He's baaaaaack!

Well, that didn't take long . . .

After yesterday's post, I hear Urban Meyer now intends to return as coach of the mighty Gators next year . . . assuming health issues are resolved.

Hopefully, that is not going to be too much of an assumption.

Salute to Urban Meyer

The Gator Nation was stunned last night by the news that our head football coach Urban Meyer will be stepping down after the Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day.

He cited health concerns.

Coach Meyer has only been the top Gator for five years.

But, in that span of time, he has brought us two national championships, and a lot of other great memories.

His leadership will be sorely missed, especially as it coincides with the graduation of Tim Tebow.

Let the speculation begin as to his successor. Whoever it is will have some mighty tough shoes to fill.

Orange and Blue!

Hardly a rivalry anymore . . .

Yours truly remembers a time, not so long ago, when we Gator fans had to chew our nails a bit when we had to play Coach Cornpone and crew.

Not so much these days.

Don't get me wrong, the Gators played well in the Swamp this fine November evening, ripping off a season-high average of 9.25 yards per play--nearly as much as the Tennessee and South Carolina games COMBINED!

But, it wasn't anything spectacular.

In fact, Coach Meyer's play calls were pretty vanilla.

It was the pathetic game plan on the other side of the gridiron that contributed most to the Gator numbers.

I mean, really. Opting for the field goal when you're on the 2-yard line and trailing your "rival" by 30 points?!?!

Bobby Bowden has clearly lost his mojo. And, he should lose his job, too.

There was indeed one legend in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium tonight: Tim Tebow. It sent chills up many a spine to watch all the flash bulbs going off in the endzone in anticipation of his last play before the home crowd . . . like fireworks.

Until FSU gets back on track, and that could be years, the guys in orange and blue need to seriously consider finding a new "rival."

In fact, given the last coupla seasons, perhaps 'Bama should fill those shoes. Next week's SEC championship game up in Atlanta will be the true measure of our team this year.

In the mean time, "IT'S GREAT TO BE A FLORIDA GATOR!"

Florida 24, South Carolina 14

Well, ye socks, looks like the Gator Haters are out in droves, whining and crying about how a win isn't a win if it's not pretty.

Piffle.

10-0 is still 10-0, and even more impressive if the record includes going undefeated in the SEC. The fellas in orange and blue haven't done that since 1996! This is a great team, deserving of its #1 ranking.

Three highlights from this afternoon's win over the Gamecocks:

1. Riley Cooper's 68-yard TD run cut thru the host's D like a hot knife thru butter.

2. Tim Tebow's rushing TD now has him tied with Kevin Faulk for the SEC's combined scoring record. (Remember, he already beat Herschel Walker's rushing TD record.) He is well on his way to winning another Heisman.

3. Justin Trattou took the wind out of SC's sails when they were threatening to hang some more points on the board. The lumbering defensive lineman intercepted a deflected pass and racked up 53 YAC's in what proved to be the nail in Steve Spurrier's proverbial coffin.

Get ready, Gator fans. Ignore the haters. Urban and crew have something cooking that I think you're gonna like . . .

Gators (9-0) school Vandy, 27-3

Ok, so maybe it wasn't quite the Romp in the Swamp that a lot of the Orange and Blue faithful were expecting out of this match-up.

But, at least it was a welcome distraction from all the disturbing news headlines.

The biggest news in Gator Nation occurred hundreds of miles away from Gainesville, though.

Alabama defeated LSU to clinch the SEC's western division.

That's right, Gator fans, we're gonna have to face The Tide in Atlanta once again.

The prospect has me shuddering . . . just a little.

And, that's probably because today's play at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium seemed so uninspired.

Steve Addazio's offense allowed Tim Tebow to get sacked no fewer than four times. Meanwhile, Charlie Strong's defense managed exactly ZERO in that category. Let's hope Urban Meyer can get them to flip those stats when we go up against The Evil Genius next week . . .

Sidebar: congrats to ye Northwestern, Navy, and Clemson fans out there in the blogosphere. You know who you are. I'll bet you all wished you had the same things to fret about at 9-0! XP

Orange and Blue!

The largest outdoor cocktail party in the world

Wow, things got pretty scary for the Georgia faithful up in Jacksonville yesterday.

41-17.

Richt and his Dawgs are just going to have to own those numbers.

Meanwhile, Superman . . . er . . . Tim Tebow now owns Herschel Walker's former record number of rushing touchdowns.

Can ye socks smell what Urban is cooking?!

The Great Escape

Hats off to the Arkansas Razorbacks this evening. They really gave the boys in Orange and Blue a run for their money up at The Swamp this evening.

