Told you Harbaugh’s team (No. 7) was overrated!

The Home Opener for 2019 at The Swamp will have no pomp & circumstance in the University of Florida’s 109th season of football. And it offers no real sizzle, glamour or FCS relevance -- given the caliber of the opponent. As a matter of fact, the scheduling of UT Martin only continued to sap the Gators’ strength of schedule, which already took a hit last week when four of their opponents were defeated – some embarrassingly by underdogs. Tennessee, Florida State, Missouri and Vanderbilt did Florida no favors. Nonetheless, the raising of the “Work ‘Em Silly” banner in the stadium with three names – Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Steve Spurrier-Florida Field and The Swamp – represents an exciting time, fulfilling annual rites of late summer for me: The joy of another ride from Ocala to Gainesville on U.S. 301/441 along the scenic stretch of Orange Lake/McIntosh/Micanopy to Gale Lemerand Dr. For the most part, opening games at Florida haven’t dazzled Gator fans over the years, but if I were ranking the ones with which I familiar since the 1950s, the 1969 season home opener was far and away the best. Nothing else is even remotely close. Context is everything. These had been the semi-dark days coming off a 1968 season and a 51-0 shellacking from Georgia which, in the end, probably cost Ray Graves his job, unofficially. Although I can’t prove it, I have good reason to believe that Graves made a back-room deal to step down as coach and step up as athletic director if he was allowed to coach one more season in 1969. They knew nothing of the inside deal, so expectations among fans were not overblown – they were trying to find some hope to hang on to. Athough we had been hearing about these impressive summer workouts by a young, strong-armed sophomore from Tampa and a Cuban wide receiver from North Miami. I was in my press box seat that Saturday, Sept. 20 – yes they opened the season a full three weeks earlier in those days – when the so-called SuperSophs of Ray Graves suddenly exploded on the scene in grand, bombastic fashion. Gator football was about to be escalated to the front pages and national sports shows. A single pass floating down from a September sky was about to unleash an emancipation for all Wait’ Til Next Year Gators. The phrase “Reaves to Alvarez” was going to be tattooed into the lexicon Gator football forever. Everything about that third play of the game against No. 7 Houston and the greatness it portended would be liberating. Hoped-for-but-yet-unforeseen greatness came to an otherwise barren wasteland of unfulfilled expectations. And it was the single most dramatic Gator football play I’ve ever seen at that moment – and maybe still is -- because of what it represented. We had been hearing stories about strapping John Reaves from Tampa Robinson and fleet Carlos Alvarez from North Miami, the seemingly endless summer of ’69 workouts under the searing Florida sun. It was said that they kept running route trees on both sides until Carlos was exhausted. “Carlos was a tireless worker, and if he didn’t feel like it was perfect,” Reaves once told me, “we would run it again. All I was doing was taking 5-7 yard drops and throwing the ball. He was running his butt off.” Then came the game and The Pass: Split left, 79 Streak. Years later in an interview, both Carlos and John told me that they suspected offensive coordinator Fred Pancoast was going to go deep early in the game – Reaves pushed for The Bomb on the first play – but it was on third down that the play unfolded. “I don’t remember if it was signaled in or sent in by somebody,” said Reaves, who died in 2017. But in his pre-snap read, he could see the defensive back was giving Alvarez a big cushion. The safety played off in a Cover One and Reaves knew “it was money.” The sight of Alvarez blowing by Houston defenders with the ball arcing towards him brought the crowd to its feet. Carlos said he never worried about dropping the ball, but he didn’t want to get caught from behind (there was no chance of that happening – Carlos was a track star for the Pioneers.) From his vantage point behind Carlos, big senior offensive tackle and Captain Mac Steen was trundling down field and exhorting his teammate to “Run, Carlos, run!” He as much as anybody was experiencing the rejuvenation of Gator spirits, because he had been there in the rain when. Georgia shamed the Gators 51-0. Alvarez pulled it down and sprinted into the end zone. Florida rolled up a huge halftime lead and the news via radio and the voice of Otis Boggs unintentionally elicited fans to drive up and buy tickets during the game. What followed was a 59-34 beatdown of a team that had been picked by one magazine as the No. 1 team in the nation. That year Florida went 9-1-1, beating SEC champion Tennessee in the Gator Bowl, 14-13, and then hiring Vols coach Doug Dickey to replace Ray Graves. Fred Pancost was hired by Georgia. For all practical purposes it was the end of Camelot. Reaves and Alvarez never reached their potential for numerous reasons. For a day and season, thanks to the 70-yard Reaves-to-Alvarez bomb, Gator fans had a new reality, which could only be realized with the arrival of Steve Spurrier as coach in 1990. All the reason to appreciate the comments of Alvarez several years later when speaking of the placed now called Steve Spurrier-Florida Field: “We all put bricks in the stadium.” Indeed they did.

In case you’re looking for the game live on regular TV tonight at 7:30 — The game can be seen live online, and via mobile devices, and the audio broadcast is also available in multiple formats. TV ESPNU Live Video ESPN App | WatchESPN.com Radio Gator IMG Sports Network (Station List) Pre-Game Coverage Begins at 7:30pm Sirius Ch. 81 | XM Ch. 81 Live Audio ESPN Gainesville -- WRUF | TuneIn AudioNow Listen via phone call. More info. TV Replays Mon. 9/9 – 8:30pm – SEC Network Tues. 9/10 – 5:30am – ESPNU Fri. 9/13 – 2am – SEC Network On-Demand Video Replay ESPN App | WatchESPN.com *All Times Eastern Follow on Social Media: In addition to all the broadcast information, fans are encouraged to follow along during the game on social media.

Four-time Super Bowl champion and HOF quarterback Terry Bradshaw told us on The Buddy Martin Show he got a phone call the other day from a famous coach who was none too happy with his comments about Texas Quarterback Sam Ehlinger. And I’m not talking about Tom Herman here. Bradshaw has made some unflattering comments about Ehlinger which he now admits might not have been warranted, The Coach was Lou Holtz, whose son Skip coaches at Louisiana Tech, where Terry played. “He said, ‘Thanks for throwing my son under the bus.’ And I still didn’t get it. I didn’t realize Texas was playing Tech.“ Although Bradshaw can take no blame or credit for Texas’s convincing 45-14 win or the big game Sam Ehlinger had, “I was so embarrassed that I didn’t realize they were playing Louisiana Tech!”

