Rapid Reaction: No. 8 Florida survives, barely, in showdown vs. rival Miami
ORLANDO — It wasn’t pretty. But it wasn’t a loss, either.
Florida certainly didn’t look like the No. 8 team in the country Saturday night, but the Gators made just enough plays to put away pesky rival Miami 24-20 in their eagerly awaited Week 0 showdown at Camping World Stadium.
The Gators sputtered through nearly 3 quarters, but the game turned when Miami muffed a punt at its 11. Florida recovered, and on 3rd down, Feleipe Franks hit Lamical Perine for an 8-yard TD to give the Gators a 17-13 advantage. It was Franks’ 2nd TD pass of the night.
Miami didn’t go away. But after the Canes retook the lead on DeeJay Dallas’ 50-yard TD run, the Gators answered again.
Franks, with his cleanest pocket of the night, threw a beautiful deep ball to Josh Hammond for a 65-yard gain. Three players later, Franks delivered the dagger on a 3-yard TD run to make it 24-20. It was the 5th and final lead change of the game.
Miami made it interesting when it picked off Franks for the 2nd time in the final minutes, but the Gators’ defense held. Eventually, even though it committed 2 pass interference penalties to extend the drive and give Miami one last chance.
Pugh to whew. Gator Nation may now exhale.
The Gators will take it, but they don’t want to repeat it.
Truth be told, most of the night belonged to Miami. The unranked Hurricanes, full of fury if not 5-stars, took it to the Gators.
All-time Canes great Michael Irvin got the party started earlier in the week, claiming the Hurricanes were going to come into town and rip out the Gators’ heart.
Miami played like it got the message.
Swag? Turnover chains? Touchdown rings? Check, check and straight cash. They were all on display on a night the Canes tried to stake their claim to state supremacy behind a rookie head coach and a first-time starting quarterback.
Not that Jarren Williams played like it. Williams held his own against Franks, particularly in the first half, when he completed 12 of 14 passes for 158 yards and a momentum-turning touchdown late in the first half to give the Canes a 13-7 lead.
Florida had opportunities in the first half, but twice lost a fumble. The first one, at Miami’s 7-yard line, cost the Gators a chance to add to their 7-3 lead. The second one, near midfield, set up Miami’s second field goal.
Both brought out a new version of Miami’s turnover chain.
Florida had its moments. Dan Mullen, who promised to bring back the fun, certainly didn’t wait long. He might not have emptied the playbook, but he certainly got past Chapter 3.
Florida’s opening possession of 2019 started with a 50-yard throw from Franks to Van Jefferson. (Jefferson caught it, but he was out of bounds.) Two plays later, Mullen was staring at a 4th-and-3 from Florida’s 28. The Gators punted on traditional football. Tommy Townsend took the snap and raced around the right edge to pick up the first down. The next play, Franks hit Kadarius Toney on a simple screen. Toney turned it into a spectacular 66-yard touchdown, getting two key blocks and breaking several tackles along the way.
But those plays were few and far between on a night filled with turnovers, penalties and missed tackles.
Florida got away with it on a neutral field Saturday in Week 0. But the Gators know their season will be judged on another neutral field in Florida — against Georgia in Week 10.
The Gators team that showed up in Orlando can’t be the same one that arrives in Jacksonville. Or that party will be over.
I think Miami gave Florida quite the scare but that muffed punt did them in.
A lot of teams play sloppy in their first game. It’s too early to tell if Florida is so bad that a first year coach almost did them in or if they will get better with time.
The ‘Gators have a chance to go to 5-0 with their forthcoming schedule, if they can get by Kaintuck in Lexington (remains to be seen), but after those next four games Vandy is the only “sure thing”(?) remaining on their schedule.
The SEC is a tough row to hoe, ain’t it?
It sure is
I might argue it was the missed FG. That meant that they needed a TD instead of just a FG out of the never-ending series at the end, which drastically altered both offensive and defensive strategy.
Butch Jones 2.0. Congrats UF.
Your opinion will be taken seriously once you get over that Vanderbilt hump….
Opinion? No,just a fact. Good luck rest of the year, guys! Lol!
Youd think a fan of team thats 1 for their last 15 treys would learn who to pick a fight with… but then again when your UT who do you have bragging rights over lol.
Tries*
False. 1)Butch Jones didn’t win 10 games his first year at UT 2)Butch Jones never had Tennessee in contention for anything before and after winming the coveted Mark Richt Champions of Life Trophy.
You’re out of your league.
Butch Jones was 10 times the coach that Mr. Potatohead is at any rate. Oh wait, Butch Jones WAS a real actual coach. Pruitt is not. Have fun with year 3 of sitting at home during bowl season Vols.
Talk trash when you hire a real head coach.
Denial is the first step.
Obviously you don’t know the meaning of fact
…so how seriously will you take his opinion about your coach if they get over the Florida hump first?
You old rascal. You better worry about Kentucky
They’ll still beat us by 40 after that embarrassment
If they beat us by 40 then we might as well not play the rest of the season. Just being honest.
Yeah-but look at the last 25 years of the series
You must be new…
Agreed oskie. But my point still stands. No reason to play rest of season if you can’t beat a team that plays a similar type game than what we just saw.
Probably should focus on climbing the women’s basketball mountain and give up football altogether.
Yeah, because that made so much sense…
That was some bad football tonight. I’m not sure Florida wins three sec games this year.
Your intelligence reeks of a Gawga fan. 1980….
78-24 chump… You’re just another blow hard Gayturd fan that is petrified after that monstrosity of a game. I thought Mullen could coach those guys up? Lane Kiffin 2.0… Mullen doesn’t deserve the respect to be compared to Butch Jones.