With just 7 seconds left on the clock, kicker Caleb Sturgis put the #1 Gators ahead 23-20, preventing the type of embarassment Mississippi State dealt them last season (much less the disaster that the guys from Little Rock dealt Auburn just last week).

This was a real nail-biter of a game, ye socks--especially if you were a Florida fan.

Coach Meyer's squad trailed by 10-3 at the half, and things were looking pretty grim.

Brandon Spikes was out after only the 2nd series with an injured hamstring. Tim Tebow was getting sacked left and right. And, the Gator O suffered fumble after fumble in the red zone.

Yours truly had to take a walk at half time to cool off, or risk serious damage to the television set.

Fortunately, the reigning national champions eventually got their collective act together.

Some will say a win is a win, even if it's ugly. Unfortunately, style points still count in some polls, and I think this lackluster performance will sway a few waivering votes toward the Crimson Tide. (Probably not enough to actually topple the Gators, though . . . )

On the other hand, our Heisman contender did pad his already outrageous resume tonight by surpassing the combined rushing/passing TD record of another Gator great: Danny Wuerffel. Tebow now can boast 123 in that stat column, just one shy of tying the all-time leading Herschel Walker. If . . . nay, WHEN . . . he racks-up 125, I don't think anyone could deny him the second Heisman trophy he so richly deserves.

Orange and Blue!

Geaux Gators!

The excitement was palpable tonight, and not just in this little corner of heaven.

As the beloved boys in Orange and Blue returned from their bye week to confront the LSU Tigers, everyone in the Gator Nation was sitting on the edge of their seats to see how our star quarterback Tim Tebow would look following his recent concussion.

We were not alone.

Some 90,000-plus obnoxious Cajuns showed up to demonstrate their collective lung capacity within the reverberating confines of Death Valley.

If the Nielsen's are accurate, some 10 million more were glued to their boob-tubes to catch the CBS broadcast.

Truth be told, the Gator O looked about as trepidatious as yours truly has ever seen them . . . at least since the Era of Meyer began. They made so many dive plays that the commentators were speculating about Greg Lougainis having drawn up the game plan.

That being said, though, Florida controlled the game from kick-off to the bitter end--much more so than the 13-3 final score reveals. In my humble (!) opinion, the majority of the credit for said control belongs to Brandon Spikes and the Gator D.

A win is a win.

A win over the #4 team in the nation is much more than that.

How sweet it is!

Gators grind out their first SEC win of the season

Despite all the pre-game hype predicting another romp in The Swamp, our guys in the Orange and Blue actually had their work cut out for them this afternoon.

Several things conspired against them:

1. Though Vols QB Jonathan Crompton is woefully outclassed by Tim Tebow in the statistics department, he has some formidable teammates. Hats off to safety Eric Berry and runningback Montario Hardesty. They earned our respect.

2. Tebow was not himself. He turned over the ball in the red zone. He threw an interception. And, he failed for the first time in 30 games to throw a touchdown pass.

3. Brandon Spikes was forced to sit out the entire second half due to tendinitis.

4. The officiating crew was something less than impartial. They penalized the Gators for defensive tackle Jaye Howard's "unsportsmanlike conduct," a very debatable call. Then, just minutes later they not only failed to recognize similar conduct displayed by the Vols following an interception. They also failed to penalize Tennessee for an obvious intentional grounding by Crompton.

It was an actual relief to many Gator fans in the final moments of the game when safety Ahmad Black intercepted another Crompton pass to put this ugly game to bed. No style points will be awarded for this win.

Nonetheless, Florida adds to their record-breaking win streak, improving to 3-0 while the Vols drop to 1-2. Hopefully, Urban's crew learned a few more lessons they can apply to games further down the schedule . . .

It's still great to be a Florida Gator!

Another romp in The Swamp

One of the things this particular Gators fan looks forward to on Saturdays is to see what Bible verse our star quarterback is going to wear into battle.

That's no doubt, at least in part, because I know it annoys all the secular humanists out there.

This week's verse was Mark 8:36. (What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?)

Though the mighty Orange and Blue destroyed Troy on the gridiron (56-6), they have got to be doing some last minute soul-searching in the lead up to next week's big showdown with the Tennessee Vols and their mouthy new coach Lane Kiffin.

I suppose that's why UF has the tradition of playing two relative patsies at the beginning of each season. (No offense intended to ye Trojan and Charleston Southern fans out there.)

It's much better to have the weak spots exposed early, so Urban Meyer, Charlie Strong, and staff can hone the skills of the fine squad of athletes they are coaching.

