Mississippi State Bulldogs 10 – Florida Gators 7
Read the title again. 17 total points. Florida had seven of them. That’s right. The Gators scored seven points in a loss at home to an unranked team. Why? Because it was late in the game before the offense finally woke up. And unfortunately two players who are far from any fault will be blamed.
Someone out there will put this on Jeff Demps and/or Chas Henry. Someone will say Florida had a chance to go ahead until Demps fumbled. Someone will say the Gators could have pulled it out if Henry, a punter, had connected on his field goal attempts. Someone will put all of Florida’s troubles in the loss to Mississippi State on those two players. Someone will be oh so very wrong.
There are a number of things that could be said or guessed to explain why the Gators only managed to score seven points. You’ve already heard most of them. There’s no real point in getting into all of them, but there are a few that standout that seem to be repeating from game to game. There’s a definite pattern that’s having an effect on the outcome and therefore Florida’s overall record. The first of which is John Brantley.
I don’t envy Brantley. Well, that’s not true. I do to a point. He’s the quarterback for the Florida Gators. I’m a few years past fulfilling that dream, but it’s still a sweet gig if you can get it. But I don’t envy Brantley’s position in the line of Gator QBs. He’s the man replacing THE MAN. Brantley’s also a legacy which means some expect him to just be good as soon as he puts on the uniform. And he’s in the middle of an offensive meltdown being blamed on just about everyone including him. I won’t speak to Brantley’s abilities or guess if he can or can’t get it don’t (I’m sure that’s a post all on its own), but I will talk about his confidence.
We now have seven games to base assumptions on. Through those seven games, Brantley still doesn’t appear to have found that confidence. He continues to look nervous throughout the game. He appears to be putting too much pressure on himself and is living and dying with each throw he makes.
Brantley does have a lot of pressure on his shoulders. There’s no denying that. He’s the Florida quarterback and at the moment is the only option. It’s him and that’s really it when it comes to the passing game (Those of you calling for Trey Burton to take over need to take a step back. Burton is a special talent. He’s also not ready to be a full-time SEC quarterback. He’s best suited in his slash role right now. The Kentucky game was a performance for the ages, sort of. Burton scored touchdowns, but he didn’t take over the world with his passing abilities. This isn’t a knock on the freshman, it’s just a reality. Even Tim Tebow wasn’t ready right away.), but Brantley needs to get that out of his head. He needs to realize that sometimes it doesn’t work out on first down and the best thing he can do is quickly move on to second down. He has to have the shortest memory on the team.
And he needs to be a leader. Brantley made several comments over the summer and leading into the season about how he would be a different type of leader than Tebow. That’s fine, but he needs to be a leader one way or another. The offense needs it. The entire team needs it. With five games left in the regular season (and, yes, the SEC Championship Game still within reach), it’s time for #12 to make this his team. Against MSU, he didn’t do that and going forward he may be sharing it with #8, but it’s his time. Calm down, take control, and speak up whether you want to or not. Certain players at certain positions don’t need to do that. The quarterback is not at one of those positions.
Beyond Brantley, the bye week couldn’t come at a better time. The defense played a solid game that was marred by a final MSU drive that took too much time off the clock and an inability to force turnovers (again, something that I’m sure could be an entire post all on its own). The special teams need help with a punter being forced into field goal duties and Andre Debose possibly lost for the foreseeable future. And the offense, oh the offense.
Whether you want to blame Steve Addazio or not, the fact of the matter is that the offense has scored seven or less points in two of the last three games and sputtered all season and he is the offensive coordinator. It’s not a role he’s suited for. An in-season change might not occur, but if it were to, now is the time. What do you have to lose? Pull out the Sugar Bowl playbook and open it up. While that game was mostly a “f___ you” to Tebow’s critics, it also showed what the Florida offense is capable of when running on all cylinders (in case you don’t remember, the Gators rolled up 659 yards of offense in that game).
Most of those cylinders have gone unused this season and everyone is frustrated. And I’m not talking fans. I’m talking coaches and players. You may lose a game here and there to a Mississippi State. It does happen. What shouldn’t happen is 10-7.