Another in a long line of stupid comments
At least you are consistent
What a sloppy game. Florida has a great defensive front, which is no surprise. Florida has a weak offensive line, which is good news for their opponents.
Sloppy game, Florida got lucky
Can you drop out of the top 25 after week 0?
Iono, but I’m sure its better than being a Champion of Life. Where’s your winning season at?
That’s an old joke man! Your team is lucky tonight face it.
That fact won’t be old until the narrative is changed. Come to the table with respect and I’ll spare you the history lesson. Simply put, although Florida has had so off years recently, the absolute last fanbase that has no to run their mouth abouth anything Orange and Blue is Tennessee. And you know why that is. You wanna run your mouth, pick a better team to depend on.
As far as tonight goes, not one Floida fan say we’re Playoff material after tonight, but for a UT fan to joke about performance is ridiculous. We won in with one less week of prep against a Power 5 team. It could be worse.
Get your program up.
Some problematic arguments, but I’ll just point out a small factual error:
Pretty sure UF & Miami got waivers to start practice early and had the same amount of prep time for week 0 as other teams will have for week 1. Which likely means that they have an opportunity to have more prep than any of their remaining opponents.
If that makes you feel better. Wasn’t my main point. Read it again, son.
That Miami team couldn’t beat my 80 year old grandmother on a double-team blitz, and her crippled dog could’ve rushed for 200 yards with their open-field tackling. Franks had 4 turnovers. Miami lost because their biggest weakness (o-line pass-pro) was the worst weakness to have against Todd.
Nice way to dodge an error…
So you’re arguing that was a good performance? Or are you going to continue to spout whataboutism’s? To argue that was any sort of good effort is as dumb as Frank’s punting the ball into the stands and pretending like the game wasn’t entirely decided by a muffed punt and the worst left tackle in college football.
What I’m saying is that a team that has beat us once in 15 seasons should excercise restraint when being critical.
We won in Week 0. In Tennesee’s greatness, they would lose in a bye week.
Next question.
What I’m saying is that’s not a top 25 performance. I’m not saying that translates into anything for UT (see my other comment above), but if you’re arguing that game doesn’t indicate a long season unless many things change, you’re mistaken. Again, tell me how that was a performance worthy of even a top 25 team, let alone #8?
Next willfully ignorant observation on your part….
Because teams that are on the outside of the top 25, like say, Tennessee, would probably lose a game like that. Expand your knowledge, that wasn’t Townsend, it was a Miami with a very good defense with a good defensive coach. We won. You would’ve had something if we lost, I’ll leave that to the Vols. Did you now the greatest QB at Tennesse never beat Florida? Mind blown! Dismissed.
How do you know Miami isnt going to go on a tear? Your basing this whole game on them being unranked in a preseason pole. That Miami team would of Beat TN, SC. Vandy and SC. Not sure why any of you butthurt losers are piping off.
An 8th ranked team barely scraping by (in terrible fashion) to an unranked team is something teams barely outside the top 25 couldn’t do. Come again? I’ve repeatedly stated this is an objectively horrid performance that has no bearing on how the UT game will shake out. Your willful ignorance of this point, combined with whataboutisms against UT, doesn’t negate that this performance is objectively bad, should be troubling to UF fans, and will result in them having a lower ranking after week 1 play ends. Please refute either of those 3 points because you’ve failed to do so thus far.
“Preseason pole”…..
We got a genius here folks.
Pacha is such a pathetic scrub that he has to reply to every comment on here lmao… dude grow a pair and realize your team looked like trash tonight… instead of calling everyone out for disagreeing with you, you just need to realize you are wrong… what a moron
Frank’s in the zone lol
Florida tried hard to give that game away…
Miami was given several legitimate opportunities to win the game
But Miami tried harder
Both teams were undisciplined. Franks should not be so cocky, he is an average QB. Miami made crucial and horrible mistakes. Florida’s secondary was embarrassing with the PI’s and missed tackles. Florida should not be celebrating. They have a lot of work to do. Miami has more work to do. It was all around a horrible game and the ball hit the ground more times than a middle school football game. It was definitely a pre season college game.
The dang officials were just as embarrassing. Never been so amused by a football game.
Florida’s PIs at the end we’re definitely PIs except the one in the endzone that got called back. Florida got away with a lot until the end. Both teams were undisciplined with penalties.
That was the sloppiest football game I’ve seen in a while.
Miami’s o-line was a dumpster fire and Todd took full advantage of it. Franks made some really boneheaded decisions but that throw to Hammonds was a beauty.
Miami’s D-line definitely won the run-game battle, though. It felt like Florida couldn’t get any headway in their rushing attack.
Kadarious Toney is a very good football player.
Florida’s secondary is the definition of aggressive, but they kind of have to be given how much they’re stranded out there alone while every linebacker and his safety brother goes careening towards the quarterback every pass play.
Jarren Williams is a stud. Performed decently behind the worst o-line I’ve seen since the one Jacob Eason had to line up behind.
I agree about Jarren Williams. He played better than any freshman has a right to play, considering the pressure he was getting. Florida’s secondary, like the rest of the defense, was very aggressive toward the end. It was too aggressive, to the point of being stupid.
Cringe! Felipe Franks is an absolute clown.
This is not a good football team. EVERYTHING I said would be bad about Floriduh came true.
Can’t run behind a terrible offensive line.
Franks did not take a leap or even a step forward. He sucks just like he always sucks. Makes bad decisions when under pressure, which he will be a lot this year.
