Sunday summary...post Florida

[surveyor]

The defensive "change" reminded me of what Dallas use to do under Wade Phillips when they had a lead. It was almost as if they went into a prevent defense to preserve the win.

THe most frustrating game in recent memory. As was stated before, we were the better team on the field for about 55 minutes or more.

[Catatonic]

The irony of these awful targeting calls is that Florida's starting QB got roughed, injured and out for the year....on a perfectly legal play. Last week it was us.

[Jload]

2 huge questions coming in to the season have been answered 1. Can we effectively replace Benny Snell, the answer is no, not this year at least. 2. Can a young inexperienced secondary hold up to an SEC caliber passing attack, the answer to this is no as well. These were the 2 critical weaknesses that doomed us Saturday. This UK team is better than most of the UK squads I have seen in my life, but it will NOT contend for an SEC East title, something many of us would like to see once in our life. Still should have a good season just will not be a great one

[Matt Dillon]

2 huge questions coming in to the season have been answered 1. Can we effectively replace Benny Snell, the answer is no, not this year at least. 2. Can a young inexperienced secondary hold up to an SEC caliber passing attack, the answer to this is no as well. These were the 2 critical weaknesses that doomed us Saturday. This UK team is better than most of the UK squads I have seen in my life, but it will NOT contend for an SEC East title, something many of us would like to see once in our life. Still should have a good season just will not be a great one

There were other factors as well. This is all speculation, but if Poore had made the fg, we very well could be celebrating our second victory, over the Gators, in the last two seasons. There were also some, in my mind, questionable decisions by the coaching staff. I'll admit that the secondary is probably going to hurt us this year, especially against good passing teams. As far as replacing Benny, if coach Stoops would start Smoke, and give him the lion's share of the carries, I'm not sure we'd miss Benny that much.

[Spiritof96]

I hate the loss... It still bothers me.

I do like that we were/are better than UF. (it makes the loss hurt more though)

We aren't ready for SEC east contention really, but Stoops et al have built a legit SEC good football team.

[Dwight Schrute]

I hate the loss... It still bothers me.

I do like that we were/are better than UF. (it makes the loss hurt more though)

We aren't ready for SEC east contention really, but Stoops et al have built a legit SEC good football team.

Agreed. We're just not good enough at this point to try to coast to a win against a good team.

The only for sure loss I see on the schedule from here on is Georgia. We are good enough to be in the top half of the league.

[Sean]

I actually think they could call targeting 90% of the time. Looks like to me they all tackle similarly, and that's very often with their helmet down. Sometimes there's a weird thing that happens (twice this year it's the offensive player falling toward our tackler) that makes the actual hit come at the top of the helmet, but it looks to me like many of these guys are doing the same thing when they tackle.

Which suggests either they're (a) taught to do that, or (b) it's instinctual somehow.

The question also has to be asked: does the targeting rule help anything? I sort of go back to the way they've done basketball, which is to over-call and over-video review things. I wonder if football is going that same way simply because they're trying to create uniformity or something.

My understanding of concussions is that they happen because the brain rattles around in the skull. Obviously the head-down method may be to blame for neck/spine injuries (how many of those are there in the sport?), but if it's a concussion issue then it seems like head-up tackling would be just as dangerous.

When I played we were taught to lower the head, this wasn't to turn yourself into a missile but was in order to protect the face, neck, and collar bones. It also gives the tackler a lower center of gravity. These guys have been taught to tackle this way since they were just starting football. It is going to be hard to get them to change what has become 100% muscle memory.

[Spiritof96]

When I played we were taught to lower the head, this wasn't to turn yourself into a missile but was in order to protect the face, neck, and collar bones. It also gives the tackler a lower center of gravity. These guys have been taught to tackle this way since they were just starting football. It is going to be hard to get them to change what has become 100% muscle memory.

I was taught, "Put your nose on the ball.". Even if you are heads up, I think it's natural to duck a bit at the last second.

[Lighthouse]

I hate the loss... It still bothers me.

I do like that we were/are better than UF. (it makes the loss hurt more though)

We aren't ready for SEC east contention really, but Stoops et al have built a legit SEC good football team.

I agree with this. We have a legit SEC OL & DL. Smoke is an SEC back, and I think Smith will do alright. If we had experienced secondary, we would contend.

I also think we are better than Florida.