Maurkice Pouncey will not play in Super Bowl

The Pittsburgh Steelers will be without center, former Florida Gator player Maurkice Pouncey, for the Super Bowl. He has a high ankle sprain that he sustained two weeks ago when the Steelers defeated the Jets in the AFC championship game.

The Pittsburgh offensive line has been bruised and battered all season but this is significant.  The Superbowl Odds have the Packers as favorites and no doubt this is a factor in their decision.

Doug Legursky is Pouncey’s backup and will start in his place.  Mike Tomlin is hopeful he can carry the weight:

“The NFL is made up of lots of players like him: guys who somehow got an opportunity and seized it,” Tomlin said. “We’re completely confident that he will seize this opportunity and play well. That’s why we’re not changing what we do.”

Gator fans still have someone to cheer for; seventh-year offensive tackle Max Stark will be on the field for Pittsburgh.

This has to be disappointing for Pouncey along with other Gator fans.  I can’t imagine how it would feel to start every game and be a big determining factor in getting your team to the Super Bowl and then be out for the big game.  Hopefully he has many more successful years and will be back to the Super Bowl again, and be able to play in it.

Urban Meyer Hospitalized With Chest Pains

According to SEC Sports Hub, Urban Meyer was hospitalized due to some severe chest pains.

Meyer was taken to the Shands Hospital in Gainesville but has been released according to a source in the Florida athletic department.

How quick did they get back?  I mean the game ended around 7:30/8:00.  They must have packed up quick in Atlanta.  Even flying back, they couldn’t have got back much earlier than 11:00 PM.  It’s also being said that he checked himself into the hospital from other sites.

SEC Sports Hub also went on to mention it is known that Meyer has a cyst on his brain that causes extreme pain when stressed out.  It’s not hard to assume that the game last night against Alabama is what caused the extreme stress from Meyer.  We’ll keep you updated with more info as we get it.

Urban Meyer was released shortly after checking in.

UPDATE:

According to a Florida spokesperson, Meyer was treated for dehydration, but is doing “OK” now.

Memo To Tim Tebow Haters

Don’t hate on Tim Tebow crying. He cries because he cares about the team. He cries because he knows we didn’t do as well as we could. He cries because he gives a damn. He’s not a sissy or (excuse my language) pussy, he’s a man that doesn’t care about showing his emotions. Get over it haters!

Sugar Bowl Bound: Florida vs Cincinnati

What happens if Alabama wins? Well, we know for sure now.  After talking fellow writer Jim down off the ledge this morning, we can move on and look at what exactly happened now that the Florida Gators lost.  Here’s the thing, we didn’t just lose, we got our ass handed to us.  That was the biggest ass kicking since Chris Brown met Rhianna.

There was one point during the game where it looked like we were going to get back into and Tim Tebow drove us down the field within 10 yards of scoring and threw an INT to give Bama the ball back.  Bama’s the best team we’ve faced all season and they exploited our defense like we were a second hand ACC team.

Was the absence of Carlos Dunlap that big of a factor?  It definitely didn’t help, that’s for sure.  I’m not going to be one of those fans that says we would have won with Carlos Dunlap.  One things for certain though, Alabama was able to change up how they blocked our rushes with his absence.

It looked like Florida abandoned the run before we even attempted it.  We ran a total of 14 times and Tim Tebow was responsible for 10 of these attempts.  Why all of a sudden out of the blue are we back to the pass attack when the run has worked so well for us all season?  There have been some major inconsistencies with our offense this year and I don’t think there’s anyone to blame but Steve Addazio.  There have been reports that Charlie Strong will be going to Louisville and that Steve Addazio will be going with him.  I hope this to be true.  I will hate to lose Charlie but he deserves it and it will get Steve Addazio out of his position.

In either case, Cincinnati’s 4th quarter comeback against Pittsburgh has them likely to face Florida in the Sugar Bowl.  This is Florida’s chance to prove these teams in weak conferences are only undefeated because they don’t play that hard of a schedule.  We are in the same spot Alabama was last year after losing in the SEC Championship game and then going to face an undefeated team in the Sugar Bowl.  Let’s hope we don’t blow it like they did against Utah.

It’s not for sure yet on whether Dunlap will return for the bowl game or not yet but we will keep you updated.  If any Florida players feel the urge to go out drinking, please email or call me and I will pick you up!