Sideshow Dan the Clown is overrated as both a play caller and as a coach who develops players. He does neither at a level he would need to do to overcome his terrible recruiting.
This is an 8-4 team is everything goes right for them this year injury-wise.
This game confirmed everything for me. November 2nd can’t get here soon enough. The Dawgs will wipe the floor with Floriduh for the third year in a row.
Trying to live out that 1980 magic, eh. Look forward to Gawga using their backup QB to try to salvage something this year. Mark it. No one cares about what a fan of Febuary Champions think. You love us so much. Good thing you have no one at home to use all that energy on. Continue being Florida’s number one fan, Loser….
That’s all you got? What Coach has actually taken a team to the CFB Playoffs? What Coach has won an SEC title? I’m not sorry your coach and your team sucks. Actually, it makes me happy. LOL!
You sound so desperate for Florida to be bad. Just enjoy Georgia football, Corch.
What has Gawga really accomplished since Kirb’s hire? Having been at Gawga lOnger than Mullen at Florida.
How exactly has he changed the narrative that Gawga is still the posterchild for underachievement in this millenium?
Next question.
Explain how you hired Nick Saban Jr. and have the same National Championships as Dan Mullen?
Don’t give me the rap about it now and pray for it later. In the past 10 years, our trophy rooms look pretty much the same, that is, except for one glaring omission.
Come on Corch! You and you show ponies haven’t done anything! And here you are constantley on Florida stories continuing to be a disgrace to your fanbase. You all have NOTHING! Week 0? NOTHING! Playoffs? NOTHING
Kirby’s been a head coach for three full seasons, Pacha. How long has Mullen been a head coach again?
Kirby’s not had any more success than Mullen? Are you delusional?
Two division titles while going undefeated in the division two straight years. An SEC Title. A trip to the CFP Playoffs. A Rose Bowl win.
In three years. Sure, Pacha. He’s not had any success at all. None. All while learning on the job. LOL.
You sound like a battered wife. A Rose Bowl win? Really? I’m talking real hardware amd you know it. I don’t even brag about Divisional Titles! Are you serious. You know what I’m saying and you can’t get around it. 1 SEC Title(against someone other than Bama, who you played before, without Kerryon Johnson) is cool, good accomplishment, but Kirby Smart was brought to Gawga to win the National Championship. If he hasn’t done that in five years, he’ll be gone. By either his choice or the school. You all flexed too early with all those Bama near misses. Different toilet, same Gawga.
you typing “Gawga” a million times makes you look like the inbred trailer trash that you are. I realize not being able to get into UF or UGA is a tough blow, but focus on trying to not make it so obvious that your IQ makes Walmart a tough job for you
Wait didnt you predict wed lose?
I could literally choke a real gator over the stupid penalties towards the end of the game….stupid mistakes almost cost the game for Florida
Florida did not look Top 25, let alone Top 10.
Good enough to beat SC
You don’t need to be top 25 to beat USC.
^^^
I thought Franks was an embarrassment and not because of his average QB play.
“Average” is a bit more than he deserves after that game.
17/27 for 254 and 3 TD’s. He could’ve played better, sure. If that is average then I’m sure a few teams would take that any day of the week.
Are they gonna take the interceptions, including the inexcusable one late, the fumbles and the missed throws, too? You can’t just point out the positive stats and ignore the negative. Especially when they happened at a time when a competent team would have buried Florida.
The fumble was more on Perine
I respect what you’re saying, beachbum, but those numbers are decieving. That was old Franks is true form.
Yes, he had 3 TDs, but he also had 2 INTs and 2 fumbles.
That play was an RPO and so it’s on Franks. To me it looked like he decided to give it to Perine and then decided after that he wanted it back. Perines job on an RPO is to take the ball if it’s given to him because he’s not the one deciding run or pass. If Franks were more decisive and recognized it was a pass earlier he wouldn’t have even put the ball where Perine would think he needed to take it. That one is mostly on Franks.
I thought so too. He’s simply not likable and seems to be more about himself than the team.
He does love the camera.
I told my wife after the Michigan game last year that if Franks was the starter next year, the other QBs on the roster need to transfer because they’re just not good QBs if they can’t beat him out. On top of it all, he’s oblivious to how bad he is and he has poor character. What an embarrassment. Trask needs to have his chance
Yep, my takeaway from this game is thinking on what all the other QBs must be thinking. Franks is responsible for 4 turnovers all by himself, and Dan praises him after the game. The other kids must be wondering just how badly does Franks have to play for him to get yanked? Is it going to take another Missouri game where Franks is responsible for going 3 and out 7 straight possessions in a row before he’s benched? We are going to lose Emory Jones, most likely Trask will give up on Florida and bail as well.
Did I miss a TO? I dont see how him pitching the ball to Malik and hitting him in the hands is his fault…
Refreshing to see a fan look beyond the uniform. Admittedly there is grey area with this type of behavior, but I agree that he embarrassed himself (though that appeared to be a common goal for an unfortunately large number of players).
As someone outside the program, I can’t say that it surprises me when a player learns from a coach, which is why I wasn’t a fan of some of Mullen’s offseason antics. It often doesn’t affect the win-loss record, but I care about more than that in life.
Congrats GatorbaitorU fans. An ugly win is better than an ugly loss I suppose…but dammnet, that was some ugly here, I don’t want it you take it football…never know what to expect in game 1 but I expected better.
The game was terribly sloppy by both teams. The Miami OLine can’t block and the UF defensive backs can’t tackle. The UF DLine played great though and they were by far the best unit on the field. I expected more from the UF offense but they didn’t deliver. I’m good with that.
