem with her. Call me sexist or whatever but I don’t like women calling football games. They’ve never had a helmet on so it’s hard for them to relate to what is happening. I know some ladies who understand the game but even my wife doesn’t like the female announcers. Had to mute the TV as well. I’d rather have Vern back than that.
Get used to it, Beth is going to be calling a LOT of our games for the next few years.
You know when CBS picks Beth to call your games you are WAY down on the interest list!
I’ll take Laura Rutledge any game of the year! She is smart, articulate and knows sports, especially the SEC. Of course, being a real beauty and a Gator is just an added bonus. I actually mute most games anyway, because the color commentators never shut up and feel the need to explain every single play or call ad nauseum, because, of course, we are too stupid to understand it. The worst is Mac Brown! Somebody get him to the retirement home ASAP.
Blah! Blah! Blah!
Something to consider re: Nuss…
How much does Matt Corral play into Mac leaving Nuss in place and not even taking away play calling? Nuss is the primary recruiter for Matt, and I’m sure he’s telling him “pay no attention to the results you see on the field…this offense will hum once we have you under center.” You’d think Matt would see the product on the field and get scared away, but he might be buying what Nuss is selling. And who knows, it might be true. At the very least he’s watching and knowing he’s got a perfect chance to come in and compete to start next year. If Franks was lighting it up he might look elsewhere. But if Mac fires Nuss mid-season and there’s a ton of uncertainly around the offense for next year that would surely put Corral in jeopardy.
Yes the offense needs a lot of work but the truth is these kids did better than everyone predicted they would for this game. Suspensions and injuries played a big part in the last two losses. Maybe the fans need an attitude adjustment.
Shirley. Concerning McElwain, yes. Concerning Nussmeier, no.
we are down over 20 scholarship players, that is more than if the program was on NCAA probation, 3-3 is what I would expect given the situation, but NussChump needs to go, he is terrible.
WHERES THE FIGHT IN THE TEAM!!!
Seriously
There was an article at gatorbait.net about it
Hmmmm just a thought. You realize that the Bulldogs started a freshmen QB A year ago and ate an 8-4 record in the process. This season they are?? Oh yea , undefeated so far. We have to give Frank’s time to grow gators!! Even Tim Tebow needed time to grow into the QB he became. Had Del Rio not been hurt, things may be different. Coach Mac didn’t know Luke was going to get hurt with a season ending injury. If any of you seen it coming, I think you should go to the UF athletic director and get a job. This season is a wash, 2 SEC losses and we all know we are NOT making it to Atlanta. Give up the dream, not happening this season. Coach Mac, this is for you Sir. Your players are pathetic because the coaching is pathetic. You seriously need to reevaluate every coach on your staff because those players , are only as good as the coaching!! Ball is in your hands Coach Mac, question is, are you man and coach enough to make the changes necessary??? I know Coach Saban wouldnt hesitate if his players were coached as crappy as floridas players are!!!
David Starr…..partly correct. Last year Eason was a freshman. However, they are playing a true freshman this year. Not necessarily about growth – they need to be coached in order to grow. I do not see any positive signs coming from the offense in year three of the current head coach. Honestly, it looks as if they do not even practice or watch film during the week.
I wish people would stop trying to make comparisons to Georgia. The situations are far different and you can plug any QB on that team right now and they’d still be winning. They’re winning because of a great defense that has 7 seniors starting. Their offense is succeeding because of 2 senior RBs that should be playing in the NFL right now and a few other decent Rbs behind them. They certainly aren’t winning games solely because of their freshman QB. This last game was the first time they allowed him to throw it more than 15 times and for a while a 1 loss Missouri team was hanging with them until they went back to the running game and proceeded to rush for over 370 yards. Smart is having his Muschamp 2nd year success with players recruited by the previous regime and they’ll fall back down to earth next year when 90% of the team leaves for the NFL. Kind’ve like Mac winning the East 2 years in a row with Muschamp’s players. Georgia will get their usual 1 win against the Gators every few years and then lose 3 in a row. Standard operating procedure.
Joe – I think you’re underestimating Kirby Smart. Unless the Gators can get some real coaching soon expect UGA to handle us the next few years. What’s happening at UGA this year isn’t just luck and senior players. If Richt was still there (and he’s a good coach) their record would not look as good. UGA is killing everybody this year bama-style, and I can’t wait to see the SECCG when the two collide in Atlanta.
