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I CAN'T BELIEVE What I Just Saw From the Gators vs South Carolina! 😡 · A Peek Inside Gators Football: A Show About the Florida Gators

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to A Peak Inside Gator Football. Allie Peak here.
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: This is presented by PrizePix. Don't forget, new users can
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  Speaker 1: It's HMA. And if you win, you'll get $ 150 in
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  Speaker 1: lineups instantly. Guys, I know this video is later getting
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: out than I usually do. And it's truly because I
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: had to sit and think about what to even say
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: You know, sometimes a loss tells you more about a
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: football team than a win does. And I kind of
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  Speaker 1: think that's where we're at with Florida football right now.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: The Gators opened the season 4-0. They beat a top
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: five Ole Miss team. And they looked like a program
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: building something under Coach Summerall. But after back-to-back losses to
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: Missouri and South Carolina, we're looking at a very different picture.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: Florida lost 45-17 to Missouri last week. Then they came
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: back home to the swamp and truly all of us,
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  Speaker 1: I think, I know I did, really felt like, okay,
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: we'll get back on track. And then the Gators fell
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  Speaker 1: to South Carolina 38 to 19. This is a program
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: with a coach with his back against the wall and
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: the seat couldn't have been hotter for Shane Beamer and
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: Florida looked bad. And I think what makes this one
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  Speaker 1: particularly frustrating is what I just talked about with Shane
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  Speaker 1: Beamer and This team is, you know, coming into Gainesville
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  Speaker 1: with a three-game losing streak and had lost eight consecutive
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: SEC games. Florida was a double-digit favorite at home. And
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: the Gamecocks left with their first victory at Florida since 2014.
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  Speaker 1: South Carolina scored 38 points, which is the most the
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  Speaker 1: Gamecocks have ever scored in the swamp. And for Florida,
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: this was another game where the offense struggled to establish
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  Speaker 1: the run. the defense couldn't get off the field on
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: third down, and costly mistakes turned a competitive game into
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: a lopsided loss. But I want to dig in a
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  Speaker 1: little deeper than just saying Florida played poorly. They did.
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  Speaker 1: But when you look at the film and the statistics
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  Speaker 1: and what Summerall said afterwards, I think there are some
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: very specific problems that keep showing up. So today we're
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  Speaker 1: breaking it all the way down like we always do,
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  Speaker 1: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Let's get into it.
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  Speaker 1: The good, nothing. I'm joking, but the good is going
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  Speaker 1: to be small. There are some individual performances worth recognizing,
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: even if the overall result wasn't what we wanted it
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  Speaker 1: to be. First of all, Bailey Stockton was one of
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: the bright spots in this offense. He finished with eight
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  Speaker 1: catches for 127 yards and a touchdown. His 59-yard touchdown
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  Speaker 1: reception in the first quarter was exactly the kind of
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  Speaker 1: explosive play that Florida desperately needs right now. Aaron Filo
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  Speaker 1: rolled to his right. Stockton won the foot race down
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  Speaker 1: the sideline, and Florida took a 7-0 lead. That was
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  Speaker 1: a glimpse of what this offense can look like when
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  Speaker 1: it creates space and it gets the ball to its
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  Speaker 1: playmakers and allows them to make something happen. Dallas Wilson
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: also finished with eight catches, adding 74 yards. So there
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: were some opportunities in the passing game, even though Florida
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: struggled to sustain drives and generate big plays consistently. I
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: really wish we would look to Dallas Wilson more because
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: I think he is just such an electric playmaker and
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  Speaker 1: he does some magical things with the ball in his hands.
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  Speaker 1: Philo was 21 of 28 for 227 yards and a touchdown. Now,
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  Speaker 1: those numbers are fine, but the two turnovers were costly.
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: We are going to get to those. But the completion
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  Speaker 1: percentage shows Florida wasn't completely unable to move the ball
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: through the air. The problem was what happened in the
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: most important moments. Defensively, I think Miles Graham deserved some recognition.
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  Speaker 1: He finished with eight tackles, two sacks, and a quarterback hurry.
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  Speaker 1: Aaron Childs led Florida with nine tackles and added a
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  Speaker 1: tackle for a loss. Graham's sack late in the first
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  Speaker 1: half helped keep South Carolina out of the end zone,
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  Speaker 1: forcing the Gamecocks to settle for a field goal and
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  Speaker 1: tying the game at 10. And, you know, I do,
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  Speaker 1: as much as I'm going to rail on the defense
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  Speaker 1: as this video goes on, and I am, I do
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  Speaker 1: want to give some credit for the opening possessions. Florida
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  Speaker 1: forced three and outs on South Carolina's first two drives.
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  Speaker 1: There was some energy early, and the Gators did enough
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  Speaker 1: defensively to keep the game competitive in the first quarter.
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  Speaker 1: The issue was consistency. those early stops didn't turn into
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  Speaker 1: four quarters of productive defense. There was also an important
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  Speaker 1: statistical distinction in the offense's performance that I think is
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  Speaker 1: worth discussing. Compared with the Missouri game, Florida was more
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: consistent on first down. In our play-by-play analysis, excluding goal-to-go
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: situations and penalty no plays, the Gators had only one
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  Speaker 1: first down loss compared with four against Missouri. Most of
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: Florida's first down plays gained between two and nine yards. Now,
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  Speaker 1: I'm not saying that's spectacular, but it does help keep
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  Speaker 1: an offense on schedule. The problem was that Florida wasn't
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  Speaker 1: creating enough explosive plays to make the consistency matter. Outside
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  Speaker 1: of Philo's 24-yard run and Stockton's touchdown catch, the Gators
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  Speaker 1: weren't generating the kind of chunk plays that change a game.
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  Speaker 1: So there were some positives. Stockton made some plays. Graham
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  Speaker 1: disrupted the quarterback, and Florida showed early defensive resistance. But
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  Speaker 1: individual bright spots can't overcome the problems we're seeing across
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  Speaker 1: the entire team. And that brings us to the bad.
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  Speaker 1: For me, the bad starts with the running game. Through
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  Speaker 1: Florida's first four games, the Gators averaged 260 rushing yards
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  Speaker 1: per game and ranked among the top five rushing offenses nationally.
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  Speaker 1: Over the last two games, that identity has completely disappeared.
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  Speaker 1: Against South Carolina, Florida finished with 120 rushing yards, and
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  Speaker 1: Jaden Baugh carried 15 times for just 59 yards, including
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  Speaker 1: a touchdown in the final minute. Take away Baugh's 26-yard run,
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  Speaker 1: and he has just 33 yards on his other 14 carries,
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  Speaker 1: and that is a major problem. I'm going to take
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: a quick break from this video to tell you guys
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: about something really exciting. We are now available on Spotify
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: and Apple Podcasts. You guys have reached out consistently over
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: the last year or so asking for an audio option,
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: and so we have made it happen. If there's a
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: platform you use regularly that we're not on, comment down
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: below or send me a message and let me know,
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: and we'll see what we can do to get on
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: that platform as well. We want to reach you guys
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: all the places that you consume your content. In our
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: play-by-play breakdown, excluding goal-to-go situations, Baugh had 13 carries for
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  Speaker 1: 53 yards. Twelve of those carries outside of his 26-yard
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  Speaker 1: gain averaged just 2.25 yards, and five of them went
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  Speaker 1: for zero or negative yardage. That's not the kind of
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  Speaker 1: production Florida needs from its running game. And this isn't
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  Speaker 1: simply about putting the blame on Baugh. The offensive line
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  Speaker 1: has to be better. The backs need to find the
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  Speaker 1: right reads. And the entire offense has to be more
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  Speaker 1: physical at the point of attack. Sarbaugh was incredibly direct
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  Speaker 1: about that after the game. He said South Carolina's defensive
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  Speaker 1: front won the battle at the line of scrimmage in
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  Speaker 1: both the running and the passing games. He also said,
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  Speaker 1: we have not answered the bell for that the last
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  Speaker 1: two weeks. I think that's a pretty significant admission from
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  Speaker 1: a head coach. Missouri was the more physical team last week.
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  Speaker 1: They won the physical battle and South Carolina did much
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  Speaker 1: of the same. When Florida can't run the ball effectively,
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  Speaker 1: everything else becomes more difficult. The quarterback faces more obvious
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  Speaker 1: passing situations. The offensive line has to protect for longer.
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  Speaker 1: Defenses can focus on getting after the passer, and Florida
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  Speaker 1: loses the ability to dictate the tempo of the game.
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  Speaker 1: Philo was sacked three times Saturday, and those sacks came
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  Speaker 1: on second and 10, third and eight, and third and 15.
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  Speaker 1: Those are passing situations, and the defense knows what's likely coming.
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  Speaker 1: Summerall acknowledged that the team has to execute the plays
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  Speaker 1: called and stop trying to take a home run hit
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  Speaker 1: every snap. He specifically talked about taking a five-yard gain
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  Speaker 1: when it's available instead of forcing a more dangerous throw.
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  Speaker 1: That's a message about playing with patience, staying on schedule,
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  Speaker 1: and trusting the offense to put together a drive. And
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  Speaker 1: I think that that's something that we really praised Aaron
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  Speaker 1: Filo about the first few games of the season, that
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  Speaker 1: he didn't feel the need to hit a home run
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  Speaker 1: each time. And that was one of our fears, is
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  Speaker 1: that when things got tough, maybe he would would feel
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  Speaker 1: that pressure. And I think maybe he is. I also
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  Speaker 1: think that applies to the running game too. Florida doesn't
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  Speaker 1: need to run every run to become a 20 yard game.
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  Speaker 1: It needs to consistently win first down, create manageable second
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  Speaker 1: downs and stop putting itself in obvious passing situations. The
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  Speaker 1: other major concern is the defense's inability to get off
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  Speaker 1: the field on third down. Dear God, third down is
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  Speaker 1: going to be the death of us. South Carolina converted
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  Speaker 1: 10 of 16 third down attempts, and the particularly frustrating
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  Speaker 1: part is that several of those conversions came in long-yarded situation.
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  Speaker 1: The Gamecocks converted third and 13, third and 10, third
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  Speaker 1: and 11, and third and 14. So think about that.
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  Speaker 1: Florida had done enough on first and second down to
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  Speaker 1: put South Carolina in a really difficult position. But then
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  Speaker 1: they just give up the conversion when the defense has
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  Speaker 1: the opportunity to get off the field. You've made it
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  Speaker 1: hard for them, but then you give up those plays.
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  Speaker 1: The biggest example, I think, was the 35-yard completion to
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  Speaker 1: Nick Harbour on 3rd and 14. That play extended the
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  Speaker 1: drive and set up a touchdown to Donovan Murph. Summerall
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  Speaker 1: addressed this directly. He described the 3rd and 17 situation
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  Speaker 1: in which Florida had that onside penalty reducing the distance
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  Speaker 1: to 3rd and 12. He said the defensive call should
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  Speaker 1: have worked if the players had stayed attached in coverage,
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  Speaker 1: but South Carolina converted anyway. He also explained that Florida
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  Speaker 1: has tried several different schemes, and pressures, and personnel groupings,
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  Speaker 1: and quarterback spy looks. They've tried man coverage, zone coverage, pressure,
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  Speaker 1: and dropping eight defenders into coverage. They've experimented with different
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  Speaker 1: personnel packages in search of answers. And the same problems
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  Speaker 1: keep appearing. And to me, when you say, listen, we're
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  Speaker 1: trying everything we possibly can in practice, every single combination
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  Speaker 1: we possibly can, that might be a player personnel problem then.