Good lord the tackling was terrible from Florida tonight and that better be fixed before UGA rolls into Jacksonville if UF wants to have a chance.
Lot of things to coach up. Franks may not make it. Win’s a win tho.
Wow! That was one ugly football game. Florida was the better team but not by much.
Neither team was really capable of putting the game away. Florida tried to give it away multiple times. They won’t get away with that against many SEC teams. Florida and Franks have a long way to go…
Possibly the worst 4 hours of my life and that includes a heart attack and stent surgery.
I assume they can clean up the defensive lack of discipline. I applaud Mullen’s gutsy play calling.
Felipe Franks is simply not a big time QB. He made one throw the entire night. Sorry to be so negative, but this is a young and green Miami team that almost won.
How can they possibly compete in the SEC?
“Possibly the worst 4 hours of my life and that includes a heart attack and stent surgery.”
LOL!
Funniest post of the night!
Florida is a good football team, they will get better as the season goes on, we know this. Tonight, idk if it was nerves or just rust or what but both teams played sloppy and UF tried their hardest to give it away. Credit to grantham for taking full advantage of that o-line. That and the muffed punt was the difference tonight. Franks … I was fully convinced he would turn a corner and he just might, it’s hard to tell based on one game against a solid defense, but tonight just looked like same ol Franks. Maybe he just is what he is.
I’m just happy football is back!
Florida tried hard to give it away, but Miami tried harder. Three missed tackles on one play and a muffed-punt turnover resulted in 14 of Florida’s 24 points. It was not very good football on either side.
First games can be that way. But every week is a new ballgame, both literally and figuratively.
Very true. 3 points off 4 turnovers doesn’t help either. But once again, gotta credit grantham for continuing to hit them where they were vulnerable.
I just hope Mizzou doesn’t scuffle like that at high altitude vs. Wyoming.
The missed field goal was huge. Made them need a TD instead of a FG to win at the end, which had a huge impact on both offensive and defensive strategy towards the end.
Effective tackling is a fundamental skill better focused on during fall camp than during the season. There’s still time to improve but if Florida’s defense is struggling with it as the season progresses, it will cost them against better teams.
SDS, it’s still only week 0. If you hurry, there’s just enough time to re-write all of those ridiculous “Ranking Each QB ——— Will Face” articles. Franks is a clown, and Florida’s offense looked horrible. There are at least 4 conference losses on that schedule.
Bingo.
Your lack of understanding about a first game against a real opponent versus the rest of the year is laughable.
Not at all. His understanding of Franks as a qb is spot on.
I’m not real sure what Dan Mullen was smiling about after that game. That was an awful football game all the way around. I bleed orange and blue but that was embarrasing and I genuinely hope everyone is done blowing smoke up Feleipe Franks arse.
Spurrier’s expression said it all…
Granted the pass was terrible, but why call that play?
Although it was a bad game, I would be smiling too. A win is a win is a win is a win. You give up 4 turnovers, play terrible all around outside the pass rush and still win. It’s ugly, but part of the process.
I don’t know of an elite coach that would be smiling after a game like that. I guess thats the difference between good and great…
Well to be fair, I’m sure he wasn’t smiling in the locker room. But once again, a win is a win. Even elite coaches/teams win ugly sometimes.
You’re exactly right. I was surprised by UF tonight. Not what I was expecting at all. Franks was outplayed by the RS Frosh of Miami tonight. The line was bad, real bad. The line looked like ours the past couple years and that surprised me the most.
Unless this game was an anomaly UF is in for a long season.
This was a first game, against a real opponent. It very ugly. Incidentally, the officiating was very ugly too.
Miami had the best defense we will see until the Auburn game, and they didn’t tire (which covered their lack of depth) because their offense had good time of possession.
The Gators still won.
They will clean up the focus and discipline issues.
Do you have any idea how good this team must be, to make this many mistakes and still win? Tennessee will get boat-raced (again) when the play Florida.
I’ll give you this…..you are very optimistic for what everyone else saw tonight
The score would have been dramatically different had we opened with Duke.
Idk man Duke may have beat that group of guys in blue tonight seeing how they didn’t know they were even playing football.
Honestly, UF gave up 4 turnovers (a 3 turnover advantage to the opponent) and only 52 yards rushing on the night. This is against a traditional opponent who just seems to play lights out against us and is something like 8-2 for the last 10 meetings. Miami always gets up to play Florida and gives a better game than usual for some reason. For Florida to pull out a victory in week 1 with that brand new O line against most likely the best run defense they will see all season long, I can see the reason to be optimistic too. How many teams would fold with 4 turnovers and only 52 yards on the ground with a jeckle-and-hyde QB calling the shots anyways? As Dan Mullen said after the game, many of these issues can be worked on and cleaned up. I think the penalties and mistakes, definitely the O line will improve. Nothing can help Franks at this point. Year 3 now for him and he is what he is. Still this is a win and not a loss. Pretty gutsy way to get a victory when nobody knew until 12 seconds left in the game who would actually win.
