Full disclosure: I am writing this post early due to the impending birth of my grandson this evening or tomorrow. My daughter will be put into the hospital this afternoon to induce her labor so I am certain that this won't get done unless I do it now. I have watched the tape once (that wasn't easy to do) and mulled over what I want to write about today. The bottom line: we just didn't get it done. Florida made the plays and we didn't. I will discuss what I thought were Achilles heel issues for us all year that exposed themselves in big moments all season, not just in yesterday's 24-17 loss to Florida, and how I feel we can learn from this experience and be better for it moving forward.
Prelude: August 2024
I took some heat on this site in August when I made my preseason predictions that we would go 11-1 and the 1 loss would be to a Florida team that was fighting to save its coach, who is well liked by his players and most people closely associated with the program. I thought a loss to LSU was possible (didn't see that Kentucky thing coming), but I was adamant that we would beat Georgia. I was questioned to give further explanation about how I would pick us to beat Georgia one week and lose to Florida the next. I summarize now what I said then, these are flesh and blood humans we are watching in real-time, not robots or computer images whose "performance ranking" has been measured and programmed into the game. We are NOT watching a video game. I felt the key to the season would be how well we react to the expectations and attention that we would receive. How would we respond to the pressure of being the hunted instead of the hunter? What adversity would arise and how would we react to it? Well, the answer to ALL of those questions is, NOT VERY WELL! I am not going to beat this drum any further right now. That is an end-of-season topic. Let's talk about yesterday.
The Florida Game
Offense
1. We got whipped on the LOS by Florida's DL. It is just that simple. We couldn't run, we didn't protect very well, and we didn't make big conversions when big conversions had to be made. It is a well-known fact that football games are won (or lost) by the offensive line. Championship teams can run the ball when they need to run the ball; impose their will on the other team and make them submit. Well, we could not do that, and here we are, sitting on the outside looking in, again. We consistently missed blocks, allowed disruptive pressure when throwing, and got beat on big conversion opportunities all day long. The bottom line, our inability to impose our will on Florida at the point of attack allowed them to make some big plays, which kept the crowd in the game, which fueled their emotions, which made them play like madmen, etc....
I wish I had an inkling of how Jeremy James and Caleb Warren were good enough the last 3-4 years to make over 30 starts apiece for us, but couldn't even get on the field this year, even when we had injuries. McIntyre went from being a backup to the starter for the entire year at center, and when he got hurt, Warren couldn't even play then. Instead, we moved Scott, who transferred from USM, from RG, where he was OBVIOUSLY better than 30-plus game starter James (S), to center. I am not at practice every day, but I have enough film on Warren and James, and the guys who replaced them, to know that they should have been playing more. It has been frustrating watching from the outside how the process and dispersion of playing time on the OL evolved. The sad thing is, OL was not the most frustrating position group soap opera we had.
2. The TE/WR group picked a terrible day to have key drops. The drops were timely and potentially momentum-changing. JD just missed on some throws, but a couple of them could have been caught. Even Watkins, who has been our most consistent receiver for a couple of seasons now, had at least 3 big drops.
Losing Tre Harris was obviously a big blow, again. He is a great player, but just can't stay healthy. We did not have guys step up when he went down. I, (we) have been waiting all year for Wells to show up, and again, he didn't. He cost us a TD by not using 2 hands to catch a back shoulder ball, instead trying to make the ESPN highlights with a one-hand grab. Not sure why he continued to play this year, honestly. He has not been the impact player on the opposite side of Harris that we were hoping he would be.
On that same topic, Prieskorn has not been what we thought he would be this year. He had 2 catches yesterday but made little impact on the game. We are left to wonder what role his (and Wells) offseason recovery from injury played in their play falling off this year. Wright was a solid performer yesterday but he had at least one drop that would have been a big chunk play as well.
3. The most incredible, befuddling turn of events, in a drama-filled season of events, occurred in the RB position yesterday. Somehow, our coaches thought that converting a backup WR to play RB, and having him take the majority of the snaps in a MUST HAVE game in the SEC, was the difference maker that would put us over the top and into the playoff. Davis, a converted WR, got 11 carries for 27 yards. Matt Jones and Thomas got reps, but our next most used RB after Davis was JJ Pegues. Bentley got ZERO carries. ZERO! I am not advocating for anyone's job here, but these guys get paid a lot of money to make these evaluations and decisions,... and THIS is their answer? This is the SEC! This was a playoff play-in game!
