Congratulations to Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide. A truly impressive victory in many respects. There is no longer any debate about which program is dominant in the SEC at this point. A few candid thoughts, take them FWIW from a Gator fan:
Lessons learned:
-- a relatively humble Florida Fan
- Saban and staff are a group of professionals who prepare their team to compete at the highest level on a consistent basis. The contrast with Urban Meyer etc. could not be more stark.
- Bama fundamentals are equal to any NCAA team I can recall in the past couple of decades. Blocking, tackling, coverage, discipline, lack of penalties, hitting are all excellent. Yet again, excellent coaching.
- Perimeter blocking by receivers and backs deserves special mention -- I cannot remember seeing better blocking by a receiving corps as a group than I did on Saturday. Superior coaching.
- Bama is a young team so UF cannot use that excuse. A relatively young Bama defensive front manhandled a veteran, highly touted offensive line of Florida. Bama was in Brantley's face all night long. In the long list of immediate causes of the outcome Saturday, this is the most significant.
- Bama's screen game was fatal to UF at our last meeting -- I would have expected something more effective scheme wise out of our defense to counteract it. Yet, either we did not adequately account for the screen pass, or Bama was able to achieve near-perfect execution. Or both.
- UF defense was largely able to contain Ingram and Richardson. Turnovers made this significantly less important than it might have been.
- McElroy is clearly a fiery competitor who made no costly mistakes and did what was asked of him (apart from, one assumes, avoiding contact). He seems to be the recipient of good coaching, and he made the passes when he needed to make them. I still am not drinking his kool aid as I see some deficiencies in his performance that could be costly to Bama down the road. That said, if I were McElroy with that offensive line in front of me, I might hold the ball as long as he does too.
- John Brantley is in his fourth year in the program, yet makes fundamental mistakes like locking onto his receivers for long moments prior to releasing the ball. Whether this was nerves or poor coaching is hard to say, but either way Brantley was not prepared for the environment.
- Bama involved its playmakers in unexpected or at least unpredictable ways, in contrast to UF. That is, unless you consider John Brantley a playmaker in the option game.
- Everyone in the nation including Kirby Smart and myself was aware that a jump pass was imminent when it was attempted. This situational predictability is evidence of abysmal play calling.
- The repetition of the dive play into the teeth of a smothering defensive front is further evidence of a failed offensive imagination. I cannot imagine a worse strategy than sending a diminutive speedster into the teeth of the Bama defensive front (with tight splits I might add). Demps must be as tough as shoe leather to have held up this long.
Lessons learned:
- Loyalty is no substitute for productivity. Promoting people such as Steve Addazzio to the point of maximum incompetence without accountability is a sure recipe for mediocrity.
- Statistics are no substitute for scheme. Meyer's "plan to win" is bankrupt without actual Xs and Os attached to it.
- Talent is no substitute for discipline or fundamentals. The importance of playing within the scheme and being in good football position could not have been more evident Saturday night.
- Saban is in complete command of the Bama program.
- Tim Tebow's intangibles disguised Meyer's lack of command of the UF program for the past 4 years.
- There is no guarantee UF will make it to Atlanta at this point. We might need Spurrier to self-destruct again to get there. Even if we get there, I see no reason to suspect the outcome will be different, unless one believes that our coaches will be able to come up with a scheme to respond to Bama's strengths that outweighs whatever Saban etc. is able to come up with. Dubious at best.
- Any top flight WR, RB, or QB that commits to a spread program is making a serious mistake -- unless the offense is coached by Malzahn. The spread philosophy is a poor utilization of the potential strengths of the UF program, both in terms of scheme and recruiting.
- Cameron Newton would have been a much better candidate to run UF's offense than Brantley. I do not understand the decision making process that spanned the gap between Brantley's recruitment and Newton's transfer -- a decision made not for legal reasons, but because Newton saw that he was being designated as Brantley's backup.
- All of this confirms large concerns about the strategic vision at the very highest levels of the UF program. Meyer is overmatched by Saban, and I feel that this fact has not escaped either Meyer or Saban. I am not certain Meyer is capable of making the changes needed to become competitive with Alabama again.
-- a relatively humble Florida Fan
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