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GatorBytes' Sunshine State Scoreboard 2000 Week 1Sunday, August 27, 2000------------------------------------------------ FSU 1-0 (2) 29 v. BYU 3 Sunshine State Football kicked off last night and Sunshine State Scoreboard was back to cover it as the forces of Good and Evil met on the banks of the St. Johns. In a state where the home of the reigning national football champions is located deep within the Bible Belt on the rim of the State's prison system and the state's most famous native son is affectionately called the Evil Genius, the forces of Good didn't have a chance. LaVell Edwards didn't have a roadmap either when he agreed to play in Jacksonville. LaVell, who is getting up in years and will retire after this season, didn't question long-time friend and fellow AARP member Bobby Bowden who promised him that Jacksonville would be a neutral site. After all it was the home of the Gator Bowl, and all those baptisms in the St. John's sounded like someplace Brigham Young himself would have wanted to visit. However, the way BYU played, it looked like they took the wrong channel and ended up in Matanzas (Slaughter) Bay, aptly named after the massacre of another religious group (the Huguenots) who were put to the sword by the Spanish governor of St. Augustine, Pedro Menendez, who also promised a neutral site. Next week the Gators and the Canes kick off their seasons. Both will have something to say about whether the Noles repeat as national champions, and, with a little luck, either one could end up adding some more Waterford crystal to its own trophy case. Both must like the way FSU looks right now. For the Gators, there are no more Noles left named Warrick. For the Canes, "wide left" has got to be the two sweetest sounding words since "wide right". More on that later. ------------------------------------------------ Copyright © W. E. Benet. All rights Reserved.
GatorBytes' Sunshine State Scoreboard 2000 Week 2Sunday, September 3, 2000------------------------------------------------ Florida 1-0 (7) 40 v. Ball State 19 American writer Thomas Wolfe once wrote that you can't go home again. The Gators looked like they were going to prove him wrong by starting the new millennium like they began the previous decade of the last century by launching an unrelenting, unstoppable air and ground attack on their hapless, physically outmatched opponent. Spurrier wasted no time showing that the Gators' ballistic offense was armed and ready, that the Fun and Gun was locked and loaded as the Gators began their first offensive drive of the night by KICKING OFF to Ball State with an onside kick, which was easily recovered, as stunned Ball State players and confused fans looked on wide-eyed and open-mouthed. Four plays and barely one minute later the Gators were on the scoreboard. Four more plays and less than four minutes later, in a drive that took less than a minute and a half, the Gators' were back on the scoreboard. It looked like this was going to go on all night, but it didn't, and by the fourth quarter, disgruntled fans were booing the Gators' ineptitude, in what is starting to become an opening game tradition. Maybe Thomas Wolfe was right after all. Don't write off Jesse Palmer just yet. Had he been a little more relaxed, a little less determined to keep from throwing interceptions by throwing over his receivers outstretched hands (completing only 21 of 46 passes but giving up no interceptions), and a little less driven to be perfect (but failing to see receivers who were getting open all night), he might have amassed up some huge numbers. Give him another week to find his groove. The only problem with that is if he doesn't, it might be too late to switch horses the following week in Knoxville. Next week the Gators host Middle Tennessee State 0-1 in what should be another pre-[SEC]season tune-up. One thing that is for certain (as much as anything can be certain) is that the Gators will improve. The offense has the skill and equipment to unleash hell on its opponents instead of its own fans as it did last night by letting Ball State, which hadn't won a game in 17 previous tries, block a punt at the Gator 13-yard line early in the fourth quarter, giving them a chance of pulling within 7 points of the Mighty Gators. ------------------------------------------------ Miami 1-0 (5) 61 v. McNeese State 14 Are the Canes back?! Is Santana Moss a bona fide Heisman candidate and not just someone whose name sounds like his pregame rituals include chopping the heads off chickens and praying to OloRUN, who is the source of the spiritual energy that makes up the entire universe, all life and all things, including football?. No, he isn't some Santero shaman who cast a spell on would-be tacklers. He is one of the best running backs in the country, including Ciudad de Miami, that other state (or state of mind, which ever way you prefer to describe it) where you'll find more old men playing dominoes in the parks of Calle Ocho than fans in the Orange Bowl. The Canes were the only top 25 team this week that played like they were heavily favored to win. They rolled up more yards (628) than there are between Key West and Havana. One game, however, does not a season make, and Bobby Bowden isn't going to lose any sleep over this one. A couple more wins like this, though, and insomnia could become a real problem for the chief Nole by the end of the month. Next week the Canes go to Seattle to take on the Washington Huskies 1-0 (14). We'll find out then if the Canes have a chance of becoming top dogs themselves this year. ------------------------------------------------ FSU 1-0 (2) was idle. Next week the Noles go to Hotlanta to play Georgia Tech 1-0. If last week's contest was between the forces of Good and Evil on the banks of the St. John's, next week's might be between Beauty and the Beast amidst the crepe myrtles that are planted in colorful profusion on this campus oasis in downtown Atlanta. However, the crepe myrtles are starting to drop their flowers, and the engineers, who used to be able to beat FSU when they were fellow independents, have not done so since they both joined the ACC. ------------------------------------------------ Copyright © W. E. Benet. All rights Reserved.
GatorBytes' Sunshine State Scoreboard 2000 Week 3Sunday, September 10, 2000------------------------------------------------ Florida 2-0 (6) 55 v. Middle Tennessee State 0 The Gators came about as close to putting together a perfect game last night as they have in a long, long time. Not since they shut out Kentucky 65-0 in September 1996 have the Gators shut out anyone. That was the year, perhaps noncoincidentally, that the Gators won it all: the SEC championship, National championship, and Heisman. Ever since, it's been a downhill descent, which snowballed last year into a three-game losing skid. But this is a new century, a new millennium (even if it isn't, exactly) and Spurrier wasted no time showing that things would be different when the Gators started their first offensive drive of the season last week with an onside kick. This week there were more surprises and controversy when Spurrier pulled Jesse Palmer in the middle of a drive before the half and replaced him with designated backup, Rex Grossman. Nevermind that Palmer was 16 for 23, had no interceptions and had thrown for one TD or that the Gators were ahead 24-0. The Head Gator said he wanted to see if Grossman could do better! Just when it seemed like the QB controversy that had been festering like a sore that wouldn't heal was finally beginning to scab over, Spurrier scratched at it some more. If the decision was intended in part to motivate Palmer, it didn't, as he came out of the game and separated himself from Spurrier and the rest of the QBs in a scene that was reminiscent of Terry Dean's and Doug Johnson's sideline sulking. Grossman made some mistakes, including one interception, but as he had many times before in practice, looked sharp. Expect to see more of him this season. The Wonder Boy from the Bayou with the movie star name and Danny Boy-like piety, Brock Berlin, may be the Anointed One, but during his brief appearance last night he looked all too human. In fact, he looked exactly like what he is, an inexperienced freshman who has a long way to go before he gets the knack of things and adjusts to the superior competition at the college level, even when the competition is unranked and relatively mediocre. The question now is, was it the best decision to play him at all instead of red shirting him? Time will tell, but the thought here is that nobody is better at making these kinds of decisions than the head ball coach. Next week, the Mighty Gators travel to Knoxville to take on the less than Mighty Vols 1-0 (11), who look like they might be in a downswing after their lackluster 19-16 win over then no. 24 Southern Mississippi. The Gators know (or at least their coaches do) that they cannot waltz into Neyland Stadium on the banks of the Tennessee River and waltz back out with a win, not like they did in years past. Playing in the Big House in front of 100,000+ Gator haters in Rocky Top will be a stern test for this young Gator team and the first real indication of what kind of season the Gators can expect. ------------------------------------------------ Miami 1-1 (12) 29 v. Washington (9) 34 Just when it looked like the Bad Boy Canes of yesteryear were back, mocking their opponents, the Huskies, by jumping up and down and yelping in the tunnel before they ran out on the field, the Huskies showed them who the top dogs were, muzzling them and sending them yelping back to Miami. It was the Huskies who also delivered the Canes a whammy in Miami in '94 by beating them to end their 58-game home winning streak. The Canes' dreams of winning a fifth national championship looked about as foggy and remote yesterday as Mt. Rainier in the distance. Still, the Canes, who came from behind to close within 5 points, played well enough that they'll give the Noles plenty to handle on October 7th. The Canes may not be top dogs on the Pacific Rim, but they still have a chance of claiming a share of the bragging rights for that honor here in the Sunshine State if the Noles keep playing like they have their last two games. But first of all, someone needs to find Heisman candidate Santana Moss. Where was he yesterday? Did he take an early flight back to Miami? Any more games like yesterday's (one catch for seven yards), and he may be joining the Gators' Alex Brown as the next survivor-hopeful to be voted off CNNSI's Heisman Island. Next week the Canes are idle. ------------------------------------------------ FSU 2-0 (2) 26 v Georgia Tech 21 The Noles, after having a week off, played like they didn't have a lot to do, plodding to a 5 point win over unranked Georgia Tech as a small crowd of 42,000 fans looked on in Bobby Dodd Stadium and a larger number looked on from the Coca-Cola International Building high across the street. The Noles made an appearance, collected their win, and left to return home to Tallahassee where interest in Seminole football is almost as high as it is for World Championship Wrestling. Things aren't quite as exciting as they were last year. The docket is clear, there are no more depositions and subpoenas to deal with, and it's just the NCAA, and not the INS, that the Noles have to worry about. But don't expect the pigskin probity to last. After all, this is the state capital, where the territorial motto, "Every Man for Himself," was exemplified so well last year by several members of the football team. Next week the Noles host unranked North Carolina 2-0. No sweat. Maybe the Chief Nole will give the team a day off from practice this week to watch WCW or maybe Movies for Guys who Like Movies. ------------------------------------------------ Copyright © W. E. Benet. All rights Reserved.
GatorBytes' Sunshine State Scoreboard 2000 Week 4Sunday, September 17, 2000 ------------------------------------------------ Florida 3-0 (3) 27 v. Tennessee 1-1 (13) 23 OH, MY! If anyone deserves a game ball one of these days, it's the Voice of the Gators, Mick Hubert, who once again said it all, as the Gators snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in yesterday's heart-stopping conclusion to the Battle of Rocky Top. For the 100,000+ Tennesseans who watched in stunned disbelief as the Gators scored the go ahead touchdown with 14 seconds remaining in the game, Vols' gridiron general, Phillip Fulmer, may have reminded many of another real-life general from the Civil War, Union Gen. Ambrose Burnside, whose flawed game plan for the Battle of Fredericksburg lead Lincoln to remark that he stole defeat from the jaws of victory. Fulmer said he wasn't second-guessing the official who ruled that Jabar Gaffney's dropped catch in the end zone was a TD. But the fans were, and so was the Gators' head ball coach, who, after saying Divine Providence smiled on the Gators that day, declared that the Gators "stole" the game. It was fitting that the catch was made by someone who had been thrown off the team last year for thievery and allowed to return as a walk-on. Not only did Gaffney score the game-winning TD, but he also earned instant redemption from his grateful coach who said he'll get his scholarship back for that catch. However, nearly 70 percent of more than 11,000 CNN/SI viewers who were polled afterward thought the TD shouldn't have counted. For the first half, it looked like the Vols were going to kick the Gators' butts up and down the field. Vol running back Travis Henry looked like he was suited out in Teflon as Gator defenders repeatedly slid off him, but despite that, the Vols were only able to put the ball in the end zone once, and had to settle for field goals four other times. Spurrier had few good things to say about the Gators afterward and resorted to one of his favorite stock phrases about how he and the rest of the coaches need to do a better job of coaching. It may be a hackneyed expression, but it was true. The first half, the Gator Defense played like no one had ever coached them how to tackle, and the receivers looked like no one had ever coached them how to get open. But despite all the bad coaching, the players found a way to win. If anybody besides Mick Hubert deserves a game ball, it was Jesse Palmer. Not because he had big numbers and great stats, he didn't. But because his leadership in the final drive won the game. Said Palmer to his troops, deep in their end of the field as they started their final drive, "If you can see it (the checkerboard of the end zone on the other end of the field), you can reach it. Now let's go make memories." That's called POSITIVE IMAGERY, and it worked. Maybe the head ball coach can learn something from that. Next week, the Gators host Kentucky 2-1. The only opponent the Gators will face is complacency, something that Spurrier has already taken steps to combat by making it sound like it was the Gators, not the Vols, who left Neyland Stadium in defeat yesterday, and by sending a message to the players on his TV show the next morning saying they're not as good as they think they are. It didn't sound like positive imagery was in coach's instructional syllabus for practice this week. ------------------------------------------------ FSU 3-0 (2) 63 v North Carolina 14 Once again, it was a study in contrasts. The opening game with Brigham Young University (named after the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) was between the forces of Good and Evil. Good lost. Last week's game with the Georgia Tech Engineers was between the Bright and the Bad. The Bad won. Yesterday's game with North Carolina (one of the South's foremost academic institutions with one of its prettiest campuses at Chapel Hill) was between the Lovely and the Ugly. The Ugly kicked butt. The Good, the Bad, the Ugly, it makes no difference to the Noles. In fact, FSU has emerged from its lowly origin as a women's teachers' college to become a Pigskin Princeton. And it's probably fair to say that more people can tell you where FSU is than Princeton, Harvard, or Yale, and that Bobby Bowden is its most renown eminent scholar. Next week, the Noles host Louisville 2-0 in what should be another chance to entertain the home crowd (if the game doesn't conflict with World Championship Wrestling on TV) with plenty of offensive fireworks, gaudy stats and a score that may be more lopsided than last week's. The Noles' biggest challenge the next couple of weeks won't be their opponents, it will be themselves as they struggle to keep from becoming duped by false confidence. Just ask the Canes. ------------------------------------------------ Miami 1-1 (12) was idle Next week, the Canes travel to Morgantown to take on the West Virginia Mountaineers 2-0. The Canes have had a week to lick their wounds from last week's dog attack by the Huskies. Another national championship this year looks like it's out of the question, but if the Canes harbor any delusions to the contrary and try to get over last week's defeat by looking ahead to their game with the Noles on Oct. 7th, they could be 1-2 by next Saturday. ------------------------------------------------ Copyright © W. E. Benet. All rights Reserved.
