This South Carolina Game Is All About Validation

Without validation this day won't mean as much. (Loren Meadows Photo)

RAINING ON YOUR PARADE: Whatever goodwill was achieved in College Station will go up in smoke if an overconfident, listless Gators team takes the field against South Carolina.

By CARLTON REESE

GatorBaitMedia.com Columnist

Was Florida’s victory Saturday at Texas A&M a monumental “turning of the corner,” a sign that coach Billy Napier’s patience is finally paying off? Or was it just a big sigh of relief while we all wait with white knuckles for wait possible travails await upon the arrival of the South Carolina Gamecocks?

Parade – consider it being rained upon here.

While the 41-24 victory over the Aggies certainly gave hope and optimism where it had been fading rapidly and the fan base seems to be more energized and enthused over the possibilities that were hinted at in College Station, in the end this was a win against a reeling program and an embattled coach who cannot seem to find the right answers or correct buttons to push. Texas A&M is not as bad a team its record would indicate, but seriously folks, the Aggies aren’t very good.

To have lost, even at a raucous Kyle Field, would have been a monster punch in the gut to the Florida program. So, as it were, that punch was merely avoided, which beats a kick in the teeth.

Just about everything that happened Saturday falls into the positive, hooray for everything, up with people, we are so great, the world is my oyster milieu. Every Gator fan should have slept well Saturday night and all nights since, peaceful in the notion that things are not that bad after all and actually something wonderful may be spawning here.

First things first: Beating the Aggies is not so special, and that defense in the first half, well, made Haynes King look like Joe Montana just as it did Jayden Daniels, just as it did Hendon Hooker, and just as it did Gunner Talkington (yes, that Eastern Washington guy). The first half defense at College Station seems more the rule than the exception for these Florida Gators, but let’s suppose that second half emergence is for real and that the Gators defense can now be trusted with the keys to the Camaro. Then there’s nothing to worry about Saturday when the Gamecocks come rolling into Gainesville.

In South Carolina, there resides validation for everything that took place last Saturday. A breakdown in the Swamp takes us back where we were sitting at 4-4 and a future of the unknown. Are we all convinced that Spencer Rattler won’t be able to achieve the success enjoyed by Gunner Talkington (yes, that Eastern Washington guy)?

These Gamecocks dismantled the same Kentucky team that strolled into the Swamp and walked away victorious. Beyond that, there is nothing pointing toward the Gamecocks being able to push around the Florida Gators, so if they do, we’ve got major trouble.

There is something about that dull gray color and bizarre helmet logo that signals apathy from the Florida Gators. Last year, USC humiliated the Gators; in 2020 the game was competitive in Gainesville when Florida was ranked No.3 in the country. They played No. 9 UF to a competitive defeat in 2019 and collapsed monumentally at the Swamp the year before that. The point is that in all these games, the Florida Gators should have had no problem with South Carolina yet losses seemed to loom large every time.

Whatever goodwill was achieved in College Station will go up in smoke if an overconfident, listless Gators team takes the field against South Carolina. In that case, a loss is coming down the pike and perhaps some infighting, something the departure of Brenton Cox may have hopefully alleviated.

As an old dude, thoughts go back to similar moments in Gator history, which keep us all wondering if the worst scenario is also the most realistic. The year was 1988 and the Emmitt Smith-led Gators had just pounded LSU in Gainesville to run their record to 5-0. Up to that victory, there weren’t many true believers in that team, but afterward thoughts of Sugar Bowls were dancing in everyone’s head and no one could wait for the Georgia game and a rare second-straight win over the Dawgs.

Then lowly Memphis State came to Gainesville. Emmitt went down with an injury. We all saw just how bad this Gators offense was and the Tigers upset the Gators and whatever air that had been in Florida’s balloon retreated at a rapid pace. Such is the fleeting moment of good feelings in the world of college football. One moment you are smiling on the red carpet and the next you are a walk-on in a B-movie.

In 2007, the undefeated and defending national champion Gators hosted the Auburn Tigers, already losers to South Florida and Mississippi State. Auburn did not belong on the field with its own backups, much less the fourth-ranked Gators. Yet, from nowhere Auburn managed to pull off a monumental upset in Gainesville (it wasn’t the defense’s fault – UF lost 20-17). We learned at that moment, the Florida team was not what we thought or at least hoped.

Every year there are losses, but some of them completely destroy our whole image of the program and where we thought it was or was headed. In 1988 it was LSU, in 2007 it was Auburn.

Now, we all have that warm feeling again about being Gator fans after one win against a mediocre Texas A&M team. Those feelings mean nothing if Florida does not show up against South Carolina, which like Memphis State in 1988 and Auburn in 2007, does not belong on the field with the Florida Gators. But this is college football, overconfidence can kill, and in the case of the Gators has done so many times in the past.

By 7:30 p.m. Saturday night we will all know if this program is truly headed in the direction we all believe after that one nice day in College Station. For now it’s just a feeling; on Saturday it will be a reality.

In Gainesville, there will never be a shortage of wet blankets to pass around.