Thoughts of the day: September 12, 2022

A few thoughts to jump start your Monday morning:

IT WAS UGLY, BUT THE GATORS STILL COULD HAVE WON THE GAME

Let’s start with the obvious. After the Utah game, Billy Napier warned us that the Gators had a long way to go. That was confirmed Saturday night when Kentucky beat the Gators 26-16. Kentucky had a superb game plan, made the right halftime adjustments and came away with one of the ugliest wins you’ll ever see. Steve Spurrier used to point out that you have wins and you have losses. Blowout wins don’t count more than ugly ones and losses are still losses no matter the score.

Florida is 1-1 now. The season is far from over but for the Gators to get to the more than eight wins they’re capable of, they’ll have to do a much better job in the future against teams that will look at the tape of the Kentucky game as a blueprint for success. Kentucky bracketed wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, took away Anthony Richardson’s running lanes and spent the second half dropping seven into coverage. We can expect more of the same until Napier and his staff are able to come up with adjustments that work.

Richardson had a bad game. There’s no questioning that he wasn’t anywhere close to the magical QB he was in beating Utah. In the first half he overshot open wide receivers in the middle of the field on several occasions. On three occasions he made the good throw only to have receivers drop the football. When Kentucky adjusted its coverage in the second half, Richardson was clearly pressing. From the press box it looked a lot like that baseball pitcher who starts trying to aim his pitches when he struggles with the strike zone. Post game, Richardson admitted that as he grew frustrated with his passing he began trying to aim the ball. It’s rare that works.

It also appeared that as the game wore on, Richardson became hesitant to tuck the ball and run. He wanted to make downfield throws so he held the ball too long and tried to throw fast balls into tight windows when he should have tucked it and picked up four or five positive yards with his legs.

Despite all this, the Gators could have and should have won the game. They may not match up talent-wise with some of the teams on the schedule, which means they can’t blow opportunities to win games. Kentucky was winnable. Consider this: (1) Kentucky’s first touchdown was a jump ball throw 55 yards downfield that the replay booth said the UK receiver came down with. Why was the safety trailing 12-15 yards behind instead of offering help over the top? (2) Kentucky’s second touchdown came on a 6-yard drive after Richardson threw an interception. It was third-and-three. Richardson had a lane to run the ball that would have easily gotten the first down if he tucked it. The UK linebacker drifted wide, got into the throwing lane to make a one-handed interception. (3) Kentucky’s third touchdown was a pick six. Nay’Quan Wright ran a fade. Richardson expected a 12-yard out. The throw went to a UK DB. The fade was open. Napier said there was miscommunication although we don’t know who was on the wrong page.

The Gators gave Kentucky three touchdowns and a field goal after UF failed to convert a fourth down from its own 24 late in the game. So 23 of Kentucky’s 26 points came on glaring Florida mistakes. The Gators could have and should have won the game. It would have qualified as one of the uglier wins in recent memory, but dog’s butt ugly wins count the same as the ones you win by 50 points. This team is a work in progress, one that can’t afford to pass up opportunities like the one that Kentucky presented Saturday. Give the Wildcats credit. They’re good, but at the same time, they should be the team that’s 1-1 right now, not Florida.

Associated Press Top 25 poll: 1. Georgia 2-0; 2. Alabama 2-0; 3. Ohio State 2-0; 4. Michigan 2-0; 5. Clemson 2-0; 6. Oklahoma 2-0; 7. Southern Cal 2-0; 8. Oklahoma State 2-0; 9. Kentucky 2-0; 10. Arkansas 2-0; 11. Michigan State 2-0; 12. BYU 2-0; 13. Miami 2-0; 14. Utah 1-1; 15. Tennessee 2-0; 16. North Carolina State 2-0; 17. Baylor 1-1; 18. FLORIDA 2-0; 19. Wake Forest 2-0; 20. Ole Miss 2-0; 21. Texas 1-1; 22. Penn State 2-0; 23. Pittsburgh 1-1; 24. Texas A&M 1-1; 25. Oregon 1-1

AFCA Coaches Top 25 poll: 1. Alabama 2-0; Georgia 2-0; 3. Ohio State 2-0; 4. Clemson 2-0; 5. Michigan 2-0; 6. Oklahoma 2-0; 7. Oklahoma State 2-0; 8. Southern Cal 2-0; 9. Michigan 2-0; 10. Kentucky 2-0; 11. Arkansas 2-0; 12. North Carolina State 2-0; 13. Miami 2-0; 14. BYU 2-0; 15. Utah 1-1; 16. Tennessee 2-0; 17. Ole Miss 2-0; 18. Wake Forest 2-0; 19. Baylor 1-1; 20. Texas 1-1; 21. FLORIDA 1-1; 22. Texas A&M 1-1; 23. Penn State 2-0; 24. Oregon 1-1; 25. Pittsburgh 1-1

SEC football (AP rankings) #2 Alabama (2-0): The 15 penalties Alabama was flagged for in the win over Texas were the highest total in the Nick Saban era. Next week: vs. Louisiana-Monroe (1-1)

#10 Arkansas (2-0): Former Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino returns to Fayette Nam next Saturday as the head coach of the Missouri State Bears. Before he was fired after a motorcycle accident exposed an inappropriate relationship, Petrino was 34-17 as the Arkansas coach with an 11-2 record in his final season in 2011. Next week: vs. Missouri State (2-0)

Auburn (2-0): In their two wins, Auburn quarterbacks TJ Finley and Robby Ashford have thrown one touchdown pass while completing four passes to the other team. Next week: vs. #22 Penn State (2-0)

#1 Georgia (2-0): Georgia is averaging 525 yards and 41 points per game offensively. Defensively, the Poodles have yet to allow a touchdown. Next week: at South Carolina (1-1)

