Game Haiku:
The mission was clear
Win Streak 4, empty bench, Check
Onto '25
Praises:
> Gator Victory was never in doubt (& by Q3 - Halley's bet)... allowed every who played a role in '24 to be rewarded for their contribution via blood, sweat & tears to get playing time.
> Glad to see Napier reward Big Dez at the end. Dez is one of the few players (in this day of the portal) who actually started and ended his career in the Orange and Blue - for all those players - Thank you for your dedication, your love and understanding of what it means to be a Florida Gator.
> Granted with Tulane a shell of themselves - it was still exciting to see the defensive depth shut Tulane down and held them scoreless for 59+min. Bodes well for next year
> DJ for how he protected his body/hamstring and not have an ego to challenge for those first downs (which if the stakes were higher he would've easily committed and made the first).
> Offensive game plan to get DJ throwing to the RB... It's a start in his further progression.
> Smack with 4 no doubt FG's - kept Florida's advantage growing when offense bogged down in 1st half.
> Celebration of Rubio's TD by the team at the end... that's culture and a positive to Billy foundation being in place after year 3.
> Great job by D forcing Turnovers and negative plays
> Glad to see Napier continuing to score at the end and keep covering the spread - Gator fans love it and maybe if he's aware that donations may increase with the sharing of winnings - it will help reinforce the full play for 60 minutes of no mercy - which our 2 most successful coaches were known for.
Postulates:
> First time in Billy's tenure - lots of positive momentum heading into the off-season:
* 4 game win streak
* Top 10 Recruting Class (with Wilson expected to flip and potentially some other final pieces)
* Key players returning - including 4/5 of starting O line, starting interior DL, DJ with quality experience gained at QB, RB juggernaut headed by Baugh and a D where youth have gained experience to see continued improvement heading into next fall.
* Increase in donations - which will help keep roster and potentially attract priority portal entrants
> ever since bye week - the Defense has improved tremendously. Major props on their side.... I know change is coming.. here's hoping (maybe Bateman?) the changes will keep the simplicity where the Gators can think less and just let their natural athleticism and abilities shine through.
> Did they forget the mat in Gainesville? Twice special teams had less than 11 men and a TO was needed.
> Hoping the new OC will cure the following scenario - Gators get an explosive play (especially into the red zone) and somehow a delay of game or TO needing to be called results. It should be the opposite... with the opposition staggered, go up tempo, get lined up and snap the ball. No one is fooled with starting in one formation and resetting to another formation and then sending a motion. To much wasted time and the ability for the D to reset.
> Speaking of fooling no one - the fake jet sweep. If you never give it to the jet sweeper, the D can tee off with one less blocker defending it.
> Excited to see DJ's continued progression this offseason - especially with footwork and balance, as well as reading progression and short/intermediate throws. Yesterday's game showed the progress made from January and the road still ahead.
> Were there issues with the headsets? Looked like 2 TO's on Offense were due to not communicating play via headset.
> Speaking of TO's - hope 2025 improves where TO's are called for clock management strategy instead of poor organizational management
> Watching the game on TV - the production was D+ .... between a lack of replays, booth announcers who were unprepared and flat out guessing on play outcomes... ugly
> Also with a C performance were the MAC officiating crew. As a former official, call the obvious, call what impacts the play and do as much preventive officiating as possible. Contrary to game chat - they were not one sided for the Gators or Tulane - it's just the flags they chose to throw or not throw were inconsistent. Since everyone can tell me what they missed on Tulane... here's a couple of examples where Florida benefited: An easy example on a play that is being replayed the most was Dez's first down run. #68 clearly false starts; there were other "holds" called/not called at the point of attack for both sides. Slaughter got away with one not called on a big run for instance earlier in the 3rd quarter. Being a 1st team AA has its privileges
The mission was clear
Win Streak 4, empty bench, Check
Onto '25
Praises:
> Gator Victory was never in doubt (& by Q3 - Halley's bet)... allowed every who played a role in '24 to be rewarded for their contribution via blood, sweat & tears to get playing time.
> Glad to see Napier reward Big Dez at the end. Dez is one of the few players (in this day of the portal) who actually started and ended his career in the Orange and Blue - for all those players - Thank you for your dedication, your love and understanding of what it means to be a Florida Gator.
> Granted with Tulane a shell of themselves - it was still exciting to see the defensive depth shut Tulane down and held them scoreless for 59+min. Bodes well for next year
> DJ for how he protected his body/hamstring and not have an ego to challenge for those first downs (which if the stakes were higher he would've easily committed and made the first).
> Offensive game plan to get DJ throwing to the RB... It's a start in his further progression.
> Smack with 4 no doubt FG's - kept Florida's advantage growing when offense bogged down in 1st half.
> Celebration of Rubio's TD by the team at the end... that's culture and a positive to Billy foundation being in place after year 3.
> Great job by D forcing Turnovers and negative plays
> Glad to see Napier continuing to score at the end and keep covering the spread - Gator fans love it and maybe if he's aware that donations may increase with the sharing of winnings - it will help reinforce the full play for 60 minutes of no mercy - which our 2 most successful coaches were known for.
Postulates:
> First time in Billy's tenure - lots of positive momentum heading into the off-season:
* 4 game win streak
* Top 10 Recruting Class (with Wilson expected to flip and potentially some other final pieces)
* Key players returning - including 4/5 of starting O line, starting interior DL, DJ with quality experience gained at QB, RB juggernaut headed by Baugh and a D where youth have gained experience to see continued improvement heading into next fall.
* Increase in donations - which will help keep roster and potentially attract priority portal entrants
> ever since bye week - the Defense has improved tremendously. Major props on their side.... I know change is coming.. here's hoping (maybe Bateman?) the changes will keep the simplicity where the Gators can think less and just let their natural athleticism and abilities shine through.
> Did they forget the mat in Gainesville? Twice special teams had less than 11 men and a TO was needed.
> Hoping the new OC will cure the following scenario - Gators get an explosive play (especially into the red zone) and somehow a delay of game or TO needing to be called results. It should be the opposite... with the opposition staggered, go up tempo, get lined up and snap the ball. No one is fooled with starting in one formation and resetting to another formation and then sending a motion. To much wasted time and the ability for the D to reset.
> Speaking of fooling no one - the fake jet sweep. If you never give it to the jet sweeper, the D can tee off with one less blocker defending it.
> Excited to see DJ's continued progression this offseason - especially with footwork and balance, as well as reading progression and short/intermediate throws. Yesterday's game showed the progress made from January and the road still ahead.
> Were there issues with the headsets? Looked like 2 TO's on Offense were due to not communicating play via headset.
> Speaking of TO's - hope 2025 improves where TO's are called for clock management strategy instead of poor organizational management
> Watching the game on TV - the production was D+ .... between a lack of replays, booth announcers who were unprepared and flat out guessing on play outcomes... ugly
> Also with a C performance were the MAC officiating crew. As a former official, call the obvious, call what impacts the play and do as much preventive officiating as possible. Contrary to game chat - they were not one sided for the Gators or Tulane - it's just the flags they chose to throw or not throw were inconsistent. Since everyone can tell me what they missed on Tulane... here's a couple of examples where Florida benefited: An easy example on a play that is being replayed the most was Dez's first down run. #68 clearly false starts; there were other "holds" called/not called at the point of attack for both sides. Slaughter got away with one not called on a big run for instance earlier in the 3rd quarter. Being a 1st team AA has its privileges
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