The Sunday Blog comes at you a little late because I had the audacity to take a 30-minute nap after we got home from Lexington this morning. Sorry.
1. I have to be honest that I have never been a huge fan of Brandon Powell. I just didn’t feel like he made people miss despite numerous opportunities. That said, I thought he played his best game as a Gator on Saturday night even though he only had 10 yards rushing and 24 receiving. He had an excellent punt return of 36 yards called back and a tough reception also called back because he went out of bounds first. But his TD run was all speed and fire and his giant catch-and-run on a big third-down play were important parts of the Gator win.
2. By the way — and I know this has a lot to do with who you have played conference-wise — but did you know there are only three Power Five teams with 2-0 conference records? They are Clemson, Southern Cal and Florida. Meanwhile, Miami continues to shoot up the rankings based on a 2-0 record and wins over Bethune-Cookman and Toledo. It’s not the Hurricanes’ fault that they were displaced by Irma any more than it’s FSU’s fault that the Seminoles had to go 21 days between games. No, I did not rank FSU, which is 0-2 and out of the race for a national title before September is over.
3. I think we all saw the Alabama handling Vanderbilt but, my oh my, that was downright embarrassing. Some of us thought Mississippi State would put up more of a fight against Georgia, but one thing we all have to remember is that every game is its own game. Just because you look good one week doesn’t mean you will look good the next. And that not every team is ready for the spotlight. It will be interesting to see how Georgia handles it this week at Tennessee, which could be a game for Butch Jones’ job.
4. Bryce Love probably doesn’t have a great shot at the Heisman Trophy, because Stanford already has two losses and the Cardinal play on the West Coast and there are a lot of lazy voters. But he’d be in my top five early. Love is so much fun to watch with the ball in his hands. He’s averaging 197 rushing yards a game. That’s good no matter what time you’re playing.
I agree wholeheartedly on your perception of Brandon Powell, both past and present. Every pre-season he was touted as a playmaker, but it never seemed to happen until yesterday. Speaking of which, whatever has happened to the supposedly multi-role playmaker, Dre Massey? Hope that there is a role for him other than standing in the end zone fielding long kickoffs.
Bill Ross. What happened to Massey is a player named Toney, and probably not being the same player he was before his knee injury. Returning kickoffs is most likely his role now for the Gators. For me, what has happened to Hammond as a wide receiver. He is non existent in this offense, or Nussmeier simply has no clue how to take advantage of his possession receiver skills. And it was actually good to see Swain on the field after hearing how much progress he had made throughout the summer and then also disappearing when the season began. And what happened to that great young freshman TE that we heard about all summer as being special. Special at what? Carrying his helmet around on the sidelines during games? Ending on a positive note. The offense finally seemed to play with aggressiveness and push during the fourth quarter, dominating the Kentucky defensive line. Good to finally see that.
Ricky you need to relax, why are you waiting to see a young freshman TE when you have barely seen the 2 upperclassmen ahead of him? I mean when was the last time Goolsby or Lewis made a great play?
Hammond had a couple of plays against Tenessee and Swain scored the game winner at UK but besides that not much else. Maybe LDR can find them and the TEs as well and throw for over 300 against Vandy.
hmmmmmmm, does anyone remember the block Powell made late in the Tenn game 2 years ago., he took out two and virtually a third tackler to clean the aisle for Callaway. In my mind that player earned his stripes then and there.
Can’t help but wonder about the Gainesville 9 (the suspended players). Now entering week 5 of the college season, our numbers of available players are hurting. Are they going to be charged? Is there some deal making to keep players being charged with more serious…..Guessing it is time to cut bait and let it loose. If suspended players cannot return permanently, we could really have some interesting additions to an already really good recruiting class. Proven: True freshmen (special ones) can come in and play this game just fine.
I just do not appreciate being kept in the dark if they get to come back or not. Someone should be hired to monitor player activities that this type of thing becomes a lot more rare than what has happened in past recent years.
Good comments, for a change.
I also like the positive comments. If you could clone Del Rio’s brain into Felipe’s body, you might have the perfect combination at QB. The QB contest continues, as decision making is just (if not more) important than athleticism at the QB spot. Then again, you have Toney. We have other QBs who receive no mention and no playing time (so far). As for the bone-headed penalties, this is par for the course with young players. Best to avoid taunting and excessive celebration, though once again the Gators pulled the game out of the hat like the proverbial rabbit. Perhaps Coach Mac should issued the Gator Rabbit award each week to the player who made us finally win. Good team effort all around – can’t wait until next week’s game (Go Rabbits)!
Where is that dude Mike Winter? Guess who is ranked number 130th in total offense this week…..you got it. The girl’s school out west. Even Muschamp’s offense could score 35 on N.C. State’s defense.
LOL, typical troll no where to be found while FSU crashes and burns, serves him right
It’s up to Pat Dooley and the other writers to press Mac and other schools officials for the latest on the suspended players’ situation. Silence is not golden!
Where are those Gidiots from last week that wanted us to fire McElwain and hire Mullen or Durkin? Explain to me why trading a coach who won his division every year on the job for a perennial 5th place division finisher is a better deal. Sure Mullen and Durkin will pull an upset here and there but I’d rather keep a proven Division Champ.
BTW, Durkin’s Maryland lost to UCF 38-10 at home. Mullen lost to UGA 31-3.
Amen Sly
I think it is best to forget about the Suspended 9 and just roll with what we have, who knows or cares at this point if they will ever come back.
I agree this was Powell’s best game as a Gator so far, hope to get more of that.
The offense has shown improvement each and every game so far and it seems we have settled on Malik Davis as our top runner which is fine with me. Toney has gotten more plays as well and that needs to continue.
I do not understand why Miami “continues to shoot up the rankings based on a 2-0 record and wins over Bethune-Cookman and Toledo.” They play Duke next so when will they play a real team? It is not their fault they were displaced by Irma but it is their fault they schedule a bunch of cupcaskes while playing in the worst division of a weak, top heavy conference.