GETTING SOME PT FOR TRASK AND JONES If you're one to linger at the tailgate and make your way into The Swamp a little late, you might not see a whole lot of Feleipe Franks Saturday evening when 11th-ranked Florida (1-0) makes its home debut against Paycheck Tech, also known as UT-Martin (1-0). The visiting Skyhawks, who are something like 45-point underdogs, are in Gainesville to collect a $500,000 paycheck and to leave as healthy as possible since they might actually have a decent season against their D1AA Ohio Valley Conference opponents. As for the Gators, the goals are simple and threefold: (1) Let the first team guys break a sweat before giving way to the backups; (2) don't get anybody hurt; and (3) get a decent amount of playing time for Franks' backups, Kyle Trask and Emory Jones. With an SEC roadie to Kentucky next week the very last thing Dan Mullen wants is to go to Lexington with a pair of backup quarterbacks who haven't sniffed the field. Winning an SEC game is tough enough without a starter going down, forcing a backup quarterback to make his seasonal debut on the road. While Mullen hasn't – and won't – tell anyone his plans for splitting up the QB minutes Saturday, don't be surprised if Franks only plays about 20 minutes before putting on a ball cap and piloting a clipboard on the sideline. Against a defense that gave up 387 passing yards to a D1AA team last week, Franks should light the Skyhawks up as should Trask and Jones. Mullen advised Wednesday not to think too hard on which of the backup quarterbacks sees action first. Mullen said, “I will say this: if we do get a second quarterback in the game, whoever that first is to come in, you guys are going to make way too much out of it already.” The Sayer Says Sooth: FLORIDA 62, UT-Martin 7 THE SEC SOOTHSAYER #1 Clemson (1-0) 33, #12 TEXAS A&M (1-0) 24: If this game were at Kyle Field the Soothsayer might be tempted to call the Aggies in an upset. They'll make it close but won't win in Death Valley. #2 ALABAMA (1-0) 70, New Mexico State (0-1) 7: Alabama is favored by 55-1/2. Figure the Tide will score at least seven first half touchdowns. #3 GEORGIA (1-0) 56, Murray State (1-0) 7: Georgia might run for 500 yards in this one. #6 LSU (1-0) 28, #9 Texas (1-0) 17: There will be Jeaux Burreaux for Heisman signs in Baton Rouge after he lights up Texas although the best player on the field will be safety Grant Delpit who will state an early case for National Defensive Player of the Year. #10 AUBURN (1-0) 28, Tulane (1-0) 14: This will probably be close for a half, at which point Bo Nix will start figuring things out and Auburn will begin pulling away. MISSISSIPPI STATE (1-0) 38, Southern Miss (1-0) 21: Mississippi State isn't all that good, but then again, neither is Southern Miss. Close for a half. KENTUCKY (1-0) 34, Eastern Michigan (1-0) 14: With Florida coming to Lexington next week, goal number one for the Wildcats will be to win this game without getting anyone hurt. MISSOURI (0-1) 31, West Virginia (1-0) 21: The Soothsayer would be tempted to go with West (By God) Virginia in this one if the Mounties could only run the football. Any team that can run it is going to beat Mizzou this year. OLE MISS (0-1) 21, ARKANSAS (1-0) 17:One of these teams will depart Saturday night knowing it won't do a reverse run of the SEC table. It's in Oxford, so that team will be Ole Miss. Purdue (0-1) 34, VANDERBILT (0-1) 23:The Purdon't folks are wondering how they gave up the last 20 points of the game last week to lose to Nevada. As for Vandy, they're just wondering. They will wonder some more when this one is over because they get LSU next week. TENNESSEE (0-1) 20, BYU (0-1) 17:The Vols could very well lose this game and probably would if they were playing a team with a decent offense. The losing coach has a very good chance to get fired before the season is over. SOUTH CAROLINA (0-1) 54, Charleston Southern (0-1) 7: True freshman Ryan Hilinski gets to go live against a homeless shelter this week. Next week he gets to stare across the line at Alabama defenders. They're already drooling. COUNTDOWN TO FIRING DAY 2019: EDITION TWO We start week two still without a member of the Extinct Species List although buzzards are circling the football ops buildings in places like Knoxville, Blacksburg, Tulsa, Albuquerque and Champaign-Urbana. ON LIFE SUPPORT Phil Montgomery, Tulsa: Last week Tulsa running back Corey Taylor II predicted the Golden Hurricane would run for 200+ yards on Michigan State. He only missed by 273 yards – as in a net rushing day of -73. The 28-7 loss could have been worse except that MSU coach Mark Dantonio did his best not to run up the score. Tulsa probably can run for 200+ this week. Do you know the way to San Jose (State)? Kalani Sitake, BYU: This is a guy who should have heeded the Dirty Harry proverb: “A man's got to know his limitations.” He was a fine assistant coach. He should have stayed a fine assistant coach. If he loses to a Tennessee team that just got brutalized by Georgia State, then he needs to start interviewing real estate agents in Provo to find one to sell his house. Bob Davie, New Mexico:He's on life support. Literally. He had chest pains after the first game and has no clue when he will be back coaching again, the perfect out for the school. They can boot Davie upstairs to administration and hire a new coach and base it all on concern for his health. Lovie Smith, Illinois:Lovie should start the season 3-0 thanks to scheduling an assisted living facility (Akron, won that one), a homeless shelter (UConn this week) and a team from the Big Mac (Eastern Michigan). Then reality will set in and the Fighting Lovies will get hammered on a regular basis in the Big Ten Plus Four. Chris Ash, Rutgers: Rutgers fans were downright giddy last week when they beat a bad UMass team by 27 points. That gave Chris Ash something to smile about. He won't be smiling after the first quarter Saturday at Iowa. ENDANGERED SPECIES LIST Clay Helton, Southern Cal: They would be writing Helton's coaching obituary Sunday morning if Stanford were coming to town with a healthy QB but K.J. Costello is out and Helton has a chance to go 2-0 even with something called Kedon Slovis at QB. Jeremy Pruitt, Tennessee: If Pruitt emerges from this weekend encounter with BYU 0-2, it's going to give the ultimate football wedgie to Phattus Maximus. Pruitt is his guy but his athletic department is cash-strapped and boosters might bail like rats on a sinking ship if Fulmer elects to stay the course. Matt Luke, Ole Miss: Nobody wants to fire Matt Luke, but if he loses to Arkansas this weekend he will have one foot out the door. Randy Edsall, UConn:Edsall would already be gone if the school could afford to fire him. He compounds his coaching issues by being so difficult to like. Brent Brennan, San Jose State:Okay, so it was D1AA Northern Colorado. When you coach at San Jose State and you get a win, you take it even if it's against the Santa Clara County 12-year-old Pop Warner champs. Tulsa comes to town Saturday for a battle to see which coach will get fired first. Justin Fuente, Virginia Tech: Unless the bottom falls out completely, he's probably safe for another year. That's a big unless. It could fall out. Mike Bobo, Colorado State: If being gainfully employed had anything to do with being likable, Bobo would be coach for life. He's got to win and he won't this year Tony Sanchez, UNLV: Some genius thought that because Sanchez recruited all the good football players in Nevada when he was a high school coach that he could do the same thing as a head coach at the college level. He's 17-32 and headed for another losing year. Maybe he can get his old high school gig back next year. SAVED BY THE BUYOUT Willie Taggart, Florida State: Oh, how they'd love to pink slip Willie but there are $17 million reasons why they won't. With that buyout, Willie's probably a fixture in Tallahassee for at least two more years. Maybe more. Chad Morris, Arkansas: If Frank Broyles were still alive he wouldn't have a job now. There are boosters who would pony up the $12.25 million to buy him out, but he'll get another year as long as he doesn't go 2-10 again. Chip Kelly, UCLA: The school is still paying off Jim Mora Jr. ($12 million) and couldn't afford to pay the $8 million it would have taken to buy out the contract of TCU basketball coach Jamie Dixon. To fire Kelly would take $9 million they don't have. Will Muschamp, South Carolina:AD Ray Tanner has Muschamp's back, but even if he didn't, the buyout does. If they fire him during the 2019 season it would cost $22 million, just $18.6 if they bought him out after the season. GOOD QUOTES FOR FRIDAY From Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated, Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence sounds an awful lot like a certain former Florida QB when it comes to his faith: “I don’t think anyone has abilities for no reason. I don’t think anything is coincidence. God gave me these things for a reason, not just talent on the field, but other opportunities to be a light to people.” From Zac Jackson of The Athletic on how Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield is motivated by the fact he had to walk on twice in college – once at Texas Tech, the second at Oklahoma where he won the Heisman Trophy: “By now, the stories of his light recruitment, of his one-year stop at Texas Tech, of how he still swears he didn’t think he would go No. 1 to the Browns because he’d never been anybody’s first choice, are all well known. By now, it’s known he’s stored every slight in his memory bank, that every put-down was (and is) personal, that he knew of the Browns’ rancid recent history and still wanted the challenge in Cleveland. He listens to the doubters and naysayers (and challenges them) because he’s always had rabbit ears and they’ve always been a part of who he is.” RANDOM THOUGHTS:The Green Bay Packers opened the NFL season with a 10-3 win over the Chicago Bears. Somehow I was immune to the excitement … Michigan State will pay a $4.5 million fine for failing to deal with complaints about former team doctor Dr. Larry Nassar, who is serving 60 years in Club Fed for child pornography charges and could be sentenced to more than 100 additional years for sexual assaults … Team USA hardly broke a sweat in beating Japan, 98-45, at the FIBA World Cup in China. Next up for the Americans is Greece in the first game of the second round. The point guard for Greece is former Gator Nick Calathes … Serena Williams will play for the US Open championship Saturday after beating Elina Svitolina, 6-3, 6-1, in the 38thGrand Slam semifinal of her career … Former Gator A.J. Puk got the first win of his Major League Baseball career Thursday with two innings of relief in the Oakland Athletics' 10-6 win over the Los Angeles Angels.

