South Carolina takes on depleted UF team Saturday
What the heck has happened to Florida? One year after earning an 11-2 record and an appearance in the Sugar Bowl, the Gators are sloshing through a 4-5 season and are in danger of missing out on a bowl game for the first time since the first Gulf War.
More and more Florida fans want to Gator Chomp coach Will Muschamp’s head rather than opposing teams.
There has been quick, negative turnaround in Gainesville and the main reason behind it is injuries. The Gators have lost ten players, including seven starters, to season-ending injuries.
The starting quarterback, runningback, both starting tackles, one defensive tackle starter, one starting wide receiver/kick returner and a starting linebacker make up the meat of the injury casualty list.
Think that’s bad? The current starter at left tackle, D.J. Humphries, is doubtful for Saturday’s game at South Carolina. In addition, starting quarterback Tyler Murphy and starting cornerback Marcus Roberson are going to miss two days of practice this week, but are supposed to start against the Gamecocks.
No coach ever wants to see that kind of injury list and it might just cost Muschamp his job by the end of the season, especially if the Gators don’t make a bowl game, which will probably be the case. Florida needs to either defeat South Carolina in Columbia or No. 2 Florida State at home along with Georgia Southern to become bowl-eligible.
But all the blame should not be on the injuries. Gator fans had an unrealistic view of their team going into the season. An impressive defense covered up a less-than-stellar offense last season, but could not do the same this season. Muschamp has always been a great defensive mind but has failed at creating a legit SEC offense. Poor quarterback play has plagued the Gators since Tim Tebow left and you absolutely cannot win any sort of championship without a solid signal-caller. You can’t rely on defensive scores every game to boost your team. As a result, Florida is 107th in the country in points per game. Ouch.
Sooner rather than later, the Gators will bring in a quarterback who knows how to throw the ball and the team will become a national title contender again, but for Muschamp, it is probably too late.
Big mouths
Here is a question for you. When was the last time that giving bulletin-board material to your opponents worked out for you? This is what Oregon’s De’Anthony Thomase and Ohio State’s Evan Spencer need to be thinking about.
Last week, Thomas said that Oregon should put up at least 40 points against Stanford. What actually happened is that Stanford shut down the Ducks offense and it took until the fourth quarter for Oregon to be able to score at all against the Cardinal.
Then, this week Spencer said that Ohio State would “wipe the floor” with Alabama and Florida State, the two teams ahead of them in the BCS. Just because you’ve dominated the washed-up Big 10 doesn’t make you invincible. If the Buckeyes somehow make it to the title game against either the Crimson Tide or Seminoles, you can be sure that Spencer’s comment will come back up.
So here’s an idea, let your play on the field do the talking for you.