The Long Snapper (4/13/10)
. From the starter (
John Brantley
) to the part-time tight end (
Jordan Reed
) to the freshman (
Trey Burton
) they all looked good. There was Brantley’s command of the passing game, tossing it around effortlessly like the pocket passer extraordinaire everyone hoped he would be. There was Burton rattling off a 76-yard gain and finishing with more than 100 yards on the ground. And there was Reed with a near perfect touchdown toss that left many wondering if the position move was really the right choice. Again, it was the Orange and Blue Debut (the rhyming must be stopped!), but that’s what you want. The offense picked up right where they left off at the Sugar Bowl. Personnel be damned, this was the next incarnation of
Urban Meyer’s
Gators. No one wants to wait months to see them in one that counts. We’re ready now.
Speaking of the game, could there have been more perfect of a first play called? Brantley, the new starting quarterback and man taking over for the legend, connecting with Deonte Thompson, the star prospect who has yet to fully live up to his billing and was most recently in the news for bashing the ex-QB (he didn’t do anything of the sort in case you didn’t already know). A 47-yard gain seemed like it was 147 yards. If you think Meyer and staff didn’t know exactly what they were doing when they made that call, I don’t have a bridge to sell you because I just put the moon on the market. As for Brantley, this is his team and fans are excited. At least they should be. It won’t be Tebow running over opposing defenders. It won’t be a jump pass pulling the crowd to its feet. It’ll be a rocket arm and a large dose of humble. Brantley is easy to like and more than talented enough to cheer for.
You like speedy defensive ends. You also like big-time prospects from the Carolinas. You may have not known that you like those things, but you do. And now you like them even more. Jeoffrey Pagan (appreciate the combination of Jeffrey and Geoffrey) has joined the Gators, becoming the third member of the 2011 recruiting class. The 6’4”, 250-pound Pagan reportedly runs the 40 somewhere in the 4.6 area. Not bad at all for someone his size and not a bad size at all for someone in high school. More often than not, these fast defensive ends seem to get to college weighing around 225. It’s usually a year or two before they’re even big enough to compete. But Pagan may be ready sooner than most. If he can keep his speed and pick up Florida’s defensive schemes fairly quickly, it may be hard to keep him out of the DL rotation early on.
On September 11, 2010, something of the utmost importance occurs that has everything to do with this site (before anyone says anything, this in no means is meant to demean the tragedy the date is associated with, it just so happens that a football game happens on that very date this year). USF heads to Gainesville to play Florida in a matchup for the TBG ages. Before you ask, I’ll be wearing orange and blue and cheering on the Gators. I’ve never been deceptive about the order of my allegiances. 1) Florida; 2) Still going with Florida; 3) USF. For Bulls’ fans looking to attend the game, it may prove to be a difficult task. USF has been allotted 6,000 tickets, but after you remove the mandatories, we’re talking about half of that will actually be available for purchase. Far off the 12,000+ FSU made available to the Bulls (of course the Seminoles were having their own problems selling tickets). But go in full force USF fans. It’s only a 90-minute drive. Ascend upon Gainesville and cheer for your team. I don’t need to tell you this is a huge game.
The List: A simple list really. With the orange and blue game coming to a close, my interest in actual athletic competition practically ends until the football season starts. Here is my sports following order of importance list until that time:
1. Recruiting. You had to know #1 related to college football.
2. Anything else involving the sport.
3. The little bit of college basketball news we get this time of year.
4. The Montreal Canadiens. Their playoff draw means that will probably be very short-lived.
5. The Orlando Magic. Should occupy my time longer than Montreal does.
6. Anything baseball.
The Sixth Man: I tend to be the “glass half full guy” when it comes to sports. To me, there’s always a chance. For the most part, it’s misguided hope, but I really don’t see the appeal in sports if you just give up on a team or season. I’m the “I know we’re out of the playoffs, but let’s end the season on a strong note” guy. And yes, I know that can get annoying. But I’ve suddenly become very negative when it comes to one particular individual. Austin Rivers. Not Rivers himself, but the possibility he’ll actually end up wearing a Florida uniform. As Rivers decommitted from the Gators, he mentioned they’re still among he’s top three (or five…he mentions Florida, Duke, and UNC as he top schools, but also throws Kentucky and Texas in there a lot), but I have to think he ends up elsewhere. I don’t know why and I have no insider information on this one. Just a gut feeling that the Gators don’t land Rivers. I hate thinking that because he’s a great prospect who would immediately make Florida better. I just have a weird feeling that ship sailed when he opened up his recruitment. He said it had to do with making other schools feel okay about recruiting him because they still wanted to take a shot at his services. That seems like an odd response to me. Seems like it should realistically be “I wanted to continue to look around and realized I had made my decision too early.” In the end, I think Rivers ends up in blue. Just not the blue we want him to be playing in.