Time to Figure It Out Offensively

Defense wins championships. For the Florida Gators, that statement remains to be seen, but without a doubt – it’s certainly the reason they are still undefeated.  Florida fans can thank the defense for wins over Tennessee, LSU, Arkansas and Mississippi St. Without their effort, three out of the four games are probably losses.

So what happens if the defensive side of the ball decides to have a bad day and not show up like its offensive counterpart? All these ugly performances are going to turn into losses, and Florida will get knocked back down to reality.

By now, I would have predicted the Florida offense would be clicking on all cylinders and racking up points with relative ease. Instead, the Gators look great driving down the field until they enter the red zone. Their play calling seizes up and all Florida can do is run it straight up the middle. In SEC wins over the Vols, Tigers, Razorbacks and Bulldogs, the Gators have scored just seven offensive touchdowns.

Tim Tebow is not the same player he was pre-concussion. His decision making seems to be suffering. I cannot believe that each time he steps back to pass, receivers are so covered that Tebow is forced to run. In fact, Deonte Thompson was open on at least two plays down the field Saturday night, and Tebow didn’t see him.

We keep hearing the Gators are waiting for another receiver to step up and help Cooper and Hernandez carry the load, but how can that happen if they aren’t getting the ball thrown their way? Thompson and David Nelson both seem like viable options, if ever given the chance.

Urban Meyer attributes some of the poor play to mentally not being able to live up to the pressure of being ranked at the top of the polls every week. As defending national champions, the coaching staff needed to do a better job preparing their players for the upcoming season and all the pressure that comes along with being ranked number one.

Two things can happen with the rest of the season. The Gator offense finally starts executing and the ball gets spread around to truly exhibit what this team is capable of. Or…Florida ends up playing against a team that doesn’t make a lot of mistakes, catches are made, fourth downs are converted and the Gators are left sitting on the sideline wondering what happened to their perfect season. Either way, it won’t get any easier. Every team Florida plays will want to knock them off their pedestal atop college football. Get it fixed Gators.

Next Three Games Can Be Special for Tebow

Tim Tebow has a chance to make a statistical statement over the next three games. The Gators will be facing the three worst defenses in the SEC when the match up against Arkansas, Mississippi State and Georgia. If there was ever a time where Tebow could put up some touchdowns, it’s right now.

Tebow is already just one touchdown run away from tying Herschel Walkers SEC record for career rushing touchdowns. Breaking the record will add another line to his already impressive football resume and will most certainly boost his Heisman chances.

But it’s time the wide receivers and Tebow get on the same page. No more dropped passes.  Riley Cooper and Aaron Hernandez have shown glimpses of greatness, but we still wait to see who will emerge as the go-to receiver.

Throwing the ball has always been the knock on Tebow throughout his career. He’s too slow in getting the ball off. He’s doesn’t throw an accurate ball. For Tebow, if he wants his second Heisman Tropy, he’ll have to prove his critics wrong again. Start connecting on your pass plays and the Heisman speculation can end.

Remember, it’s about the best college football player – not the best quarterback. Tim Tebow exemplifies what the Heisman Trophy represents. He will go down as one of the greatest college football players of all time. Tebow should embrace these next three games and put the speculation to rest.

Les Miles Not Happy with SEC Officials

We thought LSU week was over when Florida boarded the buses and left Tiger stadium with a 13-3 win. Les Miles, however, is still thinking about one play from last week – Tim Tebow’s 24-yard touchdown pass to Riley Cooper.

Miles sent the videotape of that play to the SEC this week for review, telling reporters, “Yeah, we sent that in. I’m savoring the opportunity to call in there.”

So Miles is angry that the officials missed the jersey tug? Apparently the LSU coaching staff missed it as well. Cornerback Chris Hawkins was benched for the rest of the game after giving up the touchdown to Cooper.

“What we saw from the sideline, we did not see,” Miles told the AP. “He just got yanked on, and there are no corners that I know that sustain that and don’t give up position on the ball.”

The call was clearly blown, as CBS showed the replay over and over – Cooper grabbed the jersey. Gators fans thought it was smart, while Tiger fans are thinking the game could have turned out differently.

