Bullpups Get Spanked

Headline: Florida beats Mississippi State puppies.

to quote Gatorzone.com...

The Florida defense stepped up once again and limited the Mississippi State offense to two field goals and 237 yards. They held the Bulldogs without a third-down conversion until midway through the fourth quarter (total was 2-12) and intercepted quarterback Tyson Lee three times. The Gators also held Mississippi State running back Anthony Dixon to a season-low 53 yards rushing after entering the game averaging 116 yards on the ground.

Do you realize the Gator D has given up 4 touchdowns in 7 games? (the other 2 came on the offense or special teams) And a total of 57 points all season? (and not to mention that 2 of the touchdowns scored were on short field drives after the offense coughed it up!) It was almost a relief when the Mississippi State offense had the ball, because you knew they weren't going to score--you couldn't say the same when the Gator offense was out there! Without the two gross plays--the interceptions for touchdowns, the score would have been 36-6, which was much more realistic as to how the game really felt.

The score at halftime was 13-10. But that was really deceptive. Check out the stats:

Tim Terrific caught some heat for trying to "squeeze" in that pass at the end of the first half, leading to the interception (run back for 100 yards--who ever DOES that?). I watched it several times and I'm not sure who he was throwing to. If it was to Deonte Thompson, that was a bad throw; too high, and wide. If, OTOH, he was throwing to Hernandez, it wasn't such a bad toss, and it was Thompson's man--gee, how did he get over there?--who started the whole thing by deflecting it. I suspose the quarterback gets the glory when the receivers run great routes or when the defenders fall down, but he also gets hammered when they run bad routes. (Are you listening, Riley? and Deonte?)

If it's Hernandez alone in the corner, it could have (should have) been a touchdown for us instead of a MSU freak play--a 14 point swing. Ah, if frogs had wings....

Speaking of freak plays, the pass out of our end zone late in the game seemed dumb, but only because of the result. Timmy had a receiver streaking wide open down the right side, and if the defensive lineman had been a step slower, or picked up by someone .... ah, another 14 point swing, just by a hair. But I never really had the fear that the Puppies could take control of the game. Still, it made the Gators look silly and the coaches might have wanted to avoid that, for Tim's sake if nothing else.

But it was, once again, the Big D and special teams coming to our rescue.

What's a Bulldog say? Roof, Roof.....

You want some passion, some heart? How about that Rainey!?! What a game. Another blocked punt--if only he had scored with it--90 yards of rushing and a TD. And what a smooth TD run it was. He looked like he was snowboarding ... just gliding one way, then another, without a care in the world. True it was only 8 yards, but it was pretty.

But Chris, who sometimes gets a bit theatrical, lost his Top Hot Dog status to Dustin Doe, who embarrassed himself and the team with not only excessive cockiness on his interception return, but inept cockiness. It's one thing to celebrate with the ball as you cross the goalline, but for God's sake, at least hold the ball OVER the line when you do. It was fortunate for him (and us)the refs saw that as a touchdown and not the touchback it could've (should've?) been. It wouldn't have helped the equally inept Miss State offense to win, but the score would have been closer. Because he was being a butt-head, I decline to put a picture of him in this post. So there, Dustin!

For the Lakeland contingent, Ahmad Black had a beautiful interception. Unfortunately, it was called back by a bogus call on Ryan Stamper. Guess that made up for the bad call on Doe's pick 6.

Timmy did have a great touchdown on a 26 yard run. He would not be denied--classic stiff-arm and way to lay out for the score, big guy.

Get Outta my face!!!

Here you go, Herschel, now we're even!

In case you've been living under a rock, you should know this ties him with Herschel Walker for most "recorded" TDs in the SEC. (Seems the powers that be were counting differently when HW was playing.) So, to be fair, TT should score 3 more, to offset the 2 he got credit for in the postseason bowl games. Easily achieved with 5 regular season games left. But the "official" record breaker will... should...must come next week against the 'Dawgs. That makes my mouth water. Even better than the timeouts at the end of last year's game.

And, of course, ...(drum roll)... the Bumper Sticker of the Week...

A day without sunshine is, like, night.

Hog Wild Homecoming!