David Starr: Remember that UGA starting freshmen were complimented by a strong running game which takes a lot of heat off the QB. Their OC also puts them in position to be successful. Jake Fromm will turn out to be one of the best ever at uga. He’s much more accomplished in understanding the game. He was a starting QB for 4 years in HS. Not a fair comparison to Franks who has a limited understanding of the game. Example, on the last drive against A&M, why were we throwing in the middle with less than a minute left and no time outs? The running game was non-existent in the second half after a strong first half. A&M made adjustments we didn’t. I see us as 10-14 point underdog against uga.
Why did he get a raise and extension after two seasons. Ok, so he won the SEC East. BFD. Did you see how crappy those other teams in the East were. Frankly winning the MAC would have been more difficult. And where was Mac going to go anyway? Now we’re stuck.
I keep hearing about ‘leaders in the locker room.’ Where are the leaders on the field? You don’t win big, without leaders on the field and excellent defense. We have neither right now.
Not sure how you can criticize the defense at all. A&M was averaging over 400 yards and 30+ pts a game coming in and the defense held them under both of those averages and actually held them to the same score Bama did. You hold a potent offensive team like A&M to 19 pts and you should win that game every time. Then doing it when your offense doesn’t give you much time to rest is even more impressive. If this team had an offense that could sustain drives and score points, this would be one of the top defenses in the nation. Instead they get tired and allow teams to eventually start moving the ball relatively easy in the second half of games.
Please take a look at the last play of the game where Franks threw the INT to the LB. The play defines the issues Franks has a SEC caliber QB. As he drops back he completely stares down Goolesby running to the middle of the field instead of looking off the dropping LB. The LB simply focuses on Franks’ eyes and follows them to the ball and just waits until Franks throws the ball…..to him. Meanwhile, Goolsby is breaking wide open around the forty yard line with at least 10 to 15 yards in front of him to easily get into range for Pineriro. Instead of floating the ball with a little zip on it over the LB and leading Goolsby toward the sidelines, Franks tries to drill the ball with a low projection toward Goolsby, which allowed to LB to reach up and grab the ball. If he had floated the ball with touch over the LB and past the DB behind Goolsby, Goolsby would have run to the ball and would have likely reach close to the A&M 45 with plenty of time left. The illustration of this play is why Franks is not ready to play in the NFL and does not have the innate skills to go with the obvious physical skills he has that would make him an excellent SEC QB. He simply does not get it yet. Not sure he will ever get it. You simply do not have to drill the ball on a low projection on every pass. Just loft the ball to Goolsby and let him to get it for a big game at a critical time. Sad to say it, but that is exactly when Will Grier would have done. But he would have also done similar the entire game. Big arm, no football brains yet for Franks. Sad to say.
So where is all the great QB coaching Mac & Nuss are supposed to embody?? This kid should be doing better than this at this point, but I don’t blame him nearly as much as his theoretical teachers.
The mistakes Franks is making are things a QB should know from Pee Wee football. You know like throwing the ball away instead of running out of bounds 4 yards behind the line of scrimmage and not staring down your intended receiver before you even snap the ball and never taking your eyes off of him to even check the defense before throwing it. Do you seriously believe Mac and Nuss along with every other coach Franks has had at every level have not taught him this? There’s only so much a coach can teach someone before they have to actually do it on the field. These are about as basic concepts as a QB can grasp that shouldn’t even require coaching. People are so quick to blame everything on Mac and don’t hold the players accountable. Maybe Mac should put an electric dog collar on Franks and as soon as he starts running to the sideline he needs to zap him to remind him to throw it away. Then and only then can Mac be blamed for such a stupid mental mistake that is ALL ON THE QB and not the coach.
LOL, Joe, I’m pretty sure it’s Mac’s responsibility to find a QB who can do those things. If the kid can’t handle it, it’s the coach’s job to find a kid that can. Remember, this is the guy Mac chose to be his starter.
And yet in year 2, Kirby Smart has TWO freshmen (one redshirt0 QB’s that are light years ahead of Franks. Sure Joe, nothing to do with Mac&Nuss, nothing at all.
