Momentum. UF had it, UT is bleeding it

#26
#26
lawgator1 said:
www.usatoday.com

Tale of two rivals: Florida is surging into 2025, Tennessee is bleeding out

Florida is projecting strength, Tennessee is venting vulnerability. Welcome to a wild 2025 offseason.
www.usatoday.com

I dare not post this in the FB forum. But it does feel like UF is building momentum whereas Tennessee is questioning itself to the point it will lose confidence and players.
Click to expand...

It’s not even January yet so let’s see what happens the next few months.

I do expect FL to be much better next year and Lord knows we have enough trouble beating them when they’re crappy, especially in Gainesville.
 
#27
#27
Aesius said:
Ah hell, you're right lawgator1.

Gators are headed to a dynasty and Tennessee will be begging Derek Dooley to coach us again by 2026. We're completely screwed and you guys are ascending to heights previously unreached in college football. Might as well just stop watching. Gosh, I sure enjoyed those two wins over Napier because we won't see any more for the foreseeable future!
Click to expand...


I didn't take such an extreme position. I do think UF's momentum allows for a greater range of improvement than does UT having ended the season really appearing rather flat and uninspired.
 
#28
#28
lawgator1 said:
www.usatoday.com

Tale of two rivals: Florida is surging into 2025, Tennessee is bleeding out

Florida is projecting strength, Tennessee is venting vulnerability. Welcome to a wild 2025 offseason.
www.usatoday.com

I dare not post this in the FB forum. But it does feel like UF is building momentum whereas Tennessee is questioning itself to the point it will lose confidence and players.
Click to expand...
Aren’t you the one who started the “Florida may forever be a relic” thread in September?
 
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#30
#30
Charlie Kelly said:
Aren’t you the one who started the “Florida may forever be a relic” thread in September?
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First, like many (Gator fans or not) am very surprised at how much the team improved over the course of the year. I can't recall such a turnaround as longas I've been a fan.

Second, even with that improvement the Gators are very, very, very long way from competitive at the elite level.
 
#31
#31
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#32
#32
#33
#33
I mean sure yall won your last game and we lost ours.. but we beat you.., we’re nearly identical in recruiting class- you flipped one guy we care about in shady.. it happens

I’ll still take Nico over Lagway next yearx And I guess congrats on last years portal.. but you’re still stuck with Napier and you know good and well that’s a handicap..

This article is just wild.. saying Florida almost beat UGA but Vols got blown out by them … we both lost by 14 lol.. we were ahead by 10 and tied at half.. what kinda of homer take is that?
 
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#34
#34
lawgator1 said:
www.usatoday.com

Tale of two rivals: Florida is surging into 2025, Tennessee is bleeding out

Florida is projecting strength, Tennessee is venting vulnerability. Welcome to a wild 2025 offseason.
www.usatoday.com

I dare not post this in the FB forum. But it does feel like UF is building momentum whereas Tennessee is questioning itself to the point it will lose confidence and players.
Click to expand...
That USA Today article mentions how Tennessee was "embarrassed" at Georgia 31-17 on November 16th, but fails to mention how Florida lost to Georgia by the exact same margin (14 points) just two weeks earlier, on November 2nd, by a score of 34-20, in a very similar game. This supposedly hot Florida team also lost one week later, on November 9th, at Texas, by the score of 49-17, which is 7 points worse than what Ohio State beat Tennessee by in Columbus.

Also, the article fails to mention that although Florida did beat Ole Miss and LSU near the end of the season, both of those games were at home. Florida was no more successful on the road in 2024, than Tennessee was .... and let's look at LSU and Ole Miss for a moment ..... Tennessee beat Alabama at home, who was better in 2024 than LSU and on par with Ole Miss. Is there really a big difference there?

The USA Today article also strains to make the case that Florida gave the game away to Tennessee in October, but it was Florida who needed a last minute touchdown pass to tie the game and send it into overtime.

Nor is there any mention made of the fact that our 2025 signing classes were very comparable to each other as well. Florida is ranked ahead of Tennessee on 247 by one spot in the composite rankings but it is by a negligible margin.

Finally, that article (and this absurd @lawgator1 post), argue that Tennessee is "losing confidence and questioning itself," but the only thing provided in support of that opinion is a press conference with Heupel following the Ohio State loss .... Well, it's a shame we didn't get to see how well the Gators would have done vs Ohio State in Columbus - or how chipper Billy Napier would have been after the game was played. LOL.