…most likely the best run defense they will see all season long… Ok, it’s a new year. But let’s say we compare the teams on UF’s schedule this year by how they did against the run last year. Miami ranked 42nd in the country. LSU ranked 34th, Auburn 32nd, and Georgia 31st. Glad you don’t have Alabama (19th), aTm (3rd), or MS State (2nd!) on the schedule this year? My fear for you is that the new line Franks and Perine are working with will help them about as much as Auburn’s did a year ago. Care to look at those stats? (They aren’t pretty. But check out SEC Shorts making fun of Auburn’s “Missing Offensive Line” [Sept. 30, 2018]. It’s really hilarious…) If UF is forced to become a one-dimensional offense because they are unable to run behind that line, having Franks as QB would scare me. I wouldn’t trust him under pressure. Granted, you have three weeks until Kentucky, and four weeks until Tennessee. I’m sure the game plan until then will be as vanilla as possible, and issues will be addressed. Tonight’s game only confirmed the suspicion that I had about how hard it is to compete well when 4 of 5 guys on the O-line are new. Glad y’all eked/reeked out a win (sort of), but it looks like it’s gonna be a roller coaster of a season for you guys. Strap in…
Dude…I love the gators as much as anyone man but we don’t need to be calling anyone out right now
Is one a real Gator fan if they admit any type of discipline problems under Mullen at UF?
The TN reference out of nowhere is telling. I remember in 2017 when a ranked UT team scraped by in ugly fashion against a garbage ACC opponent. Now, the talent and coaching similarities aren’t close, but UF objectively has a lot to fix to maintain last season’s success. I’m not saying UT will win this year (guessing they won’t), but maybe focus on your team’s performance instead of a team that should be an afterthought, given recent history.
Miami’s dline can’t hold Auburn’s jockstrap.That weak oline play from tonight will get thoroughly dismantled by the AU D.
Nashgator, you can be defensive and say all you want but you’re just wrong. If you’re an honest fan of UF you’re worried after watching that last night and that has nothing to do with other teams. It’s just reality. Can UF get better? Absolutely and I suspect they will. But last night was horrible and the entire world was watching.
You must be new…
That posted wrong
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a game where both teams deserved to lose before. That fourth quarter was just a comedy of errors for both teams.
How many times was the Miami QB sacked???
10
Wow, wow, and wow!
Fans may want to let their teams play their first game of the season before telling Florida fans their teams sucks and won’t win any SEC games….
Well said.
Reminds me of UGA players and fans trash talking Norte Dame before going out there and puking on their shirts against Texas.
Was thinking the same thing. Nice to hear it from another fan base. Seems like a lot of stone-throwing around a lot of glass houses to me. A lot of teams that Franks beat on here saying how terrible he is.
How did you view his performance?
Really not looking for an argument but if you really wanna know, I thought it was okay. The o line was doing just okay against Miami’s ferocious d line but Franks was under pressure a lot. He made some great plays and a few bad ones. The last int looked really bad. He says he was hit, I don’t see it but it was a bad play call regardless. You won’t find comments from me calling him the best qb in the SEC but I’ll take him over all but maybe 3? It’s just funny to see people calling him not SEC caliber when he has beaten most of the SEC teams he has played.
Fair assessment. I think his pompous attitude sucks and that alone will make it easy to vilify him…I’d take him as a backup otion
I didn’t really see the attitude problem, partly because we had basically no volume at the tailgate I was at and partially because I was wasted. Apparently he did something in front of the camera? I think he’s just frustrated with people saying he sucks but maybe he’s not a great person. I have no way of knowing
Eliminate the turnovers and boneheaded penalties and this game ends in a blowout. Dawg fans act like these things are highly unusual in the first game, or can’t be fixed. One thing I saw was a team that didn’t give up no matter what. Miami’s been the thorn in their side for quite some time and they finally got past them. I’m not too worried about the rest of the season. I have no doubt they’ll clean things up.
The boneheaded penalties are easy. Coach Chizik on SEC Now basically told it like it is. Hold them accountable and ask them what they were thinking when reviewing the game. Make them stand up and explain why they did what they did to the entire team. Make it embarrassing for them. Cleaning up mistakes can be done. UF has the best O line coach in the SEC. He took the pile of poop that was Florida’s O line in 2017 and made it one of the best in 2018. Give him time to work with these brand new guys and it WILL improve as the season goes on. This was week 0 and it was against the toughest run defense UF will face all season long. Tonight’s lack of a run game was all but expected.
What UF CAN’T fix is the turnovers. The 4 turnovers were all on Felipe Franks. So long as Dan Mullen will keep putting him out there as the starter, UF isn’t going to be cutting back on it’s boneheaded turnover problem.
Toughest run d? I’d wager lsu’s will be tougher. Auburn’s too. I know it was a full year ago, but an LSU offense with the least talented (I love them just the same) runningbacks we’ve had since the turn of the century and a first time qb who arrived at the end of summer ate them up in the opener. Auburn had one of the best fronts in college football and LSU isn’t as deep up front but our lbs can fly. Perine is a really good back and the oline should get better for y’all but that is NOT the best d you will play by a long shot.
I dunno, Miami has a really tough front seven. You may be right that they are not the best but to say it’s a long shot is ridiculous.
It’s literally called week zero and we won lol good god youd of thought we lost by 30.
summing this up: Miami was 7-6 last year, that’s just barely a winning record
and who did they play to amass this unimpressive result? Savannah State, Toledo, Florida International, and 8 ACC schools who might be at their all time low compared to the rest of the Power 5 programs
But the football rankers had Florida rated highly in the preseason poll anyway so where was the prediction that follows automatically saying Florida should trample Miami?… nowhere to be found.
Is Miami magically better than last year, or is Florida over-rated early with a long ways to go….. once again? I’m betting on over-rated. Now having said that I know Mullen is a good coach, but I don’t know if he has his psychological profile of players in Florida yet (or ever). Good luck though Gators, we need you to toughen up and help make the SEC East the greatest again this year.
Knowing history helps here. Somehow, Miami always seems to play like a national title contender against the Gators. It doesn’t matter if Miami goes 0-11 the rest of it’s games that year, they seem to somehow get up and play like an NFL team everytime they go against The Gators. You can throw so much else out the window but you can’t ignore that simple strange fact. It was something like 8-2 in favor of Miami in the last 10 meetings until tonight.