SEC Championship Game Preview: Florida vs Alabama

The game this Saturday for the SEC Championship might as well be for the National Championship. That’s right I said it! The #1 Florida Gators are set to take on the #3 Alabama Crimson Tide this Saturday at 4:00 PM on CBS.  The second time (happened last year as well) these two will meet in Atlanta with undefeated records and a National Championship on the line.

Who will be victorious?  Who will march on for a shot?  Well the Florida Gators of course.  Lane Kiffin wouldn’t have you think so though:

“It’s kind of hard to call,” Kiffin said Tuesday in an interview on WNML-AM in Knoxville. “There’s a bunch of great players on both teams. Florida has so much speed. I think you’ll see Alabama will outscheme Florida, and Florida has given up 28 sacks this year when a bunch of guys come free. But the problem is Superman (quarterback Tim Tebow) is back there. It comes down to can you tackle him.

“It will be a real interesting matchup. Florida has better players, and Alabama has better coaches, so we’ll see.”

Better coaches eh? Some big ‘ole balls on ya boy to be talking about better coaching.  Since when did you become an expert on who a better coach is? Lane, you should take some notes from your dad and coach with class. But I digress…

Florida has a rare opportunity to go wire to wire and this streak will be put on the line this Saturday against Bama.  Last year the game started in Bama’s favor but with some halftime adjustments from Meyer, the Gators went on to win the SEC Championship game as well as the National Championship.

Even with Carlos Dunlap suspended, the Florida Gator defense is going to be tough to score points on. With our lack of offensive production as a whole this year, 24 points would probably beat us… lucky for us that hasn’t been accomplished this year. Alabama will look to bring a heavy rush as I’m sure they’ve seen our issues with our offensive line this year and look to continue the high sack average that the Gators have allowed.  The keys to the game will be getting protection when passing, being able to run the ball to control the tempo and having our defensive make Mark Ingram and Julio Jones non factors.

In either case, whether Florida comes out the victor or not, the winner of this game will be the favorite in the National Championship game and rightfully so.  Thus why I say that this game might as well be for the National Championship.  I wish there was a betting line on that.  Winner of SEC Championship Game – 240 Money Line.

Charlie Strong to Louisville: Redman Was Joking

Yesterday, we wrote about the potential of Charlie Strong leaving the Florida Gators.  Then, ESPN reports that Charlie is at the top of Louisville’s list for coaches.  Then Chris Redman says that he already has the job and his kids are already enrolled at the Louisville High School.

Now, Redman is backing out of what was said and saying it was just a joke:

I said it in a totally joking manner,” he said. “We were talking about golf and the Falcons and then they asked me about the coaching situation. I believe I said ‘I think it’s going to be Curtis Strong.’ I didn’t even know that his first name was Charlie.

“I just said that was what I was hearing. My wife (Ashley) read it on the message boards and told me about it.

“Why would I be the one making any announcement about the U of L football program? I’m not the athletic director. Anybody who would believe that strictly because it’s something that I said would be an idiot.

“But I apologize if I have stirred anything up.”

Whether it be a joke or not, the fact is a lot of people felt that he had some good inside information and I for one didn’t think twice to second guess it.  He went on to talk about his kids being enrolled in high school there already!  If you were joking, you sir took the joke too far when you said that.  That was almost like instant validation to your claim.  Be the judge for yourself… watch the video and you decide if he was joking (51 minute mark).

Even if what he said was a complete farse, it doesn’t take away that the Louisville Athletic Director still has stated that Charlie Strong is the top Candidate for Louisville.

There are current reports that Phillip Fulmer, former Tennessee head coach, is meeting with the Louisville Athletic Department.  Tom Jurich mentioned that he would not interfere with Florida’s preparation for Alabama and would wait until after the SEC Championship Game to get Charlie to come to Louisville for an interview.  This somewhat goes in the favor that Chris Redman was in fact joking.

Charlie Strong to Leave Florida?

UPDATE

Nothing better than me writing an article at 10:30 this morning regarding Charlie Strong possibly leaving Florida then to have ESPN state an hour ago that he is at the top of Louisville’s list for head coaches:

Cardinals athletic director Tom Jurich has had no contact yet with Strong, sources said. Jurich told his counterpart at Florida, Jeremy Foley, that he will not interfere with the Gators’ preparations for the SEC championship game Saturday against Alabama. However, shortly after that game is over, Jurich is expected to contact Strong, and an interview could take place as early as Sunday.