Coupla things this fan is hoping they work on this week:

1. Clock management. But for this, yesterday's 83-yard drive would've resulted in an extra 6 or 7 on the scoreboard before halftime. Definitely not the margin of victory in this match-up, but it could be the margin in one of the bigger games further down the list.

2. Turnovers. Our guys fumbled the ball 6 times. Against not-so-mighty Troy, this only resulted in 3 actual turnovers. But, against an SEC level defense, that ratio could prove deadly.

Still, hopes for big things to come are still very much alive and well in this little corner of heaven. How could they not be?!

GO GATORS!

Pre-season angst

Well, ye socks, it's hard for yours truly to believe, but it's been seven whole months since the mighty Gators beat Oklahoma in the BCS title game.

But, finally, the new season is coming into view.

It can't come a moment too soon for the fans of the orange and blue.

How can you not be Jonesing for some fun 'n gun after seeing the new Sports Illustrated SEC Preview special issue on the news stands this weekend?!

Or, how can your adrenaline not kick into high gear with all the practice reports flowing out of Gainesville?!

And, yet we still have to wait til September 5th for the real deal.

Charleston Southern? I'm assuming they're coming down here from South Carolina? Or, maybe, it's West Virginia? Gator bait, either way . . .

Orange and Blue!

The big race

That's right, ye socks, we've been enjoying Speed Week in this little corner of heaven, topped off this afternoon by the Daytona 500.

Yours truly is not the world's biggest NASCAR fan by any stretch of the imagination, but I've always admired how they put their biggest event at the start of their season. That would be like making the Super Bowl a season opener. Sorta.

Due to the ongoing economic malaise, attendance at the big event was down this year. But, Daytona is still a magnet for the die-hards like my friends Duran and Monica. And, they tell me there was nearly as much celebrity spotting to be had this year as in previous years. Here's a short list:

* Urban Meyer, Gators football coach
* Tim Tebow, Heisman trophy winner
* Steve Spurrier, former Heisman winner, Gators legend, and current South Carolina football coach
* Joey Galloway, wide receiver for the Tampa Bay Bucs.
* Tony Sparano, coach for the 'Phins.
* Gene Hackman
* Tom Cruise

(What's with all the football guys and actors being so in to NASCAR?)

Anyway, I know why I was tuning in to the race. And, I think if ye socks were honest with yourselves, you'd admit to the same reason: We all want to see a big wreck. I'm not saying that we want to see anybody get hurt, far from it. But, we want to see a bunch of 360's and smoking tires.

Well, we weren't disappointed in this running of the 500. In Lap 123, Brian Vickers tried to block Dale Earnhardt, Jr. He failed. Some folks are wringing their hands and blaming Junior for the massive pile-up that followed. But, I was actually watching the tube when it went down, and the blame lies squarely with Vickers.

Later, the race was called due to rain, which was more than a downer. Didn't bother watching Matt Kenseth celebrate in victory lane. And, I probably won't spend much more time watching any more races this year, much less giving this sort of in-depth coverage in the dryer. I promise.

Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend, and stay out of Junior's way!

Marketing genius . . . or lack thereof

Ye socks know what a big Gator fan I am.

But, I still have to call 'em as I see 'em.

And, the current pest control commercial featuring UF basketball coach Billy Donovan that's airing in our little corner of heaven has got to be the worst bit of advertising I've seen since the A. Ivey's garage spots I was forced to endure back in Lubbock, Texas, years ago.

I mean, it is the most unbearable 30 seconds you can imagine short of a prostate exam.

Even if it weren't so poorly scripted and executed, someone could have told the pest control company that's paying the tab for this train wreck that Billy Donovan doesn't enjoy the sort of celebrity "credibility" in Orlando than he might have in other parts of our great state.

Remember how he wasn't going to coach the Magic, then he was, then he wasn't, then he wasn't sure?!

Please, Billy. Stick to the coaching and leave the endorsements to someone who's believable . . . like Urban Meyer or Tim Tebow.

Laissez les bons temps rouler!

Yes, sport socks, tonight we witnessed the kick-off of the '08 college football season.

I know, I know, it's Thursday. And, traditionally, games are played on Saturday. But, you have to do something special to get things started, right?!

Well, LSU certainly did something special tonight. They TOTALLY obliterated Mississippi State. Blanked em. A shut-out.

But, I think even the losers would have to concede that some southern fried football is exactly what we need right now, if only to distract us from all the depressing stuff the media has been using for fodder lately. "Let them resume reporting football scores!" I say!

Oh, and a special side note to Urban Meyer: I hope you watched what LSU was serving last night. The race for the SEC championship is NOT going to be a cake walk this year. Please prepare accordingly.

Orange and blue!