There’s one mistake in this Sporting News piece, as the Gators’ opener against Miami has been moved back a week at Mickey’s request. The end result is a pretty soft road for Florida: the rare bye week trifecta, two games against FCS cupcakes and only three games against preseason ranked opponents — all three being SEC teams. Throw in the rebuilding status of both Miami and FSU, Tennessee being a home game, and that’s a recipe for no worse than a 9-3 season.
It’s also soft enough that with a properly placed upset (technically, beating Auburn wouldn’t be an upset), Dan Mullen could be crowing about a real division race this season.
Get The Picture 
When we smack them down in Jacksonville again, Jort Nation is going to get restless. The talent gap has only gotten wider, and Franks is still their QB.
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Mullen has shown a surprising angry streak.
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It is easy to forget that things didn’t feel so good at halftime in Jax last years. Mullen is an east schedule and one upset win away from being a hero and COY
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lol
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There’s nothing coy about Dan Mullen. Have you seen him dance?
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Things didn’t feel good in the second half……
For about 3 minutes. And then UGA held Florida to one FG for the last 27 minutes while putting up 23. If not for that ridiculous ineptitude on the goal line, we would have hung 40 on them for the second year in a row.
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Mullen can’t coach – regardless of the BS in social media. Look at his record against top 25. He lost to UK and Mizzou last year at Home. he lost a lot of talent after the 2018 season. He has not recruited as well as he has needed to compared to Bama, Georgia, and Auburn. All the hype on Mullen and he has done nada , zilch, nothing. He beat a bowl team in Michigan that had 10 guys out. Wait to see what happens this year – would love for Miami to kick the shit out of UF and start the dumpster burning there. Then UF beat UT to keep UT dumpster burning. If you wear Orange – want you to be a dumpster fire.
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So…since when is having a smart AD who uses his brain when scheduling games a negative? FU has been doing this for thirty years and has clearly benefitted. FU is going to have a decent team with reasonably competent players. Likely the Gators will come into the WLOCP undefeated or with only one loss. Beat Georgia and they win the East and the track record for them in Jacksonville has been pretty good the last thirty years—they often win that game even when Georgia has the superior team. Plus Georgia has a more difficult schedule. Anybody who thinks this year is going to be easy is FOS.
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Interesting question, since I never implied that. 😉
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You didn’t imply that—I inferred it. 😉
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The 90’s were tough on all of us and the scars remain. I feel pretty confident that the days of “they often win that game even when Georgia has the superior team” are coming to a close. Hoping this year puts the final exclamation point on that. Times are good Mayor. Really. Check out our offensive line, they may even be big enough to partially block out the memories that keep that assumption alive.
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Those days closed about 8+ years ago, or two full classes of players. We will beat Florida by at least 2 scores this year.
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You’ve often heard the phrase “impose our will”…i honestly believe UGA’s O-line will bring that to the table X 2ish..in those games that matter… shit man, with the 3 thirty time slot come two hours later, UGA’s O-line will cast (what appears to be a total eclipse) on the line of scrimmage…i just believe there is enough athleticism, grey matter, nastiness…pride that this bunch will make the 3-5 yards in front of them THEIR property with no trespassing marks to be felt on sunday/monday by the opposition
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That is misleading. YOu base on that on PAST coaching staffs the last 30 years, which are 10 years after winning our NC. Most of that was with CMR who could not address the gap in the LOS. That is the opposite of Kirby. We have a ton of depth and unlike in the past, we have a great staff. We beat Florida’s ass again this year. We have a great QB and OL with great skill players. We have tons of depth on both sides. Florida might have comparable guys starting but they don’t in the depth area. Same issue for every other SEC school in the SEC East. THAT IS THE MAJOR DIFFERENCE in UGA Now and all the last 30 years. We have lots of QUALITY TALENTED DEPTH. Add that Mullen keeps being a dumbass and running his mouth at UGA – yet he is 0-2 against Kirby at UGA and worse than that over his career against Kirby in any role. I take UGA and Kirby for the KIRBSTOMP.
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Mullen should have a good year. They should be coming into Jacksonville with at least 1 loss. The game in Jacksonville should be for the lead in the division.
They won’t touch us if we have good team leadership. If our leadership hasn’t developed that game could be a lot closer than it should. The saving grace is they should struggle on both lines of scrimmage against top teams. These are the types of games were increased focus on havoc rate will pay dividends.
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They do have AU, LSU, and SCU in succession, the latter two being on the road. They then travel to face us in a neutral environment. Also, watch out for their SEC finale against Mizzou on the road as a potential landmine.
I personally see UF taking a step back this year, with the natives gettting restless as to Mullen’s long term viability during the next off-season.
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I’m inclined to agree. The only thing fu really has going for them are those bye weeks. Mullen ain’t a bad HC, but is he much better than Gus, Orgeron, Boom, Pruitt, Mason, Odom & Stoops? Diaz will have something to prove. Taggert will be fighting for his job, if he isn’t already gone by the last game. Grantham isn’t really known as a DC who’s defenses get better the longer he’s around.
McElwain managed to have 2 big years before it blew up. Mullen might not be that lucky considering the questionable talent. A couple key injuries could be devastating. That’s where those bye weeks might come in handy.
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I repeat: smart scheduling.
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This discussion resonates with me also. I don’t see Franks as their main problem – I think it is their O-line. Franks got very little help from his line last year and still almost made some plays that would have been serious if successful. All of which makes Kirby and Sam Pittman geniuses in my view.
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Yep, their OL indeed is and will continue to be a weakness. We should be able to control their OL with our DL alone, which will allow our LB’s so much freedom to drop into coverage, blitz, etc.
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Yep, well said. Let’s not lose sight of the fact that his first two recruiting classes were very mediocre, and they just lost some D talent as well.
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Fair to say that schedule helps close a gap with UGA that Mullen’s recruiting and coaching hasn’t been able to do. If things break really well for them, they could make it close in the East without haven’t a comparable team. FU doesn’t make my list of top concerns in 2019, but they will that week of the Cocktail Party. We are superior to them at almost every single point, and Mullen’s mouth almost insures they will get our best shot. At this point, 9-3 looks about right for them.
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“Mullen’s mouth almost insures they will get our best shot.”
From your lips, Mac, to the Man Upstairs’s ears … We should go to Jacksonville ready to destroy anything in orange and blue.
If we give the Lizards our best shot, we will smash them in a game not as close as the final score appears.
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Or they could go 8-4 or 7-5 because they still aren’t that talented a football team.
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Kirby knows the deal. He’s from Bainbridge. The next 20 years will be full of woe and misery for the ‘Turds.
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They will lose a close one to LSU, get pummelled by us and throw a bad game to 1 more team. 9-3 sounds right.
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I talked to a buddy of mine who is a gator yesterday and if he is any indication, those people are cocky going into this season. I mean really cocky. He did a lot of crowing about the end of Florida’s season and my pointing out to him how much they would have made fun of us for the same behavior a few years ago didn’t make a dent. He talked a bunch of crap about the Sugar Bowl too. Those people seem to really believe things are getting back to “normal”.
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Hope springs eternal, but ’17 and ’18 were the first time Georgia’s beaten Florida comfortably in back-to-back years since ’87-’88. You have to go back to the ’40s to find a wider margin of victory for Georgia over successive years. We’re basically in uncharted territory in the modern era of this series.
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F UF
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Thanks to All of ya’ll Glad to know I am not the only one that feels beating those stinkin gaters is what it is all about.
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