2nd UPDATE

There are now sources stating Charlie Strong at Louisville is a done deal.  Former Louisville star QB Chris Redman (Just threw the game winning TD for the Falcons on Sunday spilled the beans on Falcons Radio:

Florida defensive coordinator Charlie Strong will be the next head coach at the University of Louisville…. He mentioned that Strong’s kids are in the process of being enrolled in Louisville schools.

While this conflicts with Tom Jurich’s statement above the fact that Chris seems to be this knowledgeable can’t be just tossed out.  You can view the video here courtesy of AtlantaFalcons.com. You are looking to scroll to 51 minutes or so into the video.

It’s supposedly going to be announced officially after the SEC Championship game either Sunday or Monday.

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Sooner or later it will happen.  Charlie Strong is an amazing defensive coordinator and will have a head coaching job probably sooner rather than later.  He’s had an amazing career with the Florida Gators and like Bob Stoops will likely find himself as head coach within the next couple years.

Questions come up time to time such as “Why hasn’t he gone yet?” That’s a great question and no one but Charlie knows for 100% fact the reasoning behind this.  Everyone assumed he would be a good candidate to take over Florida when Ron Zook left… I mean he was in charge of the team for the rest of the season that Zook was fired in.  So why wasn’t he considered for the head coach at Florida?  He was.

It’s not known by many but insiders state that Charlie Strong just interviews HORRIBLY. I’m not trying to be dramatic… the things I’ve heard are just terrible.  This is why he doesn’t have that prestigious head coaching job like former coach Bob Stoops.  Why he doesn’t have the Florida head coaching job now and why he isn’t likely to get the top coaching spot at another major college without proving himself at a lower level school first.

Word is when asked how he would handle specific situations he looks in a binder he brings with him for the answer.  There’s one thing about having preparation but you can’t look through a binder for answers in an interview.  Bringing a plan of action that you would take and showing your general course of action on paper is one thing, but digging through your papers to answer an interview question is not only embarrassing it shows the exact opposite of what a head coach needs to be able to do.

He has also gone public with his feeling that racism is involved either because he is black or because he is a black man married to a white woman.  This doesn’t really sell your case on future interviews… would you want a coach that throws the race card out that quickly? There could be some merit to his racism claims — maybe programs are making assumptions about how his image would play to recruits and their families. Whether it’s the real reason or not, it does give food for thought on if that’s why he didn’t get the jobs in the past.

So will this be Charlie Strong’s final year at Florida?  Yes, no, maybe so.  I can’t say for sure but I can tell you he’s not going to be the head coach at Notre Dame with his interview war stories (unless he’s corrected these flaws since the last time).  There’s even more rumors about Mark Richt leaving this year or next and that Charlie would be a good candidate for Georgia.   Only time will tell.

Carlos Dunlap Suspended for Alabama Game

UPDATE: It’s now official.  Urban Meyer has suspended Carlos Dunlap for the SEC Championship game. His status for the BCS Bowl game is still up in the air for right now.

No it’s not official but it’s the only logical action that can happen.  After Dunlap Sr. spoke with Urban Meyer, he got the sense that the Florida Gators star defensive end would likely sit out for the SEC Championship game against Alabama:

“I got the sense that he won’t be able to play,” Dunlap said. “I asked him if there’s anything he can do — it wouldn’t be right if I didn’t ask — and he said he doesn’t know what he can do. We’re supposed to meet tonight.”

Despite the order of being released earlier (5 hours ago), Dunlap still sat in jail as of 2:25 PM.  According to Dunlap Sr, Carlos went out with teammates and was only 2 blocks away from his home when he fell asleep at the light… 2 BLOCKS!

“You think you’re in control and the next thing you know you’re in trouble,” said Dunlap Sr., a bailbondsman from Charleston, S.C. “I am dumbfounded right now. He’s always been so anti-drug, anti-drinking. But it’s not what you do, it’s how you respond to what you do.”

This could explain why he passed out.  He’s a lightweight when it comes to drinking and dabbling in it just a little must have made him trashed and just pass out at the stop light (we are assuming it was red which is why he stopped). Dunlap Sr says his son feels terrible and wants to make it up to his teammates in any way he can… hopefully by playing.

