Florida

  Your Noles are undefeated 12-0 and for the second consecutive season have wiped out our state rivals. The national media has no idea how to handle this. Remember that almost every network and their  pundits have an agenda. The doomsday scenario of a Bama win and the SEC getting shut out of the playoff is so real that these agendas will be on overdrive all week. You will hear 7 days of how any number of one loss teams are more deserving of a spot in the playoff. Don’t care…at all. Bring it. If we are lucky enough to win this next one and stand there 13-0, they can talk all they want. The bookend wins against LSU and Florida were as different as possible, but because they were both against the SEC, they must be amazingly quality wins. Nevermind that Clemson in Death Valley and a healthy Duke would both finish in the upper third of the SEC…they can’t be quality wins right?. Forget for just a smidge that the ACC is 6-4 against the SEC this year. The script must be promoted. Is it just me that hears Darth Vader music in the background when the ESPN crew talks playoff scenarios. Bottom line, I am joyous at where we are and anything that happens from here on out is just wonderful post thanksgiving turkey gravy. Lucky to be a Nole in 2023. Yeah baby…the lizard is dead!

I know this is a silly observation, but at the coin toss when we are in the Swamp, if the Nole that is asked to make the call when the choices are heads and tails does not say Heads emphatically, there is a problem…Good news, we said the right thing and won the toss. Good coaching there…

For the first time in years, our seats at Florida Field were right next to the Chiefs. The past dozen trips we have been behind them. This new perspective offered some real road fun. We saw two UF fans get ejected for throwing beer at our band. We had a blond, white collegiate lizard scream at my wife accusing her of being a racist after we took the lead. But the best moment had to be when the assistant drum major made the ill fated decision to start the war chant right smack in the middle of the 4th quarter Tom Petty “Won’t back Down” tradition. Now, normally I am not the fan of messing with other teams traditions, but this is an unbelievably classless fan base. From the parking lot comments, to the entire stadium chanting “Back up, you suck” on every penalty…well it seemed like cranking up the band here was exactly the right move. But, this poor Chief was almost bodily yanked down off the ladder by stadium officials and the band halted mid-beat. The Noles surrounding them did not and we were lustily booed. But, the reality is that the home team, even as loud as their ugly colored fans harmonized did indeed Back Down. They had literally no offense in the fourth quarter and 15 minutes later the visitors were west bound and up (love us Burt!) to Tally with a 12-0 record. 

That last period was also the point that Jared Verse decided to make a bunch of money. The sack that brought back ghosts of Derwin James where he just threw the hapless belly crawling tackle into the quarterback. A play later with another single team making him a kid on the Halloween starting blocks, he just breezed by and smashed the lizard tosser again. In the last drive, Patrick Payton got jealous and had a double sack series as the home team offensive line just kept backing down until there was no where to back. The D line was really good all night. Most of the big runs were second level issues where a counter double team had our ends tied up and there was no LB or safety help on the edge. The fresh four inside who all talk about how good they feel at this point of the season with the Odell rotation, just took over late. You add an angry Darryl Jackson to the mix in the bowl game and Whoa…

Akeem Dent had his best game as a Nole. The former 5 star corner was a difference maker at safety in his senior year. When he was out early, the entire back side acted like a pinball machine without flippers as we had no shot to stop the ball. He was terrific in this one, including a sack that should have forced a field goal, but instead almost gave the Head man and every Nole in the building another reason to leave the ACC officials off our Christmas list. Mike could have caused a 12 men on the field penalty on the next half dozen plays as he made it a mission to let that side judge know exactly what he thought about that horrific call. Obviously, the lizards felt bad about that one, and decided to make some no brained personal foul calls later to even the scales. One player apparently unloaded a weeks worth of saliva on his gold friend and the double barreled targeting effort on the game winning drive was so moronic that you question what the motivation was. Whatever their defensive staff (soon to be unemployed) was coaching there,  we appreciated the idiocy as it sealed the game 

With the box filling defense that Florida was employing, it was obvious to most of us not wearing headsets that we needed to run straight at them and try and hit a seam. Yes, Mo Smith was still on one leg and our best two tackles were on the bench, but running sideways was clearly not the right answer. Trey had a high school run on his first carry that destroyed a drive and could never get his foot planted to jolt upfield on any of the ensuing sweeps. But, when he got downhill, Lindsay Vonn has never looked this good. Another “had an angle” guy didn’t on his second run, and on the last one he bounced off a half dozen lizards all the way to the endzone. The Pride of the Sunshine stared at Trey and then guess what…backed down. 

Tate was in the crib a little too long in this one. Rarely have I argued with the Head Coaches script but, we were babying the kid way too much early. The trickery that featured Keon in the backfield for 5 of the first six plays was all a setup to get him matched up with a LB in space. The play finally happened, and Tate was late and Keon dropped it. It was not until we were down 12 zip that we let the young Valdosta slinger turn it loose. Finding his HS teammate Jaheim on a gorgeous seam route got him going and then Johnny stepped up. Tate did not lose the game, and we saw that the kid can certainly throw it. We just need to zero in on what he does well and take full advantage of the talent on the outside that currently lives in the 850. I will say that throwing on the run to his left is not a strength right now. Both of these designs saw him throw awkwardly looking like me in 5th grade trying to hit my buddy cutting to the mailbox and then watching the ball hit the neighbors house. Set your feet Paul, err I mean Tate. Gotta love the toughness after the simultaneous head blast. He was only out long enough to sing the fight sone one time (our official concussion protocol) and then returned in time to let Brock Glenn’s heart rate get back under 120, hand off to Trey and then sing the fight song again - this time with the Chiefs.

I was asked pregame how many players on this squad would start on the 2013 team. My answer was maybe two. Keon would start over Kenny Shaw, and I am pretty sure the Aussie is better than Cason Beatty. But when you review this in your head about the last undefeated regular season group, I think you can appreciate why we love the coaching staff like we do. To get this group to believe at this level, to respond every single time that the game starts to roll the other way…and to finish each game that way is more than good players. It is a culture of deep trust and belief. These kids know that they will win the fourth quarter, and they do. So do we. This 2023 season has been an amazing ride, and I thank all of you my friends for going along with me and your Noles as we head to the postseason with nothing to lose. See you after our Dublin adventure in 2024!