GatorBytes' Sunshine State Scoreboard 2000 Week 5Sunday, September 24, 2000 ------------------------------------------------ Florida 4-0 (3) 59 v. Kentucky 2-2 31 Hold the halleluiahs! Yesterday's score may have reminded the Gator faithful of that ol' time Gator Offense of '96 when the upstretched arms of the refs were immediately followed by the upraised hands of Danny Wuerffel clasped in prayer, instead of the crotch-grabbing, throat-slashing antics that we saw last week. The head ball coach, whose father was a man of the cloth, declared that that wouldn't be tolerated, and it didn't occur this week, as the Gators' gridiron general unleashed hell on his adversary from the Bluegrass State, pounding out 59 points, including a surprise cruise missile attack for six with five seconds left in the game. Don't feel sorry for the Cats, though. They got what they deserved, thinking that they could blitz the Gators' second string offense with impunity as if the Gators, with their unassailable lead, were somehow obligated to run the ball in the closing minutes of the game because it was the gentlemanly thing to do. Hey, they don't call the head ball coach here the Evil Genius for nothing, and perhaps he wanted to make a statement that the Gators' Fun 'N Gun, run-up-the-score offense of yesteryear was back and will put points on the board every chance it gets. Besides, like the head ball coach said afterward, Kentucky didn't stop trying to score points on the Gators, so why should the Gators stop trying to score points on them? Despite the lopsided score, the Gator Defense continued to be erratic, as evidenced by the team stats, which made it look like it was the Cats who mauled the Gators, out-gaining them 504 yards(!) to 452, out-downing them 25 first downs to 23, and out-controlling the ball 38'44" to 21'16". Said Spurrier afterward, in defense of his beleaguered Defense, maybe the Offense scored too quickly, and then asked rhetorically if it would help for the Gator Offense to slow down a little. Wise cracks aside, if the Defense doesn't start doing a better job of tackling and defending the pass, any resemblances on Offense to the National Champion Gators of '96 may have been coincidental and little more than a fleeting flashback to those incredible years when the Gators won the SEC championship four years in a row and finished first six times in seven years, enrapturing the Gator faithful who had waited an eternity for a championship and were finally delivered to the Promised Land. One thing that hasn't changed since Spurrier came back to UF in '90 to lead his alma mater to unimagined glory, even if there hasn't been a lot of that since the first half of the last decade of the last century, is that every week there is something new. This week, Jesse Palmer not only reaffirmed that he is the Gators' no. 1 ball slinger, but that he may be one of its best running backs, too, as he RAN for four touchdowns, which is a single game record for a Gator QB. These weren't nose-to-the-butt one yard sneaks, either, as Palmer showed some nimble open field running and an astute ability to follow blocks. Give him another game ball! No, give him two for the two positions he played. Next week, the Gators travel to Starkville to play the Mississippi State Bulldogs 2-1. One thing you can count on besides cow bells and cow pies in Scott Field, is a rugged, physical smash-mouth football game. It's one that the Gators usually manage to win, but it's also one where the two most visible colors in the Gator locker room after the game aren't orange and blue, they're black and blue. The Gators have beaten the Bulldogs three out of four times under Spurrier and lead the series 30-16-2 (but trail 3-5 in Starkville). When they play the Gators, the Bulldogs are more like Pit Bulls, frothing at the mouth and clamping down and not letting go no matter how much you kick them and beat them over the head. For a little school of barely 16,000 in the middle of nowhere where only the letters 4-H and FFA mean more than SEC, they've got, well, you know what, even if that bull of theirs doesn't (the one that Coach Sherrill used for an animal husbandry lecture on motivation for his players a few years ago). Hopefully, there won't be any loud-mouthed fools in the Gator camp going around prattling about how the Bulldogs don't have a chance against the Mighty Gators. ------------------------------------------------ FSU 4-0 (2) 31 v Louisville 2-2 0 The most dramatic moment in yesterday's game was when Sammy Seminole charged out on the field on Renegade and threw that burning spear into the ground and the crowd cheered and got up and went home, along with the visiting team, as the Noles racked up another meaningless victory over another hapless opponent. But to hear the Noles head ball coach the next morning, it was another great win as he lauded his players for making their mommas proud and making him proud and making the whole dog gone school proud. Said the Noles portly pigskin panegyrist afterward, "Dat ol' Travis Minor, boy, can he run, an' ol' Chaney can run pretty good, too, an' so can dat boy behind him, who is dat, an' dat other boy, what's his name (c'mon now Gene, you supposed to help me with this), boy can he run, an' look at ol' Snoop, boy, can he catch. Yes suh, we got some dog gone good athletes, even if some of 'em don't have names, but I know their mommas are still proud of 'em. Who was dat boy we had last year, Gene, who could catch and run? You know, the one with the shopping bag. They're all like my children. I love 'em all." Next week, the Noles play another meaningless game as they travel to Maryland 2-1 to lunch on the Terrapins before rendezvousing in Tallahassee with old-time nemesis Miami on October 7th. The Canes are looking menacing, and unless the Noles can fix their erratic kicking game, that final season game with archrival Florida may not be the one that decides whether they repeat as National Champs. ------------------------------------------------ Miami 2-1 47 (10) v West Virginia 10 Hand it to the Canes. After that dog bite in Seattle two weeks ago, the rabies shots must have worked, as the Canes recovered and clobbered the Mountaineers up in Morgantown, where even GatorBytes thought they might come away with a nosebleed instead of a win. Not only did they win, it was a convincing one that will make their matchup with FSU next month all the more interesting. For Miami, a win will help vent a lot of frustration that has been building up from repeated losses to the Noles after the glory years of the 80's faded away when they won four national championships. For the Noles, every game this year is for a possible third national championship, but so far they haven't faced any real challenges. More on that and next month's Sunshine State Shootout later. This week's Sunshine State Salute goes to the Canes. Next week, the Canes go to New Jersey to take on the lowly Scarlet Knights of Rutgers 2-2 (1-10 last year) in what should be another blowout before THE GAME in Tallahassee the following week. ------------------------------------------------ Copyright © W. E. Benet. All rights Reserved.
GatorBytes' Sunshine State Scoreboard 2000 Week 6Sunday, October 1, 2000 ------------------------------------------------ Florida 4-1 (3) 35 v. Mississippi State 3-1 (NR) 47 NR! NOT RANKED. That's what Mississippi State was going into this game, but not any more, thanks to the Gators. For the Mighty Gators, it was an utterly frustrating and humiliating display of ineptitude, and the first time in the Spurrier era that the Gators have EVER lost to an unranked opponent. 72-0 was as far as it went, but what an incredible streak, more than three times longer than FSU's or Nebraska's! However, speaking of Nebraska, perhaps not since the Huskers steamrolled over the Gators 62-24 in the '96 Fiesta Bowl, have the Gators been run over like they were yesterday. The Gators gained 494 yards in the air but were a dismal MINUS 78 yards rushing (worse even than the minus 28 they recorded against Nebraska)! Mississippi State gained 517 yards passing and running, as the Gator Defense gave up over 500 yards for the second week in a row, both times to unranked teams. Gator defenders not only missed tackles right and left (as well as up, down and in between), they were often out of place and looked confused and bewildered. During one painfully embarrassing moment, MSU ball carrier Dicenzo Miller ran through, around, and past every Gator defender on the field. CBS commentators shook their heads in disbelief, saying over and over that they couldn't believe what they were seeing. The Gator defensive corps had been touted as one of the best in the nation at the start of the season, but don't blame the players for the sorry state of affairs that now existed. The blame lays squarely on poor coaching, and Spurrier needs to make some drastic changes. Wasn't Brother Bill Oliver, the former defensive coordinator of Alabama and Auburn, and one of the best known D men in the country, at Gator practice this week? Where did he say he could be reached? The Gators need a defensive coordinator who knows how football is played in this region of the country, and the next time the head ball coach goes looking for someone to do the job, it's hoped he won't look outside the South. But don't put all the blame on Jon Hoke, the Offense made sure it did its share of mucking around, especially the receivers in the first half, who often played like they had Crisco on their hands instead of rosin. When the first half ended, the Gators, who had scored 59 points last week, had managed to eke out just 10, none of them by passing. The vaunted Gator passing game looked like it was being run by the Keystone cops, as Spurrier rotated his first, second and third string quarterbacks in and out of the game like he was playing musical chairs, not football. But one of the strangest offensive plays of the game occurred early in the fourth quarter when Spurrier, on third down, ordered Grossman, who had been backed up to his two yard line by two overhead snaps in a row, to take a safety in what looked like a display of petulant disgust, not a strategic decision as the head ball coached tried to explain afterwards. Afterall, Spurrier has kicked the ball away before on third down out of frustration when the Offense wasn't performing up to his expectations. This didn't look any different. GatorBytes predicted that the Bulldogs would put a bite on the Gators. He didn't think they'd swallow them whole, but with players with names like Pig and Pork Chop, you knew it was going to be nasty. Next week the Gators return to the safety (?) of the Swamp to take on the Bayou Bengals of LSU, 3-2, who are coming off of a 38-31 OT win over no. 11 Tennessee. Coming up after that are Auburn and the amazing South Carolina Gamecocks. Despite a loss to Alabama yesterday, is it possible that the Cocks may emerge as the front-runners for the SEC Eastern Division title? Afterall, despite failing to win a single game last year, they're now tied with the Mighty Gators for first place. And just as strange, after yesterday's debacle, the Gators still have what may yet be an odds-on chance of winning the SEC championship. ------------------------------------------------ FSU 5-0 (2) 59 v Maryland 2-2 (NR) 7 If the Gators have something to be embarrassed about this week, so do the Noles for scheduling a succession of cupcakes leading up to their first real football game of the season with Miami next week. The hapless Terrapins were able to make only eight first downs to the Noles 29, who amassed over 600 yards of offense. This wasn't because the Noles were so almighty. It was because the Terps were so far out of their league. In fact the entire ACC, with the exception of FSU and a couple of other teams should be in Division IAA. The way the Noles repeatedly stampede over ACC opponents is reminiscent of the way Nebraska used to steamroll through the old Big 8 conference, only to lose to Oklahoma at the end of the season every other year. The way the Gators played yesterday, there's no reason to think the Noles won't go undefeated this year, but the Canes will have something to say about that, and so will probably Nebraska. On a more positive note, congrats to Heisman candidate Chris Weinke, the Noles middle-aged QB, who threw for 58 TDs (not all of them in this game) to surpass Danny Kanell's 57 TD pass record in '92-'95. The Noles also extended their winning streak, the nation's longest, to 17 games, and are 65-2 against ACC (Athletically Can't Compete) opponents. Next week, the Noles play... read on: ------------------------------------------------ Miami 3-1 (10) 64 v Rutgers 2-3 6 (NR) The Canes were expected to win handily, and did. Actually, they annihilated their sad sack opponent by an even wider margin then the Noles punched out their palooka-of-the-week. The Canes, who are averaging 50 points a game, need all the confidence they can get for their sunshine state shootout with archrival FSU next week. The Canes did it all yesterday, even running up the score like FSU (and Florida, at times, in the past), but nobody is going to scold the Canes for this. Not too many people remember when the bad boy Canes in their do-rags were the louts of the league, the team America loved to hate. Today, they're the darlings of the Big East, a team rebuilding, worthy of respect, located in beautiful Coral Gables in the heart of Miami, the gateway to Latin America. Vamanos muchachos! Say what, bro?... you dis'ing me, man? No, no, not at all!... Got an extra do-rag I can give coach Spurrier to take the place of that wimpy visor he keeps twisting around on his head when things aren't going right? You know, the one he used to throw on the ground, until he threw it on that spot where Uga had relieved himself. Next week, the Canes take on the Noles in the Orange Bowl in what should be one of the best games of the week, and a chance for Miami to capture some of the former glory it enjoyed in the 80's when it won FOUR (4) national championships. For the Noles, a win will mean a chance to win a third. ------------------------------------------------ Copyright © W. E. Benet. All rights Reserved.