Don’t hold your breath Carlos… there’s no way that your’e going to be able to play this game if convicted of a DUI.  The only way you’ll play is if the “investigation is pending”.

Gators Struggle to Find the Stroke

580 Games. That’s how many games in a row the Florida men’s Basketball team has hit at least one three point shot. That streak is in jeopardy. The Gators are off to a 2-0 start. But it is not because of their shooting prowess.

The other night the Florida Gators made two three point shots. The first was a Chandler Parsons rim rattler with about 6:00 left. This was not nearly the nail biter Sunday’s opener was against Stetson when Parsons hit the only one of the game with  00:35 left. It has been thought by some of Coach Billy Donovan’s critics his Gator teams rely too heavily on the three point shot. Critics say that the Gators need to get more physical, quicker, more athletic.  Well worry no more.

This Gator team has been winning with lightning quick penetration from point guard Erving Walker, dishing to big guys Vernon Macklin, Kenny Kadji, and Alex Tyus under the basket. These Gators crash the boards. How else do you shoot 35% from the field and win two games by 20 or more?

The competition however stiffens up next week. After one more “tune-up” against Troy on Friday, the Gators will face a very tall and athletic Florida State at the O’Connell Center on Tuesday. Then the Gators will go to Atlantic City over the weekend to take on a top five opponent in Michigan State. 35% shooting will not get it done in those games. Those teams can match up under the basket with us. Somebody will need to hit a jump shot.

Right now the Gators are shooting a paltry 10% from three point land. Freshman Kenny Boynton has the reputation of being able to knock the shot down. So far he has only made one in two games. Let’s hope the law of averages will catch up with him. We will need him to hit a few against FSU and MSU.

For all of you coming to town for the football game on Saturday, why not come in on Friday and come out and watch the Gators take on Troy? Let’s pack the O’Dome and get these guys ready for a tough stretch.

Florida Georgia Recap

Yesterday I had the luxury of attending the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail party (oops are we not supposed to call it that anymore?).  Going into the week, there were questions about the offense and whether we could put up points like we used to.  What most folks don’t realize is that our defense was a major reason that we put up so many points last year. Would we see the Florida Gators of old?  Would we see the Tim Tebow of past years?  These questions on the minds of many as we went in for the chance to clinch the East with a South Carolina loss.

The Florida Gators opened the game strong driving right down the field with a deep pass to Riley Cooper to draw first blood and go up 7 – 0.  The defense holds Georgia on their first opening drive and Florida came back down the field quickly again with another deep pass to Riley Cooper for a touchdown making it 14 – 0 and had most people thinking blowout at this point.

Georgia in a must score drive did in fact get points on the next drive.  Florida determined to keep them out of the endzone caught some help with Georgia pushing themselves back with penalties.  Nonetheless, the Georgia kicker nails a 50 yarder to make the score 14 – 3.

Florida looked to score 3 straight drives but the Georgia defense had other plans that didn’t involve this and put up their first stop against the Florida offense and drove down the field for a touchdown.  We had ourselves a ballgame…. for a minute.  Florida would answer the field goal with a field goal of their own extending the lead to 17 – 10.

A Florida defensive turnover put Tim Tebow and company in great scoring position nearing the end of the first half.  With a Tebow run up the middle it looked as if the play was done but then Tebow just comes bursting out of the pile and runs with no one in sight giving Florida a 24 – 10 lead and also gave Tim Tebow the SEC rushing record breaking Herschel Walker’s record of 49 TD’s.  Tim would end up with one more rushing TD on the next Gator score (resulting from 1 of the 4 interceptions of the day) bringing his total rushing TD’s to 51 and the score to 31 – 10.

I know the Dawg fans are saying “Herschel did it in 3″.  Well ok, but Tim’s a QB and he wasn’t the starter his first year either so stop the nonsense.

Georgia not going out with a fight did come down the field and score making it 31 – 17.  Florida had issues with tackling again this week.  The running backs from Georgia were consistently getting yards after first contact which is unacceptable.  We must make these tackles.  Also, they were able to eat up the middle of the field when they passed the ball.

Florida would answer the touchdown with a field goal from Sturgis putting the game at 34 – 17.  With Georiga on it’s last hope to come back, Brandon Spikes would soon put the nail in the coffin with an INT for a TD and the game would stay at the 41 – 17 score as a final result.

Florida’s win clinched the SEC East for them and now will await to see if Alabama or LSU will join them.

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