What a difference a year makes. Once again, the team came to play from the opening gun today, and it showed. 5 TDs on the opening 5 possessions for a 35-3 lead at the half. Turnovers and penalties were minimum, and Russell threw the ball beautifully. Hats off to Les for having the team prepared.
I have no issues with the defense, no issues with the passing game, no issues with mental discipline (i.e. minimal penalties & turnovers & bad decisions in general). But I do have significant concern about our running game. Granted, Russell was on such a roll that it was tough to take the ball out of his hands to get things going on the ground, but it's evident to me that we aren't going to have much success against Florida in this department unless we fix something fast. And without success in the running game, it's tough to see us winning in the games that really matter, against the elite teams like the Gators.
I managed to catch some of the Florida game, and boy am I glad they pulled that one out at the end. A Florida team coming off an upset loss at home would most certainly NOT be one I'd have any interest in facing. They seem to have had trouble out of the gates on numerous occasions this year - up only 14-7 at the half vs Southern Miss in week one, down 10-7 at the half at Tennessee (definitely excusable), up 12-7 at the half vs Kentucky, and stuck in a one-point battle until the fourth quarter today vs Alabama. Now, I'm not saying they aren't worthy of being a top 5 team, but they're clearly not invincible. So I think we have plenty of reason to believe we can go into the Swamp next week and compete.