The Old College Try

Well, that's that. Congrats to the Gators on their win and their crystal football.

I'd say it was a great game but... it kinda wasn't. Now, just because it was lower scoring than expected doesn't necessarily mean it was a bad game. I can appreciate good defense as much as anyone. But there were a number of boneheaded plays, stupid penalties and overall lack of crispness on both sides for most of the game. The month layoff for these teams seem to put the offenses on ice, and it took about 3 quarters for them to get even a little thawed out.

They'll be a lot of hemming and hawing about the outcome here. The Big-12, Oklahoma, Sam Bradford and Bob Stoops will all take heat for not living up to some impossible standard. The SEC will get more credit than its due for the solid performance of the Gators. Make no mistake, they won fair and square, but they gave Florida just as much (if not more) of a game then formerly undefeated and SEC runner up Alabama did, so to denigrate them for this loss would be stupid.

This game, just like every other football game ever, came down to execution (or lack thereof) on a handful of select plays. Specifically, the Oklahoma offense, despite churning up a lot of yardage and moving the ball at will for much of the game, will be haunted by the few plays they didn't make. The two goal line stands were obviously crucial. Kick field goals and you're up 6, still in it at the end, and the whole game changes. Manage to punch it in from the one and you're even more golden. And of course there was the blocked FG, which we can't count as good but certainly looked good coming off the kicker's foot. Throw in an amazing/freak interception in the 4th quarter and it doesn't look promising.

Basically, Oklahoma's lack of execution left 6-17 points off the board early in the game. Credit the Gators for making the plays to stop them, but I also have to question what, exactly, the Sooner coaches were thinking on some plays. The Sooners had a high powered offense which relies on at the line adjustments. The team lines up, checks the D, then they all look over to the sidelines to get a play call or adjustment. They do this with a fairly high tempo, but sometimes its just not worth it. In fact, on the first Goal line stand I'd argue it actually hurt them. They had 3rd and goal at the 1, with probably the best O-line in the nation. They ran up to the line and got set while Florida still wasn't lined up right to stop them. Then, instead of just snapping for a wedge-QB sneak or a handoff up the middle, they stopped, looked over for a "new" play call, which allowed Florida to get set. After giving the Gators time to recover they ran the handoff, which was stuffed. The same thing happened on 4th down, with another stuff as a result. I'm all for intricate offenses and complexity and the like, but dammit sometimes you should just line up and GO! Don't worry about complexity, don't let the defense get set, just plunge ahead and score the damn touchdown.

This happened again on a short yardage situation, where the Gators literally did not have a tackle in the game. Instead of going right at that gap, the Sooners went through their whole routine, which allowed the Gators to get a tackle in place, and then ran right at him! Just GO!

Another thing I have to question is what the Sooners were thinking on their second goal line stop, right before the have. They have first and goal from about the 8, with 10 second left and no timeouts. Your only choices are to throw to the endzone or throw it away, so as to preserve time for a FG try if you don't make it. The Sooners run a pass which was intercepted after it was tipped and bounced off of what seemed like 10 different players. Fine, tips and picks happen. But the pass was for a slant to a closely covered receiver who had only reached the 2 yard line. Even if he catches it he's likely tackled and time runs out. Bad decision all around.

The exact same thing happened on Oklahoma's final offensive play. In desperation mode, Oklahoma went for it on 4th and 4 late in the game. Slant pattern, knocked away by the defender (who might have gotten there early but there was no flag). Even if he had caught the pass, the receiver was still short of the first down make. It's not like it was 4th and 20. It shouldn't be that hard to get 5 yards down the field, especially when you absolutely have to.

The Sooners tight end #18, Jermaine Gresham, is a great physical prospect but needs work on his simple game management. He was clearly the go to-receiver and had 2 TDs and a number of other big catches. But he also hurt his team with dumb decisions. Not once, not twice, but three times during the game when the Sooners were trying to move the ball quickly he had a chance to step out of bounds but instead choose to barrel forward. The resulting extra yardage was next to nothing, but the seconds (and timeouts cost) were critical. And that pretty much sums up how this game went for Oklahoma: lots of nice plays, too many unforced mental errors. The Gators won this game not just with speed or strength (the teams were actually pretty even in these categories) but because they were able to execute and not make these kinds of silly mistakes. Credit them and their coaches for being able to shake off the rust of the layoff and execute enough to win.

So that's it. Tebow is scheduled to ascend directly to Heaven at any minute. Bob Stoops will forever (unfairly) be branded a loser. Utah, USC and Texas will forever be slighted by our fatally flawed system. The debates will rage ad infinitum, nothing will change, and we'll be right back where we left off a year from now.

Circle of life and all that. Many college careers are ending. Some will throw their hat in the NFL ring, while others will stay around to enjoy the collegiate life for one more year. New blood will be infused into the college ranks, as signing day is less than a month away. Sunrise, Sunset. And whatever happens, we'll all (sorta) be back at school in the fall.