GatorBytes' Sunshine State Scoreboard 2000 Week 7Monday, October 9, 2000 ------------------------------------------------ Florida 5-1 (10) 41 v. LSU 3-3 9 For the first time in two years, the Scoreboard is a day late. For unknown reasons, my computer couldn't find the other computers on its network. I'd try sending out a packet of data over the network, and get back a message saying that the target computer couldn't be found. It kind of reminded me of the Gators' passing game earlier in the season, so I started yelling at it, but instead of things getting better, they got worse. This went on for 12 hours until I remembered what the Gators' head ball coach said after losing to Mississippi State last week, about how he was going to restore the fun to the Fun 'N' Gun by not yelling at his players so much, and low and behold, look what happened: The Gators had their best game of the year. So, I tried that on my computer, talking sweetly to it and caressing its cold, clammy body, but the next thing I knew, the Blue Screen of Death popped up and it froze and wouldn't respond. I had no choice. I closed the lid (it's a notebook), and started yelling and pounding on it. Then I erased its puny little hard disk and all the things that had accumulated on it that had turned it against me, and reinstalled the operating system. Two brain-numbing hours later, it was back up and running fine, like there had never been a problem. All was well again. I guess there are different strokes for different folks, including creatures of the inanimate kind. For the Gators, a kinder, gentler approach, seems to be the one that works best. Before the game, The head ball coach, who is a big country music fan told his squad to play like that Lee Ann Womack song that had won an award at the Country Music Awards earlier in the week, "I Hope You Dance." Understandably, some Gators who weren't familiar with the song, but were very familiar with Westerns, wondered what that meant. It didn't sound good. But Spurrier was just trying to inject a little frivolity into what had become a grim Gator lair. Back in Starkville, Mississippi, the week before, they played like Bubba shot the jukebox. Maybe a good pregame song might be something like Merle Haggard's "Workin' Man", nevermind that Haggard doesn't really know much about hard, honest work, having done hard time once in San Quentin for burglary, it's the thought that counts. Is the QB controversy finally over? Now that Rex Grossman has shown that he is the no. 1 QB, let's hope he doesn't have to prove it again in practice this week. Remember, how the QB coach used to call Matthews and Wuerffel "gamers" because of how much better they played in games than in practice? Grossman deserves to remain the starting QB until he loses the job in a game. We're all tired of the musical chairs at that position and the intrigue about who's going to start each week. Next week, the Gators host the Auburn Tigers 5-1 (12) a.k.a. War Eagles (for the sticklers on this list, "War Eagle" is actually the official school yell, not an alternate nickname... like "Woooooooooo, Pig! Sooie!" is at Arkansas. Since Gators just grunt and growl, we don't have an official yell). The Tigers ought to leave that bird of theirs home this week. The last time they brought it to the Swamp, it kept falling off its perch, and the Tigers didn't look much better, losing 24-3. But that's when Baby Bowden was coach. Considering that the Gators have lost only four times in the Swamp, in the Spurrier era, while winning 60, and that three of those losses were to coaches named Bowden, things could be worse. We'll find out Saturday. We will also find out if it's a little premature to round file Brother Bill Oliver's phone number. ------------------------------------------------ Miami 4-1 (4) 27 v. FSU 5-1 (7) 24 Are the Canes really back?! Or did they just show up long enough to beat their archrival and end five years of frustration before taking off for the beach Saturday afternoon? After the game, Santana Moss popped up in front of a camera and began ranting and gesticulating wildly over and over, "Big-time players step up for big-time games!!!" Maybe he should have said "show up", since there hasn't been any sign of him in several games this season. His 7 receptions for 115 yards Saturday were probably too little, too late for Heisman reconsideration, but if the Canes get a break (more specifically if they beat Virginia Tech in four weeks, and the Hokies are still undefeated at that point), they could find themselves playing for a FIFTH national championship. For now, Miami enters the new millennium 1-0 versus Bowden and 0-1 versus Fidel. Next week, the Canes are idle and then play Temple 3-3 and another patsy after that before facing Virginia Tech. For the Noles, it was like Yogi Berra once said, deja vu all over again, as the Noles lost to the Canes on yet another last-second wide right missed field goal. But don't tell that to the Noles' head ball coach who, on his TV program the next morning, called it one of FSU's greatest comebacks (well, almost): "Boy, that dad gum Weinke sure is somethin', ain't he, and look at ol' Snoop, he's my man, and look at Matt Munyon kick that ball, boy, did he really put his leg into it, look at how close that was... What's that Gene? We lost?!" The Noles coach, while never actually admitting that Miami won, did congratulate his opponent, but was restrained in his praise: "Hey, they're not chopped liver, no suh." Bowden may know how to put on the fool, but that's one thing he isn't. His TV program, like Spurrier's, is ostensibly for the fans, but Bowden also uses it to teach and motivate his players, whether it's in victory or defeat, and no one is better at it than the Noles' portly professor of pigskin polemics. Next week, the Noles host Duke 0-5. Don't count FSU out of the national title hunt just yet. With more palookas like the Blue Devils to pad its record before its next real game against the Gators on November 18th., their record may be as good as anyone's (at least until the 18th). ------------------------------------------------ Copyright © W. E. Benet. All rights Reserved.