You know these sixth graders at the camp I worked at this summer were really nasty on defense every time I came to the plate in kickball…
Really, that’s just made up, but for some reason it sounds familiar.
Those looked like two very bad teams. Maybe they will improve, but this Florida team has a long way to go before they can think of being a team that can contend in the SEC East. They were bailed out by a totally inept Miami team with no offensive line or discipline. Against a competent P-5 opponent this is a 2-3 TD loss for the Gators.
Meanwhile, in the other Week 0 game, the Mountain West’s Hawaii has 287 passing yards and 4 passing TDs in the first half vs. the Pac-12’s Arizona Mildcats.
Now we look forward to (Auburn) Tigers vs. Ducks next week. A quote:
“The Pac-12 is under siege and needs a quick start to change the national perception that it can’t compete against the nation’s elite teams. That’s why Oregon must find a way to beat Auburn in the season opener on Aug. 31, or the conference might have trouble finding a team capable of making the College Football Playoff.” — Sporting News
According to posted odds, you have to bet 13 on Auburn to win 8. Pac-12 in the playoffs? I don’t think so.
I hope Florida plays every rivalry game this season like they did tonight. Please play us like you did tonight. Pretty please.
You want Florida to go undefeated?
@GATORPIANIST……..If you think this would get it done vs UGA. Then you really are DELUSIONAL!!! But hey I saw this season coming. It’s gonna be really bad!!!
What happened to the prediction that Florida was gonna drop 50 on them before half??? If not for the muffed punt and REFS, Y’ALL LOSE!!!!!!
PS. Your in denial. But you feel it to!!!
King Negan
You don’t seem to get it. Florida played ugly, made an insane number of first week mistakes, and still managed to gut out the win. If that’s what you want when Florida faces your team, to look ugly and make every conceivable mistake it can but still come away with a victory, then so be it.
Wait. Didn’t I see a Miami win prediction from you on a different article? Something about being right for three straight years? Man. It must suck for that steak to end.
Early in the game, there were a few plays in which Williams looked like he was going to put on a Johnny Football performance.
He had a moment – late in the 4th Quarter – bad snap, batted up, he caught it again and rolled out….but alas, a sack instead of a touchdown.
Turns out he’s not Johnny after all. He did look pretty good, though.
Not being Johnny Football is a very good thing, it turns out.
Y’all wouldn’t need Johnny Football to beat this bunch. You got anything that fits your WATER GIRL???? This year’s gators will beat themselves if you just stay out of their way!!!! Bowl game, MAYBE!!! Dissatisfaction and disappointment are a GUARANTEE!!!!!
Florida will learn THE HARD WAY. That one or two good players won’t consistently win in the SEC!!!! You need DEPTH. AND THEY DON’T HAVE ANY!!!! I’m a man of my word. THIS IS THE FIRST PREDICTION I’VE MISSED IN OVER 3 YEARS!!! Of course I said Florida should win. I just didn’t think they would!!!!
PS. Perfect time to begin a brand new streak. Now that I got the law of averages out of the way, on a meaningless game!!!!
King Negan
He did look pretty good. He would look a lot better if he wasn’t running for his life every play.
Gotta give the kid a bunch of credit. True freshman, first game is a rivaly game against a pre-season top 10 team, no offensive line to protect him, and looks respectable. Talk about OJT. Not too shabby if you ask me. I’m interested to see how good he’ll become.
I wasn’t able to get the entire game, but glad the Gators came out on top. Was pulling for you all the way. Can’t stand those mugs in Miami. Go Gators!
BulldogsNBama……..You have all your bases covered!!! Florida will never represent the EAST!!! Not this year!!!!
King Negan
Florida has represented the East more than all the other East teams combined since the league was split into East and West. Your prediction is so stupid I can only assume that you are a jort wearing immoral UGLY fan. You probably think Kirby Smart is a good head coach too.
I think Kirby is a good head coach. I also don’t think a few questionable in-game decisions can alone define his potential as he starts only his fourth year as a head coach.
UCF fans surely feel a lot better now about the rest of the state
Why? So they can tough it out in their nail biter against Cincinnati? They should temper that.
@Pacha12………I’m SEC myself. But I tell the truth. UCF would beat the crap out of this Florida team!!! In 2017 they proved it vs auburn!!!!
Assuming THE MULLET EXPRESS accidentally makes a bowl game this year. Instead of playing over hyped teams with half their starters missing like Michigan.
Why not step up to the plate and PLAY UCF assuming their not a playoff team.
Florida won’t be busy!!!! So if UCF isn’t busy. How about a BATTLE FOR THE STATE OF FLORIDA BOWL??????? Is MulletU up for this??? I’m sure UCF would love it!!!!!
Go dawgs!!!!!! DO MORE!!!!!!
King Negan
STFU for once guy… You’re an idiot at best.
@UCFBS…….UCF shouldn’t even be mentioned along side SEC’s FLORIDA GATORS!!!!!
It’s just not fair. UCF WOULD DESTROY THEM!!!! LOL. I noticed Mullen hasn’t tried to hard to put this UCF team on their schedule!!!!
Mullen is a creep!!!! He is waiting and hoping UCF falls like FSU did. Then he will schedule you. And claim that he is doing something HUGE!!!
King Negan
Coaches don’t make the schedule. Also, Florida plays Florida State every year so no one was waiting for FSU to fall to play them. Are other Georgia fans just cool with this guy’s brand of idiocy?