I thought JJ's success running to the edge against Georgia led to his bouncing outside against Florida, and they were ready for it. Maybe the big 450 lb guy in the middle for Florida influenced it, but it was a terrible choice to make and resulted in Florida stopping JJ multiple times in crucial situations.
4. Honestly, JD played about as well as he could have been expected to play, given the situation he was put in. He threw for 323 yards despite some crucial drops and was the team's leading rusher with 74 yards, despite being sacked 4 times and playing with a heavily taped left ankle. I am not making excuses here, as his decisions on the last 2 drives were abysmal, but I believe that the weight... the burden... of carrying this team... of having to make every play... overwhelmed him and made him press things that he normally wouldn't have done. JD did NOT lose this game. JD kept us IN THE GAME. Losing the game happened WAY BEFORE we got to Gainesville. I will get to that.
Overall, our inability to run the ball when we have to is why we are where we are today. We have to prioritize the OL. Texas has a good model for that. They made OL a priority early in the NIL transition. Their OL currently has nearly 170 starts on their front 5. I suggest we look at what they are doing and emulate it. This brings me to the RB position. Did last year's RB1, who I refuse to name in my posts, cover up our OL ineptness? What is the plan going forward?
The consistent drama on this team, which seems to be almost entirely on the Offensive side, is not a character trait of a championship team. I don't do this often, as I know there is always a lot more to the story than what is public, but I honestly question the coaching of this unit, both in its entirety and the individual position groups. The decision-making. The game planning. The personnel decisions. Even the play calling (for example, lack of a screen game. Florida used it against us Saturday, scoring a TD on a screen and using it to slow our rush) lacks imagination and creativity.
Defense
1. From a purely statistical point of view, Walter Nolen played his best game as a Rebel. He had 8 tackles, a sack, and a pass deflection. That said, I feel Florida's plan of attack was to focus their efforts on attacking Princely and Suntarine, who are smaller, and let Nolen either take himself out of the play or make the tackle in pursuit. This happened on multiple occasions, particularly to Princely's side. Florida's OL did not per se' dominate our DL, but they did win enough 1v1s to rush for 165 yards and keep our pass rush honest. Suntarine had 10 tackles, and Princely 7, but they were both targeted multiple times Saturday. We only got to Lagway 3 times and were not able to pressure him consistently. Jared Ivey was not as noticeable as normal. Credit to Lagway, the dude is a player! He made several plays with our guys hanging on him.
2. Chris Paul got hurt early in the game, but he still led the LBs with 8 tackles. I thought our LBs took some poor angles and got caught up in the trash on numerous plays. Florida's OL was able to get to the 2nd level more than most of the teams we have played. See defensive point #1. The bottom line, we need to get some depth at this position in the offseason.
3. Trey Amos is bonafide. I thought Canady played well. Saunders had the big INT. Washington played decent. Banks was playing well until he got hurt ( I don't know what his status is) on the TD play. The bottom line, Lagway was only 10-17 for 180 yards. The secondary did not play bad.
Overall, the defense, while not playing their best game, played well enough to win. They got put in a couple of bad spots, like the fumbled punt, and did enough for us to win.
Special Teams
1. The muffed punt was a huge momentum-changing play, no doubt about that. We had just got a 3 and out to start the 2nd half, and then that happened. Question: Why wasn't Jordan Watkins in there to begin with? Again, I am not at practice every day. It could be as simple as getting Davis a chance to play and Watkins a chance to rest. Seems like a big decision to make, given all that was at stake.
2. There are many common denominators in our 3 losses. One of those is missing a FG kick that we should make. Caden Davis has one of the strongest legs in CFB. He has been fairly consistent this season. That said, he has missed some seemingly easy kicks in all 3 of our losses. Honestly, I knew he was going to miss it. I don't know, just a feeling I had. He is much more dangerous from 50 than he is from 35. I believe that his previous miss(es) in the red zone contribute, in some small way, to CLK's decision to go for it on 4th down. Again, this is humans we are talking about, not a video game.