The tape sure wasn’t pretty. After the No. 11 Florida Gators defeated the Miami Hurricanes 24-20 in a Week 0 showdown, head coach Dan Mullen and players sat down and addressed the elephant in the room…missed tackles. The offense led by Feleipe Franks hold on to score two much needed second half touchdowns and the defensive line was smothering, sacking Canes quarterback Jarren Williams 10 times. But on the backend, there were a noticeable amount of missed tackles and whiffs. “There were a bunch,” says Mullen, sounding exasperated. “We added it up and discussed it…I do think it was close to almost half, we felt that almost half the yardage that we gave up in that game we after, yards after contact or were the result of a missed tackle.” Adds defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, “We’ve got to coach better and they've got to play better. There's always a balance in practice of getting guys ready and prepared and keeping guys healthy. So you always have that, but everybody's got that same issue, so you've got to look at the plays you made; we made some plays in space. You watch, there were some good tackles, it's just that when you're in space like that for 80-some plays, seven to 10 plays can get noticed and those are the ones we've got to get better.” It was a few more than 7-10; the number has fluctuated between different statistical keeping sites, but it stays between 20-22. But the idea remains the same. Focus on what went wrong to build on what went right. Continues Grantham, “It’s really more about leverage, eye control, don't stop your feet, understand where your target is, continue to go through your target, run through your target, wrap and squeeze and then get the guy down. It's not like you've got to thud the guy and kill it. It’s get him on the ground.” Practicing the technique is where Mullen fears the Gators weren’t best prepared. The head coach explains that live tackling in practice is the scariest thing for a coach because it can lead to preventable injuries—“I'm scared to death in scrimmages,” he admits—but then being regulated to just thudding creates bad habits. With the assistance of an employee from the UAA, Mullen demonstrated how a guy will just run past an offensive player in practice, essentially playing two hand touch, and count it as a tackle. In reality, they should be wrapping them up. Arguing that they made the tackle in practice can be humbling though when seeing how it translates to the game. “Here’s the play in practice, here’s the same play in the game. You’re telling me you made that tackle in practice, well here’s the exact picture from the game and you absolutely did not—running by him like you did—make that tackle. How you get yourself into position in practice has got to be different. You can teach a lot off that.” The Canes gained 301 total offensive yards (Florida’s offense was able to outgain them by by three yards) with 12 chunk plays. Of those 12, there were eight passing chunk plays—gains of 15+ yards—and four rushing chunk plays—those of 10+ yards. Two of those, one each passing and rushing, went for touchdowns. DeeJay Dallas’ 50-yard touchdown run stands out as one of the most glaring examples of the Gators tackling issue in the game. Addressing the issue became more than just a talking point though. It was the catalyst for changing how practice is conducted. “It was big in our practice. It was just everybody running to the ball, getting the first game jitters out. We’ll be fine,” assures linebacker David Reese. “Our practice picked up and our thudding on the ball carrier picked up and how we ran to the ball. So, it’s going to improve all throughout the season.” The improvements can be ten-fold for the entire team according to Mullen and serve as a bedrock for the mindset he wants the Florida Gators to have for their 2019 campaign. “I told our guys, I loved our effort and I love our attitude that we have. I just think the attention to detail and the intensity in how we finish things in practice has gotta be better. Whether it’s finishing blocks on offense, whether it’s the exactness of all 11 guys and the execution on offense or whether it’s thudding or wrapping up, making sure we’re in position to make tackles on defense that way. “I’m one you can never get enough reps of anything, so if you don’t finish or go hard in a rep you miss that one opportunity and you can never get enough.”

MULLEN DEFENDS HIS QUARTERBACK It was only slightly obvious Wednesday that Dan Mullen has had it about up to here with all the criticism Feleipe Franks has gotten in the media, social media and message boards since Florida's 24-20 season-opening win over the Miami Hurricanes. Franks accounted for all three of Florida's touchdowns in the win – two passing and one running – but there were four turnovers and Franks had a hand in all four. In the first half he was credited with a fumble during an exchange with Lamical Perine even though Perine should have (but didn't) let go of the football when Franks tried to pull it out of his belly on an RPO. On the next UF offensive series, his pitch to Malik Davis was a tad high and resulted in another fumble. In the second half, Franks threw a pair of interceptions, the first of which was tipped by a UF receiver into the hands of a Miami DB. Of the four turnovers, only the final interception really should be credited to Franks but that hasn't stopped the critics from claiming Franks 2019 has backslid and become the Franks of 2018 who was inconsistent until the last four games. Now, Franks didn't play his best game against Miami, but, as Mullen pointed out, he was going against a defense that “was the number one 3rd-down defense in the country, number four overall defense in the country last year with a lot of guys that came back that could’ve left to the NFL.” That was a good Miami defense Franks was operating against and it was done with an offensive line that had four new starters, facts Mullen thinks are overlooked by the critics. "Outside opinions aren't as important as inside opinions,” Mullen said Wednesday when he spoke to the media. “As soon as you figure that out; it's just hard to do. You know? Because not everybody knows what we're supposed to be doing, right? On each play. So it's really easy to judge everybody, 'Oh, well he should have done that on this play.' How do you know what he should do on that play? Right? You didn't game plan it. You weren't in the meetings on the schemes and all that stuff.” Indeed the critics weren't there and with few exceptions they are clueless into what went into each play call. What were the reads? What did the opposing defense do that might have thrown the timing off or caused some Florida player to go the wrong way or carry out the assignment improperly. Did the O-line block the play perfectly so that Franks had more than adequate time or was he forced to rush a throw or a pitch a split second too early? And on and on and on. There is a certain amount of criticism that is fair and just. Franks isn't the type to make excuses for himself. If he makes a mistake he'll own it and you'll never see him pointing a finger of blame at a teammate even when the teammate probably needs to be called out, among the many reasons Franks' teammates love playing with the guy. A year ago at this time, Franks was having problems blocking out the criticism and it affected his play. It wasn't until he learned that any criticism generated from outside the quarterback room where Mullen and QB coach Brian Johnson hold court, or from outside the Florida football program isn't worth listening to that he blossomed in those last four games. Now, a game into 2019, he's getting the same criticisms he got last year. So far, at least, he's blocking it out. “He's grown through a lot of that stuff but it's always hard,” Mullen said. “People don't like to be criticized. Nobody likes to be criticized, but what you've got to do is really be able to block out what's important and what's not important within your criticism and really worry about how, right? If I'm criticizing you or Coach Johnson's criticizing you … you need to worry about that criticism. That's what really is important, of what we think you need to do better and can fix." SEC FOOTBALL STUFF #2 Alabama (1-0): Nick Saban says Alabama's offense has evolved to more of a pass first because that's the kind of players he has and what they do best. Saban said Wednesday, “Our team right now, lends itself to that type of team… if we didn’t have those type of players, we may not be there right now but it lends itself to the game changing and us changing”… Defensive back Nigel Knott's career is over after the Alabama medical staff has advised him to retire from football. Saturday: vs. New Mexico State (0-1) Arkansas (1-0): HBC Chad Morris is expecting tight end CJ O'Grady to be at or near full speed Saturday when the Razorbacks visit Ole Miss. Morris will know later in the week if D-lineman Jamario Bell and O-lineman Austin Capps will be ready to go. Saturday: at Ole Miss (0-1) #10 Auburn (1-0): Auburn is spending extra time on special teams this week after allowing Oregon's Jevon Holland 131 yards on three punt returns, which prompted HBC Gus Malzahn to say, “It could be some personnel changes.” Saturday: vs. Tulane (1-0) #3 Georgia (1-0): Prior to Saturday's game with Murray State, the university will dedicate the field at Sanford Stadium in honor of former football coach and athletic director Vince Dooley. Saturday: vs. Murray State (1-0) Kentucky (1-0): Wide receiver Ahmad Wagner spent three years playing college basketball at Iowa where he averaged 3.1 points per game. As a grad transfer to Kentucky, the 6-5, 234-pounder has switched to football. In the Wildcats first game of the season, Wagner caught three passes for 57 yards. Saturday: vs. Eastern Michigan (1-0) #6 LSU (1-0): Texas might be down to one scholarship running back but Coach O thinks the Longhorns will simply shift some of the ball carrying burden to quarterback Sam Ehlinger. “He reminds me of Tebow,” Coach O said on the SEC Coaches Teleconference Wednesday. Saturday: at #9 Texas (1-0) Mississippi State (1-0): HBC Joe Moorhead was pleased to get 37 rushing yards and a TD in addition to the 236 yards and two passing touchdowns from QB Tommy Stevens. On the SEC Coaches Teleconference, Moorhead said, “Anytime your quarterback can be a threat in the running game, it challenges the full length of the field.” Saturday: vs. Southern Miss (1-0) Missouri (0-1): The understatement of the week came from Mizzou HBC Barry Odom in assessing the performance on both lines of scrimmages after the Tigers gave up 297 rushing yards agains Wyoming and averaged only 2.71 yards per carry when they tried to run it. “We didn’t run the ball well enough and we didn’t stop it well enough. That’s something we have to work on… if you don’t it’s going to make for a long year.” Saturday: vs. West Virginia (1-0) Ole Miss (0-1): HBC Matt Luke assessed the first game of QB Matt Corrall, saying, ““He made some good decisions and he made some poor decisions; it was his first start so there are some things we can do to help him. It starts with the offensive line and the receivers.” Saturday: vs. Arkansas (1-0) South Carolina (0-1): HBC Will Muschamp said he understood why South Carolina fans were so upset with the loss to North Carolina. “We're pissed off, too” Muschamp said Tuesday night. Saturday: vs. Charleston Southern (0-1) Tennessee (0-1): Another Tennessee player is leaving the program. One day after it was reported defensive back Terrell Bailey was bolting, wide receiver Jordan Murphy elected to transfer out. Both departures were confirmed by HBC Jeremy Pruitt. Saturday: vs. BYU (0-1) #12 Texas A&M (1-0): Jimbo Fisher knows that for the Aggies to have a chance to knock off #1 Clemson in Death Valley Saturday that they must get enough pass rush to disrupt Trevor Lawrence. “If he gets comfortable, you are in trouble,” Fisher said on the SEC Coaches Teleconference. “He is so tall, he’s tough to disrupt, he can see over everything. That will be critical.” Saturday: at #1 Clemson (1-0) Vanderbilt (0-1): Derek Mason on defending a Jeff Brohm-coached offense: “He knows how to get these guys the ball, they have a good running game … He will spread you out, force you to make open tackles in space.” Saturday: at Purdue (0-1) GOOD QUOTES FOR A THURSDAY From Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports on Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt following the Vols' stunning, 38-30, loss to Georgia State: “The flip side of pulling off a stunning upset is being the team that was stunningly upset. Pruitt’s second team was supposed to take a big step forward from last year’s 5-7 mark, but the Volunteers were pushed around and beaten down to the point that they looked like they gave up in the final quarter and a half – at least defensively. Pruitt should feel fortunate that his boss is Philip Fulmer and not the late Frank Broyles, who as Arkansas athletic director once famously forced out coach Jack Crowe after a season-opening loss to The Citadel.” Georgia is paying Murray State from D1AA $500,000 to play in Athens this weekend. Coach Kirby Smart believes it is important for the D1 schools to play the teams from D1AA and non-power conferences: “Well, I mean I think it’s the lifeblood of a program. If you went and poll them, they would tell you without some of the bigger schools, they wouldn’t have a program. It’s their opportunity to fund their program. I have been a huge salesman in the game and sport of football. I hope one day my son that plays football will have an opportunity to go play somewhere and the more opportunities they have I think it gives kids a wonderful chance to get a free education. If we don’t play FCS teams, there’s probably going to be some of them flip and go under especially the way television is today and attendance has dwindled. That’s the lifeblood of our program. I certainly want to try help support them, not at the cost of our fanbase not getting what they want. There’s a medium in there.” From Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports on Jalen Hurts spectacular debut in an Oklahoma uniform: “The 508 total yards and three rushing and three passing touchdowns against Houston from Hurts weren’t reality a surprise when you consider taking a player of Hurts’ talent, experience and production and combining him with an offensive mastermind of [Lincoln] Riley’s caliber. Riley has emerged as the creative and innovative answer, this decade’s version of Urban Meyer or Chip Kelly. And the results have been equal-parts devastating and enjoyable.” From Chris Vianni of The Athletic, Wyoming coach Craig Bohl talks about his team's surprising win over Missouri: “While there were four or five plays and those plays pushed us over the top, what I noticed at the beginning of the game was our offensive line being able to knock them off the line, our skill players running with them and our backs running away from their defensive guys.” COLLEGE FOOTBALL STUFF Jake Haener, who left Washington when he lost the starting QB job to Georgia transfer Jacob Eason, has transferred to Fresno State. He will sit 2019 and have two years of eligibility remaining. Notre Dame running back Jafar Armstrong will miss 1-2 months of the season after suffering an abdominal injury in the season opening win over Louisville. Georgia State safety Remy Lazarus wasn't too impressed with the Tennessee Vols, whom the Pathers beat, 38-30, at Neyland Stadium last Saturday. “I think [Furman] will give us a tougher battle than we faced Saturday, if you want to be honest,” Lazarus told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. RANDOM THOUGHTS: Ezekiel Elliott and the Dallas Cowboys have had a meeting of the minds. Elliott signed a six-year contract extension for $90 million with more than $50 million in guaranteed money … New York Yankees injured outfielder Giancarlo Stanton is heading to Tampa to take extended batting practice in anticipation of being reactivated … Former Gator running back Mark Thompson was given his practice squad release by the Detroit Lions … Former Gator Pete Alonso grabbed the Major League lead in home runs when he hit his 45thWednesday to help the New York Mets beat the Washington Nationals, 8-4.

The first full week of college football is in the books which means it’s time to completely overreact to everything that happened and jump to some (possibly bizarre/possibly spot on) conclusions. The Florida Gators dropped from No. 8 to No. 10 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and to No. 11 in the A.P. Poll after their 24-20 Week 0 over the Miami Hurricanes (also receiving votes). It’s safe to assume Dan Mullen’s squad dropped due to lack of style points from their nail biter of a season opener. As head coach Dan Mullen said on Wednesday, his team has to ignore the overreactions though, as focus on the overriding fact: "I mean we won the game against an excellent team." Oregon is the only team in the A.P. Top 25 who lost their opening game; a 21-20 loss against then No. 16—now No. 10 Auburn. So with that business out of the way, let’s look at the rest of Florida’s schedule and make wildly outlandish assumptions based on one week of play from each team. Week 2—UT-Martin The Skyhawks are the home opener for Mullen and the Gators. After going 2-9 in 2018, UT-Martin opened the current season with a 42-20 win over Northwestern State. The win came despite UTM being out-gained 483-338 in total yardage. Florida is coming off what should have been a statement win that instead has been questioned by an entire country of voices and will be back at home for the first time this season. Expect them to make a statement. Outcome: Florida wins, big. Week 3—Kentucky This is where the rubber starts to meet the road as the Gators kick off the SEC schedule. Last season this was the game that shocked an entire program when the Wildcats defeated UF for the first time in 31 years. Florida will be looking for revenge but the game is at night in Lexington adding a layer of difficulty. However Mark Stoops is without running back Benny Snell and defensive end Josh Allen, both who left for the NFL. In a 38-24 week 1 win over Toledo, it seemed as if middle linebacker Kash Daniels was trying to take care of everything on defense, which would make sense seeing as he didn’t have much help. The Rockets were able to game plan around him and attack the middle of the field behind him. On offense, Terry Wilson looked to still be finding a groove in a system that didn’t include Snell. The game was tied at 14 going into halftime before the Cats shook off Week 1 rush and pulled away in the 4th quarter. The