So when does Clairibelle get to start?
Franks, Driskell, Brantley, sound familiar? Oh by the way, has anyone been paying attention to the year Wil Grier is having?!
Good point. Driskell and Brantley were 5 stars and Franks a four star. In Branltey’s case it was Meyer who screwed up. He tried to make Brantley an option QB. The number of stars is not always a guarantee of success but these kids should have been better than what they turned out to be. The coaching has not been there.
Malik Davis was a 3-star that nobody wanted HAHA!
Does anyone pay attention to the last 10 years of QB play at WVU? Please show me one QB that hasn’t had the success Grier is having throwing it 40-50 times a game behind a line he has all day to throw behind. Freaking Pat White put up even bigger numbers and was immediately converted to WR the moment he entered the NFL. Not hard to play QB in the WVU system in a conference that doesn’t even know what defense is. If you think he would be putting those same numbers up with Nuss calling the plays you’re delusional. He barely broke 200 yards in every game he played here. Funny thing is up until this weekend he had the same record as Franks.
Joe, you had me on your side until this post. In 2015 Grier had to learn Mac’s offense in only the spring and fall practices, since he spent his redshirt season in the Muschamp/Roper offense. Franks had his redshirt season and this past spring and fall to learn the offense. You’re right that Grier wouldn’t be throwing 40-50 times a game in this offense, but his 2015 stats were far better than what Franks has put up. Grier played in 6 games, but split time with Treon in the first two, so he essentially played 5 games. He completed 66% of his passes for 1,200 yards and 10 TD’s against only 3 picks and the team was 6-0 (5-0 in his starts). Without the PED suspension, he’d be in his third year in the offense and would almost have to be way better than what we have now. I’m not saying Grier was the second-coming of Wuerffel, but it’s unreasonable to assume that he wouldn’t have progressed if he’d been able to stay here.
Jacoby Brissette is a frickin’ NFL Starter.
These kids aren’t the target of Gator Nation’s ire, its the coaches they are angry with.
The players deserve better.
Is Mac capable of firing Nussmeier? Is he capable of replacing thr WRs coach, Strength & Conditioning coach, and special teams and TEs coaches?
We are in Year Three of McElwain and it’s worse than Year One. Enough is enough, the McElwain experiment has failed.
That said, Mac is even remotely serious about keeping his job, Nussmeier will be fired by Monday afyernoon, and then perhaps Mac can take over the offense himself.
WRs coach? I’m not sure that’s necessary. The rest can go.
And year one FAU took us to overtime.
Sorry….not sure why I said….”not ready to play in the NFL”…..in the above post. Meant to say….
“not ready to play in the SEC.”
I was wondering.
your team is about to start and immense downward slide into scoreboard hell. But you have some good players. If you don’t pull a top 8 recruiting class, its gonna be 5-6 years before you bounce back. happy holidays.
Simple solution to letting Nuss go tomorrow…ask Spurrier to take over as OC and play calling for the rest of the season …I’m sure Steve would love the opportunity to beat Georgia one more time….also bring in Kerwin Bell to coach the QB’s and possibly the OC if Spurrier isn’t interested… Bell has great offensive mind and knows the QB position as well as anyone …both of these guys have a vested interest in the gators …and where winning means everything especially at the swamp which, has a real meaning to them…
As cool as that would be, Coach Kerwin Bell and Co. would probably show real progress, and quickly, maybe too quickly! But, unfortunately, the motto at the University of Florida, Georgia, Auburn, etc… (S.E.C. STUFFY FRAT BOYS) is that a mid-level coach like Kerwin Bell, coaching at J.U. and Georgia Southern, or wherever would not be up NOT UP TO PAR for the ELITIST like the U.A.A. staff at Florida expect for Head Coaching ”material”. You see, Kerwin Bell had his day, and it’s a great story for the Florida program. But if he came in here to Hogtown and lit it up, the elitists would all lose their collective minds! That Mayo boy, Bell, from out near Perry, FL. would come in here and embarrass the coaches like Mac and Muschamp! And oh, not to mention their hypocritical elitism! It’s something I am personally never going to understand! As I am a simple Gainesville native, and a son of a University of Florida Law School grad and lawyer, who ended up killing himself in 2001. So needless to say, I’m so damn glad I am a ”Simple Man”, like Lynyrd Skynyrd once wrote about… and not some stuffy, arrogant, elitist lawyer!
