Thoughts of the Day: June 25, 2021

A few thoughts to jump start your Friday morning:

FIVE BEST WINS OVER GEORGIA SINCE 1990

1. Florida 49, Georgia 10 (2008): This was the payback game for Urban Meyer. Georgia rushed the field after its first quarter touchdown the year before, a move that Mark Richt said was spur of the moment by his team. Replay tells a different story. When the Poodles rushed the field, Richt and his staff didn’t make a move to stop them. Georgia players taunted the Gators and it’s only a miracle that someone didn’t start a brawl. Georgia won that game, 42-30. Afterward and then at SEC Media Days, Richt proclaimed rushing the field wasn’t orchestrated but just a spontaneous act of joy on his team’s part. On the televisions in the locker room and Florida football offices, replay of Georgia rushing the field played over and over again. Meyer hinted that there would be payback but never tipped his hand. From the moment the 2008 game started, the 5th-ranked Gators were emotionally and physically superior. On the second play from scrimmage, Brandon Spikes decleated Knowshon Moreno, a telltale sign that it might be a long day for Georgia. The Florida defense intercepted Matt Stafford three times. On the offensive side, Tim Tebow ran for three touchdowns and passed for two. In the final minute, Meyer exacted his revenge by calling time out twice. Each time Mark Richt was caught looking longingly at a scoreboard that read Florida 49, Georgia 10.

2. Florida 26, Georgia 24 (1992): Seventh-ranked Georgia not only lost this game, but for all practical purposes, Garrison Hearst lost any shot at the Heisman Trophy as the Florida defense held him to 41 yards. After the game, Florida players took turns striking Heisman poses in the Gator Bowl end zone. Shane Matthews threw for 300 yards and two touchdowns as the 20th-ranked Gators kept Georgia from clinching the SEC East championship. Florida, which lost two of its first three conference games, went on to win the East and played eventual national champion Alabama in the first SEC Championship Game.

3. Florida 20, Georgia 13 (2002): Georgia came into the game ranked fifth and unbeaten, expecting to put a double digit beating on the Gators, who came in at 5-3 in Ron Zook’s first year on the job. There were two big stories in the game. The Florida defense, which had been torched badly by both Miami and LSU, held Georgia to 0-13 on third down. Rex Grossman rarely threw anything more than a 10-yard pass but his short, quick throws to Kelvin Kight, Carlos Perez and Ben Troupe helped UF control the ball. Grossman completed 36 passes for 339 yards and two TDPs. Guss Scott ran an interception back for a TD. This was Georgia’s only loss of the year and it prevented the Poodles from playing Miami in the national championship game.

4. Florida 52, Georgia 17 (1995): This game was played in Athens during the rebuilding of the stadium in Jacksonville for the first season of the NFL Jaguars. Florida was unbeaten and ranked 5th nationally in a season the Gators won the SEC title and played Nebraska for the national championship. What made this game memorable was Steve Spurrier running up the score intentionally. Spurrier has a long memory and he never forgot how Georgia’s Vince Dooley had humiliated Ray Graves in 1968 by a 51-0 score so this was all about paybacks. Danny Wuerffel threw five touchdown passes but backup Eric Kresser got the one Spurrier wanted when he threw a touchdown pass to Travis McGriff with 1:10 left to put the score over 50. Spurrier remarked post game that he wanted to hang “half a hundred” on Georgia in Athens. After the game Spurrier called Graves to tell him this game was for him.

5. Florida 41, Georgia 44, Georgia 28 (2020): This game makes my memorable list because Georgia came into the game feeling quite confident, especially after scoring two quick touchdowns for a 14-0 first quarter lead. The Florida defense only gave up one TD after that (Georgia got a TD in the second quarter on an interception return). The vaunted Georgia defense was destroyed by Kyle Trask, who completed 30-44 passes for 474 yards and four touchdowns. Much of Florida’s damage was done after Kyle Pitts was knocked out of the game on a vicious, helmet-to-helmet hit in the second quarter. Nothing will ever convince me that wasn’t intentional. Pitts had two catches for 59 yards and a TD when he took the hit. Georgia didn’t have anyone who could handle him. Georgia’s defense never figured out how to stop a simple wheel route as Malik Davis caught five passes for 100 yards, Nay’Quan Wright had three for 71 and Dameon Pierce had two for 41.

THE ATHLETIC RATES FLORIDA BASKETBALL NO. 9 IN THE SEC NEXT SEASON

Despite what he calls “one of the better transfer hauls in the league,” Kyle Tucker of The Athletic ranks the Gators No. 9 in the SEC for the 2021-22 season.

Tucker rates the conference like this: (1) Kentucky, (2) Tennessee, (3) Arkansas, (4) Mississippi State, (5) Alabama, (6) Auburn, (7) LSU, (8) Ole Miss, (9) FLORIDA, (10) Texas A&M, (11) Missouri, (12) South Carolina, (13) Georgia, (14) Vanderbilt.

