Pat Dooley’s Back Nine (Oct. 30)

Pat Dooley October 30, 2023 Dooley, Feature Sports News 645 Views

The Back Nine comes at you after a beautiful weekend unless you care about the Florida football team, in which case you can’t believe the sun bothered to come up.

10. I think one of the biggest problems Florida fans are realizing in their most sober of moments is that they thought they had caught Georgia in 2020 and it turned out that it inspired the Bulldogs and actually set the Florida program back (as weird as that sounds). And now, the gap seems as big as it ever has. Georgia has outscored Florida 129-47 in the last three games. We know how this happened, but it doesn’t make it any easier to deal with. And while the level-headed fans – or non-Gidiots – understand that the process is going to take a while, it’s still a yearly painful reminder.

11. There is plenty of blame to go around and it felt like Billy Napier turned some of that blame toward the players after this loss when he talked about execution. But I think this is a building-wide issue. In the first place, too many people got too into that win over a bad South Carolina team. Second, there was too much belief that losing Brock Bowers really mattered that much. Georgia has dudes. It may miss Bowers at some point, because he is a unicorn. But it wasn’t Saturday. Florida? I remember a T-shirt I once owned that said, “Athens – A Drinking Town with a Football Problem.” That kind of feels like Gainesville right now.

12. I have never liked roller coasters. Not even when I was young. Never saw the point of being scared. I get scared every time I look in the mirror. But this is the least appealing roller coaster of all time. Everything seems to be going well and then we are careening toward a pit of pythons at 100 mph. This is an uneven team with a coaching staff which has lost 10 games in two seasons. I want off. Where is the Dumbo ride?

13. I wonder how Florida fans feel about the news (or was it really news) that the game may go to neutral sites when the Jaguars renovate the stadium in a couple of years? You almost welcome it the way things have been going lately, but it would totally become just another rivalry game. The more I think about it, the more I believe the last Fla-Ga game in Jacksonville may be in 2025.

14. The first reveal of the College Football Playoffs is Tuesday and remember that it really doesn’t mean any more than the polls. Here’s how I would have them ranked:

FSU

Michigan

Ohio State

Georgia

Georgia fourth? The Bulldogs are really good, but who have they beaten? The schedule is about to get interesting, which is why the reveal doesn’t matter. Especially to Florida fans.

15. Dr. Football made a comeback this week, so Archie the Canine-American is off the hook as far as trying to pick games. It was close to being perfect with one push getting in the way, but the record is now 23-19-4, so I am back on the right side of The Picks. On to this week:

Florida is giving seven to Arkansas and we have no idea what the Razorbacks will look like with the switch in coordinators or whether Florida allows one loss to become two. I’ll take the Gators at home.
Georgia-Missouri. Big game, huh? The Bulldogs open as a 20.5-point favorite. I’ll take Mizzou and all of those points.
Alabama opens as a 7.5-point favorite over LSU and the Tide has hardly been this juggernaut in the friendly confines. I’ll take LSU with the points.
Ole Miss is giving 4.5 points to Texas A&M and this is the point of the season where the Rebels faltered last year. I’ll still take the Fighting Lane Kiffins.
USC, which is the real must-see TV this season (I’m glad I get the Pac-12 Network), is favored by six over Washington. The Trojans could easily have four losses right now. But they do not, because of the reigning Heisman winner. I’ll take Fight On!

16. There are multiple reasons why I don’t gamble, and the NFL is one of them (although technically I do have a bad fantasy football team). Who saw the Broncos beating the mighty Chiefs? Who forecast the 49ers to lose three in a row? Who thought Will Levis could throw four touchdown passes in a professional game? It’s crazy, but we have to remember that all 32 of these teams have salaried players.

17. I keep trying to get into the World Series, but I need a villain. With no skin in the game, it’s difficult to get into it with so many football games on. I actually had to look up the score Sunday morning, because I forgot about it. Well, go visiting team! I guess that’s as much enthusiasm as I can muster.

18. I hit the golf course after a bit of a layoff. I also walked into a tree while talking to someone. I look like I played against Georgia. But I took this playlist with me: