My daughter's admission to the University of Florida this fall has given me a chance to root for another as our Hoos struggle so badly. As you may know, Florida is going through some tough times (its previous coach was terrible) and its current team is not good. In fact, talent wise there is not much difference between UVa and UF. Yet UF is 4-0 and feeling great about itself and UVA is 1-3 and falling apart. So, let's take a look at some differences.
1. UF fired its bad coach at the end of last season. If Muschamp was still coaching I doubt UF is 4-0. UF, like UVa, needed a fresh start, and UF was smart enough to give it one.
2. Schedule - UF would be 1-3, and falling apart if it played UVa's schedule. UF did not have a starting QB when the season started, and like UVa it had lots of question marks. No way UF beats UCLA in LA, and while it would have given a ND a good game in the Swamp, it most likely would have lost that game. Finally, UF is still a mess, and well-coached team like Boise State would probably won easily in the Swamp. Instead, UF started the season with a patsy, which let them work out a lot of kinks. It then played ECU at home and eeked out a victory. While its next two games were against conference opponents, the two teams were a bottom feeder SEC team and a good Vols team that has huge issues finishing games. UVa would have been a lot better if it played a regular schedule, and just may be it would have learned how to win if it played teams it could beat.
3. No stupid mistakes - Florida missed tackles, dropped passes, ran a predictable offense and missed open receivers, yet it did nothing stupid. The team played with confidence, confidence you could feel in the stadium, and as a result, in the last 3 games it was the opposing team that made key mistakes down the stretch that helped the Gators to victory.
4. The Gators have a plan. They know they are not a good team. UT's d-line was much better than UF's O-line, so the Gators were constantly trying different things. They did not run the same play over and over again when it was not working. As a result, you did not see much frustration with the players.
5. Good things happened to the Gators - The Gators made some gutsy 4th down calls, a few of which were not advisable, but they made everyone of them. I cannot remember the last time UVa made a gutsy call and it went right for them.
6. Jake McGee- Jake was awesome. Whenever the Gator QB needed him Jake was there. How in the world did we let Jake leave campus.