GatorBytes' Sunshine State Scoreboard 2000 Week 8Sunday, October 15, 2000 ------------------------------------------------ Florida 6-1 (10) 38 v. Auburn 5-2 (19) 7 The last time the Tigers (a.k.a. War Eagles) came to the Swamp, the Coach was named Bowden and they brought their bird, which kept falling off its perch, as the Gators won handily. Yesterday, Auburn never got on its perch and may have wished that their coach was still named Bowden since only one other coach with a different name has ever beaten Spurrier's Gators in the Swamp. This was supposed to be a close games between two of the best teams in the SEC. Most of the stats said it was, except one, the score. Auburn actually had more first downs than the Gators (19-16), more time of possession (34:15-25:45) and almost as much yardage (322-359), but also had more turnovers. The Gators looked like the Gators of old, scoring a lot of points quickly, but like the Gators of new, weren't able to keep it up, scoring only 3 points in the entire second half. Still, the Offense looks like it its coming together when it most needs to, the receivers are becoming more reliable, and redshirt freshman QB Rex Grossman is looking better and better. The head ball coach said he wanted to see the Gators dance, and the choreography between Grossman and freshman receiver Jabar Gaffney is turning into a pas de deux (hey, this isn't NASCAR. Football is an educated person's sport, isn't it?). Next week, the Gators are off and then play Georgia in Jacksonville in what is the Gators' oldest rivalry and always one its most emotionally charged games of the year, regardless of each other's standing. For Florida, it's a chance to vent decades of frustration, when the only thing that separated the Gators from their first-ever SEC championship was Georgia. Whipping dem Dawgs and sending them yelping back to Athens with their tails between their legs is one of life's little Fall pleasures, like the turning of the leaves up in the Smokies. ------------------------------------------------ FSU 6-1 (7) 63 v. Duke 0-6 14 Well, what did you expect, a football game maybe? Fortunately, for Duke, there is more to life and college than football or even basketball. When you are ranked the top institution of higher learning in the South, you can find all kinds of excuses for stinking it up on the gridiron. Let's see, you can turn to poetry for solace ("HAIL to thee, blithe spirit! Bird thou never wert!" comes to mind for some reason, don't ask me why, but, as I recall, the author of that line didn't live very long, and neither did Duke). For the Noles, life isn't quite as sublime. Football is the sum and substance of existence, and when it comes to pigskin prestige, FSU is the Princeton of the ACC. Professor Bowden, the Noles' portly head ball coach, and a prominent professor of pigskin philosophy, conducted a seminar in pigskin piggery Saturday, as the Noles couldn't go to the trough often enough, running up the score against a team that hasn't won a ball game all year. History repeats itself, and what goes around comes around... on the field and in the trough. Next week, the Noles host the Virginia Cavaliers 4-2. The Noles play another great institution of higher learning, but the Cavs, like their brilliant founder, TJ, are more multifaceted and resourceful than their preppie cousins in Durham. Plus the Cavs are one of a handful of teams that have beaten the Noles in recent history. Still, that probably won't be enough to help them find their way in and out of the palmettos when they travel to Tallahassee next week, even if they had Lewis and Clark leading them. Academic heavyweights don't impress the Noles. Neither does a good education. ------------------------------------------------ Miami 4-1 (4) was idle. Next week, the Canes go to Philly to play Temple 4-3. Has it sunk in yet that Miami is ranked higher than both FSU and Florida? Are the Canes headed back to the glory years of the '80's when they won FOUR national championships? Was Thomas Wolfe wrong? History, we are told, repeats itself. Look at Oklahoma. Look at Navy-Notre Dame, where history has been repeating itself every year for 38 years. Didn't Nostradamus prophesize that some evil force out of the East would destroy Western civilization? Was he referring to Miami? ------------------------------------------------ Copyright © W. E. Benet. All rights Reserved.
GatorBytes' Sunshine State Scoreboard 2000 Week 9Sunday, October 22, 2000 ------------------------------------------------ Florida 6-1 (8) had the week off. Next weekend the Gators make their annual trek to the banks of the St. John's River, a natural curiosity if there ever was one, where the water flows backwards to the ocean (northward that is) and where the Gators' season has gone backwards many times in the years B.S. (Before Spurrier). These were the plague years when V.D. (Vince Dooley) brought the Gators to their knees time and time again, Fall after Fall. But things have changed. There's no more V.D., no more Herschel Walker and no more Buck Belue and Lindsay Scott. Even Erk Russell, Georgia's bald-headed Uga-look-alike defensive coordinator, is gone. It's all just a faded memory now, except deep within the craniums of old-time Gators and the head ball coach who won just about everything at Florida as a player, including the Heisman, but never won an SEC ring. The Gators have beaten the Dawgs, who are a respectable 6-1 (12) this season, 9 out of 10 times under Spurrier, and next Saturday that margin should improve. But, again, this is a strange place where the normal laws of nature don't always apply and the Dawgs, despite losing to the Gators year after year last decade, still lead the series 44-31-2. In the meantime, Spurrier is so happy with how well the whole team "danced" last Saturday that he reportedly is thinking of holding practice at the Crazy Horse Saloon in Ocala where they can practice line dancing. That might not go over big with the hip hop guys on the team, however, but maybe a compromise can be reached, say, like playing some common-roots music like Gospel. How about Lanelle Collins and the National Baptist Convention Choir singing "Work that Thang Out!"? followed by a little Thomas Whitfield (say, maybe, "Oh, Hallelujah" and "Of Times and Wonders"). During the week, maybe Larry Vettel will keep playing James Brown's "Get Up Off that Thang" every morning. ------------------------------------------------ FSU 7-1 (6) 37 v. Virginia 4-3 3 Not even Lewis and Clark could have guided the Cavaliers safely in and out of the palmetto thickets of Tallahassee yesterday. You'll remember these were the two explorers who the school's founder, Thomas Jefferson, sent Westward to look for a better way around Tallahassee. You won't hear any sour grapes from the Cavs, though, whose ACT scores and FSU's are exactly the reverse of yesterday's scoreboard. Next weekend, the Noles travel to North Carolina to take on the Wolfpack 5-1 (24). Nevermind that there are no wolves left in NC, there are no real Seminoles in Tallahassee, either. And for the rest of you, there are absolutely no Tigers anywhere in the Continental United States except in zoos. Gators, now, that's a name that's the real deal, but, hey wait a minute, this is the Noles' spot, isn't it? Sorry. A jubilant Bobby Bowden had nothing but superlatives for the way his team played yesterday, especially the performance of his two biggest playmakers. "Oooweee! That ol' Weinke an' ol' Snoop are better than a bag o' Golden Flakes any day," said the head ball coach, while munching on Matt Munyon's whopper junior after the game. ------------------------------------------------ Miami 5-1 (4) 45 Temple 4-4 17 The City of Brotherly Love didn't mollify the Canes yesterday any more than its Quaker pacifism weakened Rocky's resolve in his improbable quest for the heavy weight boxing crown. In the case of the Canes, who have already won the national championship four times, improbable is one multisyllabic word that isn't in their vocabulary. Beating up a team called the Owls doesn't prove much, however. Neither does Santana Moss's 241 yards. We'll find out more on Monday about how the Canes stack up when the BCS rankings come out. Fortunately, for the Canes, they still have a chance to prove how good they really are two weeks from now. Sure, they beat FSU, but what's that saying, one swallow doesn't make a summer? "Huh?", some of you might ask. Ok, so some of you didn't grow up in Lake Woebegone and couldn't go to Harvard... or Florida. That's ok. That's why there are institutions like UM and FSU. Next weekend the Canes host Louisiana Tech 2-6 and then take on another Tech, this one from Blacksburg, VA, for what might be a chance for another (another???) national championship. ------------------------------------------------ Copyright © W. E. Benet. All rights Reserved.
