Commence the 15 minutes of post game mostly incoherent and questionable impression-filled ramblings. Hold me to nothing.
Well. We finished. We didn't quit. We got beat, but we didn't tap out, and we had hope until there were something like four minutes left in the game.
Who impressed, defense. Chris Walker, and right from the get-go, when he knocked the helmet off Florida's kick returner on a wicked, wicked hit. He also had a sequence late in the game when it was still in reach and when the defense needed a stop during which he had two consecutive tackles for loss. The man was a monster.
Also Nick Reveiz, who was seemingly all over the place and finished the game with 14 tackles and a fumble recovery.
Who impressed, offense. Matt Simms, actually, who got off to a pretty shaky start but finished 19-31 for 259 yards and two TDs. He did throw two interceptions (against a defense averaging four per game), and had some poor throws, but he also got sacked six times, so pressure and all that.
And Justin Hunter, who had only three catches, but averaged 20 yards per. And Denarius Moore, sort of, by getting the most out of one catch, taking it 49 yards for a TD.
Who depressed, defense. Um, the defense on third down, which allowed Florida to convert 8 of 14 third downs.
Who depressed, offense. Tauren Poole, actually, who had only 23 net yards and gave up a fumble at a crucial point in the game. David Oku didn't do much better, getting only 24 net yards. And the offensive line protection for the QB, which gave up six sacks.
Other depressed. We were so totally fooled by that fake punt that the team couldn't recover and get into a tackle frame of mind. Austin Johnson missed one that could have possibly stopped the conversion altogether, and several other players missed tackles as well.
Other impressed. This game was following the script of last week; a closer-than-expected first half, a back-breaking play midway through the third quarter (LaMichael James's tackle-breaking TD last week and the fake punt this week), and a pick six by Matt Simms almost immediately after that. In TAKE TWO, though, the team re-wrote the script, starting with Austin Johnson's fabulous fumble recovery. Really, that's not exactly accurate. It was outright theft, as he simply pick-pocketed the Florida ball carrier and was so slight of hand that the officials were fooled. Credit Johnson, too, with convincing Dooley to challenge the call. After that, the offense got clicking and got a TD, and the defense stepped up its efforts. Florida still scored again, but it wasn't because we'd checked out.
Fifteen minutes is up. Use this as your post-game and evening game thread.