Coaching
Bottom line, we got outcoached, in every aspect of the game that coaching affects. I am NO FAN of Scott Stricklin, per his MSU days, but he made the right call for Florida in supporting Napier. They did a great job. They wanted it more than we did. Think about that and let that sink in. Their team, including their coaches, wanted to secure a winning season and a trip to... Birmingham... more than we wanted to secure a program-changing, culture-developing, all-in mentality-defining, history-making, playoff spot and a legitimate shot at a National Championship. I have more to say about our coaching situation, but today is not that day. The last thing I want to say about this topic today... Which one of these 2 head coaches seems to have learned the most from Nick Saban? Would Alabama have gone to Gainesville with a superior team and all that was on the line and lost to a 5-5 team yesterday?
Final Thought
Watching the game yesterday, I admit I watched it with the attitude of a battered wife whose alcoholic husband has just come home drunk again the night before and abused her, only to wake up the next morning completely remorseful and promising to never do it again. 1990 Tennessee. 2003 LSU. 2014 Auburn. 2015 Arkansas. Add 2024 Florida to that list. Every time I think we are going to get over that hump and get the proverbial monkey off our back, we figure out a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. What do we do about it? We have 2 choices:
1. We throw our hands in the air, shout at the rain, and give up. We withdraw our Grove Collective contributions. We take on a bunker mentality. We point fingers. We cast blame. We resign ourselves to fighting for 12th-15th place with Kentucky, Vanderbilt, and MSU. We go "all in" on baseball, or track, or women's golf (nothing against those sports, just making a point). We decide to live with shooting for a trip to the Reliaquest Bowl. We hire a "hot shot" coordinator when CLK leaves because we can't compete for top-tier coaches. We relegate ourselves back to being "little Ole Miss".
2. We double down and refuse to come this far just to come this far. We finish what we came for. We fight, we fight, we fight. We put our money where our mouth is. We refuse to accept mediocrity. We hold our coaches, administration, and ourselves as fans/alumni, accountable. We decide to grab the rope and pull the wagon in the same direction.
3. What can I do? All I can. I am a Grove Collective member. I am committed. That said, I resolved 2 things today:
A. I will increase my membership level by one tier beginning January 1. That will increase my contribution from 1% of my yearly income to nearly 2%.
B. I will donate 50% of the anticipated money I was going to spend traveling to see us play in the playoffs to TGC. I will make that contribution BEFORE Jan 1.
Let's finish this season with a win over MSU and get the guns pointed towards 2025. Resilience and Resolve. That is what we need right now. That is all. Now, I am off to Columbus to welcome my grandson Sutton Thomas Smith to the world! LFG! HYDR! Beat MSU!
Prelude: August 2024
I took some heat on this site in August when I made my preseason predictions that we would go 11-1 and the 1 loss would be to a Florida team that was fighting to save its coach, who is well liked by his players and most people closely associated with the program. I thought a loss to LSU was possible (didn't see that Kentucky thing coming), but I was adamant that we would beat Georgia. I was questioned to give further explanation about how I would pick us to beat Georgia one week and lose to Florida the next. I summarize now what I said then, these are flesh and blood humans we are watching in real-time, not robots or computer images whose "performance ranking" has been measured and programmed into the game. We are NOT watching a video game. I felt the key to the season would be how well we react to the expectations and attention that we would receive. How would we respond to the pressure of being the hunted instead of the hunter? What adversity would arise and how would we react to it? Well, the answer to ALL of those questions is, NOT VERY WELL! I am not going to beat this drum any further right now. That is an end-of-season topic. Let's talk about yesterday.
The Florida Game
Offense
1. We got whipped on the LOS by Florida's DL. It is just that simple. We couldn't run, we didn't protect very well, and we didn't make big conversions when big conversions had to be made. It is a well-known fact that football games are won (or lost) by the offensive line. Championship teams can run the ball when they need to run the ball; impose their will on the other team and make them submit. Well, we could not do that, and here we are, sitting on the outside looking in, again. We consistently missed blocks, allowed disruptive pressure when throwing, and got beat on big conversion opportunities all day long. The bottom line, our inability to impose our will on Florida at the point of attack allowed them to make some big plays, which kept the crowd in the game, which fueled their emotions, which made them play like madmen, etc....