What the hell are you talking about?
Not a bad idea, Cody. The Bell part, I mean. Doubt that the HBC would take the job, even if only through the season. And gatorgi70x7, I sure see where you’re coming from, but Zook wasn’t even a “mid-level”, he wasn’t even barely good at any job he ever had in football, he was just a friend of the then AD. Myer came from a “mid-level” program at the time….although c terrific promise as we all found out. Muschamp was never mid-level, just a coordinator at a good program that thought highly of him, as did we on paper at least. Coach Mac were pure mid-level but for the OC time at Bama. Now the idea of Bell coming in as OC, right quick at that? Great idea, but would he do it? Do you think? I’d be willing to bet he’ll never get the chance since Nuss has a deep friendship bond c Mac.
They don’t even need to hire an OC for the rest of the season, just let Mac run the offense. It’s clear when they open every game with a successful drive that Mac has a major influence in those scripted plays. It’s when they get further in the game and Nuss has to improvise that the issues begin.
Joe do you really trust Mac to call the plays? He can’t even keep track of the clock or timeouts left during critical last minutes, or has sense enough to accept a called penalty on the other team after we shank a punt. Compared to these common-sense decisions that he struggles with every game, calling the plays would overwhelm the guy immediately.
So if the players are standing together, why is their HBC throwing them under the bus in the post-game presser?
I don’t believe for a second that coaching is the problem. I believe it is all player execution. Again this year there is a serious blocking issue on the offensive line. If the line doesn’t block it doesn’t matter who the QB is or who the RBs are. The line has shown improvement despite being so young. The LSU game was lost by the defense, not the offense. Fans may not like the growing pains but now is not the time to throw salt in the wounds by firing coaches and starting all over again with new schemes and assignments. When the o-line decides to listen and execute the plan and their assignments, then the QB will have time to throw and running backs won’t have to bail on the holes and try to make something happen. Doesn’t appear anyone is stepping up to in the place of the injured players either. I also don’t hear any bragging about DBU. Nobody has said anything about firing Shannon despite the embarrassing coverage of jet sweeps that even the gators run in practice. It takes all of 5 years to build a contender and set it up for the long run. Mac will tweek and change if there is a gross failure in coaching. There is none right now. The players have to execute. Maybe some of you fans might want to put some gun powder in nutritional menu. Try that. Maybe the line will block like a slobbering, ravenous dog! If you think that is stupid, try re-reading some of the posts made by fans about the gators they so dearly love….
Sorry but that’s just funny.
For starters, we scored 16 points against LSU and gave up 17 and the defense lost the game, too funny. Did we screw the pooch on the jet sweeps, yep but come on…17 points. I’ve been critical of Coach Shannon and personally don’t think he’s the answer but he’s not at the top of what ails us.
So, according to you we haven’t executed on the great game plans Mac and Nuss have put together for 2.5 years? Do our players not execute, sure but they’re not put in position to be successful. Nuss’ track record is crap and look no further than his offensive success or lack there of in his 2.5 years here. Mac’s offense is outdated and is in desperate need of a facelift and that facelift starts with Nuss. Nuss never should’ve been hired…period. There’s a reason he was so easily available.
Think about this, over the course of 2.5 years on average, our most productive drive is usually our first and that’s because all those plays are scripted. After the script runs dry, Nuss has to think on his own and that’s not good and I present every offense statistic for the last 2.5 years as exhibit A, B,C, etc.
Even though I do not think Mac should’ve been hired in the first place because it was a hire that wreaked of desperation and is really more of a reflection of who wasn’t available or interested. With that said, I am not on the fire Mac bandwagon…yet but Nuss and Nord need to go and now. I am ok with keeping Nuss on as an assistant if that keeps Corral but Nord literally provides no value at all and needs to be gone altogether.
For the record, I do like what Mac has done on the majority of the assistants because he’s gone all in on recruiting (minus Nord). That means our coordinators need to be great Xs & Os guys…jury’s still out on Coach Shannon but the Nuss ship has sailed and sank.
