I waited so everyone could calm down including myself.
If we're honest with ourselves that loss had more to do with UT than UF.
That half of football just felt like UT channeled 11 years of embarrassment, anger, and hope into a single half of football. It was the greatest 30 minutes of football in Dobb's career and it isn't even close. It became infections to the rest of the team and the crowd. Even watching it on TV that crowd sounded insane. For 30 minutes that is probably as hostile as that stadium has been in the past decade.
We can talk about where we screwed up at. Where we need to improve at, but the truth is no way does Dobbs throw for 250 yards in a single half against that secondary again. This secondary has more NFL talent than any other in the nation. They had a bad game sure, and their QB had the best game of his life, but if that game was replayed 99 more time I say that performance does not repeat itself once.
So this hurts because there isn't a ton you can take away from this. We only learned so much about what our football team needs to improve on because we didn't get beat due to lack of talent, experience, or depth. We lost because we faced a team that was so desperate and felt like if they didn't win this year then when would they? And would the program be another 2-3 years away from actually competing for championships?
We backed an animal into a corner and it went berserk, and we didn't know how to handle it. We're too young. Too many new faces on offense. Hate to use this word, but we need patience.
We could very well return all 11 starters on offense next season. From that season on McElwain will finally have everything he needs to have one of the best offenses in the SEC year in and year out. Patience. Look at the depth chart of offense. Can you really say we're not extremely young?
Anyway let us discuss what changes need to occur in recruiting. There were after all a few things we learned from these 4 games.
Let us start on offense
This offense will eventually need a QB with more arm strength. To fit passes in the tight windows created by SEC secondaries we will need a QB with elite arm strength. Also the QB will need some mobility to avoid pressure. The QB will still need to be able to do everything our QBs currently do as well (read defenses, go through progressions well). We have 2 that fit the bill in Trask and Franks, but both will need 2 years of development.
We also need a bigger body at TE who can block. Hopefully Byrd can develop into this, and we sign one next cycle as well.
OL actually looks good from a size and athleticism standpoint. Good depth in the interior. Depth at the OT needs to improve. Biggest problem right now is we are just flat out too young. All we can do is have patience.
Defense
Our 4 man pass rush just flat isn't good enough. Think back to the first 3 games a lot of our sacks came when we brought 5-6 dudes. Got to be able to get the QB with just 4. We can't right now. Our DL is not as good as everyone believes it is. Most overrated unit on the football team right now.
Now our depth on the DL is extremely impressive, but there isn't one DL that strikes fear into anyone. Think back to some of our best defensive lines. There was always at least 1 guy that struck fear into opposing offensive coordinators. That they almost had to game plan around. Whether if it was Floyd, Easley, Fowler, or Bullard. You have to have that guy. We don't right now. Sorry Brantely supporters but just isn't quit at that level.
So UF needs to look at improving their 4 man rush. This starts at End. Unfortunately, it isn't looking good in terms of bringing some one in this cycle.
However, Zuniga has shown a lot of promise. He very well may have all our sacks where we did only bring 4 to get to the QB. His first step is explosive, can convert to speed to power, has a lot of raw power as well, gets a low pad level, violent hands, inside and outside moves, he has a lot of potential. Still that is not enough. We need to add more guys. The development of Clayton and Jefferson are huge for these reasons. Clayton is way too skinny and there is no such thing as gaining a SOLID 30 pounds in a month. That is why he is redshirting. Wise decision. His first step looks like someone shot him out of a cannon. He just needs to find a way to get to a healthy 250 lbs, which will easily be accomplished by next season. CeCe's development maybe more difficult. He has struggled to keep the weight on. Wed to find a way to get him up to 280+. We need that inside pass rusher. Only guy with that ability on roster.
The additions at DT will help. We're not that big there. Adding 2 350 pounders will surely help. Hansard is a 310 pound DT who plays End for his school. Looks like a great 3 Tech DT prospect. Will provide more size to the spot as well. I want to land Truesdalle. Apparently he is closer to 330 than 299, his listed weight on rivals, and he moves exceptionally well for such size. He should be a 4 star. I think this DT class could allow UF to get a lot bigger at the position without losing much or any athleticism. Something surely needed.
I actually love our young linebackers. Just need to add Rahyme Johnson to the mix so the depth doesn't become a problem at Sam linebacker once again. We're getting a lot bigger and deeper at that position under McElwain's watch.
Secondary
Just keep replenishing the talent. Need to add Henderson and Stewart and keep all commits actually committed. Might need to somehow land Hunter as well. Losing so much talent. Have to replace all at once unfortunately. That should be accomplished with just Henderson and Stewart along with all other commits, but adding Hunter on top of it would bring peace of mind.
Put Saturday behind you. Enjoy the rest of your week.
This season is far from over. Beating LSU and FSU seems FAR more likely all of a sudden. So we still have a lot of big games ahead of that UF can win and change everyone's mind of the program as a result.