Our king is like watching CNN farcical news…entertaining for about a minute and a half surrounded by 28 and a half minutes of hmmmm…
This was an embarrassing loss I mean win. I have never seen such sloppy football in my life. The thing is Miami is bad especially on oline and we still barely won. I’ve never been so disappointed by a win and what a terrible way to kick if the football season with everyone watching. We have a lot to clean up from tackling to PI to getting our OLine to do anything. Two things that really bothered me the most were Franks cocky attitude he is not a winning QB and I am not a fan of him at all anymore. Showed 0 leadership. Second is Mullen besides some pretty bad play calling I don’t see how he was smiling after that game. Any great head coach like Saban or Spurrier would have been livid. This game has definitely made me very concerned for this season.
Ps I know that UF looked terrible tonight but it blows my mind how any UT fan can talk crap after their season last year or their record vs UF the past 15 years
Ben I have known you to be a very logical and legit poster. Not sure which UT fans you are referring to but I have posted what I thought too and don’t consider it talking trash. Unfortunately Florida didnt live up to the hype last night. Doesn’t mean they won’t, it’s just the first game, but as you yourself stated you have a lot to be concerned about. My team has done little over the last decade but that doesn’t negate my ability and right to comment here like everyone else. We all have our trolls but they are going to troll regardless of team or results. Good luck to your team righting the ship. I’m sure they will be better but not so sure they will get #8 better. All they can do now is prove the doubters right or wrong.
Trust me its not you I have a problem with as you bring a lot to this website and are one of the people that I can actually have a real discussion with about football. Trust me I am very dissapointed in the game I watched last night but I was also disappointed last year when we lost to Uk so Im not ready to throw in the towel yet. The two UTjr fans talking trash I saw off the top of my head were Justafan22 and ETVol2003. I actually do hope UT does improve greatly this year and finishes 3rd in the east just want them to lose 1 game. Best of luck to you guys
What this proves to anyone with half a brain. Is just how STUPID Dan Mullen really is!!!! I mean first drive. 4th and 3 backed up fairly deep in his own territory. FIRST DRIVE!!!! He sure brought back the fun.
BUT WHAT IF THEY GOT STOPPED??????? How smart would Danny boy look then????
Then lucky to be in command. Instead of running the ball. DAN IS THROWING, JUST LIKE VS KENTUCKY. You know when Mullen broke the streak!!!! DAN MULLEN BROKE THE 31 YEAR FLORIDA WINNING STREAK OVER KENTUCKY BY LOSING!!! AND HOW??????
Because down on the goal line with Kentucky holding on to a small lead. He again wants Franks to get a passing TD. Instead of using his pretty good offensive line and running backs!!! So Franks go’s back to pass. But no TD PASS…..
INSTEAD FRANKS GETS HIT HARD AND FUMBLES AND KENTUCKY TOOK IT THE DISTANCE FOR A TD OF THEIR OWN!!!! SEALING THE DEAL!!!
This was almost KENTUCKY PART 2. You got lucky but it wasn’t Mullen or Franks that saved the day. It was THE REFS and LUCK!!!!!
If either the fake punt deep in GATOR territory or Franks unnecessary pass had beaten you. How would you feel about Mullen then??? Both of these were far far dumber calls than the fake punt that Fields refused to throw!!!! That is just the facts Jack!!!!
Mullen can’t rely on luck against some of the good to elite teams!!! Surely you don’t really think that this Miami team beats South Carolina, or even on a good day Tennessee??? Heck at their best I truly believe last year’s Vandy would annihilate this Miami team I saw today!!!
So don’t bill Miami as a POWERHOUSE. Because their not even close!!!! This game only enforced what I’ve been saying about Florida. There schedule is light for an SEC school. Light enough that they might get to 8,9 MAYBEEEEE 10 WINS with more luck. But they also could end with DISASTER!!!
I think disaster is on the way to the gators this year.
IF YOU WANTED TO IMPRESS ME. IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN GATORS 50 CANES 0!!!!
FAILED GATORS PREDICTION…
In fact I seem to remember y’all were saying you were gonna drop 50 on them BEFORE HALFTIME. Remember that little prediction???? Well I guess that’s what you thought of that TOUGH DEFENSE then??? Well start complaining to Mullen. Y’all were lucky to score 24!!!!!! LOL.
WAS UGA SUPPOSED TO FEAR THE MULLET?
Well, Nobody in Georgia bulldawg land is nervous tonight. Instead like any good dawg. WE ARE DROOLING AND LICKING OUR CHOPS!!!! Sure we want a national championship that was stolen from us. But any season we kick Florida’s butt is a great season!!!! And I’m planning on a third celebration in a row.
PS. I bet Spurrier and Urban Liar will be absent for the cocktail party!!!! Anyone want to bet???
King Negan
Why do you love Florida so much?
He’s most likely a bulldog fan, which means he secretly self loathes himself and has to hide the fact that deep in his heart filled with lies, he knows one truth and one truth only. Kirby Smart will never be a good coach and will never win them anything but national championship in recruiting.
He/She/It is especially worried this year knowing that UGLY lost it’s top 5 receivers from last year and Froom likely has nobody to pass to, so his team is 1 dimensional this year with a running game and nothing else but a 4th and Dumb coach to flip a coin between draw plays or toss sweep right/left plays every single time.
Wow, that was a painfully dumb comment.
Get help pls
Told you they were overrated if they keep playing like that they’ll be lucky to win 6 games
A comment thread worthy of the long-awaited first game of the season!