#9 Kentucky (2-0): Mark Stoops is now the winningest coach in Kentucky history, which means that Steve Spurier is now the only coach in SEC history to be the winningest coach at two schools (Florida and South Carolina). Next week: vs. Youngstown State (2-0)

LSU (1-1): The Tigers gave up 320 passing yards to D1AA Southern U. Saturday they get Mike Leach’s Air Raid, which ranks fifth nationally. Next week: vs. Mississippi State (2-0)

Mississippi State (2-0): Through two games, QB Will Rogers is 77-98 passing for 763 yards and nine TDs. Next week: at LSU (1-1)

Missouri (1-1): Even though Brady Cook threw two interceptions and no TDPs in the loss to K-State, HBC Eli Drinkwitz doesn’t plan to change quarterbacks. Next week: vs. Abilene Christian (2-0)

#20 Ole Miss (2-0): Based on what we saw Saturday against Central Arkansas, Jaxson Dart seems to be the right guy to take over as the starting QB. He was 10-15 for 182 yards and two TDs without a pick, looking downfield for his receivers instead of dinking and dunking like he did the week before. Next week: at Georgia Tech (1-1)

South Carolina (1-1): The good news for South Carolina is that DB R.J. Roderick is practicing and should be back for Georgia. Also WR Corey Rucker and D-lineman Alex Huntley are expected back. The bad news is edge rusher Jordan Strachan and linebacker Mo Kaba will miss the Georgia game. Next week: vs. #1 Georgia (2-0)

#15 Tennessee (2-0): The Vols scored a win at Pitt despite the following second half mistakes: Giving up a blocked punt that gave Pitt the ball at the UT 19, fumbling to give Pitt a short field to work with and a muffed punt that allowed Pitt to tie the game and send it to overtime. Next week: vs. Akron (1-1)

#24 Texas A&M (1-1): There is no question Haynes King is not the answer at quarterback, but is Jimbo Fisher willing to make a change. A lot of people wonder why Max Johnson (35 TDPs and only 7 picks in two SEC seasons at LSU) wasn’t the choice in the first place. Next week: vs. #13 Miami (2-0)

Vanderbilt (2-1): There may be a quarterback controversy brewing in Nashville after AJ Swann played so well in relief of Mike Wright in the loss to Wake Forest Gump. Wright averaged 2.3 yards per pass attempt in the first half. Swann was 8-11 for 146 yards and two TDs in the second half. Next week: at Northern Illinois (1-1)

Our SEC orphans in the Big 12 #6 Oklahoma (2-0): UCF transfer QB Dillon Gabriel has completed 70 percent of his passes for 529 yards and five TDs without a pick. Next week: at Nebraska (1-2)

#21 Texas (1-1): The Longhorns will be without quarterback Quinn Ewers for the next 4-6 weeks. Ewers suffered an MC sprain to his left shoulder in the second quarter of the loss to Alabama. Next week: vs. UT-San Antonio (1-1)

They call it football, but it’s not in the SEC Nebraska (1-2): They are no longer the Fighting Frosts after losing to Georgia Southern (2-0) of the Fun Belt. Athletic director Trev Alberts could have saved $7.5 million if he had waited three weeks to fire Scott Frost, but he opted to pay the $15 million buyout after the Saturday embarrassment. Frost was 16-31 at Nebraska but he was 5-22 in game decided by eight or fewer points. If you are prone to wager on such things, watch for Scott Frost to become Nick Saban’s latest reclamation project when Bill O’Brien takes a HBC job after this year.

Notre Dame (0-2): The luster is off Marcus Freeman after an 0-2 start which includes Saturday’s 26-21 loss to Marshall (2-0) of the Fun Belt. Freeman is now 0-3 in his short career as the Notre Dame head coach. An 0-3 start is something no Notre Dame coach in history has ever done.

Appalachian State (1-1): A week after scoring 40 points in the fourth quarter and losing 63-61 to North Carolina, the Happy Appys held then #6 Texas A&M to one offensive touchdown and 186 total yards. Not only that, they ran for 181 yards on that vaunted Aggie defense.

#12 BYU (2-0): The Cougars are knocking on the door of the top 10 after their win over Baylor (1-1). They travel to Oregon (1-1) Saturday. BYU owns a 5-game winning streak over the Pac-12, sort of revenge for when the Pac-12 wouldn’t expand and bring them into the conference years ago.

#5 Clemson (2-0): This is starting to feel more and more like 2018 all over again. Clemson started the season 2-0 with Kelly Bryant at QB. Bryant was okay, but when the switch was made to Trevor Lawrence in game three the offense took off. D.J. Uiagalelei was not particularly great last year when Clemson’s offense was very bad. He’s just okay this year. Freshman Cade Klubnik lingers. He’s the next Trevor Lawrence for Dabo.

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Texas had no chance against Alabama. Or so we thought. Marshall had even less chance against Notre Dame. Or so we thought. Appalachian State over the Aggies at Kyle Field. Oh please.

Yet, here we are, heading into the third full week of college football and Alabama, although it beat Texas, looks nothing like a national championship contender. Notre Dame? The Irish look like candidates for the Weedwacker Bowl in Shreveport, where, if they lose, they have to stay an extra week. The Aggies? At least a year away. Or more if Jimbo insists on playing Haynes King as his QB.

We’re told Georgia is incredible and dynamic. Maybe better than last year. Of course, we thought the same thing about Alabama and then the Crimson Tide played somebody decent that exposed a whole bunch of flaws. I’ll reserve judgment until Georgia plays a decent team. I can say the same thing about Ohio State. They have a win over Notre Dame. Whoopdeedoo.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not the least bit disappointed with all these upsets. In fact, I hope there will be more in the future. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for someone other than the usual suspects and media darlings to steal a bit of the college football limelight.