[gatortalk] Re: [gatornews] Bianchi

Once again, I agree with Bianchi, except for bayoneting the wounded.

I will say that this team shows promise. But, time is running our before delivery is required. I see the Tennessee game as crucial to that continued team development with hope of a bowl bid and a decent season.

If we lose to UT it may be time for some bayoneting.

A. Leon Polhill, Gator
"I was gratified to be able to answer promptly, and I did.
I said I didn't know." - Mark Twain

On Sunday, September 21, 2014 4:28 PM, John Bowers <jbowers4@cfl.rr.com> wrote:

 

(Mike Bianchi's's favorite quote: "The job of a sports columnist is to observe the battle from the mountain top and then ride down and bayonet the wounded.")

 

Forget Will Muschamp, Jeff Driskel is on the hot seat

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Alabama quarterback Blake Sims, in his fourth collegiate start, threw for 445 yards and four touchdowns.

Florida quarterback Jeff Driskel, in his 18th collegiate start, threw for 93 yards and two interceptions.

And there you have the story of the game.

Good night, everybody.

Oh, what's that?

You mean I need to write about 18 more paragraphs to fill out the rest of this column?

Sigh.

Well, then, I will defer to University of Florida legend Emmitt Smith, who tweeted during Alabama's 42-21 methodical dismantling of the Gators Saturday: "Put Jeff Driskel on the bench, please. I have seen enough."

With all due respect to Emmitt, Driskel is not going to get benched — at least not yet — but there does come a time when a starting quarterback who's been in a program for four years needs to start making big plays in big games. For whatever reason — whether it's staying healthy, a revolving door of offensive coordinators and a penchant for inaccurate throws in key situations — Driskel, the redshirt junior from Oviedo's Hagerty High School, has not made nearly enough of those big plays.

Sims, who was brought to Alabama to play defensive back and was moved to running back before he finally got a chance to play quarterback, was absolutely phenomenal in leading his team to 645-200 edge in total offense Saturday.

Meanwhile, Driskel, the former prep All-American and the No. 1-ranked high school quarterback in the country, played one of his worst games. And now he takes his place on the hot seat right next to his head coach Will Muschamp.

Obviously, there are still a lot of games to be played, but Muschamp's team must play better in the coming weeks if he is to keep his job. Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley told me last week that Muschamp "doesn't have to win "X-number of games", but did say, "We need to be better. We need to be moving in the right direction. The goals for Gator football are to be in the hunt, to be a factor, to be relevant."

It's hard to say after two SEC games that the Gators are moving in the right direction. The Gators scored just three points in the first half and then needed three overtimes to beat perennial SEC doormat Kentucky at home last week.

Then on Saturday, Muschamp's vaunted defense killed itself with busted coverage early in the game, got steamrolled late in the game and gave up more yards than any defense in Gator history has ever given up. On a day when Alabama commemorated the 50-year anniversary of their Joe Namath-quarterbacked 1964 national championship team, Florida's dee made Sims look like the second coming of Broadway Joe.

In contrast, new UF coordinator Kurt Roper's offense looked as un-proficient as the previous units choreographed by former offensive coordinator Brent Pease and Charlie Weis. Muschamp chose to implement Roper's up-tempo, no-huddle system because he felt it was a perfect fit for Driskel's skill set. Driskel, who was rated as the No. 1-ranked dual-threat quarterback in the country in high school, was recruited by former UF coach Urban Meyer to become the next Tim Tebow – a big, fast, physical quarterback who could riddle defenses with his arm and his legs.

But Driskel's career has followed more in the footsteps of Tebow's successor, John Brantley, whose career faded into obscurity at the end of the Meyer era. Ironically, Driskel's first significant action as a collegian came against Alabama back in 2011 after Brantley went down late in the first half with an injury. That was three offensive coordinators and a broken leg ago.

You'd like to say Driskel has grown up as a quarterback in that time, but it was difficult to tell on Saturday when he completed only 9 of 28 passes and converted 2 of 13 third downs.

Muschamp said he thought about inserting true freshman backup quarterback Treon Harris on Saturday, but thought better of it.

"Jeff gives us the best opportunity right now," Muschamp said. "For us to to win a football game like that, Jeff Driskel needs to play. Moving forward, we have to play better at that position and a lot of other positions. We'll evaluate that."

Said Driskel: "We didn't make the plays when they were there and they did make the plays. I didn't get it done; we didn't get it done."

Four years into Driskel's college career, he desperately needs to start getting it done soon.

The clock is ticking.

mbianchi@tribune.com. Follow him on Twitter at BianchiWrites. Listen to his radio show every weekday from 6 to 9 a.m. on 740-AM.

 

--
--
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) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "GatorNews" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to gatornews+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.