Florida Gators defensive tackle Michai Boireau (93) defends against the Texas A&M Aggies during the first half at Kyle Field on Saturday. [Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images]

Dooley’s Back Nine: Better Beat Mississippi State

The Back Nine comes at you after another long day of football ended with a Florida loss and my cable going out in the fourth quarter of Georgia-Auburn. I was not as happy going to bed as I was getting up Saturday morning.

10. Let’s just tell it like it is — Florida has too much talent to be sitting here at 2-4 halfway through the season. The trouble is that the Gators have played four straight games against top-10 teams and the last time anybody had to do that we hadn’t even landed on the moon yet. You saw the talent on the other side of the field in these last four games and the fact that Florida had to play these games in a row with three on the road is, well, we all knew this was coming. It’s just that in every game this team seems to do some things that cause it to lose a game that felt winnable … at times.

11. It is certainly discouraging for Gator fans who were hoping their team would be 4-2 at the worst six games into the season. We can blame the schedule for Billy Napier’s road record (4-12, 3-9 in SEC games and that doesn’t include 0-3 vs. Georgia at a neutral site) or we could blame four years of erratic quarterback play or we could blame ourselves for believing that things were on the way back before this season began. This quote from Myles Graham says it all — “We’re close, but close ain’t good enough. We’re right there, every single game, but it’s not good enough.” No, it is not.

12. The coaching gaffe of the night had to be Florida going for it on the LSU 49 with 13 minutes left in the game and trailing by one score (unless you would prefer the brutal CLOCK MANAGEMENT AT THE END OF THE FIRST HALF!!) It wasn’t that they went for it, it was how they went for it. They ran on third-and-6 knowing they would go on fourth down and Jadan Baugh was stuffed again for no gain. And instead of then punting, DJ Lagway threw one up for grabs deep that wasn’t close to being complete. I’m no offensive coordinator but I play one on Another Dooley Noted Podcast and the guy who sits next to me on Mondays knows something about offense. Even Napier said after the game, “I think that the analytics would say, at that point, you go for it. But in general, yes, that’s one you think about.” Now, I’m confused.

13. And so, the hot seat gets turned back up to 11 for Napier because he has been the coach who has been given everything (more on that later) and the result is a 21-23 record as the head coach at Florida. The last Florida coach to be under .500 that wasn’t an interim was Raymond “Bear” Wolf and that was in the 1940s when Florida wasn’t a brand. Old Gators refer to that as the “Golden Era” in a self-depreciating way. The non-Bear was fired after four seasons and two conference wins. I’m not saying, I’m just saying … Billy better beat Mississippi State this week. There’s a bye week around the corner.

14. The announcers in the Auburn-Georgia game were asking what Hugh Freeze did to tick off the SEC, because the guy cannot catch a break with the officiating (which is really, really bad this year in this league). Hello? Do you remember why he was fired at Ole Miss? I am kidding of course, but that fumble at the goal line was a missed call that turned the game on its ear. I always say that you have to play around the officials, but if I was Freeze, I’d be calling Greg Sankey on my burner phone asking him for a pardon.

15. It was an amazing day of college football with so many upsets and we all love upsets unless it is our team being upset. It’s difficult to believe that we live in a world where FSU looked like it might be a contender and is now a pretender and Penn State lost on Homecoming to a team without a stadium and almost immediately fired James Franklin and Indiana had roasted Duck for dinner. We are only going to see more upsets coming because of the changing landscape of college football. Good.

16. At least I’m not below .500 on The Picks. Dr. Football is feeling the effects of one of the most unpredictable college seasons I’ve witnessed and went 2-2-1 this week for an overall record of 19-19-1. That’s not making any money for me, my family or my 401(k). On to this week:

The mighty Gators are 10-point favorites over Mississippi State (all spreads courtesy of MyBookie.ag) this week and my wife’s family is coming down from Chicago for the game and a trip to Spurrier’s Gridiron Grille. So, you better win this week fellas. I’ll still take the Cowbell Lovers and the points.
It is the third Saturday in October so Tennessee is at Alabama where the Tide is an 8.5-point favorite. It’s Dreamland vs. Calhoun’s and I’ll take the Bammers to cover.
LSU is a 1.5-point favorite over mighty Vanderbilt and as inefficient as the Tigers offense has been, the defense gets the job done and Brian Kelly’s face only turns red twice in the big win.
Oklahoma is certainly feeling the pain of losing a rivalry game, but I just don’t like the way South Carolina has played this season (1-3 in the SEC for what was supposed to be a playoff team). Okie covers the five.
And last but not least (also known as where Florida may finish in the conference), Ole Miss is getting seven points at Georgia. That seems like a lot of points to give an unbeaten team, but that Washington State escape is weighing on the minds of the Wise Guys. I’ll still take the points.

17. One more thing on the firing of James Franklin – be careful what you ask for. Franklin got it all and when you get the money for players and a $3 million assistant coach you can’t lose to a winless UCLA and then Northwestern and expect to be employed for long. OK, it may have been a bit of an overreaction, but this job carousel (you know, the one that I said would not happen this season) is only going to get crazier. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Franklin end up at UCLA.

18. Yeah, that was a real bummer to lose my cable with three games going into the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, it was back in time for the Broncos-Jets game overseas, perhaps the worst game ever played. The latest playlist:

“That’s Gonna Leave a Mark” by Molly Tuttle.
“Happiness” by The Heavy Heavy. The first line of this song encapsulates the feeling of Gator fans everywhere.
And for an old one, “Can’t You See That She’s Mine” by The Dave Clark Five. I loved that group back in my youth.

WRUF.com sports columnist Pat Dooley can be heard on “The Tailgate” along with Jeff Cardozo from 4-6 p.m. Monday-Friday on 98.1-FM/AM-850 WRUF.

Category: College Football, Feature Sports News, Gators Football, Pat Dooley