Yikes!! The stats here are too eerily similar. I wish I hadn't seen this.It means we have had a lot of good luck this season.Everybody rub your favorite rabbits foot today!
Oliver Barry, CRS, GRI, SFRReal Estate BrokerPARKS305 B Indian Lake BlvdSuite 220Hendersonville TN 37075Mobile: 615-972-4239Office: 615-826-4040Sent from my iPhone
Begin forwarded message:From: Shane Ford <goufgators@bellsouth.net>
Date: November 12, 2015 at 6:45:53 AM CST
To: GatorNews <gatornews@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [gatornews] [SUN]: Difference is Gators making plays, opponents failing to do so
Reply-To: gatornews+owners@googlegroups.com----Difference is Gators making plays, opponents failing to do so
Published: Wednesday, November 11, 2015 at 1:35 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, November 11, 2015 at 1:35 p.m.
This was back in the spring when the Gator Nation was still trying to get its brain around its new football coach. Jim McElwain walked out of a Mexican restaurant in Gainesville after an undisturbed meal with friends.
In the parking lot, he was stopped by someone who asked to have her picture taken with him.
"You're the new Florida coach, right?" she said. "My dad is a big Gator fan."
They posed for a quick cellphone shot before she asked, "What's your name again?"
McElwain grinned and said, "I've got a long way to go, don't I?"
Flash forward to Thursday night for the coaches' call-in show. People were hanging from the rafters to get a glimpse of the newest Gainesville rock star. Between segments with Mick Hubert, lines of fans waited to get autographs and selfies.
He has come a long way in the hearts of Florida fans quickly by restoring the order in the East. Six years after Florida's last visit, the Gators are returning to the arena they once owned.
It's nice that Florida could get back to the Georgia Dome before they turn it into a parking lot.
There is still plenty of football to be played before that game, including Saturday's game in Columbia, S.C., against the Gamecocks. But just the fact that we know Florida will play a minimum of 14 games this season after two straight 12-game seasons is reason enough for celebration.
Let's not forget that in four of the five seasons that were played between SEC Championship Games, UF had a combined SEC record of 14-18.
As a result, nobody really cares if it's Alabama and its smothering defense on the other side. Just being there makes Florida one of the best stories in the 2015 season.
So how did this happened?
There are championships that are won by dominant play and dominant players. But many of them are won by just making a few more plays than the team they happen to be facing at the time.
When athletic director Jeremy Foley was looking for a new head coach to replace Will Muschamp, he went searching for offense. McElwain was the answer, even if the name didn't overwhelm the Gator Nation.
Here's the funny thing -- his offense isn't really better than Muschamp's was last year. There are certainly reasons, including a patched-together offensive line and a mid-season gut punch to the quarterback position from the NCAA.
Check out the numbers
Total offense: 2014: 96th; 2015: 91st
Yards per play: 2014: 5.24; 2015: 5.49
Yards per game: 2014: 367.6; 2015: 367.2
Points per game: 2014: 28.6; 2015: 30.3
The difference is that Florida has done exactly what a team has to do when it's not overpowering its opponents — making plays when it absolutely must. When the defense has to get off the field, it does. When the offense needs 20 yards to set up a field goal as it did last week, it does.
These five plays were the biggest to get Florida to Atlanta:
1. Will Grier to Antonio Callaway, Tennessee: There is no question that the 63-yard touchdown play on fourth-and-14 is the signature play from this season. It's only going to get better the further you get away from it.
2. Austin Hardin's field goal, Vanderbilt: OK, Florida still probably wins the East if it loses to Vandy. But it wouldn't be clinched right now.
3. Treon Harris to Callaway, Georgia: Let's face it, Florida's offense was struggling. The muffed punt had given the Gators the lead, but Harris' perfect rollout toss to the freshman receiver put Georgia in a hole. Vernon Hargreaves III's ensuing interception threw dirt on it.
4. Jon Bullard sacks Patrick Towles, Kentucky: First SEC game of the year, Wildcats hanging around in front of a rocking crowd. Kentucky is driving near midfield when Bullard makes the play that effectively ends the game with 46 seconds to play.
5. Bryan Cox Jr. recovers a mid-air fumble, Ole Miss: The Rebels' messed up an exchange between Chad Kelly and Jaylen Walton and Cox was Bryan-on-the-spot to set the Gators up at the Ole Miss 24. Florida was already up 7-0, but five plays later UF was in the end zone and the Rebs were in trouble.
And it also helps when the other team doesn't make plays.
For example, there was Aaron Medley's missed 55-yard field goal for Tennessee. If it hooks a foot, who knows where we -- and Tennessee -- are today? Or Jay Rome's dropped touchdown pass for Georgia which would have put the Bulldogs up 7-6 early in the second quarter. Or Dorian Baker's dropped TD pass for Kentucky early in that game, which was followed up two plays later by a Hargreaves pick. Or even Gary Wunderlich's missed chip-shot field goal for Ole Miss early in the second quarter.
Somehow, McElwain has been able to combine an elite defense, just enough offense and a little magic to get Florida to this point.
Oh, and since I'm into charts today, here are Florida's last 10 quarters of defense.
Plays: 147.
Yards: 514.
Yards per play: 3.5.
Yards per quarter: 51.4.
Points per quarter: 1.7.
We'll see what happens, but the past 2½ months have seen a different attitude and a different ability to make plays.
As a result, it's been a different kind of fun for Gator fans -- the unexpected.
Contact Pat Dooley at 352-374-5053 or at dooleyp@gvillesun.com. And follow at Twitter.com/Pat_Dooley.
Sent From Shane's iPhoneGo Gators! & Skål Vikes!ALPCA #8756Europlate #1045
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GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY!
1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions |
Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007)
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GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY!
1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007)
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Thursday, November 12, 2015
Re: [gatortalk] Fwd: [gatornews] [SUN]: Difference is Gators making plays, opponents failing to do so
I am curious whether there would be a substantial difference if we broke down the stats by Grier's starts versus Harris' starts. My subjective recollection is that our offense was on an upward trajectory under Grier, but has been getting worse since the suspension. I know they said the two were neck-and-neck, but I see a huge difference between them. But even if that's so, well, Grier's gone for now and that's life.
Here's how I am looking at it. We have an excellent chance of winning two more games, a solid shot at FSU and we'll probably be big underdogs in the SECCG. We can win all of those, and I hope we do, but even if we don't, this season is so far beyond my wildest expectations that I can head into the winter a happy Gator. Then I stop and think about 1) how experienced this young line will be next year, 2) getting Grier back, maybe, or a great freshman QB, 3) a really strong recruiting year, and 4) another year of understanding by the offense of Mac's system, and I am really feeling like the next several years will be a particularly good time to be a Gator.
Rob
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