A Belated Congratulations to Gators 2016 Football Team

A belated congratulations are in order to the University of Florida football team as they won their Outback Bowl game this past Monday against Iowa, 30-3.  The Gators' defense was crushing, in spite of the fact that they were missing six starters for the game...isn't it interesting how defense has been the hallmark of Florida the past few years, no matter how hard they try to open up the offense?  Well, as second-year head coach Jim McElwain has stated, with a good defense you're usually either ahead at the end of the game or in a position to pull out a victory.  They finished 9-4 this 2016 season and won their Southeastern Conference East Division for the second straight year.  Unfortunately, this is the third straight season that their established starting quarterback has gone down...either through abject incompetence, testing positive for banned substances, or injury...and the backup as been forced to come in and try to salvage what's left of the season.  Florida's offensive line seemed greatly improved this year...that's a good sign, for if you want to create long-term success with a team, it's important to build it up from the inside out.  Just look at Alabama with its imposing lines, both on offense and defense, over the past several years...and McElwain was a protégé of the Tide's head coach Nick Saban...

The Gators showed a lot of character and finished the season strong at the Outback Bowl.  This should help with their recruiting...McElwain's recruits since he came on board will start to fill out the starting rosters beginning next year.  Then we'll begin to truly see how his coaching and recruiting philosophy translates onto the field...