Week 3 game will be a chance for both teams to prove to the rest of the country they’re legit. I think Florida has more pieces here and revenge on their side which outweighs home field advantage. Outcome: Florida wins but it’s close through the 3rd quarter Week 4—Tennessee Did any team have a more embarrassing opener than the Tennessee Volunteers? Oh yea, another team on the Gators schedule, but we’ll get to them later. In Knoxville, things looked grim from the get-go when a “Vol Navy” boat caught on fire on the Tennessee River outside the stadium. Luckily no one was injured but the black smoke filling the sky was ominous. Jeremy Pruitt’s team then went out and not only lost, but were completely shown up by Georgia State, 38-30 in a game that was honestly not as close as the score indicates. GSU was within three at halftime and even with Vols quarterback Jarrett Guarantano throwing for 300+ yards, his team could never find a rhythm to put away the Group of 5 team. The Vols are a tricky team though because this loss could have just as easily come last season, a season in which they also defeated Auburn in Auburn and knocked off a ranked Kentucky. Luckily for the Gators, they get the Vols at home and early in the season before UT plays loose with nothing to lose. Outcome: Florida wins, probably close to the same 47-21 score as last season Week 5—Towson There’s no chance Florida losses this game. Let’s move on. Week 6—Auburn I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that how Florida does in this game will determine the course of the season. The Homecoming match against the Tigers kicks off a 4-game gauntlet that will make or break the record and the momentum—or lack thereof—from this result will determine how those games go. Auburn is infamous for being a “lucky” team and this is just the sort of game they’d pull out from the jaws of defeat at the last second. Exhibit A: their week 1 game against (then) No. 11 Oregon in Dallas. Gus Malzahn’s team only lead for 0:09 seconds of the game, but it was the last nine seconds and that’s what counted. That victory came when true freshman legacy quarterback Bo Nix led a game winning drive to win 21-20. Malzahn is back to calling plays and was somewhat lost the first half. He’s still one of the best though and he’ll undoubtedly have his groove back by this time next month. Dan Mullen can go toe-to-toe with him in that area though, and is arguably better. The part that should be concerning from that game for Gators fans is the way Auburn’s defensive front seven shored up like a brick wall against a, typically, fast moving Oregon offense. Nix being calm, cool and collected will also ensure this game goes down to the line, a lá LSU last season. Outcome: Right now, I’m overreacting to Week 1 and am going to say Auburn wins but I’ll probably change my mind 19 times between now and then Week 7—LSU I’m going to defy my own rules here and not overreact to LSU’s 55-3 Week 1 win over Georgia Southern. I’m not going to crown Joe Burrow a Top SEC quarterback for his five touchdown in one half performance and wax poetic about the Tigers shiny new offense. Why? Because it’s the exact same thing the Gators did in their opening game last season. It’s exactly what Feleipe Franks did, it’s the exact same offense Mullen implemented and it’s almost the exact score Florida beat Charleston Southern by in that 2018 game (53-6). That’s not to say we should discount what the Gators were able to do from that game and all of last season. I’m just not going to act like LSU has reinvented the wheel because they finally caught up with the rest of college football and discovered the RPO. However, this is still a night game in Death Valley against a very good team. The Tigers will be looking to avenge their humbling loss from last season. Florida could very well be coming off a loss. But I also know the importance Mullen puts on rivalry games and believe the Gators learned the lesson from last season to not let a loss take over. Outcome: Florida wins another nail-biter Week 8—South Carolina The Gamecocks season opener couldn’t have gone worse. Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Will Muschamp’s team had no offensive groove and floundered late in the game. In the end Mack Brown—Muschamp’s former boss who had just returned to college football coaching—led his North Carolina team to a 24-20 win. And then to add insult to injury, USC lost their starting veteran quarterback Jake Bentley to an alleged foot injury. Now Muschamp must turn to a true freshman. We’ve seen this movie before and know how it ends. Outcome: Florida wins. It might get Muschamp fired. Week 9—Georgia This was already assumed to be the toughest game on Florida’s schedule and after seeing how Jake Fromm and company easily handled Vanderbilt to the tune of 30-6, the assumption is confirmed. Every part of the Dawgs team clicks on all cylinders and they have no foreseeable weak spots. If Florida can build off the Miami win, defeat Auburn and carry momentum and presence of mind into the Cocktail Party, they have what it takes to defeat the nation’s No. 3 team. It’s a lot to ask though and the Gators didn’t show me quite enough in their opening week compared to UGA to lead me to believe it’ll happen. Outcome: Georgia wins by one touchdown but it’s made to look close by a garbage minute Gators score Week 10—Vanderbilt On the other side of the Week 1 Georgia win was Vanderbilt who looks like the same old Vanderbilt. Hard nosed, decent defense and just enough flash on offense to give hope in the offseason. But still looking for that year that gets them over the hump. Based off game one, this isn’t going to be that year. Outcome: Florida wins by double digits Week 11—Missouri The Tigers are Florida’s kryptonite; they motion out a tight end and just run all over the Gators defense, they find Florida’s Achilles heel on offense and turn special team plays into game changers. It’s confounding and baffling honestly. But even with vaulted Clemson transfer Kelly Bryant, Mizzou found themselves at the wrong end of a 37-31 upset from Wyoming. Bryant threw for 423 yards but had a fumble returned for a touchdown and threw an interception in the endzone. The defense gave up 297 rushing yards and missed double digit tackles. Since beginning the series in 2012, when the Gators face Missouri coming off of a win, they’ve won every time. When they face the Tigers coming off a loss, they’ve lost every time. In 2012, UF was coming off of a loss to Georgia and defeated Mizzou. Getting the Vanderbilt game between Georgia and Missouri should work in the Gators favor. Outcome: Florida wins Week 12—Florida State This was perhaps the best part of Gator Nation’s weekend. FSU seemed to have their opening game against Boise State in hand at halftime. Then Boise and their freshman quarterback ran roughshod over the Seminoles. The Bronco’s defeated the Noles in every major statistical category in route to a 36-31 win and the offense kept FSU’s defense on the field foe 108 plays. 108!! That’s insane and the Noles lack of conditioning was exposed. Every bit of talent on the team seemed to be squandered and it doesn’t appear to be an easy fix. Outcome: Florida picks on FSU all day and wins big

THE POLLS ARE OUT, GATORS DROP A COUPLE PLACES The people who vote in the Associated Press and Coaches Top 25 polls obviously weren't impressed by Florida's 24-20 win over the Miami Hurricanes. The Gators were eighth in both preseason polls but after that first game performance they dropped – to 10thin the Coaches Poll, 11thin the AP. It's not a huge drop and shouldn't be a concern. A first game loss and dropping out of the polls completely isn't the end of the world and can be overcome with a nice winning streak so a win and just a slight drop isn't a big issue. With a Saturday evening game with D1AA UT-Martin, the Gators aren't likely to move up next week even if they win by 10 touchdowns. Monster wins against non-Division I opponents tend to impress voters less than sloppy first game wins over very good teams such as Miami, but there is a remedy and that is to continue to win. There are eight SEC games on the schedule and winning those games will impress the voters. So, if the Gators continue to win and have the added bonus of Miami reeling off a few wins, people will forget all about those first game struggles … for both teams. Nothing changes perceptions like winning and if both Florida and Miami are winning, the people who vote will instead credit all those mistakes to two really good teams causing problems for each other. For the Gators, it's a matter of controlling what they can control and that's beating whoever is next on the schedule. If they get a boost from Miami that will help the strength of schedule – important when the College Football Playoff Poll comes out in October – and it will go a long way toward erasing lingering memories of game one in the minds of voters. Coaches Top 25 (1)Clemson 1-0; (2) Alabama 1-0; (3) Georgia 1-0; (4) Oklahoma 1-0; (5) Ohio State 1-0; (6) LSU 1-0; (7) Michigan 1-0; (8) Notre Dame 1-0; (9) Texas 1-0; (10) FLORIDA 1-0;(11) Texas A&M 1-0; (12) Washington 1-0; (13) Auburn 1-0; (14) Penn State; (15) Utah 1-0; (16) Wisconsin 1-0; (17) UCF 1-0; (18) Oregon 0-1; (19) Iowa 1-0; (20) Michigan State 1-0; (21) Washington State 1-0; (22) Syracuse 1-0; (23) Stanford 