I wish I had an inkling of how Jeremy James and Caleb Warren were good enough the last 3-4 years to make over 30 starts apiece for us, but couldn't even get on the field this year, even when we had injuries. McIntyre went from being a backup to the starter for the entire year at center, and when he got hurt, Warren couldn't even play then. Instead, we moved Scott, who transferred from USM, from RG, where he was OBVIOUSLY better than 30-plus game starter James (S), to center. I am not at practice every day, but I have enough film on Warren and James, and the guys who replaced them, to know that they should have been playing more. It has been frustrating watching from the outside how the process and dispersion of playing time on the OL evolved. The sad thing is, OL was not the most frustrating position group soap opera we had.
2. The TE/WR group picked a terrible day to have key drops. The drops were timely and potentially momentum-changing. JD just missed on some throws, but a couple of them could have been caught. Even Watkins, who has been our most consistent receiver for a couple of seasons now, had at least 3 big drops.
Losing Tre Harris was obviously a big blow, again. He is a great player, but just can't stay healthy. We did not have guys step up when he went down. I, (we) have been waiting all year for Wells to show up, and again, he didn't. He cost us a TD by not using 2 hands to catch a back shoulder ball, instead trying to make the ESPN highlights with a one-hand grab. Not sure why he continued to play this year, honestly. He has not been the impact player on the opposite side of Harris that we were hoping he would be.
On that same topic, Prieskorn has not been what we thought he would be this year. He had 2 catches yesterday but made little impact on the game. We are left to wonder what role his (and Wells) offseason recovery from injury played in their play falling off this year. Wright was a solid performer yesterday but he had at least one drop that would have been a big chunk play as well.
3. The most incredible, befuddling turn of events, in a drama-filled season of events, occurred in the RB position yesterday. Somehow, our coaches thought that converting a backup WR to play RB, and having him take the majority of the snaps in a MUST HAVE game in the SEC, was the difference maker that would put us over the top and into the playoff. Davis, a converted WR, got 11 carries for 27 yards. Matt Jones and Thomas got reps, but our next most used RB after Davis was JJ Pegues. Bentley got ZERO carries. ZERO! I am not advocating for anyone's job here, but these guys get paid a lot of money to make these evaluations and decisions,... and THIS is their answer? This is the SEC! This was a playoff play-in game!
I thought JJ's success running to the edge against Georgia led to his bouncing outside against Florida, and they were ready for it. Maybe the big 450 lb guy in the middle for Florida influenced it, but it was a terrible choice to make and resulted in Florida stopping JJ multiple times in crucial situations.
4. Honestly, JD played about as well as he could have been expected to play, given the situation he was put in. He threw for 323 yards despite some crucial drops and was the team's leading rusher with 74 yards, despite being sacked 4 times and playing with a heavily taped left ankle. I am not making excuses here, as his decisions on the last 2 drives were abysmal, but I believe that the weight... the burden... of carrying this team... of having to make every play... overwhelmed him and made him press things that he normally wouldn't have done. JD did NOT lose this game. JD kept us IN THE GAME. Losing the game happened WAY BEFORE we got to Gainesville. I will get to that.
Overall, our inability to run the ball when we have to is why we are where we are today. We have to prioritize the OL. Texas has a good model for that. They made OL a priority early in the NIL transition. Their OL currently has nearly 170 starts on their front 5. I suggest we look at what they are doing and emulate it. This brings me to the RB position. Did last year's RB1, who I refuse to name in my posts, cover up our OL ineptness? What is the plan going forward?
The consistent drama on this team, which seems to be almost entirely on the Offensive side, is not a character trait of a championship team. I don't do this often, as I know there is always a lot more to the story than what is public, but I honestly question the coaching of this unit, both in its entirety and the individual position groups. The decision-making. The game planning. The personnel decisions. Even the play calling (for example, lack of a screen game. Florida used it against us Saturday, scoring a TD on a screen and using it to slow our rush) lacks imagination and creativity.
Defense
1. From a purely statistical point of view, Walter Nolen played his best game as a Rebel. He had 8 tackles, a sack, and a pass deflection. That said, I feel Florida's plan of attack was to focus their efforts on attacking Princely and Suntarine, who are smaller, and let Nolen either take himself out of the play or make the tackle in pursuit. This happened on multiple occasions, particularly to Princely's side. Florida's OL did not per se' dominate our DL, but they did win enough 1v1s to rush for 165 yards and keep our pass rush honest. Suntarine had 10 tackles, and Princely 7, but they were both targeted multiple times Saturday. We only got to Lagway 3 times and were not able to pressure him consistently. Jared Ivey was not as noticeable as normal. Credit to Lagway, the dude is a player! He made several plays with our guys hanging on him.