That USA Today article adopted a single-minded narrative to build a case that Florida is in a better position going into the 2025 off-season than Tennessee, but then it gave incomplete information in support of that narrative. It is a highly debatable point, and comes across as a biased, and one-sided, opinion-driven article.
 
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#35
#35
lawgator1 said:
First, like many (Gator fans or not) am very surprised at how much the team improved over the course of the year. I can't recall such a turnaround as longas I've been a fan.

Second, even with that improvement the Gators are very, very, very long way from competitive at the elite level.
Click to expand...
Did you really though? I mean, the Texas game was played on November 9th. Isn't that near the end of the season? You got killed. You did play better at home near the end of the season .... but big deal. Everybody plays better at home than they do on the road.

That USA Today article had a pro-Florida/anti-Tennessee agenda. It was inconsistent as all living hell.
 
#36
#36
One day you guys will stop feeding the troll. For you newer folks there’s a reason he was banned from the football forum once upon a time. Don’t play his game.

Merry late Christmas, even to lg.
 
#37
#37
BowlBrother85 said:
That USA Today article mentions how Tennessee was "embarrassed" at Georgia 31-17 on November 16th, but fails to mention how Florida lost to Georgia by the exact same margin (14 points) just two weeks earlier, on November 2nd, by a score of 34-20, in a very similar game. This supposedly hot Florida team also lost one week later, on November 9th, at Texas, by the score of 49-17, which is 7 points worse than what Ohio State beat Tennessee by in Columbus.

Also, the article fails to mention that although Florida did beat Ole Miss and LSU near the end of the season, both of those games were at home. Florida was no more successful on the road in 2024, than Tennessee was .... and let's look at LSU and Ole Miss for a moment ..... Tennessee beat Alabama at home, who was better in 2024 than LSU and on par with Ole Miss. Is there really a big difference there?

The USA Today article also strains to make the case that Florida gave the game away to Tennessee in October, but it was Florida who needed a last minute touchdown pass to tie the game and send it into overtime.

Nor is there any mention made of the fact that our 2025 signing classes were very comparable to each other as well. Florida is ranked ahead of Tennessee on 247 by one spot in the composite rankings but it is by a negligible margin.

Finally, that article (and this absurd @lawgator1 post), argue that Tennessee is "losing confidence and questioning itself," but the only thing provided in support of that opinion is a press conference with Heupel following the Ohio State loss .... Well, it's a shame we didn't get to see how well the Gators would have done vs Ohio State in Columbus - or how chipper Billy Napier would have been after the game was played. LOL.

That USA Today article adopted a single-minded narrative to build a case that Florida is in a better position going into the 2025 off-season than Tennessee, but then it gave incomplete information in support of that narrative. It is a highly debatable point, and comes across as a biased, and one-sided, opinion-driven article.
Click to expand...
Good analysis, the real test is ONLY head to head for a straight comparison. How team A beats team B as compared to how team C beats team B is really useless. We can use that argument to say Tennessee is better than Georgia because Tennessee beat Kentucky by 10 and Georgia only beat them by 1. That's all useless conjecture. I think the real take from the USA Today article is it sounds to me like the writer might think Tennessee is a bigger rival to Florida than Tennessee thinks, sort of a jealousy thing. Tennessee's real rival is Alabama, just ask Nick Saban and the Alabama players. Florida just makes the top 3 of rivals for Tennessee, some might even argue lower behind Vanderbilt and/or Kentucky especially in the long term. Florida fans just want to try to make themselves more relevant by posting on Vol Nation. I certainly am not going to the Florida forums to try to feel better about myself!
 
#39
#39
This was the same scenario last year after the Citrus Bowl, but the other way around. I remember UT had all the momentum entering the off-season after destroying Iowa and Nico looking great. If you recall, Nico was all the talk (along with some others) when the season began and was even on the Heisman watch list for crying out loud. Meanwhile, Florida was past the point of losing momentum. It was flat out 0-12 level.
People’s memories are too short and the season is too full of surprises.
Point being, this could be said almost every year about every team going into the off-season, but I suppose it’s amusing to make these arguments to keep us busy until next year.
 
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#41
#41
RockiesTop22 said:
I mean sure yall won your last game and we lost ours.. but we beat you.., we’re nearly identical in recruiting class- you flipped one guy we care about in shady.. it happens

I’ll still take Nico over Lagway next yearx And I guess congrats on last years portal.. but you’re still stuck with Napier and you know good and well that’s a handicap..

