Heartbreaking But Encouraging

Look, I knew at the beginning of the season that the chances of Florida repeating their National title run was between slim and none. I KNEW that, but there is always that little kernal of hope. It is, of course, dead now after back to back SEC losses. The loss to Auburn was painful. The loss to LSU was expected (by me) until the loss to Auburn. After losing to Auburn I just knew there was no way the Gators would lose again a week later. And they lead for 58 minutes 51 seconds of the game! The last 69 seconds were a bit of a letdown. :-( Heartbreaking, even.

But if we take a long look at this young, young Gator team, there goes that hope again. These guys are YOUNG. These players are (for the most part) sophomores, freshmen and redshirt freshmen, led by a sophomore who will probably be sticking around for the duration. I can't believe the Tebow family would be pleased with Tim ditching his studies and making the NFL jump. So while that means back to back losses this year, it makes it possible to dream big next year. There is still a possibility that the Gators could win the SEC year, although that would mean a rematch with LSU. But there is a HUGE likelihood that they will win it next year and possibly the year after.

So the loss was tough, but Gator fans learned a lot about the soul of this team. And we have hope!






Just a sidebar: that was one of the worst called games that I have ever watched. I don't think the penalties (or lack thereof) changed the outcome of the game in anyway way (not like many games that I could name), but how does one of the most penalized teams in 1-A ball go the entire 1st half without a pentalty? There was blatant, nasty holding on both sides and one helmet to helmet on Moore that I was not sure he was going to get up from.