I posted before the game that I was sorely conflicted on this one. SEC loyalty vs. a lifetime of being a Gator Hater. My takeaways from a sloppy first game by both teams were just that: it’s a first game. Plenty of room to improve for both teams, but anyone who automatically assumes those things will get better has not watched a lot of football.
The Gators’ O-line seems to be as bad as advertised. If you can’t run the ball in the SEC, you’ve got problems. Being one-dimensional without a quick-thinking, accurate QB adds to the burden. I’m not sure how you fix this in-season. Experience will help as time goes by but it’s not a panacea for the lack of fundamentals I saw. That’s what camp is for. Once Florida gets into the meat of its schedule points could be hard to come by.
The D looks to be the backbone of this team, particularly the front 6/7. The secondary talent is there but tackling is an issue. Tackling was an issue at UGA under Grantham, even though he had scads of Sunday players. Tackling was often an issue at Louisville under Grantham. Coincidence? The guy loves scheme and complexity, but fundamentals seem to be lacking more often than not in his defenses.
Sloppy Game One. No absolutes to be taken away, but some very telling trends. I have no doubt Mullen will improve some of the more glaring stuff over the next few games, but I did not see a contender tonight. The more objective Gator fans have expressed very legit concerns, and in my opinion Mullen has his work cut out for him.
Reasonable comments.
Tackling will be vastly better by the first SEC game. Some of it was due to bad angles on a running back who will play on Sundays.
I looked at Miami’s schedule. Their toughest games are Virginia and FSU. There is a good chance they go 11-1 before meeting Clemson in the ACC Championship game. Jarren Williams is good. Dallas is a load with speed. Their defense will dominate in the ACC Coastal. And their inexperienced OL just played, by far, the best DL they will face during the regular season.
I’m not sure the fumbles are on Franks; the pitch fumble definitely wasn’t.
Franks was 62% with 2 TD passes, one rushing TD and two interceptions. The first interception was too high over the middle. The second was a hit from behind on an attempt to throw out of bounds. Looked like he had a clear running lane. Mullen called the pass; I suspect he wanted another score and didn’t feel good about running out the clock with 4 minutes left. Franks is a lightning rod, some of it self-inflicted. But as for his play, this was a first game against a quality defense. He was good enough to win. The bomb on a rope was a thing of beauty.
Toney was amazing on the long run but Miami was fast and their lateral pursuit was excellent. I suspect that’s why Toney didn’t get more touches. That and he used poor judgment on one TFL.
The refs, in addition to missing several calls (just two examples: Malik Davis recovered the fumbled pitch and was down, and a clear Florida false start was missed), called pass interference more aggressively than an SEC crew will. But the DBs not knowing the yard to make and not playing smart situational football on 3rd and 34 was dumb.
Ventrell Miller had a great game and James Houston had a good game, except for his bonehead out-of-bounds hit. Unexpected performances that will be great for the linebacker rotation depth.
There is zero transitive property for this game and the rest of the season. Especially with respect to the poor tackling.
As soon as you predict Miami to go 11-1, it’s hard to take the rest of your opinions seriously. Miami will be lucky to win 8 games this year.
My comments exactly boxy. When you try to paint Miami as a contender to make your own incompetence more palatable you are in deep, deep trouble.
You might want to take a look at their schedule.
Very well said Fuzzy. I too often fell in that trap during the final years of Richt’s tenure at UGA. When Georgia Southern took UGA to OT in 2015 I eventually stopped.
Sho’ nuff, that is one lame-a$$ schedule as it stands right now. Not a single ranked team. The narrative could change but ESPN has their remaining SOS ranked 57th, and that appears to be generous.
“Tackling will be vastly better by the first SEC game. Some of it was due to bad angles on a running back who will play on Sundays.”
Good thing there aren’t any more NFL caliber backs on UF’s schedule…
I’ve got to say 11-1 for Miami seems overly optimistic.
I’d say Franks was (barely) not bad enough to lose. Though he did come close.
According to the broadcast’s rules expert, it seems like y’all are wrong about the fumble recovery.
It’s easy to overreact and hard to project much after one game. UF didn’t lose, but they do have some serious lingering questions.
Well said.
It’s been awhile since I saw that many personal fouls in one game, not to mention all the flags thrown for, in the end, nothing. Pathetic.
Im no Grantham fan but he had a good game. Repeatedly abused Miami awful OL. Called for blitzes at all the right times . But holy crap what bad tackling.
On offense Franks is up and down in his performance. Same as before. What are you gonna get each game? Each series? #2 is a fine RB . OL was mediocre against a mediocre Miami DL.
Before this game I predicted 9-3 for Gators. Some think thats under rating Fla. After this game I dont think so. Cant see them beating Ga or Lsu. Can they go 9-0 in rest of games to match last year? It would take extreme luck and zero injuries on OL and in DB to do that IMO.
ANY!!! Offense at all , Miami would have won this game. period
Florida had some of the least disciplined play I’ve seen in a CFB game. If I was Mullen I’d be steamed about some of those penalties. Florida is real lucky to have 4 turnovers and still win the game. Gotta get that cleaned up but a wins a win in the end I guess
Too bad discipline doesn’t reflect coaching…oh wait…
After watching game replay, turns out Gator tackling really was ok except for a few plays. The defense can be very good. Grantham is aggressive so penalties are part of it . Not necessarily bad if not procedural. Last nite the 2 PI penalties were awful but Im ok with smart PI. Gator Offense? IDK. OL is just ok, Perine is much better than i thought. I like him a lot. To me , it comes down to Franks. If it is Good Felipe all year, Gators will be very tough. But IDK if that is possible. Bad Felipe shows up too much.Hes a baller, though Ill give him that.