Florida Gators -- Week #7

That was bad. This week I'll quote my cousin who sent me a text: "Sucks to lose to a team that sucks..." I'll save the rest in case any of you have sensitive ears/eyes. I thought to win this game the Gators would have to be healthy. The Gators were far from healthy entering the game and are even worse off after the game. I do believe that with John Brantley at quarterback, the Gators could have won. But...

The offense was just pathetic. I would expect A LOT more from an offensive coordinator with the reputation Charlie Weis has. He used to score well into the 30s with Notre Dame and their talent never came close to matching what's on this team. I know he wasn't going against SEC defenses, but Auburn does not have a great defense. I nearly broke my ankle Saturday night jumping off of the "get Jordan Reed the ball" bandwagon. This was the first week I noticed a concerted effort to get him the ball. Unfortunately he dropped one pass in the end zone (tough catch but I'm sure he'd tell you he should've caught it), was overthrown on a flea flicker and he dropped another pass that may have been a touchdown though there were only four seconds left in the game. He also showed no field awareness when catching the ball near the sideline.

I don't have the roster in front of me, but are there any wide receivers on the team? Frankie Hammond caught a few and looked pretty good. Outside of that I can't remember any wide receivers making any plays or even being open.

And seriously, no one could catch an Auburn punt? I know those suckers were up there and the first Rainey muff may have been caused by interference but come on, catch the ball. I wasn't surprised that Rainey was in for the punt block on the last punt but I was surprised that Robert Clark was back to receive the punt. I would have strongly considered rushing 11 and not having anyone back.

The uncalled penalties were outrageous. I really think the Chris Rainey interference non-call could have gone either way. But not much later in the game there was as blatant a defensive holding as I've ever seen yet it was not called. Coincidentally (I think) it was a non-call against Chris Rainey. On a third-down on our third drive after two 3-and-outs, Jacoby Brisset strung together two first downs and was trying to hit Chris Rainey on a little screen that would have netted a first down. One of Auburn's defensive lineman just grabbed a jersey full of Rainey and didn't let go. There was another uncalled penalty later on, but my old mind doesn't remember the situation.

It was nice to see a new punter out there. Christy averaged about 46 yards per punt, which includes the shank job that he dropped. Silly mistake but I still think the Gators found a punter.

The defense played better but I have a sneaking suspicion a lot of that is due to playing a lesser team. Auburn dropped a lot of balls and committed a lot of penalties which helped out. The defensive line is still jumping offsides; one time leading to a free play for a touchdown. They are also still inconsistent against the run as there were several 8-15 yard running plays against them.

This'll be a nice week to have off and hopefully get healthy before the Cocktail Party. This is the game I think the Gators need to get to 7 wins.

I know I'm leaving plenty out. I usually forget stuff every week. I think Freud would call it a defense mechanism.

Just Joe