Sooooo-weeeeee!
Talk about dodging a bullet! There is no way we could win that game with 4 turnovers in the red zone and 6 sacks. And yet....we did.
What is lost in the hype about the Arkansas onslaught is the fact that the Gator D, though it had some lapses--take away two plays and the yardage given up goes down by almost a third--held the Hogs below their season average. And if you look at the Arkansas-Alabama game, you'll see that 'Bama was 2 plays away from having a mediocre day against them. And Auburn...wow, don't get me started. That Arkansas team is darned good. And yet, UF beat them in almost every phase of the game except turnover margin. (Check the box score... http://www.gatorzone.com/football/boxscore.php?gameid=7533)

And Ryan Mallet....what a talent he is. Even if he does look like a guard at a Russian Gulag. Some of those passes he made were spectacular. Surely our Tim Terrific, with his 6 sacks and 2 fumbles must have looked palsied next to the Wunderkind of the Wasteland? Not exactly. He obviously outran the Ryant the Giant, but lo and behold, he also outpassed him by 5 more completions and 31 yards! Tim had 255 yards passing and, if you don't subtract from his total the yards he lost when sacked (clearly passing, not running--what a dumb way to keep stats), he was over 100 yards rushing as well. Not to mention (I will anyway) that he, once again, picked the team up, put it on his shoulders in the 4th quarter, and carried it down the field on the winning drive. I might be crazy, but I think this could have been (should have been) Tim's Heisman-clinching game. Let's wait, shall we, because I suspect he may have a few more of them left in him this season. Boy, do we hope so.

It seems the win under such adverse circumstances wasn't enough to keep the Gators #1 in all the polls--the Crimson Tide captured the top spot in the AP poll. Just goes to show you what sportswriters know. There's not a more worthless, good for nothing bunch of ignoramuses living off of expense accounts in any part of the world--unless you count Congress and everyone associated with the White House. The geniuses were impressed that Bama beat Carolina by 13 points, even though they were lucky to get out alive, and the outcome was still in doubt until the last 6 minutes. If SOS hadn't been so in love with the fade route--3 times in a row!--twice!--South Carolina would have been ahead at that point. But, hey, the BCS has it right (who would have thought that could ever be said?!?!), and in the end it will all be settled on the field come December--it doesn't matter a sportswriter's fart until then. We assume that both teams will win out, and the championship game will be another donnybrook, with the winner again playing for the crystal trophy. Hopefully against the crybabies from Texas, so we can shut them up once and for all. I can't wait.

Bumper Sticker of the Week:

Research says married men live longer--it only seems longer.

Hayley's Wedding

It was an odd way to watch the game, I'll admit. Saw the first half, officiated at the wedding, saw the last 3 minutes. The scariest part and the best part (sort of like the wedding).
It was a thing of beauty--the wedding, not the game.



There were roughly 100 people to witness the nuptials,







held on the beach at Anna Maria as the sun was setting.

The house was beautiful and the weather cooperated (somewhat--a bit windy, but no rain).

..

The introduction, vows and, in fact, the whole procedure was done with something of an alternative style,

















but in the end a good time was had by all.





The lovely couple....










Couple with Bride's Parents








Couple with Groom's Parents




Layla came east with hubby John, and Jane and I got to meet Kyle's parents. Nice folks. (I forgot to thank him for the rehearsal dinner at the Sandbar.)

Tame Those Tigers!

Death Valley wasn't so bad after all. I heard that Jacob Hester was in the crowd--they could've used him.

This was supposed to be Florida's first real test--against the Number 4 team in the country, a former national champion that put a dagger in the Gator's hearts 2 years ago. But not tonight. The Tigers' padded streak of undeafeated night games in Death Valley (32 often weak teams) came to a crashing halt.



It was clearly a defensive struggle, and the Gator defense was outstanding. The Tigers converted 1 of 9 third downs, but more importantly (and sweetly) only 1 of 3 fourth downs.

Florida got to their quarterback for 5 sacks--LSU got ... NONE.

Oh, and did anyone see the Terrifying Tiger Tandem receivers, Tolliver and LaFell, who are supposed to be NFL quality? They had a combined 56 yards on 6 catches. Boo-ya!


There wasn't as much scoring from the Gators as we could have hoped for, but Florida outrushed LSU by 2 to 1 (held them to net 66 yards, with only 29 in the 2nd half) and had half again their passing yardage. We whipped them in almost every phase of the game.

We got the advantage of the lone touchdown in the game when Riley Cooper managed to "slingshot" himself off the defender by grabbing the guy's jersey. For those who don't know, that is technically not allowed, but he succeeded for two simple reasons: (i) it was a very short grab, and (ii) the official didn't see it. Aw, c'mon, not like it doesn't happen every week...!



Tim's other favorite target--Aaron Hernandez--also had a good game, as is his wont. He's a stud. And our other super speedy stud--Jeff Demps--had a good (but not great) night, running for 86 yards on only 14 carries.



And let's not forget Timmy's sparkling play: He got 41 on the ground and over 130 in the air--most of that to Hernandez. Another gem in the SEC!!




Of course, we mustn't forget the ubiquitous Bumper Sticker of the Week,

My feminine side is a lesbian.