Gator Football Fans Jolted Back to Reality with Tough Loss

The 2015 University of Florida football team under first-year head coach Jim McElwain had modest expectations, with much of the team left over from the previous coach's mediocre efforts.  They were known to have a strong returning defense, but the offense...mainly due to a historically weak offensive line...had been erratic at best and embarrassing at worst.  With redshirt freshman quarterback Will Grier set to start this season, prospects were hopeful.  Still, one early season poll had them ranked #40 and no one picked them to win the Southeastern Conference's Eastern Division.  But instead...and I believe this had a lot to do with Coach McElwain putting discipline and teamwork as high priorities...they overachieved and won that divisional title, the first one for the Gators since 2009 during the Urban Meyer era.  Some of their wins were exciting, some ugly...and some, like the ones over Mississippi, Missouri, and Georgia, impressive.  But after that Mississippi victory, Grier tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and was immediately suspended for a year...bringing in second-stringer Treon Harris to step up as starter.  Harris, who has a proven big-play capability, nevertheless tends to panic when pursued out of the pocket and sometimes has difficulty making needed quick decisions when standing in the pocket on passing plays.  Grier had more of a quick release, which was needed with a deficient line that could not hold back a normal defensive rush, much less safety blitzes.  What little UF had on their offensive line got worse when they suffered multiple injuries to their starters. Still, until last night's game against Florida State, Florida was 10-1 and could have made the national championship playoffs had they won that game and the following one, the SEC championship game.  But after stumbling through three tough games against markedly inferior opponents, the Gators could not get by a better Seminole team and lost 27-2.

I feel a little sorry for Coach McElwain in that he originally saw this season as one of rebuilding and putting his imprint on the team.  When Florida kept winning and winning, this put them into a championship run and correspondingly may have unfairly raised their fans' expectations of them.  So, with this loss, as deflating as it may have been, McElwain can now just focus on preparing his team to play their best against heavily-favored Alabama in the SEC title game without the unrealistic pressure to win.  I am happy with his performance this season and what he did with what was available.  Ultimately, of course, Jim McElwain will be judged not only by how well he did this first year, but also how well (or poorly) he and his staff do in the next couple of years as they compete against other colleges for top recruits (especially with regard to rebuilding that tattered offensive line)...and of course how well he develops the talent of the players once they are on the team. Oh, and a halfway-decent placekicker would do nicely, too, thank you...