A few observations from the Gators’ home field

Anybody notice that we saw a helluva game yesterday?  The crowd at the game sure figured it out in the fourth quarter – that place was energized.  Considering the tomb-like conditions we saw the previous two seasons, it was great.

Small consolation, I know.

Anyway, back from the game, here are a few things I saw from my vantage point in the end zone.

• After the game, Aaron Murray described himself as “a little amped up”.  He was being modest.  He played early like he’d shotgunned a couple of Red Bulls a few minutes before kickoff.
• A.J. and Aron White didn’t give Murray any help on the first two interceptions, that’s for sure.
• For all the talk about Florida’s stellar recruiting classes, I was surprised at how even the overall talent levels of both teams were.
• Florida’s defensive strategy was aggressive to the extreme.  As far as I could tell, the Gators blitzed every time Georgia lined up in something other than the I-formation and shoved at least one safety up when Georgia ran out of the I.
• Also, once the Gators got the lead, A.J. was facing a corner-safety bracket at a minimum when the Dawgs played out of a three-wide set.  That left other receivers open all over the field.
• King and Ealey are good running backs, but they lack a certain explosiveness that you see in great backs.
• Demps, however, is the definition of explosive.  It’s breathtaking to watch him in the open field.  Too bad he goes down with a good push.
• Yeah, Rainey’s return definitely made a difference.  Just ask Trey Burton.
• Grantham did a great job with adjustments coming out in the second half.
• One thing Murray is going to see when he reviews the game film is how many open receivers he missed.
• On the other hand, that TD throw to A.J. simply couldn’t have been any more perfectly placed.
• I’m sure I’ll get some vehement disagreement on this, but Bobo called a pretty good game.  He dealt with a passing game that was in the ditch early on because his QB was wired and his receivers weren’t giving much support as best he could.  He used Florida’s focus on A.J. to open up the rest of the passing attack.  He did a masterful job with his screen calls and he got Orson Charles’ best game of the season.  That was a great call on the successful two-point conversion.
• As for Georgia’s series in overtime, I can’t put much of that on Bobo.  On the first play, they got the matchup they wanted, a safety in single coverage on Durham, and tried to take advantage of it.  Murray’s throw wasn’t good enough.  The pick was on Murray – that’s a play he’s got to recognize when it’s not going to work and throw the ball away.
• I still hate the )@#*^% wheel route.
• That leaping catch A.J. made in front of Jenkins may have been even better than the Colorado TD catch.
• I don’t know what Branden Smith was thinking when he fielded that punt late in the fourth quarter, but I had momentary visions of the game ending on the stupidest safety in the history of college football.
• Brantley didn’t overly impress me, but that throw and catch to convert the third-and-nineteen at the goal line was clutch.
• The defense badly needs a presence in the middle of the line that can either consistently penetrate the opponent’s line of scrimmage or tie up offensive linemen.