Take away the touchdown and Florida may end up kicking another field goal. Say they don’t score. Nothing LSU was doing indicated they would march down the field and ever score again.

Bottom line…the defense of Florida was the real difference maker on Saturday night. Brandon Spikes and the rest of the defense shut down LSU for all four quarters.

Miles still thinks LSU could win the game, if the two should meet up down the road in the SEC Championship.

“The thing that we have to see is that adjustments have to be made certainly, and our team plays a little bit better,” he said. “If we do what we’re capable, it’d be just wonderful to see that team again.”

I have news for you Mr. Miles. If the Gators do what they’re capable of doing, and have a truly healthy Tim Tebow, seeing that Gator team in Atlanta would be more of a nightmare than anything you could imagine as “wonderful.”

LSU Fans Doing Phone Pranks Again

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The original and oh so clever LSU Tiger fans are at it again… calling and texting… but this time John Brantley and Riley Cooper.  If you don’t recall, LSU fans did the same to Tim Tebow back in 2007.  After Tim Tebow scored a touchdown against LSU he made the motion of dialing on his hand and using his hand as a phone to show it didn’t affect him.  Brantley isn’t alone though, wide receiver Riley Cooper has been getting calls too.

Brantley has said his phone hasn’t stopped ringing.

Asked how he responds to the calls, Brantley said: “I don’t. I just ignore, put it down.” The calls “haven’t been bad. It’s just a little annoying,” Brantley said.

“They (also) text,” he said.

“It’s pretty bad,” cornerback Joe Haden said. “They had my boy, Coop. They got him pretty good. . . . I don’t know about Brantley, I was chillin’ with Coop and they were getting him. He was just laughing about it.”

Frankly I’m surprised that the LSU fans could put down their corn dogs long enough to make a phone call.  I mean do you honestly think it’s going to work.  Especially if the players stop answering the calls and just ignoring the texts… the purpose of your call is meaningless then.  All I have to finish with is:

LSU BLEAUXS

Urban Meyer & Tim Tebow Press Conference

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Week 1 has come and gone and both Urban Meyer and Tim Tebow having some thoughts.  Urban Meyer dabbed on many subjects: Running game, Riley Cooper, Up Tempo, etc.  Tim Tebow commented on his limited playing time and his opinion of Riley Cooper.

Courtesy of Gator Zone:

Watch Urban Meyer Press Conference

Head Coach Urban Meyer

On Florida’s running game:

“Everything is personnel-based.  Good recruiting.  These young men are high-character people who take things seriously.  They all pull for each other.  The only thing they said to each other was, ‘Great win,’ and had big smiles on their faces.  Emmanuel Moody went in during the third quarter.  Coach [Kenny] Carter has done a tremendous job, but it’s also a testament to who these young men are.”

On the chemistry between Tim Tebow and Riley Cooper:

“It is very undervalued.  Tim has great chemistry with a lot of guys.  Riley is going through a phase in his life right now where he realizes it’s last call.  We’ve had some guys come speak to the team about that.  Some guys think they always have next game, next year.  Riley has 11 shots left.  He’s playing like it, and he’s practicing like it.  We’ve got two practices a week on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so he has maybe 23 or 24 practices left.  Even more than chemistry is the guys taking a more serious approach to football.”

On why he likes the up-tempo style:

“I think Tim [Tebow] is good at it. I think it’s all personnel-based, and I made the comment that it’s just in the beginning phases because basically we ran one set. We’ve got the ability with a guy like Aaron Hernandez, you can be in a multitude of sets and add [Jeff] Demps and [Chris] Rainey-type bodies. I just liked it because Tim is very good at it, and I think that our offensive line handles it very well because they realize we’re in a advantage getting them to the line of scrimmage real fast. Those two runs by Demps we’re perfect examples. They were out of the shoot like that (snaps fingers), because either lineman issues on defense or fatigue issues. [That] is something that I think that should be, our conditioning the way that Coach Mick [Mickey Marotti] gets our guys conditioned, that should be a strength.”