1-0; (24) Boise State 1-0; (25) Nebraska 1-0 Associated Press Top 25 (1) Clemson (1-0); (2) Alabama (1-0); (3) Georgia (1-0); (4) Oklahoma (1-0); (5) Ohio State 1-0; (6) LSU 1-0; (7) Michigan 1-0; (8) Notre Dame 1-0; (9) Texas 1-0; (10) Auburn 1-0;(11) FLORIDA 1-0;(12) Texas A&M 1-0; (13) Utah 1-0; (14) Washington 1-0; (15) Penn State 1-0; (16) Oregon 0-1; (17) Wisconsin 1-0; (18) UCF 1-0; (19) Michigan State 1-0; (20) Iowa 1-0; (21) Syracuse 1-0; (22) Washington State 1-0; (23) Stanford 1-0; (24) Boise State 1-0; (25, TIE) Iowa State 1-0 and Nebraska 1-0 SEC FOOTBALL STUFF #2 Alabama (1-0): Last year's starting left guard, Deonte Brown, who was suspended prior to the Orange Bowl (College Football Playoff semifinal) back in December, has three games remaining on his NCAA suspension. That's important to know since the Crimson Tide is starting true freshman Evan Neal at left guard in Brown's absence. Bama averaged only 3.45 yards per rush in the season opener against Duke. Next game: vs. New Mexico State (0-1) Arkansas (1-0): The Arkansas offense might have stunk against Portland State but the defense showed marked improvement from last season. The Hogs held Portland State to 75 rushing yards, 230 total yards, forced three turnovers and recorded six sacks. Next game: at Ole Miss (0-1) #10 Auburn (1-0): With the game on the line against Oregon, true freshman QB Bo Nix completed 7-11 passes for 86 yards and two touchdowns including the game-winning 26-yarder to Seth Williams with nine seconds remaining. That prompted Auburn HBC Gus Malzahn to say, “He’s got some gunslinger in him. There’s no doubt. I think that’s a good thing.” Next game: vs. Tulane (1-0) #3 Georgia (1-0): Georgia was content to run the ball against Vanderbilt (40-325, 8.13 per carry) but HBC Kirby Smart knows the Bulldogs have to do a better job throwing the ball. “We have to be able to expand and do more things, and throw the ball downfield, stretch the field and get some of the wideouts involved,” Smart said. Next game: Murray State (1-0) Kentucky (1-0): Against Toledo, Australian Max Duffy averaged 54 yards per punt. Of his six punts, only three were returned and only for two net yards … One area that definitely needs improving on the offensive side of the ball is converting on third down. The Wildcats managed just 3-11 in the win over Toledo. Next game: Eastern Michigan (1-0) #6 LSU (1-0): LT Saahdiq Charles and LB Michael Divinity, who missed LSU's season-opener with Georgia Southern will be back for Saturday's game at #9 Texas. Charles has 19 starts in his career, 17 at LT. Divinity had 54 tackles last season including five sacks, 9.5 tackles for loss and an interception. Next game: at #9 Texas (1-0) Mississippi State (1-0): Defensive coordinator Bob Shoop can't be too pleased with last Saturday's effort against Louisiana-Lafayette. The Bulldogs, who were the top defense in the nation in 2018, gave up 267 passing yards, 163 on the ground and 24 points. They gave up 13.2 points, 168 passing yards, 95.08 rushing yards and 263.1 total yards per game last season. Next game: vs. Southern Miss (1-0) Missouri (0-1): Heading into last Saturday's game with Wyoming, Mizzou HBC Barry Odom thought he knew his team pretty well, but he admits he didn't have the proper read on what they would do when faced with adversity. Odom said, “I thought I had a pretty good feel on how we’d respond in some of those situations. I was wrong.” Next game: vs. West Virginia (1-0) Ole Miss (0-1): The Rebels will focus on a better effort from their run defense Saturday against Arkansas. In their loss to Memphis last week, the Rebels allowed 192 rushing yards. Arkansas ran for 204 yards in its win over Portland State. Next game: vs. Arkansas (1-0) South Carolina (0-1): The Gamecocks are going to get a second opinion about the status of quarterback Jake Bentley. If surgery is required on his injured foot, he's out for the season. If not, he's out 6-8 weeks. In Bentley's place, true freshman Ryan Hilinski is scheduled to get the start. Next game: Charleston Southern (0-1) Tennessee (0-1): It is being reported that backup corner Terrell Bailey has elected to put his name in the NCAA transfer portal … Just how bad was the Vols' loss to Georgia State? Well, Georgia State was trolling Tennessee with a Labor Day season tickets sale. Cost for four games: $38.30. Next game: vs. BYU (0-1) Texas A&M (1-0): The Aggies are 17-1/2 point underdogs Saturday when they travel to Clemson. Last year when they faced Clemson in College Station, Clemson was a 19-1/2 point favorite but only won the game by two, 28-26 … The Aggies are hoping QB Kellen Mond can repeat last year's effort against Clemson when he threw for 430 yards and three touchdowns and added another 33 yards on the ground. Next game: at #1 Clemson (1-0) Vanderbilt (0-1): The Commodores have to do a better job getting wide receiver Kalija Lipscomb and tight end Jared Pinkney involved in the passing game. Against Georgia, Lipscomb caught only three passes for eight yards. He caught 87 passes for 916 yards and nine touchdowns last year. Pinkney caught two passes for 11 yards against the Bulldogs. Last year he caught 50 for 714 yards and seven TDs. Next game: at Purdue (0-1) GOOD QUOTES FOR WEDNESDAY From Andy Staples of The Athletic on how North Carolina coach Mack Brown got his team to bond in the preseason when at each team meeting two players and one coach would stand before the team and tell their life stories: “Brown marveled as his players laid themselves bare before their teammates. Few held back. Brown wouldn’t reveal any specific details or match players to stories because everything said in that meeting room will stay within the family, but when he asked players about the worst times in their lives, some Tar Heels unloaded. There were stories from foster care. Stories of dad beating up mom. Imagine the diversity of experience in any group of 100-plus 18- to 22-year-old college students, and you can understand why a bunch of tough guys often wound up crying.” From John Walters of The Athletic on the Utah-BYU broadcast last Friday night: “On Friday evening during the Holy War, ESPN’s Anish Schroff mentioned that BYU quarterback Zach Wilson took two dates to his high school prom. Stony silence followed. We chuckled and thought of how Brent Musburger would have ad-libbed an addendum to that factoid. You may recall it was Brent who, after this same Utah program put up a 35-0 first quarter against the Cougars in the Las Vegas Bowl, quipped, 'I feel sorry for my BYU friends: They don’t drink!'” From Khadrice Rollins of Sports Illustrated, Washington State coach Mike Leach offers his thoughts about Area 51: “I think that they test things there. I think stuff that the military and the government is developing, I would imagine they test it there. Work with the prototypes and things like that there. If they have found space men, or any Roswell stuff, that'd probably be where they would store it, if there is such things. But I think it's pretty much a test site where they test and develop everything from aircraft to bombs to some type of technology because there's got to be a place to do that. I suspect that if they didn't cryptically call it Area 51 and it didn't have the eager, cold, no-one-allowed quality that it has, it probably wouldn't be quite as exciting as it is. And of course, you throw aliens on top of that and the curiosity goes wild." From Connor Orr of Sports Illustrated, writing about Andrew Luck's decision to retire from professional football 19 days shy of his 30th birthday: “Those who criticize Luck’s decision don’t believe he could have truly appreciated his teammates and the game as much as he had professed. Yet for years he also told interviewers that the sport wouldn’t define him, that he would be fine teaching history or using his architecture degree from Stanford. This is where he has now arrived. People who have crossed Luck’s path outside football describe a man who genuinely loves to try everything, which is what makes him capable of doing anything.” RANDOM THOUGHTS:Coastal Carolina, which plays at Kansas Saturday, is practicing this week in Greenville instead of at home in Conway, SC due to anticipated issues with Hurricane Dorian. The Chanticleers (their real name) will fly out to Kansas on Thursday ... The Los Angeles Rams have extended quarterback Jared Goff four more years. The deal is reportedly worth $134 million. Nice work if you can get it … Julio Jones, who has two years and $21 million remaining on his contract, is working on a deal with the Atlanta Falcons that will make him the highest paid wide receiver in the NFL … Serena Williams needed only 44 minutes to beat Qiang Wang in straight sets, 6-1, 6-0 to reach the semifinals of the US Open … Jayson Tatum hit 2-3 free throws at the end of regulation to send Tuesday's USA-Turkey basketball game into overtime, then Khris Middleton hit two free throws with 2.1 seconds left in the extra period to give Team USA a 93-92 win at the FIBA World Championships ... Former Gator wide receiver Brandon Powell has signed a practice squad contract with the Atlanta Falcons … Former Gator Pete Alonso is tied for the National League lead in home runs after hitting his 44th Tuesday night in the New York Mets' 11-10 loss to the Washington Nationals. Alonso is hitting .268 with 104 RBI to go with the home runs.

