Florida Gators Good to Geaux

The highly anticipated showdown of the Florida Gators and the LSU Tigers was finally played out last night in the Bayou.  Leading up to game time the questions centered Tim Tebow and his status of whether he would play or not.  Tim was finally cleared Saturday morning and Urban had stated all week that if he was cleared he would play.

“I tried to play smart,” Tebow said. “I told him, I said, when we were talking to Coach [Urban] Meyer, I said, ‘I’m not going to go out there and play tentative or scared. That’s not me.

“I did try to play smart but I wasn’t scared or timid at all.”

The Gators defense was the talk of the town last night.  The Tiger offense just couldn’t find their way into the endzone as most teams have found out that have played Florida. The game started off with quite a few penalties for LSU on defense.  LSU’s offense was almost non existent and they  were able to get in scoring range off of two Florida 15 yard penalties.

At one point in the game we went for it on 4th and 2 when we were clearly in FG range when the game was still 3 – 0.  I’m not sure I agree with this call.  You’re in a battle of field position and you are able to put points on the board, I think you have to take them. This would have made it much easier to continue to run the ball later in the game rather than have Tim Tebow throw an INT late in the game that luckily didn’t come back to haunt us.

The score 13 – 3 wasn’t the most impressive score but Florida dominated the game the entire time.  Florida continues its streak of not trailing since December in the 2008 SEC Championship game against Alabama.  The game may have not went exactly to plan but Florida came out with the “W” and moves on through it’s conference schedule playing Arkansas next.

Motivation against LSU: TEBOW

Remember 2007? All the phone calls and text messages that Tebow received. Well that’s happening again, but to John Brantley as well. I have a question for the faithful of the Bayou: Why would you want to add motivation for a team that is CLEARLY superior to yours?

I have spoken with many LSU fans and Alumni over the past week and it seems that the main argument, outside of the fact that Tebow is concussed, is that Florida hasn’t played anyone.  I even received late night text messages from a Miami (FL) fan Saturday saying that Florida didn’t deserve to be number one due to the same fact and that Tennessee exposed the Gators for what they really are, Tebow and nothing else.

Nothing Else?

That fired me up.

Nothing Else?

Tell that to the defense. When all Gator fans started talking about a Perfect season, I was asked if I would jump on that bandwagon and of course I jumped on. I joined in because no matter who plays quarterback the other team still has to score, which is not an easy task against the Gator  “D”.  I could play QB and we would win.  Let LSU not forget that this is the same defense that held the greatest scoring offense in the History of Collegiate Football to 14 points.  They’re good.

I am sure that they need extra motivation.

What about the running game you say? Did LSU not pay attention to the three hundred plus rushing yards that the Gators put up against Kentucky? Oh, that’s it…it’s because we played Kentucky!  Let me take that argument out right now: You have to play your schedule and they are an SEC team. The worst team in the SEC is a middle team in another conference like the PAC 10. It’s not like we almost lost to Mississippi State or anything.

That brings me to another point. LSU seems to have an issue every time they face a team that is based in the spread offense. Dan Mullen and the Bulldogs should have won that game and I know it’s not the spread, but they got off the hook at Georgia too. Looks like the refs will be watching the calls in this game, so the fans started in on calling and texting the players. Pretty adult, don’t you think? I wonder, did they take the time to text Joe Cox or A.J. Green last week?

Did LSU start calling and texting John Brantley to tell him that he could be a starter on more that half of any of the other schools because of how good he is? This guy is a gold mine. There is more fun in store for Gator fans with John Brantley. He just doesn’t have the experience. I don’t know if Baton Rouge, at night is the best place for him to start, but I think everyone will be pleasantly surprised. Especially when Urban spent all week dusting off the playbook from the 2006 season.

I could go on all day long of why you would not want to annoy the Gators right now but most of all it’s for the emotional bond that this team has with it’s leader, Tim Tebow. I know it’s more than likely going to be a game time decision if he plays at all, but I think that I am leaning towards not wanting him to play.

Now before you throw something at me, let me tell you what I mean.

Besides the fact that I would not want to see him get injured further, I know that the players on this team love Tim Tebow. They respect him as a player, person, and as their leader. So I want to see what this team can do when they come out of the locker room after a, “ Let’s win this one for Tim” speech from Brandon Spikes. Or a “ He’s been doing it for you” speech by Joe Haden. Or a “ He could probably play my position better than me” speech by Major Wright.  It could possibly light the biggest fire the Gators have ever seen. It probably won’t be bigger than the promise, but the same outcome may arise.

So X’s and O’s aside, emotion will rule this game, and I can’t think of a better person to win it for.

Striving for that Perfect Season

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Undefeated. Perfection. 12-0. Call it what you want, but know that it has been the goal of Tim Tebow and Brandon Spikes entering this season. Meyer turned down the dial on such talk, but it’s the largest elephant in the room that no one is talking about. You’ll hear the company line, “Our goal is to make it to Atlanta and play for an SEC Championship.”

At a time where the SEC is widely considered the best conference in football, the goal of winning an SEC Championship ultimately means you’ll probably get a shot at the National Championship as well. Alabama or Florida could lose a game late, win the SEC Championship, and still make it into the Rose Bowl. You have Florida and LSU to thank for that. The SEC, having won the last three BCS Championships, has all but guaranteed a one-loss SEC team making it into the game over one-loss teams from weaker conferences.

So do you think Tebow and Spikes would be disappointed if they lost a regular season game, but still played for a National Championship? I actually think they would. Tebow and Spikes have been there before and won it all. They have accomplished most everything a college player could ask for…except that perfect season.

You know Tebow is a man of his word. How could he not be after the way the team performed following the infamous “Promise” speech? I can’t bet against Tebow until he’s been proven wrong and you shouldn’t either. But if Tebow doesn’t end up playing much Saturday against LSU, he’ll have to rely on Spikes and the rest of his team to keep that goal alive. Something tells me Spikes is just as driven. Should make for an interesting night in Baton Rouge.

College Gameday Week 6: Florida Gators vs LSU Tigers

Was there any doubt that college gameday would be anywhere else but the #1 Florida Gators taking on the #4 LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge at 8:00 on prime time?  Well if there was, you can doubt no more.

Tim Tebow status for the game is still in the air and he is not cleared yet.  There is still a good possibility he will be cleared later in the week.  This is a big game for Florida (and LSU but who cares about them on a Gator blog?) and could dictate the rest of the season.  The scary part is if Florida does come out of this game with a “W” they still face the possibility of having to play an udefeated Alabama team in December for the SEC Championship again.