On offensive play calling:

“We were very vanilla on offense, other than tempo. I mean, bizarre vanilla, painfully vanilla. But tempo, we have to practice it, and we don’t mind. It’s out there and it’s fine, and we had to practice it. But if you looked at our sets, there were three sets over the whole night. You guys have been covering us for a while and know that it’s usually 12 to 15 different sets. So, painfully vanilla.”

On communication worked during the game with new members on the coaching staff:

“The issue would be the guy on the sideline [Steve Addazio]. He’s coaching five guys, and he’s also calling the offense. I thought Steve was one of the few individuals that I would trust to do that. I think he’s that good and that focused. We’ve been together, and it’s not a new offense. It’s the same offense. It’s got his stamp on. It’s got his personality on it. I thought that Scot Loeffler and Brian White did an excellent job with it. Scot especially during our two minute drill was the manager of that situation, and I thought he did a really nice job. I was more worried about the mechanics of the conversation, and we can improve, but I thought it went very well.”

Watch Tim Tebow Press Conference

Senior Quarterback Tim Tebow

On playing limited time vs. Charleston Southern:

“I feel good. I didn’t take too many hits on Saturday.  It’s nice.  I think it was the coaches’ goal not to have me get hit much.  It’s good to stay away from contact, stay fresh, and get ready for games in the future.”

On the hurry-up offense:

“It’s a fast-paced, no huddle offense.  I think it worked well.  It’s tough for a defense to get used to, especially when they don’t know it’s coming.  It’s something we’ve practiced, feel comfortable with and like to play.  It gives us a different style to go play in.  Going up hitting them in the mouth feels good.  It’s worked well whenever we used it in a game.  You have to be really well-conditioned because it is so fast tempo, especially the linemen and the receivers out wide who are running back and forth and getting back on the ball.  I think our guys are getting used to it and we’re growing more comfortable with it.  We have different calls for it, but ‘Bonsai’ could be one of them.  Bonsai is not the play, but it’s to get them going.”

On if he learns about the progression of players once they are in a game situation:

“A little bit.  I think you find that out in two a days, in fall camp, and the first few games you’re going to be finding it out, especially the timing with the guys you go to in certain situations.  That’s just natural to have as you go through a season.  Look at a guy like David Nelson last year.  He went from having very little contribution to catching touchdown passes to win a national championship.  That just shows the difference a year can make.”

On wide receiver Riley Cooper:

“I think he is an elite receiver in college football.  He’s definitely an underrated player.  He’s very athletic, very tough.  He can catch deep balls, hitches, but he also blocks and cracks back at people.  He is tough and is the kind of guy you want to bring into tough games with you.  He is the type of guy who will go and give everything he has, and that’s a guy you want during the game.”

Game 1 Done

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This year we had the longest off season of college football in years.  It was clear as there were thousands downtown in Gainesville, FL several hours before the game was underway.  I was fortunate enough to get down there around noon and set up shop for the tailgate before most.  Within a few skip and hops from entering Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field, gameday was back!

Football was in the air and it was only a matter of time.  To start the tailgating, we had some pre made sandwhiches to hold us over while the burgers and hot dogs were on the grill.  I hit University Ave around 5:00 to promote the Ultimate He15man shirts available here.  They were a huge hit and I barely had enough time to get one out of the bag before the next Gator fan was on there way.

Before long, it was game time!  Want to thank Linda for offering up her two extra tickets that were given to some fans of the site.  Our first couple that we were going to give them to fell through but we were able to get 2 other fans who hadn’t seen a Gator game in a while and hope they enjoyed the game as much as we did!

I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to watch the game from a box and it was a very exciting way to watch the game for sure.

Couple Notes:

• Andre Debose wasn’t seen on the field so it will be interesting to see what happens in the next few weeks.  It was said if he wasn’t 100% he wouldn’t play to prevent furthering the injury.  Hopefully we get to see him in action soon.
• Carlos Dunlap seemed to be playing but wasn’t in the majority of defensive plays for the most part.  Will have to find out the reasoning behind this.
• Brandon James has been reading too many news articles and has bought in to the hype about himself.  He did return a kick but the first few punts it looked like he was trying too hard.
• Riley Cooper is amazingly quick.  He caught up to Brandon James on the kick off from about 10 yards back to be there for a block.
• Chris Rainey might have a shot on defense.  Rainey laid out a defender with a block while Hernandez was going for a TD.
• Tim Tebow and Aaron Hernandez have a special bond.
• Tim Tebow will have SEC rushing TD record before yeard end.
• Jeff Demps is ridiculously fast.

