#1 Florida Gators vs Mississippi State Bulldogs

#1 Florida Gators vs Mississippi State Bulldogs
Saturday 4:30 PST

Howdy Gators:

Ok, now we can exhale!
Last Saturday was painful, verging on humiliating, but we emerged with a win nonetheless. I think we can all agree that the previous week’s outing against the Arkansas Razorbacks was very troubling. Yes, we won the game, but there’s not much pride in eking out a victory on Homecoming Day against a 24 point underdog when you are the supposed #1 team in the nation. One might even say that we would have lost the game had it not been for a bad kicking game by the Razorbacks and some very fortuitous (and frankly questionable) penalties late in the game that worked in the Gators' favor (interestingly, the officiating crew from last week’s game was suspended by the SEC for a phantom personal foul against Arkansas that gave Florida much needed yardage in the fourth quarter). Not the type of victory that imbues you with confidence midway into the season. Let’s face it, our offense is not very good and will need to show dramatic improvements to have any shot of finishing out the season undefeated and competing against the likely winners of the SEC West, the Alabama Crimson Tide (although Bama did not astound the college football world in their win over the Gamecocks last weekend).

Breaking with recent tradition, I am not going to wax on and on about the “Mighty” Gators as I typically do in the closing paragraphs of these fairly formulaic emails. Suffice to say we should all be a tad nervous about this weekend’s game against Mississippi State following last week’s near debacle. Lest we forget, the Bulldogs head coach is Dan Mullen, who led the Gator Offense a mere nine months ago, and he is presumably well-schooled in Florida’s defensive tendencies. But I suspect last week’s game may have been a wakeup call and learning experience for a Gator squad, which to date has failed to dazzle as expected this season. At least that’s what I hope.

Go Gators,
Courtney (your critical but forthright Gator commentator)

NOTE: If you plan to watch the game at Sideline, they will be showing UFC (aka, brutal blood sport) at 7:00 and will turn up the volume so all can hear the savage, bone-crushing beatings in full Dolby Stereo.