GatorBytes' Sunshine State Scoreboard 2000 Week 10Sunday, October 29, 2000 ------------------------------------------------ Florida 7-1 (8) 34 v. Georgia 6-2 (13) 23 No wonder Vince Dooley doesn't want to keep playing the annual Florida-Georgia game in Jacksonville. Once a charmed place for the Dawgs, it's turned into a bog where the Dawgs have lost 10 of the last 11 games. "This is not the natural order of things, no suh," said the Dawg AD who is largely responsible for Georgia's 44-32-2 lead over Florida, give or take a game that's in dispute. Jacksonville, once a welcomed spot for the Dawgs, a neutral site in Georgia's backyard, has always been like a metropolitan fire hydrant where the Dawgs usually went away feeling relieved. The Dawgs are now reacting like the big sign across I-95 that says "Welcome to Florida" has been changed to say "Stay Off the Grass". Now it's the Gators who have a leg up on the Dawgs. But the Gators had a little trouble with their aim yesterday, with Rex Grossman throwing two interceptions in his first two drives, and Jeff Chandler missing the PAT when the Gators finally did score. Normally, that would have been the end of the game for the Gators. But the laws of nature don't apply here. The river runs backward, and so did time, yesterday, hours before Daylight Savings Time actually took effect, as the Gators started the new decade the same way they did the last one, decisively beating the Dawgs. The Gators beat them nine times last decade. Maybe this decade will be even better. The Gators' head ball coach always likes to say that winning championships never gets old. Neither does beating dem Dawgs. Speaking of championships, the Gators are poised to win the Eastern Division championship for the seventh time in nine years since it was inaugurated in 1992 and have a chance at finishing first in the SEC for the 7th time since 1990 when Florida's native son returned home to lead the Gators to the Promised Land and a national championship. Is a national championship a possibility this year? Ask Vince Dooley. Or Tommy Bowden. Or Frank Solich. Anything is possible. That's why the game is played. Next weekend, the Gators travel to the Capital of Country Music to play Vanderbilt 2-6. If Vandy is lucky, the Gators' head ball coach will be out trying to get Wynonna Judd's autograph. That's about the only chance they have of winning this one, but, hey, between those who have fallen victim to Florida and FSU, look at the company they can commiserate with: Virginia, Duke, North Carolina...the creme de la creme of the Southern academic elite. ------------------------------------------------ FSU 8-1 (6) 58 v. North Carolina State 5-2 (21) 14 The Noles' biggest challenge yesterday was keeping their uniforms clean. Two years ago against Duke, it was puke from ill players on the visiting team who had contracted food poisoning in Tallahassee (wonder why?) that threatened to upend the Noles. In a bizarre twist that was written up in the New England Journal of Medicine, retching Duke players transmitted food poisoning to the Noles by contact with their contaminated uniforms. Last night in Raleigh, all the Noles had to worry about was tobacco spittle, in this state where every man, woman and child rolls, dips or chews and the most prestigious sports award is called the Winston Cup. Nevermind that NC State beat the Noles two years ago, football is a minor sport here, third after NASCAR and basketball, as the Noles demonstrated last night, while they bide their time before their November 18th appointment with destiny, when the Gators come knocking (Don't expect the Gators to wait for anyone to open the door, either). Next weekend, the Noles entertain Clemson 8-1 (5). This will be the most drama anyone has seen in Tallahassee since Tennessee Williams drove through once on his way to Key West, as father and son take the stage at Doak Campbell stadium in a modern adaptation of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex. This promises to be a fresh interpretation as neither one has read the play or even heard of it before. TV reruns of Hee Haw are about as highbrow as it gets in this family, but one show they've both watched is Father Knows Best. The elder Bowden might not know the names of all of his players, but he still knows more than son Tommy. ------------------------------------------------ Miami 6-1 (4) 42 v. Louisiana Tech 7-2 31 This game was more lop-sided than the final score suggested, as the Canes rolled up more than 500 yards of offense (more than 300 by rushing) in a cruise-control blow-out of their visitors from Monroe, LA, who were a little uncertain about what to do, having never traveled outside of the United States before. Not only did the Canes have the home field advantage, but this was South Florida where they were playing, where there is more voodoo than the Bayou. How else do you explain the Canes winning four national championships under three different head coaches? And doing it without even any fans coming to watch them play? The Canes continue to draw on supernatural forces, finding themselves now on the verge of playing for a fifth national championship... IF they beat Virginia Tech next week in Blacksburg. Next weekend, the Canes return to the mountains for their Big East Conference showdown with no. 2 Virginia Tech 8-0, which could send the winner to the Orange Bowl to play for the national championship. The Canes certainly know their way around the OB, but aren't taking any chances in Blacksburg. The Hokies, who play in a stadium that says "The Gobblers", have found that this gives them an advantage against feeble-minded opponents, who spend the first half trying to figure out if they are in the right place. UM's Mensa Club has been contacted to work out with the team this week, just to make sure the Canes are completely prepared. ------------------------------------------------ Copyright © 1999-2000 W. E. Benet. All rights Reserved. GatorBytes' Sunshine State Scoreboard 2000 Week 11Sunday, November 5, 2000 ------------------------------------------------ Miami 7-1 (3) 41 v. Virginia Tech 8-1 (2) 21 The Canes earned the top spot on the score board this week by beating no. 2 Virginia Tech, assuring them that they will move up to at least the no. 3 spot behind FSU in the BCS rankings. Nevermind that the Canes beat FSU four weeks ago. Until college football adopts a playoff system, the rankings will continue to be as bizarre as anything you'll find in Ripley's Believe It or Not. The Canes have always had a lot of luck, and will need some more to have a chance at playing for a fifth national title in January. They may get the help they need from the Gators, who play the Noles November 18th, or from Nebraska, who will probably face no. 1 Oklahoma again in the Big 12 conference championship game December 2nd. A bigger question in Coral Gables right now is whether the Canes' head ball coach will be lured away to Tuscaloosa. That might have been a legitimate concern last year, but not this year. Alabama is in a shambles. Maybe Lou Holtz would be interested, but nobody with any sense would want to go there. For 24 years they had one coach, Paul Bear Bryant, until he retired in '82, who left behind a legacy that made him the best known and most respected name in the South since Robert E. Lee. Since then, they've had six coaches who are always being compared to the legend, and are always coming up short. Maybe Terry Bowden would be interested? But Butch Davis would do well to stay in Miami where only Fidel Castro and Janet Reno have more name recognition, but not nearly as much respect. Next weekend, the Canes host another Big East rival, Pittsburgh 5-3, in what should be a mop up action from here on out until the Bowl games. ------------------------------------------------ Florida 8-1 (6) 43 v. Vanderbilt 2-7 10 The Gators didn't get to go to the Grand Ol' Opry during their visit to Nashville, but in their opening drive looked like they were playing backup for Lil' Jimmy Dickens. The Mighty Gators who have won more awards and honors in the '90s than Garth Brooks and George Strait combined couldn't hit a note until halfway through the first quarter. Not to worry, however. The Commodores, who have never beaten a Spurrier team and are last in the SEC, were never a threat. The only threat was the Gators, who, being good guests, offered their hapless hosts a chance to make a game out of it early on. But the Commodores graciously declined as their head ball coach, Woody Widenhofer, listened to George Jones sing "Choices" on his headset. The Gator head ball coach never got Wynonna Judd's autograph, but that's ok. Butch Davis said he'll get an autograph for him from Gloria Estefan in January at the Orange Bowl. Next weekend is homecoming for the Gators when they serve up their sacrificial lamb, except this year it's a goat, well, not exactly, it's the South Carolina Gamecocks in a winner-take-all showdown for the SEC's Eastern Division Championship. Like Vandy, it's hard to take the Cocks seriously, even if they are coming into the game with the second best record in the league. The best that the elderly but feisty Coach Holtz, who is a friend of Spurrier, can hope for is that he won't have the score run up on him. He may not leave here with a win, or a divisional championship, but he may end up with Coach of the Year honors for what he has accomplished at South Carolina this year. Caveat: don't be surprised if the Gators continue to sputter and stall when they pull up to the starting line Saturday before finding the right gear and putting the pedal to the metal. ------------------------------------------------ FSU 9-1 (4) 54 v. Clemson 8-2 (10) 7 Big Daddy Bowden took son Tommy to the woodshed again last night, and used a hickory switch on him this time instead of a rap on the knuckles that he gave him last year. Tommy, unlike his father and younger brother Terry, isn't very good at playing possum. Before the game, he said he didn't expect to win, and he was right. For the Noles' head ball coach, who loves all his children like they're Peter Warrick, it was nothing personal. The elder Bowden, who has trouble remembering the names of his players, was overheard asking Mickey Andrews during the game, "Who'd you say their coach was, Mickey? Dad gum, you don't say!? I thought he'd done gone to Alabama, yes suh, that's what that other young'un of mine told me, you know, the one who nevah minds me." Next weekend, the Noles drive back up Tobacco Road to North Carolina to play the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, 1-7, whose only win this season was against Duke this weekend. The Noles' head ball coach, who is a real deacon and who has demonized the ACC ever since the Noles joined the league nine years ago in order to have an excuse for chickening out of the SEC, isn't likely to turn down the fire and brimstone. But don't blame Bowden. That's the way the system is. The Noles need to score all the points they can get to move up in the rankings and QB Chris Weinke needs all the numbers he can get to win the Heisman. Just the same, congratulations to the Noles for winning their 9th ACC championship yesterday. ------------------------------------------------ Copyright © 1999-2000 W. E. Benet. All rights Reserved.