THE SUNDAY EVENING QUARTERBACK: SEPTEMBER 1, 2019 There is that old joke that Florida fans are happy to tell in the presence of their Florida State buddies – the distance between Gainesville and Tallahassee is 150 miles and 150 SAT points. Now you can add a new twist to an old joke – the distance between the optimism that Dan Mullen is going to take the Gators to a championship level and the doom and gloom associated with Willie Taggart and the Seminoles is about the same as the distance between planet earth and Mars, which is something like 140 million miles. We are only one game into the 2019 season but already the images of Florida and Florida State football and their second-year coaches are of one program on a collision course with championships (Florida) and the other (FSU) cratering and on its way to rock bottom. While Mullen exudes confidence and optimism, Taggart's demeanor is that of somebody completely overwhelmed by his circumstances. Despite the shaky first game in which the Gators squandered opportunities that turned a probable blowout of Miami into white knuckles until the last 12 seconds, Mullen came away with a win, which is vastly superior to the alternatives. Although the Gators made far too many mistakes – both physical and mental – the positives of a 24-20 win over a Miami team that might not lose again until an ACC championship game encounter with Clemson far outweigh the negatives. As Mullen pointed out there wasn't a single mistake the Gators made that can't be corrected and because the Miami game was moved up a week to accommodate television it provided a teaching week to work out the kinks. With no game to prepare for and D1AA UT-Martin coming to Gainesville on September 6, Mullen and his staff spent last week focused on eliminating the errors instead of going immediately into game week preparation. It's very hard to get better when you're in game week prep. So maybe that win over Miami wasn't a masterpiece. It will only be a big deal if the Gators keep making the same old mistakes over and over again. That is unlikely judging from what we've seen of Mullen in the past as Urban Meyer's offensive coordinator, as Mississippi State's head coach and last year's 10 wins in his first season as the HBC at Florida. Mullen gives you every reason to believe that he is indeed the right man at the right time for Florida football. The same can't be said about Taggart and Florida State, not after last year's 5-7 record and especially not after the way the Seminoles collapsed in their game one loss to Boise State. The Seminoles roared off the starting line like a Ferrari but finished like a Yugo on the side of the road, hood up, steam rising from the engine awaiting a tow truck that's already two hours late. When the Seminoles sprinted out to that 31-13 lead in the first half, it was one explosive play after another. As they gasped for air in the second half, the FSU secondary must have made Boise State freshman quarterback Hank Bachmeier (407 passing yards) feel like he was shooting fish in a barrel. The FSU defense was supposed to be a strong point but strong defenses don't give up 621 yards. Strong defenses don't allow the opponent's offensive line to open holes trucks would be proud to drive through. And when that 36-31 debacle came to a merciful end after 23 straight Boise State points, there were no explanations for a 1-12 performance on third down by FSU or for the inability to prevent Boise from pounding away and moving the chains. Taggart post game Boise State sounded like the post game Taggart of 2018 when he guided the Seminoles to their first losing season since the Gerald Ford administration and the first season without a bowl since the first year of the Reagan administration in 1981. Whereas optimism for Mullen has much to do with record setting fundraising efforts for an already rich University of Florida athletic department, the despair over Taggart is largely responsible for lack of fannies in the stands (barely 50,000 was the official count Saturday) and the sad shape of the FSU athletic department finances. They aren't broke but they can't afford the buyout of the four remaining years of his contract which is 85% of $20 million ($17 million). As Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports wrote, “Unless the school holds the most lucrative bake sale in history to raise money for that buyout, they're stuck with Taggart. Make the best of it.” LET THE SECOND-GUESSING BEGIN IN BIG ORANGE COUNTRY Do you remember when large numbers of students up in Knoxville raised hell when then University of Tennessee athletic director John Currie was on the verge of hiring Greg Schiano? With Schiano scrapped, he almost had Mike Leach signed, sealed and delivered to leave Washington State for Knoxville only he got torpedoed, lost his job and Phil Fulmer was hired as the athletic director. Left to his own devices, Phattus Maximus passed on Leach and hired Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt. Like Willie Taggart down at Florida State, Pruitt went 5-7 in his first year, which was actually a one-game improvement over what Butch Jones did in 2017. And, unlike Taggart, Pruitt didn't bring to an end a 42-year streak of winning seasons or a 37-year streak of bowl games. But he did lose to Georgia State Saturday. Badly. The final score was an 8-point margin but it was worse than that. Far worse. The worst loss for a Southeastern Conference team since Florida went belly up against Georgia Southern back in 2013. John Adams, the fine columnist for the Knoxville News-Sentinel and an astute observer of the Vols and the SEC called it the worst loss in school history. This was, after all, a Georgia State team that has absolutely zero in the way of tradition and one that went 2-10 last year in the Sun Belt Conference. When you bottom feed in the Sun Belt, you are only half a rung higher on the Division I ladder than will take a serious beating for a paycheck independents such as UMass and New Mexico State. This raises this very serious question: If Pruitt and the Vols suffer through a third straight losing season – two for Pruitt and one for Butch Jones – will Fulmer admit he made a huge mistake by hiring a head coach who prior to Tennessee had never been a head coach at any level? Or, will he try to convince the creamsicle clad faithful that the Vols are still relevant and simply must be patient? Patience could be a requirement since the buyout is $5 million. That's not a lot if gauged by the standards of the Gus Malzahn buyout at Auburn ($42 million) or Taggart's at FSU ($17 million), but the Tennessee athletic department isn't exactly swimming in cash these days. They're still paying off Jones and a slew of other fired coaches in other sports, plus they would have to compensate Pruitt's assistants then offer up cash incentives to not only lure a new head coach but assistant coaches as well. Do you think the idea that Mike Leach could be the coach has crossed more than a few minds in the last 24 hours in Vol Country? BAD VIBES FOR MIZZOU, SOUTH CAROLINA, OLE MISS AND ARKANSAS We'll start with Mizzou since the Tigers' 37-31 loss to Wyoming was the second most embarrassing loss for an SEC team over the weekend. Missouri's D-line got pushed around all night as Wyoming ran for nearly a gozillion yards (okay, it was only 297 but it SEEMED like almost a gozillion). You think that's bad? Mizzou managed only 114 rushing yards (2.71 per carry) against a Wyoming D-line that AVERAGED 256.5 and whose biggest player weighed in at 276 pounds. Kelly Bryant threw for 423 yards but before anyone sings his praises, he also turned the ball over twice (interception and a fumble) and the turnovers were converted to 14 Wyoming points. This is not a good Missouri team and it lacks the incentive of a bowl game to keep the players motivated due to NCAA sanctions. Now, Mizzou athletic director Jim Sterkel can scream until his face turns blue about the unfairness of the NCAA, but that won't change the fact that this team might be fortunate to win six games. Given a schedule that includes Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Texas A&M and Clemson, there is no wiggle room for South Carolina, which makes the 24-20 loss to North Carolina even more painful. Even with a win over the Tar Heels, this South Carolina team would have been, at best, 7-5. Now the Gamecocks are looking at 6-6. If they're lucky. It's a well known fact that South Carolina AD Ray Tanner and probably 90% of the boosters and alumni who have met Will Muschamp like him. Will is an engaging guy who it's hard not to like, but he's coaching at a place where the only real pocket of success was by a true coaching genius (Steve Spurrier) and even Spurrier's success hit the wall toward the end. However, Spurrier had just enough success that the South Carolina boosters think 10 and 11-win seasons are possible in Columbia on a regular basis and that's just not going to happen. So, the question for South Carolina is will they give Muschamp a mulligan if he doesn't get 7-8 wins against a ridiculously tough schedule? On to Ole Miss, which lost to Memphis. That's better than losing to Georgia State or Wyoming, but it's a bad loss just the same since the Rebels were held to 173 yards of offense. Ole Miss fans would prefer to win, but if they have to lose, they'd prefer that to be in a shootout like last year's 48-44 loss to South Carolina. That's what they thought they were getting when RichRod was signed on as the offensive coordinator. Scoring 10 points on a Memphis team that gave up five touchdowns a game last year isn't going to cut it for Matt Luke. This has the look of a 3-9 team. And then there is Arkansas, which had to hang on for dear life to beat D1AA bottom feeder Portland State, 20-13. SMU grad transfer Ben Hicks, who played for Chad Morris at SMU, averaged 4.9 yards per pass attempt while completing less than 50% of his throws. The Hogs went 2-10 last year, worst record in school history. There might be three winnable games remaining on the schedule. It's going to be another very long year in Fayette Nam.