I don’t agree c Gatorgeez either, but it is an opinion and thus fair to assess it that way. I just simply say that if the players aren’t executing or motivated, that’s why you coach them up.
You hold LSU to 17 pts the defense didn’t lose that game, the offense did. Shannon clearly made the correct adjustments in the second half and started stuffing the jet sweep. You hold A&M who was averaging 30+ pts and over 400 yards a game to 19 pts, which happens to be the same amount of points Bama held them to the week before and you should win. Considering the defensive backfield is loaded with true freshman and guys that weren’t supposed to play significant minutes this season, then I’d say Shannon is doing a hell of a job coaching. Anyone who criticizes the defense for anything is someone that doesn’t know much about football and just looking for anything to complain about and trying to blame everything on coaching.
100% agree Joe…it’s not on the defense and not on Shannon. However I do have one complaint – I really wish we would blitz a bit more. I know it’s not Randy’s style and I’m sure they’re also trusting a great d-line so they can keep more players back to help a young secondary. But a little more blitzing would at least keep the offense guessing a bit more. When we only blitz 2 or 3 times an entire game it really makes it easy for them to call plays. Our d-line is good enough to get pressure only rushing four a decent amount of time, but NOT enough times to carry the team.
I hate to admit it, but I have come to agree that the players are most of the problem. I am not angry/ranting, or by any means trying to defend the coaching (which has its own share of deficiencies), but the fact is that no matter how many “stars” these players were or weren’t, they are honestly not very good at the game of football. By now, they should know how to block, tackle, catch, run routes, when to stay in bounds, when to throw the ball away, how much they need to get a first down, go on the snap count, avoid off-sides, etc., etc. They should be at the point where coaches can actually install an offense, and depend on players to be basically sound enough to stop the jet sweep after it comes at them a half a dozen times. They should know not to kick-off out of bounds, and not to punt to a dangerous return man. I say this somberly, and matter-of-factly (is that even a word?), but despite the fact that most have been playing since Pee Wee days, they are not very good individually and their lack of talent is magnified collectively. Perhaps in high school their athleticism allowed them to be so basically inept, but the lack of true football smarts and talent is glaring now. One can say this is the fault of recruiting (as is, no doubt overlooking the dubious character of guys like Callaway, et. al.)or perhaps the consequence of playing so many freshmen so early instead of reinforcing skill sets and football IQ through coaching and practice before playing on the big stage. However, looking at other true freshman that are playing now, or have started in the past for other programs, one sadly concludes that our guys are just not good enough to be playing at this level. I am sure they are (mostly) good men, and are playing hard, and I am proud of them for that. Except for a few stand-outs, they aren’t very good. But, they are ours, so Go Gators!
Townsend nor Franks were responsible for that loss. Nussmeier was. When they had their possession at 5 minutes he stupidly did 3 straight dive plays with malik davis which of course failed and we had to punt it back to A&M. We desperately needed to keep that drive alive, leading by one point and kill the clock which we couldnt do with such idiotic play calling. this is typical of his play calling. No, the blame for thew loss sits squarely at Nussmeier’s feet! Our guys played their tails off, its NOT their fault!!!!!
Who brought in Nussmeier and who keeps him around? Who lets him call plays? Everything goes back to the head coach….
Coaching is definitely the problem. I don’t disagree with playing Franks some to develop him, but when he struggles put Zaire in and change things up with zone read, QB draws and run-pass option. We would definitely get some first downs and run out the clock if not score points. The coaching staff is fulfilling the modern definition of insanity – doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. That has got to change or fire Nuss.
It’s easy to assume that’s all that needs to be done and Mac is clueless for not doing it, but the fact of the matter is there isn’t anyone on this message board that has any clue of what’s going on behind closed doors. I’m pretty sure if Zaire were ready to go and could run the offense effectively Mac wouldn’t hesitate to put him in. The guy could never lock down the job for a crappy ND team and now he’s suddenly a superstar? Everyone looks at those games he played against LSU and Texas as a barometer of his potential greatness instead of looking at the actual teams he played. LSU was an 8 win team and he still barely beat them. Texas was ranked when they played to open the season, but the 5 wins they had at the end of the season said they were absolutely terrible and grossly overrated in the preseason. There’s clearly a reason why he’s not playing and Mac just chooses to not throw him under the bus and keep it in house.