This article is just wild.. saying Florida almost beat UGA but Vols got blown out by them … we both lost by 14 lol.. we were ahead by 10 and tied at half.. what kinda of homer take is that?
Click to expand...
...and we had them in Athens, not a neutral site. No matter what, the lizards are still stuck with Sunbelt Billy...that can't be good. An injury to Lagway and they're right back where they were in the early season.
 
#42
#42
RockiesTop22 said:
I mean sure yall won your last game and we lost ours.. but we beat you.., we’re nearly identical in recruiting class- you flipped one guy we care about in shady.. it happens

I’ll still take Nico over Lagway next yearx And I guess congrats on last years portal.. but you’re still stuck with Napier and you know good and well that’s a handicap..

This article is just wild.. saying Florida almost beat UGA but Vols got blown out by them … we both lost by 14 lol.. we were ahead by 10 and tied at half.. what kinda of homer take is that?
Click to expand...


No one in their right mind would take Nico over Lagway.
 
#46
#46
lawgator1 said:
Lagway has shown the ability to use both the long ball and short passes, to respond to pressure to keep plays alive. He's creative. Smart. He's the college version of Mahomes.
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Look man I like Lagway and think he is going to be very good but please pump the brakes on the Mahomes comparison. He had 12 TDs and 9 INTs on the year while Nico had 19 TDs and 5 picks. I somewhat get the point of this argument from the link but what if the shoe was on the other foot? What if UT finished 7-5 beating LSU and Ole Miss, then thumped umm Tulane in a lower tier bowl compared to UF making the playoffs getting whipped by OSU? Would you really feel like UT was in a better spot compared to UF? Momentum does not always carry over into the next year either. Perfect example, 2004 Vols finished 10-3 losing in the SECCG to an undefeated Auburn team by 10 points. That 2004 season was the last time the Vols beat UGA, UF, and bama during the same year. We capped off the 2004 campaign destroying a hapless Texas A&M team. The consensus from just about every UT fan was that we were going to win a minimum of 10 games and reach ATL for the SECCG. It made sense too, we returned a talented QB, veteran OL/DL, two NFL RBs in the same backfield, and NFL players galore were on that roster. The team went 5-6 and to this day remains the most disappointing football season I have witnessed, especially when you factor in how talented the roster was. Who knows, maybe UF has a great 2025 season but I don't see it with Napier personally. Too many coaching blunders during his time there to this point.

From the article BTW about the UT game...... But for coaching malpractice, Florida would’ve won the game in regulation
 
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#49
#49
lawgator1 said:
www.usatoday.com

Tale of two rivals: Florida is surging into 2025, Tennessee is bleeding out

Florida is projecting strength, Tennessee is venting vulnerability. Welcome to a wild 2025 offseason.
www.usatoday.com

I dare not post this in the FB forum. But it does feel like UF is building momentum whereas Tennessee is questioning itself to the point it will lose confidence and players.HESW
Click to expand...

lawgator1 said:
www.usatoday.com

Tale of two rivals: Florida is surging into 2025, Tennessee is bleeding out

Florida is projecting strength, Tennessee is venting vulnerability. Welcome to a wild 2025 offseason.
www.usatoday.com

I dare not post this in the FB forum. But it does feel like UF is building momentum whereas Tennessee is questioning itself to the point it will lose confidence and players.
Click to expand...
THE
lawgator1 said:
www.usatoday.com

Tale of two rivals: Florida is surging into 2025, Tennessee is bleeding out

Florida is projecting strength, Tennessee is venting vulnerability. Welcome to a wild 2025 offseason.
www.usatoday.com

I dare not post this in the FB forum. But it does feel like UF is building momentum whereas Tennessee is questioning itself to the point it will lose confidence and players.
Click to expand...
LOL. Matt Hayes is a Gator homer. I live outside Gainesville, I wouldn't expect anything different. Funny a few articles ago he wanted Billy gone. Article is just fodder.
 
#50
#50
Aesius said:
Ah hell, you're right lawgator1.

Gators are headed to a dynasty and Tennessee will be begging Derek Dooley to coach us again by 2026. We're completely screwed and you guys are ascending to heights previously unreached in college football. Might as well just stop watching. Gosh, I sure enjoyed those two wins over Napier because we won't see any more for the foreseeable future!
Click to expand...
Well played sir, well played.
 
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