THOUGHTS OF THE DAY: SEPTEMBER 2, 2019 PUTTING THE GAME FACE ON AGAIN Even though Saturday's opponent is UT-Martin (1-0) from Division 1AA, a team 8th-ranked Florida (1-0) should have no problems adding to the win column, Dan Mullen will be looking for a more polished version of the Gators. Because the Gators made so many mistakes in their season-opening win over Miami, you might see Mullen stick with the guys on his two-deep longer than usual. With redshirt rules that allow a coach to play a kid four games without it counting against his eligibility, Mullen will certainly want to get the kids further down the depth chart a chance to play in a real game but his first obligation is to make sure the Gators are primed and ready for their SEC opener at Kentucky on September 13. Following the 24-20 win over Miami, Mullen and his staff had the advantage of an open date – a teaching week if you will – that presented an opportunity to make corrections as well as put in some time on a Kentucky game plan. Since there is no school today (Labor Day) and tomorrow (hurricane day), you can expect time will be spent adding some wrinkles to the Kentucky game plan since the staff has had a chance to watch what the Wildcats did in their 38-24 win over Toledo but not at the expense of overlooking UT-Martin. The Skyhawks might be traveling to Gainesville for a paycheck, but they aren't going to roll over and the last thing Mullen needs is for the Gators to go into the game looking ahead. He needs a team fully focused and ready to inflict pain and suffering on the Skyhawks. SATURDAY IN THE SEC #1 Alabama (1-0): Just another day at the office for Tua Tagaovailoa, who hit 26-31 passes for 367 yards and four touchdowns against Duke. The Bama defense gave up only 204 total yards. Next week: vs. New Mexico State Arkansas (1-0): About the only good thing you could say about the Hogs' 20-13 win over a bad D1AA team (Portland State) is that the defense played well with six sacks and three interceptions. The offense stunk, no two ways about it. When you only score 20 against a D1AA team that plays no defense you're in deepest and darkest. Next week: at Ole Miss (0-1) #16 Auburn (1-0): Two things of note in Auburn's 27-21 win over 11th-ranked Oregon Saturday night. (1) Freshman Bo Nix didn't wilt under pressure. He was at his best in the fourth quarter when Auburn needed him the most and he delivered in a big way. (2) Defensive coordinator Kevin Steele did a tremendous job of making the adjustments after Oregon ate his defense up the first 25 minutes of the game. In the last five minutes of the first half and then the entire second half, Steele made all the right moves. Next week: vs. Tulane #3 Georgia (1-0): Until Georgia's receivers figure out how to get open, the Bulldogs are going to pound away in the running game like they did against Vanderbilt when they ran for 325 yards and averaged 8.13 per rush attempt. D'Andre Swift had 16 carries for 149 yards. Next week: vs. Murray State Kentucky (1-0): In the second half against Toledo, quarterback Terry Wilson made all the right throws to help the Wildcats take control and win. Wilson's final numbers were a very efficient 19-26 for 243 yards (9.3 per attempt) and two TD passes with zero picks. Next week: vs. Eastern Michigan LSU (1-0): Obviously the new offensive scheme brought in by Joe Brady agrees with LSU quarterback Joe Burrow, who went 23-27 for 278 yards and five first half touchdown passes in the Tigers, 55-6, win over Georgia Southern. Next week: at Texas Mississippi State (1-0): The Bulldogs forced five turnovers and needed every one of them to pull off the win over Louisiana-Lafayette, which scored 28 points and racked up 431 offensive yards. DC Bob Shoop has to be concerned with the fact his pass rush only got to the quarterback for one sack. Next week: vs. Southern Miss Missouri (0-1):Kelly Bryant threw for 423 yards and two touchdowns in his Mizzou debut but his two turnovers (fumble and interception) were converted into 14 Wyoming points. Missouri's defense was shredded for 297 rushing yards by the Cowboys. Next week: vs. West Virginia Ole Miss (0-1):The defense was supposed to improve under Mike MacIntyre and the offense was supposed to stay explosive under RichRod. Well, one out of two ain't bad. MacIntyre's defense did its job. RichRod's offense got 173 yards and 10 points on a Memphis defense that gave up 31.9 points a game last year. Next week: vs. Arkansas (1-0) South Carolina (0-1): They love Will Muschamp in South Carolina. They really, really love him. They need to because he desperately needed to start the season 2-0. He gets a paycheck win next week and then gets Alabama as part of a schedule that includes Georgia, Florida, Texas A&M and Clemson. They might not love him so much when this season is over. Next week: vs. Charleston Southern Tennessee (0-1): What made the loss to 25-point underdog Georgia State more eye-opening was the way GSU manhandled the Vols on both lines of scrimmage. Georgia State ran for 213 yards, held the Vols to 93 rushing yards, sacked the quarterback four times and had Jarrett Guarantano in his feets don't fail me now mode the entire second half. Next week: vs. BYU Vanderbilt (0-1): Vanderbilt had no chance to make a game of it against Georgia because (a) the defense couldn't stop the Georgia running game and (b) the Vandy offense couldn't move the football, especially through the air. Georgia averaged more than eight yards per carry while grinding out 25 first downs. Quarterbacks Riley Neal and Deuce Wallace averaged a rather pathetic 3.4 yards per pass attempt. Next week: at Purdue RANKING THE SEC 1. Alabama 1-0: Bama almost sleepwalked and still beat Duke by 39. 2. Georgia 1-0: The Bulldogs are going to have to throw the ball better than they did against Vanderbilt. 3. LSU 1-0: LSU with an explosive offense? The Tigers might be scary good. 4. Auburn 1-0: That was an impressive fourth quarter comeback to beat Oregon. 5. FLORIDA 1-0: Maybe that first game win over Miami really wasn't all that bad. 6. Texas A&M 1-0: The Aggies have talent but they haven't played anyone yet. 7. Kentucky 1-0: The first half was bad against Toledo, but the second half much improved. 8. Mississippi State (1-0): We still don't know how all these suspensions are going to play out but at least the Bulldogs started out with a win. 9. South Carolina (0-1): The last thing the Gamecocks needed was a first game loss. 10. Missouri (0-1): The Tigers were physically manhandled by a Mountain West team. 11. Vanderbilt (0-1): After falling behind 21-0 to Georgia, the Commodores only gave up three field goals the rest of the way. 12. Ole Miss (0-1): It's going to be a long, long year. 13. Tennessee (0-1): Vol fans want Jeremy Pruitt gone and we're only one game into the season. 14. Arkansas 1-0): Another losing season is on tap for the Hogs. GOOD QUOTES FOR MONDAY From FSU coach Willie Taggart following Florida State's 36-31 loss to Boise State: "Those mistakes, little mistakes, little detail things. Especially when you're in a pressure situation, when the other team has momentum, someone has to step up and make a play for us. Instead of making plays, we made some mistakes in the second half. It was just lack of execution. Credit Boise, but our guys have to do a better job of executing." From Knoxville News-Sentinel columnist John Adams on Tennessee's 38-30 loss to Georgia State: “Calling it an “upset” doesn’t do it justice. This was the worst loss in the modern era of Tennessee football … As bad as Tennessee was in a 4-8 2017 season, it was never this bad. And that season got coach Butch Jones fired. I wrote in preseason that [Tennessee coach Jeremy] Pruitt was a long was from the hot seat because Tennessee would have to give him time to build a program. But when a UT coach loses his season opener to Georgia State, he's on the hot seat.” From Martin Fenelly of the Tampa Bay Times on job security and Florida State coach Willie Taggart after the Seminoles lost to Boise State by giving up the game's final 23 points: “There are roughly 17 million reasons why the second-year year Florida State head coach won’t lose his job, one for each dollar it would cost FSU to buy him out. But start the bake sales. A new season just dawned and died with an epic opening-day fold.” Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports on UCLA coach Chip Kelly after the Bruins lost their season opener, 24-14, to Cincinnati: “But expectations have been throttled down, and so has the buzz that accompanied his hire at UCLA. The clock isn’t getting turned back to 2012 anytime soon, which was the last time Chip Kelly was the smartest guy in the room in college football. Bruins fans will have to summon their patience to quell the nagging doubts about whether their coach can get back on the cutting edge of the sport.” MORE COLLEGE FOOTBALL STUFF What is it about Lincoln Riley and quarterback transfers? He turned Baker Mayfield (from Texas Tech) and Kyler Murray (Texas A&M) into the last two Heisman Trophy winners. Sunday night against Houston, Alabama transfer Jalen Hurts looked like he could make it three in a row when he completed 20-23 passes for 332 yards and three touchdowns while running 16 times for 176 yards and two more scores. Jacob Eason, who transferred to Washington from Georgia, went 27-36 passing for 349 yards and four touchdowns in his debut, a 47-14 win over Eastern Washington. There isn't a throw he can't make. Another Georgia transfer, Ohio State QB Justin Fields, threw for 234 yards and four touchdowns and ran for 61 and another TD in the Buckeyes' 45-21 win over Florida Atlantic. It looks good on paper. I'd like to see what he does against something other than a matador defense. Southern Cal quarterback JT Daniels was lost for the season with an ACL and meniscus tear against Fresno State. Do you think Jack Sears feels like an absolute nimnul about now after he put his name in the NCAA transfer portal when he lost the starting QB job to Daniels? Former FSU quarterback Deondre Francois ran for one touchdown and threw for two, all in the first half, to lead Hampton to a 65-7 season opening win over DII Elizabeth City State. Speaking of FSU, the official attendance at Doak Campbell Stadium was 50,917. Some people must have been counted twice. The card section at Illinois took a jab at the NCAA with “Free Luke Ford 82,” a reference to the NCAA denying the Georgia transfer a waiver that would allow him immediate eligibility even though he has documented proof that he wanted to be closer to his ailing grandmother. RANDOM THOUGHTS: Former Gator Jachai Polite, who was cut by the New York Jets, was signed to the Seattle Seahawks practice squad … Former Gators corner Duke Dawson was traded to the Denver Broncos where he will have a chance to start … The Tampa Bay Bucs signed former Mississippi State QB Nick Fitzgerald to the practice squad … Former Gator and Louisiana Tech quarterback Jeff Driskell has been placed on injured reserve by the Cincinnati Bengals. It is being reported that he could reach an injury settlement with the team … The Chicago Bears cut former Gator DT Jonathan Bullard … The Detroit Lions parted ways with former Gators, CB Teez Tabor and WR Brandon Powell … The Los Angeles Chargers cut former Gator S Jaylen Watkins … The New England Patriots cut former Gator OL Martez Ivey … The New York Giants cut former Gator P Tommy Townsend … The Jets cut former Gator WR Deonte Thompson … The Oakland Raiders cut former Gator RB Mack Brown … Justin Verlander walked one batter Sunday, the only blemish on the third no-hitter of his career. Verlander struck out 14 as the Houston Astros 2-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays … Former Gator Pete Alonso hit his 43rd homer in the New York Mets' 5-2 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.

Auburn saved the day for the SEC and Bo Nix was spectacular in his CFB debut as the Tigers hit a touchdown pass with 9 seconds to play and beat Oregon. This leaves me to believe there will be thousands of cases of insanity inflicted on and by CFB fans this year, so please guard yourself. What a crazy day!