Brandon Spikes Suspension Extended to Full Game

The media has had a field day with the Florida Gators and Brandon Spikes and now Spikes’ suspension has been extended to a full game:

“A lot of the negative things out there really weighing heavy on his heart right now and so as a group we decided the best interest [is] just for the team to not play him Saturday,” Meyer said. “It was a group decision and we’re doing it out of respect to our team so we can focus on trying to win our ninth game and we think it’s the right thing to do. We support Brandon fully and we look forward to getting back and finish the season the right way.”

Had the media not went all crazy on this situation, there wouldn’t have been any suspension at all nor would it have forced Meyer to extend the suspension to a full game.

Meyer said Spikes’ actions were in retaliation for things that happened earlier in the game. He also said Spikes accepted the punishment with no trouble. Spikes had his helmet ripped off by a Georgia player and there were several incidences of pushing and shoving. Officials called five personal fouls and during the second quarter gathered Florida quarterback Tim Tebow and Georgia linebacker Marcus Dowtin for a brief discussion about the behavior.

Tebow on Monday said that there were more incidents of chippy behavior in the Georgia game from both sides than in a typical game.

Can we stop beating a dead horse now?

Brandon Spikes Eye Gouging Video Against Georgia

I would like to say this is not what Florida Gator football players are taught.  The running back for Georgia was not seriously injured but with the attention this is getting you would have thought he was blind.  Tim Tebow was poked in the eye earlier in the game as well but no one is talking about this.

Florida head coach Urban Meyer has suspended star linebacker Brandon Spikes for the first half of this week’s game against Vanderbilt.

“There’s no place on the field for that,” Meyer said. “We’re going to suspend him for the first half of the Vanderbilt game. That’s not him, but we love Brandon Spikes and we’re going to support him.”

Brandon Spikes Eye Gouging Video

Georgia Week

I know we are all a little frustrated about the way the Gators have played recently. I’m sure the players and coaches are too. But let’s take a step back for a minute. Because THIS week is the biggest of the year. It’s Georgia Week. No year is a bad year when we beat Georgia. No year is a good year when we don’t. This is the Super Bowl! Brandon Siler is on video saying that “I played in the game before the Super Bowl. It don’t get bigger than this.” It doesn’t. What happened up to this point is out the window. Georgia’s heartbreaker vs. LSU? Gone. They’re fiasco in Knoxville? Doesn’t matter. The Gators stumbling vs. Arkansas and Mississippi State? Forget it. Water under the bridge. This week is a season-maker. UGA wins it and Mark Richt is instantly off the hot seat. Florida wins, and the seat is now boiling. It’s that big.

For all you Chicken Littles out there screaming about the Gators red zone troubles and Tebow not being Tebow, etc. lets also use this week to stop and look around. Why are we so upset anyway? We’re 7-0. We are on the verge of clinching the East. Things are looking great. The problem is we are spoiled. We are used to the last couple of years and the 12 years of Spurrier and we think that’s how it should be. But let me take you back. It’s 2006. We are struggling to score points. We are struggling to put people away. We beat UGA 21-14. We beat Vandy  25-19. We beat South Carolina 17-16. And we beat FSU 21-14. That team went on to win the BCS.

They did it with defense. Sound familiar? Now let’s size up the competition for a minute. Texas has struggled mightily at times. In fact if Sam Bradford stays upright for four quarters, they lose. USC just gave up 36 points at home to Oregon State. They also gave up a ton to Notre Dame. Alabama, everybody’s sweetheart now, went four quarters at home against a .500 Tennessee and failed to score a touchdown.  The truth of the matter is, our offense is really pretty good. We just need to eliminate turnovers. Without a fumble at the two, we score 30 on UT. Bama managed 12. Without multiple fumbles against Arkansas, we would have been in the high 30s. Without an interception at the end of the first half last week, we are well on our way to a 30+ point night. We are a threat to score every time we take the field. Rarely do we go three and out. When this offense stops shooting itself in the foot, look out.