Game Preview: FSU Seminoles @ Florida Gators – 11/28 – 3:30
It still amazes me that someone at one of the networks didn’t think for even a second
“wait a minute if we have Florida school versus Florida school on at 3:30 too, we’ll lose some viewers to the other Florida school versus Florida school broadcast!”
Well amazed is a little strong. Few things amaze me from television stations that actually give Jenna Elfman the opportunity to be seen nationwide on a weekly basis. Down with Dharma, and up with 10 things about
Florida
/
FSU
.
1. The uniforms. In another life I work in marketing, but you don’t need a degree in the promotional arts to sniff out a Nike money making attempt. This is the company that got a swoosh on the Penn State uniforms. So what we have is a futuristic attempt at a football uniform. It tries, and fails, to give us some insight to what the coming years could bring. The white helmet is a nice touch at first, taking us back to 1966, or 2006 and those gorgeous throwbacks. But when the Florida font F is revealed, the one good part of the ensemble is instantly ruined. As for the rest of the getup, all blue can look great, those pant stripes destroy any hope of that. And while the gloves are a nice touch, they have to be positioned perfectly to give the desired affect. All-in-all, the uniforms are a fail from a visual standpoint, but another success for Nike. After all, they flew off shelves in a similar fashion to those orange-sleeved monstrosities from 2005.
2. Senior day. Markihe Anderson, Rick Burgess, Riley Cooper, Jermaine Cunningham, Dustin Doe, Troy Epps, Cade Holliday, Brandon James, Dorian Munroe, David Nelson, Jonathan Phillips, Wondy Pierre-Louis, Joey Sorrentino, Brandon Spikes, Ryan Stamper, Tim Tebow, and Mike Williamson. Carl Moore, we’ll see you in 2010.
3. Random Omarius Hines fact. Welcome to the touchdown club Omarius. Your arrival was eagerly awaited.
4. Tim Tebow. What kind of Gator fan would I be if I didn’t at least mention Tebow’s last game in The Swamp? It’s been talked about ad nauseam for weeks. The last time #15 will command the offense in Gainesville. His last hurrah in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field. Love him or hate him (and if you hate him, take a second to be honest with yourself, it’s because of the media explosion surrounding him, not the man himself…and if you still think it’s because of Tebow the person, I speak for everyone else in saying we’re all glad you’ve finally come to the realization that you’re an idiot), this is a historic moment. One of the best to ever put on a uniform is playing in his final home game.
5. Could this be one of the last games Bobby Bowden ever coaches? Who cares? For those of you non-Florida fans that are sick of hearing about Tim Tebow, well us non-FSU fans feel the same way with every “new” Bowden article. But sit any level-headed (that’s the key here) one of us down and we’ll full admit the legendary status of the Seminole head coach and what he has done for both the FSU program and the game of college football. Maybe he overstayed. Maybe he lost his touch years ago. Maybe he’ll surprise us all and stick around for another year and produce a winner. None of us really know. What we know is the man will go down as one of the greatest influences on the history of the game and like Tebow, love him or hate him, you can’t deny that.
6. The juniors. It seems that there could be a good number of juniors playing their last game in The Swamp. More so than the Gators have seen in quite some time. If I had to guess, Carlos Dunlap, Joe Haden, and Aaron Hernandez are locks to leave. It’s hard for me to picture any of the three of them in orange and blue in 2010. If one were to surprise us and return for his senior year, it may be Hernandez, but I would think all three will be playing on Sundays in less than a year. Maurkice Pouncey and Mike Pouncey recently said there’s a good chance they could leave as well. This is one I’m on the fence about. The twins are very talented, there’s no doubt about that. But there are two things playing against them when it comes to the NFL Draft in 2010. The first: neither are tackles. Not that interior linemen aren’t valuable, but you have to blow people away to be picked as high as tackles go if you’re a center or guard. And the second: neither twin played as well in 2009 than they did in 2008. The twins have elevated their game in recent weeks, but the first half of the season (maybe even a little more of it) was a tough time to be a Gator offensive lineman. That being the case, I believe both would be best served to come back for their senior year and show scouts what they can do protecting more of a true pocket passer in John Brantley.
7. Charlie Strong. We might as well continue riding this gravy train. This could be the last time we see Strong on the sidelines at The Swamp as well. One of these days he’ll get that job offer we’ve all been expecting him to get. And after the initial “NO! He was supposed to stay here forever!” moment, we’ll be happy for him. I just hope Strong doesn’t settle for something. I know Memphis is going in a different direction, but that’s not a job for him any way. If Dan Mullen can get Mississippi State, surely Strong can get a BCS head coaching job as well. And yes, expect me to cheer openly for wherever strong ends up.
8. Sigh, Greg Reid. Reid is going to be a very good football player. In fact, he may already be. But Greg, you sounded like an idiot this week. You called out a football coach for being cocky. I’ve said this before, but in case you missed it…ANYONE ASSOCIATED WITH A FOOTBALL PROGRAM SHOULD BE COCKY! Players, coaches, whoever. This is football. How do you succeed without some level of confidence at least bordering on cockiness? Reid said “It was kind of disappointing. [Urban Meyer] was talking to me like Florida was the world.” Keep in mind, Reid waited until now to tell us this. What in the world did you expect Greg? We wouldn’t want Meyer as a coach if he didn’t think Florida was the world. His job is to win football games and turn Florida into the best program in the nation. That’s any coach’s job at any school. And when it comes to recruiting, his job is to tell recruits why Florida is the world and why coming there is the best thing that could happen to a kid. Comment all you want about returning a punt to the house. Even say what you like about Jimbo Fisher, but claiming you don’t do cocky? Give us a break. Cocky, or whatever you want to call it, has gotten the Gators to 11-0 at this point. If you don’t do cocky, maybe you don’t do winning either.
9. An upset would make FSU’s season. Heading into the regular season finale against the #1 team in the nation while being 6-5 isn’t an ideal position to be in for any program. When it’s Florida State and that game is against your biggest rival, it’s downright vomit-inducing. But if the world flipped itself upside down and somehow the Noles pulled off the unthinkable, it would be the story of the year. The Gators have let a number of teams hang around this year and now is definitely not the time for that. Be the story in the positive way. Be the Florida team that finished the regular season perfect. Play your game, limit mistakes, and get the win.
10. Forget everything else. Imagine if there was no SEC Championship Game next weekend. Imagine if bowl games and the BCS didn’t exist (I know a lot of you probably like to imagine that last part). Imagine if there was no next year. This is it. This is the next game. This is the final game. It’s been a while since Florida clinched the SEC East and a chance to play for the conference championship. The Gators and Alabama have been on a crash course to a rematch all season and it was realized when both teams clinched their division titles. But that doesn’t matter and must be forgotten today. All that matters is beating FSU. Getting past today’s opponent. Not playing down because you’re looking ahead. Texas let Texas A&M keep it interesting for a while. Illinois kept it closer than many expected against Cincinnati. Don’t look ahead. Just win today.