GatorBytes' Sunshine State Scoreboard 2000 Week 12Sunday, November 12, 2000 ------------------------------------------------ Florida 9-1 (5) 41 v. South Carolina 7-3 (21) 21 Last week you read it in this column: "Don't be surprised if the Gators continue to sputter and stall when they pull up to the starting line Saturday before finding the right gear and putting the pedal to the metal." The Gators, who were favored to win by 14 points, trailed the Gamecocks 21-3 at the end of the first quarter before shifting into high gear. Stunned old-time Gators had to wonder if it was some kind of prank, like before the start of the '64 game between the Gators and the Gamecocks at Florida field, which Pat Dooley wrote about in the Friday's Sun: About an hour before the game, members of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, dressed up in uniforms that looked like South Carolina's that they borrowed from Lincoln High School, ran out onto the field to the cheers and boos of the fans who thought they were the real players. What followed erased any misperceptions as they ran around the field doing warm ups that looked like they were out of a Keystone cops comedy routine. Linemen played patty cake with each other, players jumped on each others' backs for piggyback rides around the field, running backs ran into each other, and the punt returner stood with outstretched arms as the ball bounced off his helmet. Fans on both sides watched in stunned disbelief until the brothers lined up to spell FIJI and ran off the field (presumably with real cops running after them). Yesterday, the Gators couldn't do any thing right at first, as South Carolina scooped up two blocked punts and ran them into the end zone. The high jinks eventually ended and the Gators got down to business, beating South Carolina for the 10th straight time, but not without a few more surprises, which included Gator offensive lineman, Thomas Moody, grabbing a deflected pass and barreling into the end zone and Jabar Gaffney grabbing a pass that bounced off the helmet of a South Carolina defender and turning it into a 40 yard reception. All in all, this was a good game to have before next weekend's blockbuster in Tallahassee -- a little something out of the ordinary for the Noles' head ball coach to ponder. Congratulations to Coach Spurrier, who got a standing ovation as he left the field, for winning the SEC's Eastern Division championship for the 7th time in 9 years and for guiding the Gators to their 11th straight season of 9 or more wins to tie Alabama's Bear Bryant for the longest consecutive run of nine or more wins per season in SEC history. Next weekend, is the annual Florida-Florida State epic where more lore is generated and passed on to future generations than anything Homer ever wrote about. Besides having national championship implications, as it does this year, and conferring state bragin' rights to the victor, it doesn't take a college education or a knowledge of classical Greek to tune into this one. Both schools' fans intensely dislike what each other represents for at least three hours every November. For the Noles, however, this game always seems to mean more than it does for the Gators. It's a big brother-little sister kind of thing. The Noles, who started out as a teachers' college for women, trail their big brother 26-16-2, and seem to get as much satisfaction out of beating the Gators as the Gators get out of beating dem Dawgs from Georgia whom the Gators trail 44-32-2. When Spurrier was a player at Florida, he won the Heisman, but never won an SEC championship, thanks to Georgia. As Florida's head coach, he has won a slew of SEC championships and a national championship, but has never beaten FSU in Tallahassee. All geniuses are flawed in some way. Will Spurrier's inability (so far) to beat Bowden at Doak-Campbell stadium be a lasting flaw in an otherwise brilliant coaching career? We'll know next week whether we'll have another year to think about that. But one thing you can count on is that Spurrier never goes into any game expecting to lose, and that's an attitude that all great coaches have, which has a trickle-down effect on their players regardless of how they match up on paper with their opponents. As someone once said about Bear Bryant, he could take his'uns and beat your'uns and take your'uns and beat his'uns. The Bear also said you need chicken to make chicken salad. Well, both Spurrier and Bowden know how to coach, and while chicken salad might not be exactly what they are good at cooking up, the cupboards in both camps are never bare. ------------------------------------------------ FSU 10-1 (3) 35 v. Wake Forest 1-8 6 The Noles scored 35 points, 23 first downs and over 550 yards in offense against the hapless Demon Deacons, whom they overwhelmed without breaking a sweat, but to hear the Noles' head ball coach the following day, you would have thought he had just finished playing Florida, not a team that has won only one game all year (against Duke) and never beaten the Noles since they joined the ACC. Said the head Nole, "Dad gum, they're always givin' us fits, yes suh!" Say what, coach? Oh, you must mean before you joined the ACC when Wake Forest actually beat the Noles two or three times. Bowden said he expects next week's game against archrival Florida to be just as tough and will have his team ready to play (as ready as they were to play Wake Forest, right, coach?). Next weekend's game against the Gators may determine whether FSU or Miami or even the Gators themselves, with some breaks from some other teams ranked ahead of them, will go to the Orange Bowl to play for the national championship in January. The Noles, who finished their ACC schedule and won the conference championship for the ninth year in a row won't feel fulfilled unless they at least make it to the national title game. Ditto Miami. For the Gators, going to Atlanta and playing for the SEC championship in the toughest football conference in the Nation is what it's all about. A national title is just icing on the cake. ------------------------------------------------ Miami 8-1 (2) 35 v. Pittsburgh 5-4 7 The Canes needed a big win over Pitt combined with a narrow win by FSU over Wake Forest to have any chance of moving ahead of the Noles in the all-important BCS rankings. They came up short on both counts, but will have another chance of moving ahead next weekend, thanks mainly to the Mighty Gators who are poised to hand the Noles their second defeat of the season, and, in doing so, earn the eternal gratitude of the Canes. The Canes, who played in Philadelphia earlier in the season, were in no mood for brotherly love as they returned to the Quaker State to take on Pitt. Try as they could, they couldn't run up the score up on their game opponent who not only resisted being steamrolled, but even thwarted them once from scoring on a fourth-and-goal on their one yard line. Thanks to the BCS, the unsportsmanlike practice of running up the score is now essential to rising in the rankings as the several computer polls which are factored into it were never programmed to exhibit human qualities such as judgment, common sense and, yes, good sportsmanship. This system, far from creating a more equitable method for determining a national championship title game, is a grievous offense on the sense and sensibility of college football. The Canes will have another chance next weekend to try to run up the score on another outmanned and outgunned opponent. Next weekend, the Canes travel North to take on the Syracuse Orangemen, 5-4, in a game the Canes should win handily as they keep an eye and an ear on the bigger Florida-FSU battle in Tallahassee. In the meantime, once proud Alabama continues to search for a new coach, but if they are still thinking about Butch Davis, Miami fans can rest easily. Sure, Miami has its problems (they don't call it Dodge City for nothing), but it's got its pluses, too. There are the sugar-white sand beaches and turquoise waves gently undulating over the coral reefs that stretch out to the Caribbean and the tropical islands of the Antilles that wrap around it like a sparkling string of pearls, and the sinewy coconut and majestic royal palms swaying in the breeze against a backdrop of great mansions and stately villas where all of the beautiful people live... versus what, Tuscaloosa?-- where every other street or public building is called Bear Bryant something or other and the best restaurant in town is the Piccadilly cafeteria? Even Bryant could only take so much and is buried in Birmingham, while Alabama's other great cultural icon, Hank Williams, is, I believe, buried in Montgomery. Maybe Terry Bowden would be interested in the job. ------------------------------------------------ Copyright © 1999-2000 W. E. Benet. All rights Reserved.
