Light up a Camel! Nostalgia, the Gators and a game with Campbell University
By Franz Beard
For those of you who revel in nostalgia, a trip down Memory Lane is most appropriate. Back in 1994, the Gators began the season by hanging 70 or more back-to-back on New Mexico and Southwestern Louisiana (Now Louisiana, the former stomping grounds of the former Gator coach who is now the head honcho at James Madison). From an offensive standpoint, that ranks as the greatest start to a season in Florida football history.
A week ago, the Gators scored on 10 of their 11 possessions while lighting up the Ben Hill Griffin Stadium scoreboard for 66 big ones against Florida Atlantic. Saturday (5:30 p.m., SEC Network+), the Gators should light up the Campbell University Fighting Camels for at least 60 for the best back-to-back opening of a season since that 1994 team coached by Steve Spurrier. That Spurrier team scored 538 points in 13 games. A year ago, the former Florida head coach now at James Madison called the plays for an offense that scored 259 points in 12 games. By the time the lights go out at BHG Saturday night – AFTER the game, not BEFORE like those zany Seminoles in Tallahassee – the Gators should be halfway toward last year’s point total in just two games.
Everyone will leave the well-lit Swamp raving about the offense and for good reason. Jadan Baugh is the best running back in the country and every time Aaron Philo drops back to pass he has more than one wide open receiver. When you have weapons at your disposal such as Baugh, Vernell Brown III and Dallas Wilson and an equal number of talented backups the game can resemble a track meet in a hurry.
The Campbell defense might end up doing a dandy impersonation of the matadors Florida A&M hired to deal with Miami Thursday night (77-7 Miami win).
It is the Florida defense that is the real concern Saturday night. They had a below average effort against Florida Atlantic last Saturday night and if there isn’t significant improvement seen against Campbell, red flags will be flying and alarm bells ringing because nine SEC games loom. There is no excuse for all the missed tackles and DBs essentially giving up dink and dunk passes by playing 10 yards off the FAU receivers. That has to change this week. Something else that has to change is the pressure on the QB. Last week the Gators got occasional pressure on the FAU quarterback. The pass rush has to be relentless from the start.
There is no question Florida will win this game by a wide margin. There is no question the offense will light up the Camels (No, this isn’t a TV commercial from the 1960s … “I like to light one up after dinner; helps me to relax!). The question is will the defense show marked improvement. There is that old coaching adage that the most improvement is seen from game one to game two. That needs to be seen on the defensive side of the ball Saturday night.
The Soothsayer says Sooth!: Let Jadan Baugh get his 150 yards, Aaron Philo 300 passing yards and turn the defense loose. Florida scores at least 60.
THE SEC SOOTHSAYER
Today
No. 23 Missouri (1-0) at Kansas (1-0): Mizzou beat Kansas by 11 last year in Columbia. The game has been circled on the Kansas calendar ever since. The Jayhawks thought they gave away a game they should have won. Mizzou goes into this one without Ahmad Hardy, still recovering from a gunshot wound this summer. The Soothsayer says Sooth!: Mizzou gets a white knuckles win.
Saturday
Western Kentucky (0-1) at No. 2 Georgia (1-0): This is dial-a-score. Georgia wasn’t tested in the least last week, won’t be tested this week or next week (at Arkansas). The good news for Georgia is by the time Oklahoma comes to town Kirby Smart will have had a chance to build quality depth. Kirby might be tempted to leave the first team offense in the game longer than usual to help Gunner Stockton’s stats for Heisman purposes. The Sothsayer says Sooth!: Georgia and it will be over by halftime.
No. 1 Ohio State (1-0) at No. 4 Texas (1-0): This one has playoff implications down the road and intriguing matchups. There are three Heisman candidates – Ohio State’s Julian Sayin and Jeremiah Smith; Arch Manning for Texas – and a lot of voters for the trophy will be watching intently. Ohio State has former NFL head coach Matt Patricia as its defensive coordinator. Texas has Will Muschamp, as good a defensive coordinator as there is in college football. Everyone left the Horseshoe in Columbus with ulcers last year when Ohio State won 14-7. This year it’s in Austin. The Soothsayer says Sooth!: Arch Manning to Cam Coleman and Muschamp’s pass rush will be the difference for the Longhorns.
Louisiana Tech (1-0) at No. 8 LSU (1-0): Now that LSU has backed down from Greg Sankey, suffering national humiliation and scorn, pity who’s next on the Tigers’ agenda. The country cousins from Lousy Tech will feel the wrath of Lane Kiffin in what is going to be dial-a-score for LSU. The Soothsayer Says Sooth!: If Lane Kiffin were to channel his inner B.A. Baracus (The A Team), he would say,”What you don’t realize now is I gonna kill all ya’ll.”
