Florida

Gainesville is always charming in the Fall for Noles. The fans are so welcoming and warm, often offering you to share in their tailgate fare. The pregame and in-game banter is always knowledgeable and respectful. And every one of you know that not a damn thing I wrote is remotely true. However, when both teams are 5-6, you do get a tampered down version of the normal idiocy from their fanbase. We had an entire section of campus to ourselves as we tailgated; as this was obviously a park-and-go kind of game for the home team. The sound system inside Florida Field is so bad that if you are not a zebra lip reader, you have little to no chance knowing who the penalty is on. Their mediocre video boards only show replays that have a chance to be favorable for the lizard. So, with an ACC crew that even reviews the band's performance at halftime, we get plenty of time to talk about the weather, the psychotic fat orange clad guy on your left that seems to be inventing curse words on the fly, and even the cute tuba playing Chief in front of you that is blocking the right hand side of the field. So, why you ask would anyone venture into this mess? Well, when you win there, it is like nothing else in your Seminole fandom. Sitting in the stands while the Chiefs play, and your boys are reveling below you is validating, but watching eighty thousand formerly obnoxious humans silently sprinting to their car avoiding eye contact is amazing. Then sitting on their campus and drinking cold beer and enjoying the Iron Bowl is sublime. Didn't happen this year, but I am betting cash that 2023 will be a different story.

It had to end this way didn't it? With a Charlie Brown kickoff to lose the game. Special teams has been comically bad all season long, and it finally delivered the loss we just knew was coming. And for drill, for the first time all season, Alex joined the party. His 15 yard punt early just barely passed the first down marker and his line drive late coupled with an awesome targeting call gave the lizard two of their many starts inside our territory. But, wait, that's not all. No, no, no kids. We brought all the presents to this bar mitzvah. We chose to return a kickoff that was two yards deep into the end zone and tucked in the very corner of the field. Corbin was so close to the UF bench when he caught it, maybe they taunt-whispered to him that he triple dog dare would not bring that one out. Well, he did and the officials somehow missed 5 guys hitting him into the wall behind their bench but were able to spot a hold on the other side of the field to allow us to start inside the 10 where we are very comfortable. And nope, I did not forget the game altering piece de resistance. After a key momentum grabbing stop by our defense inside the 10, and right in front of the pounding Chiefs and screaming Sickmons, the lizard punter decided this was the time to unleash a once-in-a lifetime rocket launched 70 yard punt from the back of the end zone. Pokey had two obvious choices. One, he could run back field it and have 20 yards of real estate to return it...or...he could determine that he had no chance to catch this bomb and let it go. He chose the awesome third option to jog backwards, signal for a fair catch (what?) and two hand touch the ball and deliver the game back to the bad guys. This game had two teams that finished with essentially the same yardage and equal turnovers. It was inarguably lost in special teams. You are on the clock Coach P. 

Once again, Jordan Travis put on a garnet cape for the good guys and carried the mail. The three series that he did not participate in the first half netted no first downs, lost 26 yards and gave up a pick. Ouch. The biggest surprise for me with what I expected going in was the way the defensive line for Florida just handled us. There was no running game, and thus Jordan had to make it all happen. He almost did. Throwing for 200 and running for another 100, but that is not sustainable as his three trips to the happy juice tent testified. The fact that he was absolutely destroyed helmet to helmet with no call and no review probably did not help him sleep last night. Thank you Andrew Parchment for your one forever contribution to Miami / FSU lore, but you will otherwise not be missed. He caught exactly no 50/50 balls all year and in Louisville and here allowed an interception with his laziness. McClain and Douglas give you some building blocks, but this wide receiver corps is going to be young, new and better next season and that is needed. With the number of plays and carries that Toafili got, I suspect that Corbin was hurt, but the simple fact is that the OL was simply not good enough on Saturday. Scott and Scott were poor and poorer and Captain Kirk stopped calling in the second half because he knew the engine was blown. 

If you don't love Jermaine Johnson, then turn in your Nole card. As he is walking out to the coin toss and the home crowd is in full throat, he is staring at the other bench and chopping as he walks. When he is on the field, he commanded double teams on almost every down, and still made hustle plays sideline to sideline. He, Thomas and Jammie Robinson who had 18 tackles changed the attitude and culture of this defense. If we can hit the portal like that this offseason, watch out. Jermaine's play also showed a whole  bunch of HS ends what is possible again at FSU. In the last half dozen games, our defense was on the field and had to make a stop late for us to win the game. At Clemson, UF, Miami, BC and Syracuse they did just that. You don't know how to win until you do. These three led the way. 

I love the young secondary as well. Good to see Brownlee bait and win with the end zone pick. That is the kind of confident closing speed that only comes with experience. He made a number of great physical stops on the line as well. I just wish he had stayed on his feet on the 3rd and 21 completion. That useless dive created a touchdown instead of a long FG try. You did not hear Dent or Cooper's name all day, and that is a good thing. They did their job. Since the best safety and corner in the country are both on the way, I like our chances getting better in the back end next year as well. 

The series down in front of us where the ACC crew lost track of the downs and the yardage needed for the first down was certainly interesting. The first down dudes were just hanging out around the three with no orange line marked. Why? Because it was first and goal. That did not stop the crew from awarding a crazy first down on what should have been a 4th and 3. If they kick, that makes the score 20-7. Hmm. Again, the entire ACC refereeing crew needs to reinvented. It is embarrassing. 

I am not sure if the broadcast showed the pregame nonsense. After we were done warming up, the team huddled and then jogged down the sideline toward our locker room. The lizards in shorts (Taggart era silliness) came running over and intercepted the Noles jawing and swinging. The fans loved it, and why not. It speaks to their culture to a G. I look forward to the day - and it is not as far away as we feared - when that garbage does not happen because they are legit scared of what is coming.  As I have said all year, I love our guy. He was on a plane at 6 am recruiting. The kids that are currently on campus are the marginally talented foundation, but the pretty part of the house is coming. 

Enjoy the offseason. See you in Doak in August!