2. Chris Paul got hurt early in the game, but he still led the LBs with 8 tackles. I thought our LBs took some poor angles and got caught up in the trash on numerous plays. Florida's OL was able to get to the 2nd level more than most of the teams we have played. See defensive point #1. The bottom line, we need to get some depth at this position in the offseason.
3. Trey Amos is bonafide. I thought Canady played well. Saunders had the big INT. Washington played decent. Banks was playing well until he got hurt ( I don't know what his status is) on the TD play. The bottom line, Lagway was only 10-17 for 180 yards. The secondary did not play bad.
Overall, the defense, while not playing their best game, played well enough to win. They got put in a couple of bad spots, like the fumbled punt, and did enough for us to win.
Special Teams
1. The muffed punt was a huge momentum-changing play, no doubt about that. We had just got a 3 and out to start the 2nd half, and then that happened. Question: Why wasn't Jordan Watkins in there to begin with? Again, I am not at practice every day. It could be as simple as getting Davis a chance to play and Watkins a chance to rest. Seems like a big decision to make, given all that was at stake.
2. There are many common denominators in our 3 losses. One of those is missing a FG kick that we should make. Caden Davis has one of the strongest legs in CFB. He has been fairly consistent this season. That said, he has missed some seemingly easy kicks in all 3 of our losses. Honestly, I knew he was going to miss it. I don't know, just a feeling I had. He is much more dangerous from 50 than he is from 35. I believe that his previous miss(es) in the red zone contribute, in some small way, to CLK's decision to go for it on 4th down. Again, this is humans we are talking about, not a video game.
Coaching
Bottom line, we got outcoached, in every aspect of the game that coaching affects. I am NO FAN of Scott Stricklin, per his MSU days, but he made the right call for Florida in supporting Napier. They did a great job. They wanted it more than we did. Think about that and let that sink in. Their team, including their coaches, wanted to secure a winning season and a trip to... Birmingham... more than we wanted to secure a program-changing, culture-developing, all-in mentality-defining, history-making, playoff spot and a legitimate shot at a National Championship. I have more to say about our coaching situation, but today is not that day. The last thing I want to say about this topic today... Which one of these 2 head coaches seems to have learned the most from Nick Saban? Would Alabama have gone to Gainesville with a superior team and all that was on the line and lost to a 5-5 team yesterday?
Final Thought
Watching the game yesterday, I admit I watched it with the attitude of a battered wife whose alcoholic husband has just come home drunk again the night before and abused her, only to wake up the next morning completely remorseful and promising to never do it again. 1990 Tennessee. 2003 LSU. 2014 Auburn. 2015 Arkansas. Add 2024 Florida to that list. Every time I think we are going to get over that hump and get the proverbial monkey off our back, we figure out a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. What do we do about it? We have 2 choices:
1. We throw our hands in the air, shout at the rain, and give up. We withdraw our Grove Collective contributions. We take on a bunker mentality. We point fingers. We cast blame. We resign ourselves to fighting for 12th-15th place with Kentucky, Vanderbilt, and MSU. We go "all in" on baseball, or track, or women's golf (nothing against those sports, just making a point). We decide to live with shooting for a trip to the Reliaquest Bowl. We hire a "hot shot" coordinator when CLK leaves because we can't compete for top-tier coaches. We relegate ourselves back to being "little Ole Miss".
2. We double down and refuse to come this far just to come this far. We finish what we came for. We fight, we fight, we fight. We put our money where our mouth is. We refuse to accept mediocrity. We hold our coaches, administration, and ourselves as fans/alumni, accountable. We decide to grab the rope and pull the wagon in the same direction.
3. What can I do? All I can. I am a Grove Collective member. I am committed. That said, I resolved 2 things today:
A. I will increase my membership level by one tier beginning January 1. That will increase my contribution from 1% of my yearly income to nearly 2%.
B. I will donate 50% of the anticipated money I was going to spend traveling to see us play in the playoffs to TGC. I will make that contribution BEFORE Jan 1.
Let's finish this season with a win over MSU and get the guns pointed towards 2025. Resilience and Resolve. That is what we need right now. That is all. Now, I am off to Columbus to welcome my grandson Sutton Thomas Smith to the world! LFG! HYDR! Beat MSU!