Charlotte (0-1) at No. 9 Ole Miss (1-0): As long as Trinidad Chambliss is healthy, Ole Miss is going to score a lot of points. Offense is no problem for the Rebels, but the defense was very shaky against Louisville. The scout team defense could do a good job against Charlotte. The Soothsayer says Sooth!: Ole Miss will lead by five touchdowns at halftime.
Arizona State (1-0) at No. 10 Texas A&M (1-0): The first serious game for both teams after opening day cupcakes. Arizona State starts former Kentucky QB Cutter Boley. Expect him to play like this is Kentucky all over again. That Aggie defense is nasty. The offense will score just enough. The Soothsayer says Sooth!: Close for a half then it will be all Aggies.
No. 11 Oklahoma (1-0) at Michigan (1-0): Michigan needed a World Cup assist to beat Western Michigan last week. The game was over, but the replay crew gave extra time to the Wolverines so they could execute a Hail Mary pass to win the game. Extra time won’t help Michigan this week against Oklahoma’s smothering defense and a healthy John Mateer. The Sooners are legitimate playoff contenders. Michigan will struggle to find eight wins. The Soothsayer says Sooth!: Oklahoma will make The Big House as quiet as a funeral wake.
No. 12 Alabama (1-0, 0-0 SEC) at Kentucky (1-0, 0-0 SEC): Alabama hasn’t lost to Kentucky since 1997 back when Mike Dumbose was the head coach. Kentucky truly believes that streak comes to an end this weekend in Lexington. This could be Kalen DeBoer’s Georgia Southern (remember 2013 Gator Nation?) if Bama somehow loses. Will Muschamp will never be forgiven by Florida fans for that 2013 debacle. Bama fans won’t forgive Kalen DeBoer if he loses. The Soothsayer says Sooth!: Bama will win, but it’s going to be closer than you might think.
No. 18 Tennessee (1-0) at Georgia Tech (0-1): Tennessee isn’t as good as it looked in beating Furman in game one. Georgia Tech isn’t as bad as it looked losing to Colorado. The difference is going to be in the running game. Tennessee can grind away and there isn’t anything Georgia Tech can do to stop it. We still won’t know how good Tennessee is when this one is over. The Soothsayer says Sooth!: While in Atlanta, Vol fans should go up to Buckhead for some ribs and rum baked beans at Fat Matt’s, a great place to celebrate a win.
Mississippi State (1-0) at Minnesota (1-0): Kamario Taylor looked like the second coming of Dak Prescott last week when Mississippi State steamrolled Lousy Monroe. He won’t put up gaudy stats against Minnesota but he has to have a good game for the Bulldogs to emerge with a win. The Bulldogs have offense, but can the defense neutralize Drake Lindsey, the Minnesota QB? The Soothsayer says Sooth!: Unless the gales of November come early, Mississippi State gets a win over a Big Ten team.
Southern Miss (1-0) at Auburn (1-0): After a month of hype about the Alex Golesh offense, the Tigers threw three picks, allowed five sacks and averaged 3.17 yards per carry against Baylor. Only one of those infamous DJ Lagway moments saved Auburn from rising to crashing defeat. No such problems this week. The Soothsayer says Sooth!: If Auburn wins by fewer than 30 points it will be a sign of rough sledding up ahead.
Delaware (1-0) at Vanderbilt (1-0): Delaware’s Fighting Blue Hens chose wisely for a paycheck game. Against a really good SEC team it would be over by halftime. Vanderbilt might not pull away until the fourth quarter. This will be the game when true freshman Jared Curtis takes over as the quarterback for both present and future. The Soothsayer says Sooth!: Vandy, but this isn’t the Vandy of last year by any stretch of the imagination.
Towson (0-2) at South Carolina (1-0): Gamecock fans should savor this one because there won’t be many wins in the future once the SEC portion of the schedule kicks in. Once the Gamecocks start playing SEC teams, the fan base will turn on Shane Beamer. The Soothsayer says Sooth!: Win No. 2 for South Carolina; there might not be two more wins to be had.
Arkansas (1-0) at Utah (1-0): The SEC went 16-0 in the first week of the season. Arkansas might deliver the first loss of the season. The Hogs are bad. Utah is very good. The Soothsayer says Sooth!: Utah by at least two touchdowns.
Your telling comment yesterday about Minnesota’s national championship coach Murray Warmath got me thinking. You pointed out that Warmath left for the Golden Gophers from Mississippj State. He was succeeded by a very young former Bud Wilkinson quarterback and safety, Darrell Royal, at Mississippi State. My dad’s hero Bobby Dodd in 1956 was offered ownership of oil wells to forsake “Georjee Tech” as Dodd forever called his school. The Grey Fox turned down the Texas offer while recommending the brightest up and coming coach he knew, Darrell Royal, who had left Starkville for the Washington Cougars for 1956. And, of course, we will be meeting the Longhorns in the stadium that bears the name of Texas’ greatest head coach.…