GatorBytes' Sunshine State Scoreboard 2000 Week 13Sunday, November 19, 2000 ------------------------------------------------ Florida 9-2 (4) 7 v. FSU 10-1 (3) 30 Miami 9-1 (2) 26 v. Syracuse 5-5 0 Congratulations to the Noles, Canes, and, yes, the Gators for making this a super sunshine state season as the three teams, as of yesterday, occupied three of the top four poll rankings, demonstrating once again that whoever wins the National Championship has to first win the state of Florida. Unlike the presidential election, however, there won't be any recounts. The Gators got clobbered, and not even Bill Daley can change that. But fortunately the Gators have another game in two weeks that can make this a very sweet season, when they go to Atlanta to play for a 6th SEC championship and a chance to represent the SEC in the Sugar Bowl. For the Gators, more than the Noles and the Canes, this has been a season of unusually sustained suspense, due in large part to playing in the rugged SEC where the "Biggest-Game-of-the-Season" (BGS) was practically a weekly event. Nuclear physicist Werner Heisenberg came up with an idea called the Principle of Uncertainty that explains this. The Principle states that the importance of any event (this is a simplified interpretation for the benefit of the reader) is never the same from one moment to the next. First there was the BGS (not to be confused with the BCS) up in Knoxville, when the Gators beat Tennessee to put themselves in the driver's seat for the Eastern Division Championship. Then there was the loss in Starkville, when Mississippi State threw the Gators back into a state of uncertainty. The next BGS was Georgia, with sub-BGSs against LSU and Auburn in between. After Georgia, the next BGS was last night against the Noles. And now the new BGS will once again be against Auburn in Atlanta for the SEC championship in two weeks. Sports writers, commentators and fans who believe that the high-water mark of the season for the Gators was at 8:00 PM EST last night either haven't been following Gator football very long, haven't lived in this part of Florida very long or grew up in another part of the country outside of the area that makes up the Southeastern Conference. Until 1991, Florida was one of only two charter members of the SEC that had never won a league title. The other was, and still is, Vanderbilt. Even charter member Tulane had won it!-- not once, but three times!! For old-time Gators who saw everybody in the league win the title except themselves (and Vandy), winning the SEC for the first time was like capturing the Golden Fleece, and, for 52 years, it was just as difficult. Now, even after winning it more times than anybody else in the last decade of the 20th century, its allure at the beginning of this century hasn't diminished. For the Noles and the Canes, the next 24 hours or so will be a time of nail biting as they await the BCS rankings to see who will play for the National Championship in the Orange Bowl. For the Canes, who beat the Noles earlier in the season, the very real possibility that the Noles will leap-frog over them by virtue of a higher strength of schedule rating and victory over the Gators, losing a chance to play for the National Championship in their own back yard will be a bitter outcome. But don't pity the Canes. They've already won four national championships. The Noles are hoping to win their third. Besides, it is far from certain that Oklahoma will remain no. 1. If the Sooners falter in their Big 12 Conference Championship game with Kansas State in two weeks, is it possible that we might see an FSU-Miami rematch in January for all the rice and beans, the whole plantain and all the naranjas (remember, they'll be playing in Miami)? It's been a season of uncertainty alright, one that professor Heisenberg never quite envisioned. The Noles completed their regular season and will not play again until January. The Gators completed their regular season, and go to Atlanta in two weeks for a re-match with Auburn 9-2 (18) for the SEC championship. The Canes have one more regular season game left against Boston College 6-4, and one more chance, perhaps, to make their case for a national championship title shot (along with a little help, perhaps, from Kansas State). ------------------------------------------------ Copyright © 1999-2000 W. E. Benet. All rights Reserved.
GatorBytes' Sunshine State Scoreboard 2000 SEC ChampsSunday, December 3, 2000 ------------------------------------------------ Florida 10-2 (7) 28 v. Auburn 9-3 (18) 6 SEC CHAMPS! That says it all. That's why Florida plays in this league. For a lot of Gators, especially old-time Gators who remember decades of frustration, which included finishing first in the conference three times without winning the title, it doesn't get any better than this. This is not just a conference title, it's a way of life here in the South, where football is a religion and every Saturday in the Fall is a Holy Day. Winning the championship of the preeminent football conference in the country is a career event. Steve Spurrier's Gators have now done it six times since 1991 and the Gators' head ball coach is looking like he might have a rendezvous with destiny as he moved up to second place behind only the legendary Bear Bryant in conference title wins. If Spurrier coaches as long as the Bear, and continues to win at the pace he is going, he will be on track to break the Bear's 13 conference championships. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. The head ball coach once told me that things have changed since Bryant's time, and it's a lot harder to compete and win today. The Bear once said that Florida, with its vast talent base and resources, would one day dominate the SEC just as Alabama had. He might have been right, he usually was, but little did he realize that FSU and Miami would also become dominant football powers that Florida would have to compete with for that same talent, which had always been Florida's for the asking. Let's enjoy the title. It's been four years since the last one. The Sugar Bowl can wait. A national championship will be a possibility again next year, but every year, the number one goal, the main goal, is getting to and winning the SEC championship. Congratulations to the Noles, who also won their conference championship, albeit one (the ACC) that does not have the prestige or significance of the SEC, but nevermind, they have a chance to have a big season, too, by playing for the national championship. This is it for the Noles, since winning an ACC title and lording it over teams like Duke (0-8) and Wake Forest (1-7) isn't exactly something to brag about. Not like the SEC, which has sent more teams to bowl games than any conference in the country. Baby Bowden got it right yesterday when he admitted that the SEC is so rugged that SEC teams get bowl bids just for dressing out. As much as we wish former Gator defensive coordinator Bobby Stoops and his Sooners well, the Noles are likely to prove too talented and too fast for them. The Noles are so fast they'll have time to run in and out of Dillards while they play this one. The only thing faster than the Noles is how fast their portly head ball coach can put down a Lykes hot dog or finish off a bag of Golden Flakes...or how fast Burt Reynolds can reattach his toupee. But enough tom-foolery, we wish our sister school good luck and look forward to hosting them here in the Swamp next year. Poor Miami. The wailing and gnashing of teeth in Coral Gables can be heard even up here. There aren't enough words to console them for coming so close to playing for a fifth national championship only to get bumped by a team they beat earlier in the season. Like FSU, the Canes won their conference championship, too, but that has little meaning, beating up the likes of Rutgers (0-7) and Temple (1-6). If there is anything at all that might ease the disappointment, it might be hearing, "Here come the Gators" January 2nd, when they meet their old foe in the Sugar Bowl. For Miami, a win over the Gators would make the Canes the undisputed State champs of the greatest college football state in the nation and help them muscle in on the Gators and Noles for the state's top athletes outside of South Florida. The Gators will want to win this one to dot the "i" on a completely successful season and use it as a springboard for the season-after-the-season, when the recruiting wars begin in earnest. For Florida, FSU and Miami, win or lose, college football doesn't get any better than this. ------------------------------------------------ Copyright © 1999-2000 W. E. Benet. All rights Reserved.
GatorBytes' Sunshine State Scoreboard 2000 Heisman TrophySunday, December 10, 2000 ------------------------------------------------ Congratulations to Chris Weinke for winning the Heisman Trophy and bringing more hardware back to Florida, where we might not be respected for our electoral process but there's no question about our football prowess. Now that Weinke has been named the best athlete in college football, he can ask Danny Wuerffel what's next. Or any of the numerous other recipients who ended up warming pro benches after winning the coveted award. Another Nole, Charlie Ward, won it seven years ago and is now playing basketball. Maybe Weinke will end up back in baseball. Or he could petition the NCAA to play another year at FSU. Just the same, Weinke deserves a big thanks for giving the media something else to focus on in the Sunshine State besides the sorry state of our electoral system. I am also glad that his age (28) didn't keep the majority of voters from listing him first on their ballots. Most people over 40, and everyone over 50, know that a 28-year-old is still a kid. Weinke showed it last night as he nervously read his acceptance speech, thanked his coaches, teammates, and everyone else he could think of and showed everyone watching that the right person won the award and a recount won't be needed. ------------------------------------------------
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Copyright © 1999-2002 W. E. Benet. All Rights Reserved. |