It’s hard to really know for sure how this Gator team will play when we face the SEC due to this not being a viable source for measurement of the teams talent.  Tim Tebow looked great and had two touchdown passes completely dropped (Deonte Thompson and Brandon James).  It’s hard to say if Tennessee will be a real test or not.  If we blow them out we still won’t know if it’s because Florida is that good or if Tennessee sucks that bad.

Final Score: 62 – 3

One thing’s for sure… I can’t wait until next Saturday already!

Riley Cooper Coming Back for Senior Year

It was up in the air whether Riley Cooper would be coming back to play as WR for Florida his senior year after being signed by the Rangers. Whether he would return and finish out his senior year as a top WR for Tim Tebow and company remained a question that hung in the balance until now. Riley will return!

Cooper said he’s looking forward to building off his junior season. An exceptional downfield blocker, the 6-foot-3, 215-pound Cooper had 18 catches for 261 yards and three touchdowns last season. As Florida quarterback Tim Tebow’s roommate, Cooper may lobby for more balls this season.

“I’m just going to go out there and do the same things I did last year,” Cooper said. “Start another 14 games. I love blocking, I love hitting, I’m a physical guy. I also love getting the ball, too.Tebow is going to throw to the open man, so I’ve got no control over that.”

Tebow said he didn’t have influence in Cooper’s decision to come back, but has been impressed how he has practiced so far. Cooper missed offseason conditioning drills while mulling his decision to play baseball or return to school.

“He’s kept himself in shape coming back and his work ethic is great,” Tebow said. “He’s going to make a great impact for us.”

From Gainesville Sun.

Some of you may say we don’t need him but his experience and ability to get open is uncanny and definitely puts that extra threat out there for defenses. With Aaron Hernandez and Andre Debose, Riley Cooper is a receiver that will slip through coverages regularly.

Riley Cooper Texas Bound?

Riley Cooper may have very well went as the most under appreciated Florida Gator receiver last year.  With Percy Harvin and Louis Murphy almost taking the show, it was easy for Cooper to sneak under the radar especially with the support from other Gator receivers.  However, Cooper could play a huge factor or lack of one next year.

Cooper was 4th last year on the Gators receiving list and is currently in serious contract negotiations with the Texas Rangers.  Gator Bytes gives us a bit of the background behind this:

Cooper, expected to play a major role this fall as a replacement for departed receivers Percy Harvinand Louis Murphy, began his summer playing baseball in the Cape Cod League. But last week he transferred to the McKinney Marshals of the Texas Collegiate League to let the Rangers take a good look at him play as he negotiates his contract.

McKinney is a northern suburb in the Dallas Metroplex, located a stone’s throw from the Rangers’ Class-AA affiliate, the Frisco Roughriders. Through two games, Cooper is batting 1-for-6 with three walks, but his one hit was a two-run home run.

MLB teams have until August 17th to sign their draftees, and Cooper’s father,Larry Cooper, said his son may take the negotiations right up to the deadline. That won’t exactly work out well for the football team, which will begin two-a-days the first week of August. Cooper also missed this year’s spring practice to be with the baseball team.

There are some tough decisions ahead for Riley Cooper.  As a Gator fan it’s easy for us to say “Stay and get another National Championship”.  However, it’s hard to turn down the kind of contract he’s probably in negotiations with and risk another year as a receiver and take a chance towards the NFL draft.  There’s no real guarantee of what he could get in the NFL or if he would even make it as a pro receiver.

“We don’t know. We’re just taking a wait-and-see approach,” Larry Cooper said Sunday night from his home near St. Petersburg. “I don’t think we’ll know those answers until the deadline gets closer.”

Apparently Cooper starting on the Gator Football team will not play a factor into whether he stays or goes.  At this point I think it all depends on what kind of signing bonus that the Cooper family can turn out.  If they are able to negotiate a low 6 figure signing bonus, I think we can kiss Riley goodbye.