STEWART MANDEL ON COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF EXPANSION

Stewart Mandel, The Athletic’s college football editor-in-chief believes expansion of the College Football Playoff is rather complicated but predicts it will happen sooner than 2026 (current contract with ESPN and most of the bowl games runs through 2025). Writes Mandel:

“The most complicated hurdle will likely be the Rose Bowl, which, under the proposed plan, will almost certainly have to sacrifice something it currently holds sacred. If it wants to stick to its traditional Jan. 1 time slot, then it’s going to have to withdraw from the semifinal rotation and only host quarterfinals. And it’s either going to have to end its traditional Big Ten vs. Pac-12 matchup altogether or settle for often hosting the third- or fourth-best teams from those leagues.

“But if I had to predict, ESPN will pony up and make it worth everyone’s while to begin three years sooner — and the Rose Bowl will accept that this is just how it’s going to be if it wants to remain nationally relevant. Because every major party is all in on expansion.”

OVER, UNDER, AROUND AND THROUGH THE SEC

Alabama: In an interview with Joe Smith of The Athletic, Nick Saban discussed what goes into the winning football culture he’s established at Alabama. Saban said, “We don’t have any signs that say, ‘Win a National Championship’ or ‘Win the SEC Championship’ … I tell the players that outcomes are distortions. Let’s just focus on the details. As soon as you worry about winning as opposed to the next play, that’s when you get in trouble” … NCAA basketball champ Baylor will visit Alabama in the SEC-Big 12 Basketball Challenge.

Arkansas: SEC Pitcher of the Year Kevin Kopps is a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award as the nation’s top amateur baseball player ... West Virginia will visit Arkansas in the SEC-Big 12 Basketball Challenge.

Auburn: JT Thor (6-10, 205), who left Auburn after averaging 9.4 points as a freshman, has made a strong enough impression at the NBA Combine in Chicago that he could sneak into the first round … The Tigers will face Oklahoma at home in the SEC-Big 12 Basketball Challenge.

Georgia: JT Daniels is Phil Steele’s second team All-SEC quarterback … Arch Manning, grandson of Archie and nephew of Peyton and Eli, made an unofficial visit to Georgia.

Kentucky: Kentucky governor Andy Beshear has signed an executive order that will allow athletes to make money off their name, image and likeness. Given Kentucky’s rabid basketball fan base, figure the Wildcats just picked up a huge recruiting advantage ... Pro Football Focus named UK running back Chris Rodriguez one of its top five running backs for the 2022 NFL Draft ... The Wildcats will travel to Kansas in the SEC-Big 12 Basketball Challenge.

LSU: LSU will announce Jay Johnson as its baseball coach today per Kendall Rogers of D1Baseball.com Johnson, who led Arizona to the College World Series as the 5th-seeded team, was 208-114 at Arizona and 316-172 as a head coach with previous stops at Point Loma Nazarene and Nevada ... Domestic violence charges have been dropped against former LSU running back Derrius Guice, who was waived by the Washington Football Team and didn’t play in the NFL in 2020. Guice was charged with felony strangulation and four different misdemeanors. LSU removed his stats from the record book and has banned him from the football facilities ... LSU will travel to TCU in the SEC-Big 12 Basketball Challenge.

Mississippi State: The Bulldogs (47-16) will Texas today in the College World Series, needing just one win to advance to the best-of-three championship series. Texas will have to beat MSU twice to advance ... The Bulldogs will visit Texas Tech in the SEC-Big 12 Basketball Challenge.

Missouri: Mizzou will go on the road to face Iowa State in the SEC-Big 12 Basketball Challenge.

Ole Miss: Matt Corral is Phil Steele’s first team All-SEC quarterback. Left tackle Nick Broeker is on the second team with running back Jerrion Ealy and wide receiver Dontario Drummond named third team ... The Rebels will play host to Kansas State in the SEC-Big 12 Basketball Challenge.

Tennessee: Freshman quarterback Kaidon Salter, who was suspended from the team during spring football practice, has been dismissed from the program following a charge of misdemeanor possession of marijuana stemming from a Saturday morning traffic stop. Salter was a 4-star recruit and the No. 18 quarterback in the 2021 recruiting class. Salter is the fourth recruit with at least a 4-star ranking that is already gone from the class. Defensive lineman KaTron Evans, running back Cody Brown and defensive end Dylan Brooks were released from their letters of intent … Former Vol Keon Johnson broke the all-time vertical jump record at the NBA combine with a leap of 48 inches ... The Vols will visit Texas in the SEC-Big 12 Basketball Challenge.

Texas A&M: Theodor Melin Ohrstrom, a tight end from Sweden of all places, came to camp in College Station and performed so well that he got a scholarship offer.

Vanderbilt: After their come-from-behind win over Stanford Wednesday night, Vanderbilt (37-16) will face North Carolina State (37-18), needing to win twice to advance to the championship series in the College World Series … Vanderbilt pitchers Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter are two of the three finalists for the Golden Spikes Award.

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: It is entirely possible that the NCAA will announce what it calls a waiver from current regulations that prevent athletes from profiting off name, image and likeness. Like everything else recently for the NCAA, this is too little, too late. The NCAA has known this is coming for more than a year and has had plenty of time to enact some sort of legislation but instead is only doing something now that eight states either have NIL legislation enacted or days away from becoming law. The only reason the NCAA is acting now is because it got its clock cleaned by the United States Supreme Court earlier in the week on a unanimous 9-0 decision. How is it that an organization this inept has survived this long without its member colleges and universities revolting? That’s one of the great mysteries of life.