Weekend Review - September 18-19

This was a strange weekend for football this weekend, with mixed results for the Florida Gators and the Jacksonville Jaguars. Florida faced off against Tennessee, giving the Gators their first true test against a conference opponent. They, once again, had a slow start. The offense had a difficult time moving the ball, gaining only 94 yards, in the first half. The Gator defense played solidly for the most part, but both of Tennessee touchdowns came on blown coverages. I think what sparked the Florida team in the third quarter was a called fake punt on fourth down, which Omarious Hines took the snap and ran for 36 yards, and set up the Gators for the go-ahead touchdown. Florida pulls out a 31-17 win and moves to 3-0.

Now the Jacksonville Jaguars had a different experience when they traveled out to San Diego to play the 0-1 Chargers. Jacksonville has had some bad luck recently traveling out the the West Coast, and this trip was no different. The Jaguars secondary, which has been a cause for concern since the off-season, showed itself as Philip Rivers shredded it to pieces, throwing for 334 yards and three touchdowns. The Jaguars offense was not without blame because there were 5 turnovers. QB David Garrard threw 4 interceptions and was benched in the fourth quarter. The final to that game was 38-13.

My Thoughts

• Florida needs to let Brantley throw the ball to open up the running game. He’s fine under center and is getting better in the spread shotgun. But you don’t have to keep all of these dink and dunk passes. Go deep. He has the arm.

• That Gator defense is scary good, but they HAVE to stick to their assignments. Another game with blown coverages for TD will guarantee a loss against a better team.

• Jaguar fans don’t need to hit the panic button yet. Put it away.

• Jaguars secondary will be addressed in the draft next year, but they have to play better than that. They did force a few turnovers, but in a game where it was wacky and crazy, you have to control yourselves.

• Speaking of crazy, how do you not cover Antonio Gates? Crazy.

• David Garrard showed the inconsistency that has plagued him from being a very efficient quarterback. He’ll bounce back, but believe a first round pick will be used to find his replacement.

Next week, Florida plays Kentucky in the Swamp and the Jaguars face the Eagles at EverBank Field. I’m currently working on being at The Swamp on Saturday to cover that game and the same goes for the Jacksonville game on Sunday.