There is plenty of blame and plenty of praise to go around after this game. Because we won, and things have looked so bleak until the 2nd half, let's start with the praises.
PRAISE
1-Rick Clausen. Despite being completely shafted by Fulmer after outplaying Ainge at every turn, Rick came in and took the team over. They were dead, quitting, and totally discombobulated until they got on his shoulders.
2-Gerald Riggs. He ran extremely hard, fast, and made a difference. Excuse him for the fumble; for a while he was the only guy playing.
3-D-line. Totally dominated a good OL in 2nd half. In fact, I cannot remember a more dominant performance against a quality team. Harrell and Mahelona were phenomenal.
4-O-line. They were stinking it up pretty good, but I have been so down on them that the 2nd half made up for it. Not so much that we won, but because they started moving people, making short yardage plays, and picking up blitzers. Still plenty of work left here.
BLAME
1-Fulmer. Let me count the ways. However, the biggest blunder of the year that cost us a game - and nearly another - was the blind insistence on starting Ainge instead of Clausen. Ainge isn't ready.
2-Fulmer. Naming Ainge the starter and alienating the entire team. They clearly play harder and better behind Clausen. In fact, they have said as much in the friggin newspaper.
3-WRs. Let's just say it: They isn't a bigger bunch of underachievers on the planet. They continually dropped passes and do not fight for ball position. If you pay attention, you'll notice that they drift on their routes on a lot of zone/man routes.
4-Pat Washington. See point 3. Does he do anything? He can't recruit, his position always sucks, and he isn't really involved in game planning to any degree. Throw me a bone here.
While we can be happy with a GREAT win, we should not overlook the absolute utter failure of this coaching staff to get the team ready to play football.
Execution, BTW, is a result of training. Well-coached teams execute well. Poorly coached teams execute poorly. Our coaching staff obviously doesn't realize this, because they always use it as a way to blame the players; as if they are somehow completely removed from whether or not the players can execute properly.
OK - big win. That was a pretty solid team we beat tonight. They were more talented than Florida, I thought. We are clearly the most talented team in the SEC. If we could start playing like it, we could run the table. WHERE ARE THE RECEIVERS?
