The High Five, Vol. 4

By
Pat Dooley
-
16
160

The High Five appreciates 105 The Game having LSU-West Virginia on to make the drive home after the game a lot easier. My man crush on college football may be getting out of hand.

1. Scratch what I wrote last week about Mark Richt being safe this year. He’s in trouble. I still don’t think he’ll be fired this year but he’s in trouble. There’s a precedent (see: Zook, Ron) for losing at Starkville and getting fired. When you talk about where the bar is set, that’s the low bar in this conference. Don’t tell me what a great job Dan Mullen is doing. Georgia has better players than Mississippi State. Much better. And to top it off, Richt wakes up Sunday morning to find a 10th player this year has been arrested — linebacker Demetre Baker for DUI. It’s not good in Athens. Richt might have to beat Florida to save his job. Right now, he just wants to beat Colorado. The funny thing is that the Dawgs’ schedule still sets up really well. But when you lose to MSU, anything is possible.

2. Florida State seems to be back defensively if being back means you dominate teams with lesser talent. That’s a step in the right direction for the Seminoles. But in the stands, not so good. The announced crowd was the lowest since 1992. FSU officials say it’s because of the economy and how difficult it is to get to Tallahassee. I get the economy part but did I miss something? Did they move Tallahassee? They had no trouble filling the place up when they were winning.

3. I wrote Mark Ingram off for the Heisman when he missed the first two games of the season after knee surgery. But I think he’s right back in the picture. There will be a sympathy vote and he’s put up great numbers in his two games since his return. Prime time game on network TV against Florida? If Ingram goes off, don’t think the repeat can’t happen.

4. So before the season I was talking to my dog Daisy and I told her, “You know, Daisy, I think four games into the season Trey Burton will be in the top five in the nation in scoring.” And Daisy said, “Did you say something about a walk?” It’s why we love the game. You never know what will happen. Burton’s eight TDs have him tied for fifth. Amazing.

5. POW as in Player of the Week. It goes to Cam Newton, who ran for three touchdowns and passed for two while accounting for 334 total yards. Right now, you’d have to vote for him for All-SEC quarterback, no?

Big weekend
OK, so Oklahoma-Texas has lost some glitz. You’ll still watch. And you’ll need two TVs Saturday night.
Oklahoma-Texas, 3:30 ABC
Florida at Alabama, 8 p.m. CBS
Stanford at Oregon, 8 p.m. ABC

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16 COMMENTS

  1. Great win against UK, Gators! I noticed the media is still so in love with Alabama, how great they are this, how physical they are that, blah, blah blah…They looked very human to me. Arkansas seemed like they could not believe they were on top of the #1 team in the land and Bama’s championship character prevailed. With the Gators, that could be different. UF has been there too and if they put it together, they can show they have the heart of champions and will know how to handle the situation and hold on to a lead.
    I feel our boys have a chance to go to Tuscaloosa and beat Bama at night, at their house.
    These Gators are young, but they are hungry and getting better!
    Kudos for Trey Burton. He sure looks like the Tebow-Lite version of Superman. Keep it up Trey! I am proud of all of you Gators, and thank you for representing our school so well.
    GO GATORS, LET’S ROCK THE COLLEGE WORLD NEXT SATURDAY!!! BEAT BAMA!!!It sure feel to be the underdog.

  2. Pat,
    I AM JEALOUS- to get to see THAT GAME- last night…well, FOR ME, it ranked RIGHT UP THERE WITH: Kerwin limping in against AUBURN, THE 14-9 FSU VICTORY, etc…WHAT AN AMAZING EFFORT BY TD~ TB!!! TREY BURTON IS THE 1st TREY BURTON!
    Way to GO GATORS-THEY ALL PLAYED WELL and they NEEDED THAT!!!
    I a have A THEORY ABOUT THE BABMA GAME and I WILL SAVE IT FOR YOUR 4;00 show on 105 THE GAME!

    WORK EM SILLY GATORS! -THEY DID!!! …way 2 go!!!

    gatorgi70x7 aka; (GREG)

  4. The opponents and the learning curve of this team have set us up nicely for this game. This is a young team and it shows on how they have been progressing. I agree with HHO that the Gators have a good chance to knock off Alabama, but wonder if that is exactly what Saban will be preaching to his team all week. It will come down to execution and stopping the run – heart and strength will help! Our special teams could be the difference.

  5. Now this is setting up sweet for the Vols. When Richt “retires”, Coach Bowden style, Georgia hires Dooley! (Derek that is, not Pat.) After what the VolunTEARS did when Baby Brat Kiffin left, they may just bulldoze Neyland and put up a parking lot when Dooley leaves. The only downside is FSU would hire Richt to replace Jimbo.