3rd and 1 and you run the seatback, where was peering or Thompson and Only throw to tight ends in the slot/flats. SMH
As a 1968 UF grad, I’ve seen a lot of the ups and downs. I’m wondering why Kyle Traskis never mentioned in any of the qb discussions. He’s still shown on the roster. Is he hurt?
Yes, he is. Rehabbing a foot injury, as Gatorsports.com reported a while back.
The Offensive(??) coordinator has no imagination calling plays – hell I called over 1/2 of the plays before they even lined up for the play – and I’m a Baseball guy! We need something, not sure if it’s a new OC or what but we need something cause this definitely is not working! and this is NOT GATOR FOOTBALL… we can’t even win at home! Shame, Shame, Shame…
Guys Franks looks terrible and that’s the bottom line. Is it bad coaching or is he just sharp enough to look off his primary receiver? I think the latter. We had the same issue with a super star 5* recruit named Jeff Driskel a few years ago. I question how these kids get rated do they have sort of aptitude testing at all of these showcase camps. I think we have a bad one in Franks and that’s disappointing because that’s precisely what we didn’t need. Play Zaire and let’s try to salvage the season with some dignity. The wr running open Saturday night has made me think this way. Pat was right when he mentioned this in the video, wide open and he never even looked that way. Coaches can’t throw the ball for him m
“Somewhat” generalizing here but here’s the kicker. When you recruit and gather “mostly” 3-star athletes into the fold, you will “mostly” get 3-star results. I know there are exceptions to coaching them up, but here are the results over the past 3 (2015-2017) years, 5 star, 4 star, and 3 star:
Alabama: 15-46-16
Ohio State: 7-45-19
Georgia: 8-40-30
Criminoles: 9-35-25
Florida: 2-22-44
Again, I know coaching and development has a lot to do with it. But when Alabama, OSU, and GA have as many 4-stars as we have 3-stars over the past 3 years there is proof in this pudding. Courtesy of 24/7.
I see your point but it doesn’t really correlate with what’s going on with the Gators. All the top players performing the best were lower ranked guys. You were off by one on your 5 star players. Ivey is the only 5* on offense but is getting outplayed by 3* Taylor. Franks was a high 4* and the #5 pro style QB in the nation but playing like he shouldn’t have even been a 1*. On defense Jefferson was a 5 and is playing like one and Clayton is the other who can’t even get on the field cause all the lower ranked guys are keeping him from it, including 3* Zuniga who is playing better than everyone. They’re developing lower ranked guys just fine. Their biggest problem is finding a QB that isn’t blind with mental issues. I have a feeling the savior is coming in next season, lets just hope Nuss isn’t there to corrupt him as well. Look at all those stars for Georgia and they haven’t beaten the Gators in 3 years. Star rankings are grossly overrated and most of the time none of them play like their rankings. I guarantee you if Bama had 9 players suspended this season and had as many injuries to the starters as the Gators have had the last 2 seasons, then they wouldn’t be winning as many games as they are. Hell FSU lost 1 player and has 3 losses this season. I know Gator fans don’t like to accept the fact that the massive amounts of injuries and suspensions should be an excuse and think they should have 3rd stringers competing with the best of them, but Muschamp didn’t allow for that kind of depth and Mac hasn’t had enough time to load up with it and that’s just the reality Gator fans need to accept and stop acting like they should be winning no matter what and Mac should be fired cause they aren’t. That’s just absolutely ridiculous!
Whatever…what are they supposed to say. This team says all of the right things, but none of it shows up on Saturdays. We’ll see the same ole, same ole for the rest of the year. 4-7, here we come!
Star ratings and rankings aren’t the end-all but they not one cans say they don’t matter, and that they don’t give you the upper hand (unless you are Tennessee). Here are Urban’s classes from 2006-2009, the last time The Gators were truly relevant, esp., on offense:
14 – 5 stars
49 – 4 stars
24 – 3 stars
As much as there are many 3- stars that develop and perform, give me the 4s and 5s any day of the week and twice on Saturdays. Ask Nick Saban…..
Gator Mike, in his two postings above, speakth the truth. Talent normally prevails.
Are Gator fans for real ? You can’t make this up…