Jim Mcelwain
Florida Gators Preview
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
We are entering Jim McElwain’s third year as the head coach in Gainesville. The Gators won the SEC East the last two years.
Which Band Does Your SEC Coach Compare To?
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
It’s been a disaster of a year for the SEC. Instead of piling on and writing about how most of the teams have underachieved, or how Joe Alleva screwed up the Orgeron hire, I want to do something a little more light hearted.
Hopefully bring some overdue joy to what has been an otherwise unwelcoming football season for SEC fans.
ESPN recently released a list of all the college coaches along with their favorite bands. Sure, it’s not hard hitting journalism by any stretch, but if you’ve read anything I’ve written over the past two years (and my affinity for anything pop culture) you had to know I was going to be piggybacking off that article.
So, here’s how it’s going to go. Obviously, I’m just going to focus on the SEC coaches, and instead of talking about what band they chose, I’ll assign a group/artist that I think they are most like. In order not to stray too far, I’ll attempt to stay within the same genre.
In alphabetical order, according to school:
Nick Saban. ESPN: Eagles. JJ: Led Zeppelin. Zeppelin is not only considered one of the greatest bands of all time, but their music was in your face and unapologetic, especially whenever they played live. Sound familiar?
Bret Bielema. ESPN: The Temptations. JJ: The Dramatics. Neither are bad, but both are easily forgotten compared to their peers.
Gus Malzahn. ESPN: The Cars. JJ: Maroon 5. I didn’t think either would still be relevant going into 2017.
Jim McElwain. ESPN: Earth, Wind, and Fire. JJ: Earth, Wind, and Fire. McElwain could master all three and Florida fans still wouldn’t care unless he mastered an SEC Championship too.
Kirby Smart. ESPN: The Rolling Stones. JJ: Slash’s Snakepit. Slash left one of the biggest bands in the world and formed the Snakepit. I don’t need to explain the similarities, right?
Mark Stoops. ESPN: Toby Keith. JJ: Sam Hunt. I don’t listen to Sam Hunt and I don’t watch Kentucky football.
Ed Orgeron. ESPN: Creedence Clearwater Revival. JJ: CCR. There’s nothing wrong with Creedence, but much like Orgeron, I have to believe that people in the bayou think much more highly of them than anywhere else in the country.
Dan Mullen. ESPN: U2. JJ: Dan Wilson. If you listened to music at all in the 90’s you had to have heard Semisonic’s “Closing Time”. Wilson was the lead singer of Semisonic. He’s had some minor hits as a solo artist, and has written songs for other groups (Dixie Chicks), but nothing has been as big as that late 90’s song. 2014 is Dan Mullen’s “Closing Time.”
Barry Odom. ESPN: Blake Shelton. JJ: Jason Aldean. Basically, they look like they could be brothers.
Hugh Freeze. ESPN: Chris Tomlin. JJ: Chris Tomlin. Considering the NCAA sanctions Ole Miss may face, Freeze needs to get as close with God as possible.
Will Muschamp. ESPN: George Strait. JJ: Taylor Swift. I’m juvenile and I think it’s funny.
Gators Offense Has No Bite
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Jim McElwain is in his second year as head coach of the Florida Gators. Currently he guided the team to a 5-1 record and their first place in the SEC East. Last year they finished 10-4 and 7-1 in conference play. A 10-win season is very respectable in year one.
On the surface everything seems great. I’m going to delve just a bit deeper to really get a proper perspective on his coaching performance.
Florida Chomping For Dawgs
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The University of Florida has been synonymous with greatness since Steve Spurrier took over as head coach in 1990. The program never won an officially recognized conference title prior to him returning to Gainesville.
They’ve won 8 conference titles since 1991 and had the best record in the SEC in 1990 but were ineligible for the league title due to NCAA probation. Their also tied with Alabama with the most SEC Championship game appearances with ten.
They haven’t won a conference championship since 2008 though. Back when Urban Meyer was the head coach and Tim Tebow was quarterback. Second year head coach Jim McElwain is working to end that drought.
So far the Gators are off to a good start, 5-1 and ranked in the top 15 in the Coaches Poll and in the AP Poll. The one loss was at Tennessee and they gave up a 21-point lead to lose 38-28.
The LSU game originally scheduled for October 8th was postponed because of the weather from Hurricane Matthew. The game was at home but now it’s been moved to Baton Rouge on November 19th.
Florida was impressive in their last game with a 40-14 blow out of Mizzou. They scored two defensive touchdowns.
“Anytime you get a defensive score or a non-offensive score, it’s a momentum shift for the whole team,” cornerback Jalen Tabor said. “I felt like I did that for my team today.”
Florida has one of the best defenses in the nation, currently ranked 3rd in total defense. They only allow 253 yards per game and 12 points per game. They have 19 sacks, which ties them for 20th nationally.
Tabor is the best player on defense, widely considered a first-round pick in the 2017 NFL draft. He returned an interception 39-yards for a touchdown. The opposite corner Quincy Wilson also took a pick to the house.
“When you’ve got two great corners like that, they’ve got to pick one side of the field,” Gators coach Jim McElwain said. “It’s like pick your poison. Where you going to go with it?”
Quarterback Luke Del Rio made his return from a sprained left knee, playing for the first time in a month. The offense looked sloppy and he didn’t play well. He threw 3 interceptions and they were flagged for 8 false starts.
“Knee felt great,” Del Rio said. “Brett Favre said it: Playing injured or hurt is not an excuse for playing poorly. The knee didn’t affect me at all. It was just bad decisions, bad throws.”
Del Rio played well before he was injured. He’s passed for 998 yards, 7 touchdowns, 5 interceptions and a 57.6%completion rate.
The Gators have some talented skill players. Running back Jordan Scarlett leads the team with 375 yards and 5 TD’s. Lamical Perine has 300 rushing yards and Mark Thompson has 262 yards. Receiver Antonio Callaway has 23 receptions, 399 yards, 2 scores and averages 17.3 yards per catch.
The Gators are far from being a prolific offense but they can become more efficient. They have bye week before the October 29th showdown with Georgia. They will get the chance to rest players and get them healthy. It will also give them more time to game plan against true freshman quarterback Jacob Eason.
Both teams should be prepared and well rested for this rivalry game. I give the advantage to UF.