  6. I know i’m not coming off the mountain with the tablets here but i think the key to the game obviously is to stop Bama’s running game and make McElroy beat you, and i think IF anyone is built to do it, it’s the Gators. We can play straight up man coverage with Julio Jones and not feel exposed. I guess we’re going to play with a five man front and commit some secondary to the run D. Again, nothing earthshattering, just go do it, execute.

  10. If Brantley can have some success passing (are you listening OL,… and Pouncey?), then ‘Bama won’t be able to stack the line and swarm our Running Backs.
    And if Demps’ injury hinders him and Moody disappoints (as usual), it may be time to bring in the backs of the future: Mack Brown (a la Emmitt Smith, circa 1986) and, of course, Gillislee. These two could be superstars – if Meyer would permit it!
    IGTBAG!
    Ciao

  12. @O&B always 80-85,
    What up Gator? I was at UF 81-85, and worked at the O&B 81-83.
    FYI, they really changed the place (O&B). It’s more like a fast-food joint now – smaller and sterile; though the stage and outdoor patio still remain.
    Hey, remember Skeeter’s (gone!); and, as an aside,… Dolphin shorts?!
    Aahhh memories!

  13. Correction (update): For the record, my above reference to Emmitt Smith (@9:59 am) should’ve read “circa 1987” (not 1986).
    It was the third game of the season (in Alabama), and his first START. He shredded them for 224 yards on 39 carries! [in the prior week’s game-two, in his first GAME (DNS), he went 69 yards “to-the-house” on, I believe, his second run from scrimmage, garnering over 100 yards for the game!].
    The rest, as they say, is history!
    By the way, did anyone notice that he dissed UF at his Hall of Fame induction by not making any reference to his time there? Along with the Cowboys, he even gave a shout-out to his H.S. & Coach, but was mum on Gatorville.
    Curious, indeed!
    Ciao

  14. A prediction: The gators will have no more than one completed pass where the ball travels at least 20 yards in the air from the line of scrimmage. That is not where the pass is ten yards and the receiver runs 10 yards for a total of 20 yards. Instead, a down field pass of at least 20 yards past the line of scrimmage. Except for this year, the first few games the Gators toss the ball all over the place. But, as soon as they play a “good” team, usually Tenn. the Gators quit throwing the ball long. This is especially true if there is a sack of a Gator QB. Because of this Ala. linebackers will be cheating towards the line of scrimmage packing the box and stuffing the run. They will have a short drop to fill the passing lanes to stop the Gators 10 yard pass, which will be the norm. The net result will be another anaemic Gator offensive output. The Gators will have to rely on the defence to keep things close. Hope I am wrong and the Gators run it up, but it has not been Meyer’s history.

  15. GATORS CAN PLAY THE #1TEAM 3 TIMES IN THE SAME SEASON AND BE #1 THE END OF THE SEASON!
    This gets kind of wordy but hang in there with me. There are several suppositions: 1) Ohio State runs the table winning the rest of its games and goes to the BCS Championship game. 2) Alabama wins all of its games through the SEC Championship game. 3) All of the unbeaten teams, except Boise (discussed later) catch a loss. 4) Gators win the rest of their games. Then: Florida loses to Alabama today in a very close game a la when Michigan lost to Ohio State and thought they deserved to go to the championship game instead of the Gators (Ohio State wished that happened after the gators killed them). Florida drops in polls but not greatly. As Florida wins and other undefeated team lose, Florida becomes the best one loss team and moves to 4th in polls. Florida beats the then #1 Alabama in the SEC championship game (FSU vs. Gators in 1996)being the second time the Gators play a number one team. All of the above is plausible. Now we have to count on the BCS formula for help. This could be tough considering how watered down the BCS has become. The BCS sent LSU who clearly had a tougher schedule instead of USC, who played nobody, to the championship game. The pollsters were miffed that the BCS formula knew more that they did, actually giving credit to a team that played a tougher schedule instead of picking the pollsters favourite, USC. They complained enough that strength of schedule was watered down and the pollsters vote made more important. What about Boise State? How good would it be if Nevada loses a game and by the time the BCS ranking come out Boise plays no ranked teams the entire season? The Boise State strength of schedule, oh… #1438. The gators on the other hand playing a #1 team twice, #12 LSU, #20 South Carolina, and maybe a ranked FSU, will have played one of the toughest schedules this year. So if the BCS works correctly the Gators would jump to #2 and play the then ranked #1 Ohio State in the championship. The Gators own Ohio State and beat the third number one ranked team in the same season and become the #1 team in the process. Go Gators!