It was a Happy Halloween for Georgia, as Florida passed out all the treats (4 turnovers, multiple major penalties) with a very disappointing and lackluster offensive performance in a 27-8 loss.

Those were the kindest adjectives I could come up with to describe the horror show that was the Gator offense, which took the holiday a little too seriously it seems.  Aaron Philo got the short hook in the 2nd quarter after looking completely lost and panicked, including throwing a terrible interception as he was falling down.  Tramell Jones then came in and provided a brief spark, but that ended with an interception on a catchable pass to Eric Singleton leading to a 10-0 Georgia lead.  Right before halftime came the coup-de-grace – a strip sack of Jones that was returned for a TD that made the score 24-0.  BOO indeed.  The second half wasn’t much better, including an ill-advised end zone pick to a Bulldog DB that inexplicably Jones didn’t see.  Good news, though – Florida’s scoring streak lives on……YAY!  A TD drive with 7 minutes left made the score 24-8, and Georgia tacked on a late FG to close out the scoring.  While both QBs had bad days, the O-line was as much a culprit.  There were critical holding penalties all afternoon, along with a false-start penalty on 3rd-and-1 that ended a 2nd quarter drive.  Georgia repeatedly got a push at the LOS, pressured the pocket while racking up 4 sacks, and ate up any runs or passes to the edges.  The Gators never established a consistent running game, with Jaden Baugh getting stuffed at or behind the LOS all afternoon.  Which leads me to some pointed criticism of Buster Faulkner’s game plan.  Why in the hell he continued to call those plays to the edge – both runs and passes – was baffling, as the Bulldogs have too much talent and speed in their front seven to have any real success doing it.  That, along with not attacking downfield more often in the passing game – the few times that the Gators actually made some positive plays – was frustrating to watch.  While I acknowledge that Georgia likely has the best defense Florida will face all season, this was by far the worst performance by the offense of the season – including the duds at Missouri and against South Carolina.  A complete and total failure across the board.

On the opposite side of the ball, Florida’s defense played it’s best game of the season.  It repeatedly rose up to stop Georgia through the first 3 quarters less the short fields allowed by the turnovers and fumble return for a TD.  It had to be extremely difficult to go back onto the field after watching the offense continually screw up, yet the defense fought gamely until they ran out of gas in the 4th quarter.  The D-line made some big plays, including a sack and deflected pass by Emmanuel Oyebadejo.  The secondary had mostly good pass coverage, and overall the defense played an aggressive scheme that DC Brad White seems to have finally figured out.  LB Miles Graham and safety Bryce Thornton made some big hits and flew around the field.  The defense held Georgia to only 318 total yards, 101 passing, and much of the 217 rushing yards came as the players tired in the second half.  I hope that this unit sees on tape how well it played and can keep up that same performance the last four games……because apparently it will be needed.

Jon Sumrall was visibly annoyed after the game, as he should be. He knows this isn’t good enough, and at least is honest enough to say it publicly.  He and his offensive staff have to coach up both QBs to play better.  Both likely will be needed, as each is playing through injury.  The O-line needs to bounce back in a big way, and stop the dumb penalties.  The WRs and TEs all have to do more to help the QBs, and block better for the running game.  It’s unfortunate to still have all of these glaring issues 8 games into the season, but that’s where the offense is – and isn’t – right now.

There are a few more meaningful games to be played, and an overall solid year can still be had if the team can improve and keep looking forward.  In all honesty, the win-loss record to date is close to where almost everyone predicted it would be.  Getting to 7 or more wins would be a marked improvement for the program – especially with what Slingblade left behind for Coach Sumrall to work with.  Lots of work to do this week in practice.