If we're honest with ourselves that loss had more to do with UT than UF.
That half of football just felt like UT channeled 11 years of embarrassment, anger, and hope into a single half of football. It was the greatest 30 minutes of football in Dobb's career and it isn't even close. It became infections to the rest of the team and the crowd. Even watching it on TV that crowd sounded insane. For 30 minutes that is probably as hostile as that stadium has been in the past decade.
We can talk about where we screwed up at. Where we need to improve at, but the truth is no way does Dobbs throw for 250 yards in a single half against that secondary again. This secondary has more NFL talent than any other in the nation. They had a bad game sure, and their QB had the best game of his life, but if that game was replayed 99 more time I say that performance does not repeat itself once.
So this hurts because there isn't a ton you can take away from this. We only learned so much about what our football team needs to improve on because we didn't get beat due to lack of talent, experience, or depth. We lost because we faced a team that was so desperate and felt like if they didn't win this year then when would they? And would the program be another 2-3 years away from actually competing for championships?
We backed an animal into a corner and it went berserk, and we didn't know how to handle it. We're too young. Too many new faces on offense. Hate to use this word, but we need patience.
We could very well return all 11 starters on offense next season. From that season on McElwain will finally have everything he needs to have one of the best offenses in the SEC year in and year out. Patience. Look at the depth chart of offense. Can you really say we're not extremely young?
Anyway let us discuss what changes need to occur in recruiting. There were after all a few things we learned from these 4 games.
Let us start on offense
This offense will eventually need a QB with more arm strength. To fit passes in the tight windows created by SEC secondaries we will need a QB with elite arm strength. Also the QB will need some mobility to avoid pressure. The QB will still need to be able to do everything our QBs currently do as well (read defenses, go through progressions well). We have 2 that fit the bill in Trask and Franks, but both will need 2 years of development.
We also need a bigger body at TE who can block. Hopefully Byrd can develop into this, and we sign one next cycle as well.
OL actually looks good from a size and athleticism standpoint. Good depth in the interior. Depth at the OT needs to improve. Biggest problem right now is we are just flat out too young. All we can do is have patience.
Defense
Our 4 man pass rush just flat isn't good enough. Think back to the first 3 games a lot of our sacks came when we brought 5-6 dudes. Got to be able to get the QB with just 4. We can't right now. Our DL is not as good as everyone believes it is. Most overrated unit on the football team right now.
Now our depth on the DL is extremely impressive, but there isn't one DL that strikes fear into anyone. Think back to some of our best defensive lines. There was always at least 1 guy that struck fear into opposing offensive coordinators. That they almost had to game plan around. Whether if it was Floyd, Easley, Fowler, or Bullard. You have to have that guy. We don't right now. Sorry Brantely supporters but just isn't quit at that level.
So UF needs to look at improving their 4 man rush. This starts at End. Unfortunately, it isn't looking good in terms of bringing some one in this cycle.
However, Zuniga has shown a lot of promise. He very well may have all our sacks where we did only bring 4 to get to the QB. His first step is explosive, can convert to speed to power, has a lot of raw power as well, gets a low pad level, violent hands, inside and outside moves, he has a lot of potential. Still that is not enough. We need to add more guys. The development of Clayton and Jefferson are huge for these reasons. Clayton is way too skinny and there is no such thing as gaining a SOLID 30 pounds in a month. That is why he is redshirting. Wise decision. His first step looks like someone shot him out of a cannon. He just needs to find a way to get to a healthy 250 lbs, which will easily be accomplished by next season. CeCe's development maybe more difficult. He has struggled to keep the weight on. Wed to find a way to get him up to 280+. We need that inside pass rusher. Only guy with that ability on roster.
The additions at DT will help. We're not that big there. Adding 2 350 pounders will surely help. Hansard is a 310 pound DT who plays End for his school. Looks like a great 3 Tech DT prospect. Will provide more size to the spot as well. I want to land Truesdalle. Apparently he is closer to 330 than 299, his listed weight on rivals, and he moves exceptionally well for such size. He should be a 4 star. I think this DT class could allow UF to get a lot bigger at the position without losing much or any athleticism. Something surely needed.
I actually love our young linebackers. Just need to add Rahyme Johnson to the mix so the depth doesn't become a problem at Sam linebacker once again. We're getting a lot bigger and deeper at that position under McElwain's watch.
Secondary
Just keep replenishing the talent. Need to add Henderson and Stewart and keep all commits actually committed. Might need to somehow land Hunter as well. Losing so much talent. Have to replace all at once unfortunately. That should be accomplished with just Henderson and Stewart along with all other commits, but adding Hunter on top of it would bring peace of mind.
Put Saturday behind you. Enjoy the rest of your week.
This season is far from over. Beating LSU and FSU seems FAR more likely all of a sudden. So we still have a lot of big games ahead of that UF can win and change everyone's mind of the program as a result.
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