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  Speaker 1: you know, and here's the concern though. When a defense
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  Speaker 1: can't get off the field on third and long, it
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  Speaker 1: puts enormous pressure on the rest of the team. The
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  Speaker 1: defense stays on the field longer. The offense gets fewer
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  Speaker 1: opportunities and the margin of error just becomes smaller. South
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  Speaker 1: Carolina finished with 393 total yards, including 279 passing yards
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  Speaker 1: and 116 rushing yards. Lenora Seller completed 23 of 35
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  Speaker 1: passes for 279 yards and four touchdowns, and he added
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  Speaker 1: a rushing touchdown. Sellers had his best performance in quite
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  Speaker 1: some time, and Florida couldn't contain him consistently either through
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  Speaker 1: the air or on the ground. His athleticism was a
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  Speaker 1: major factor. One of his most impressive plays, he stiff-armed
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  Speaker 1: a Florida defender on a three-yard run in the third quarter,
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  Speaker 1: nearly scored, and then punched it in the end zone
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  Speaker 1: on the next play. Florida also struggled to contain South
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  Speaker 1: Carolina's explosive passing plays. The 35-yard completion to Harbor was
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  Speaker 1: one example, but then there was a fourth-quarter touchdown to
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  Speaker 1: Lex Cyrus, who was another. Cyrus was left completely uncovered downfield,
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  Speaker 1: and Sellers found him for a touchdown, and that pushed
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  Speaker 1: South Carolina further ahead. You can't give up those kind
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  Speaker 1: of plays and expect to win in this conference. Now,
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  Speaker 1: I do want to acknowledge the personnel situation. Florida was
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: without BB3 for a second consecutive game because of a
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: knee injury. Eric Singleton Jr. also saw limited action after
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: leaving with an injury. And Duke Clark suffered an ankle injury,
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  Speaker 1: and he couldn't return either. Those absences certainly matter. Florida
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: was missing playmaking ability, particularly at receiver. But injuries don't
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  Speaker 1: explain what we're seeing. The run game has struggled for
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  Speaker 1: two straight weeks. The offensive line has been outmatched, and
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  Speaker 1: the defense has failed to close the out third downs.
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  Speaker 1: Those are big, you know, those are team-wide issues. And
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: when your weakness starts showing up in every phase, you
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: have to wonder how quickly the coaching staff can correct them.
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  Speaker 1: Which brings me to the ugly. The ugly begins with turnovers.
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  Speaker 1: Florida finished minus three in the turnover margin. South Carolina
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  Speaker 1: committed zero turnovers, while Florida gave the ball away three times.
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  Speaker 1: Coach Summerall said himself after the game, being minus three
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  Speaker 1: in turnover margin makes it very difficult to win against
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  Speaker 1: anybody in the SEC. And the timing of those mistakes
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  Speaker 1: was particularly damning. Then let's go back to the second quarter.
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: Florida and South Carolina were tied 10-10. The Gators had
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: a chance to put together a scoring drive before halftime
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: and potentially take control of the game. Instead, a false
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: start turned a second and six into a second and 11.
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: And then Philo threw an interception intended for Stockton. Bakari
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: Swain returned the interception 21 yards to the Florida's 26-yard line.
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  Speaker 1: South Carolina needed only a short field to capitalize. A
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: few plays later, Sellers threw a 12-yard touchdown to Bennett.
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: giving the Gamecocks a 17-10 lead. That's a seven-point swing
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: created by a Florida turnover. And Florida had another opportunity
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: to respond before halftime. The Gators eventually moved the ball
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  Speaker 1: into field goal range, but clock management sequencing left them scrambling.
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  Speaker 1: Patrick Durkin's attempted 43-yard field goal on the final play
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  Speaker 1: wasn't good. That was a huge moment in the game.
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  Speaker 1: Florida had an opportunity to cut into the deficit, but
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  Speaker 1: instead they went into halftime down by seven. You know, I...
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: want to talk about that field goal for a minute.
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  Speaker 1: I put this on my social media, but I want
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: to talk about it here too. Florida ran a play
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: to get the ball to the right hash. We have
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: a right-footed kicker. Now, I haven't asked Patrick Durkin this personally,
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: and I plan to when I have the opportunity, but
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: I would say 95% of all right-footed kickers don't want
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: the ball on the right hash for a field goal.
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  Speaker 1: So we actually put our kicker in a more dangerous
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: situation than We should have, based on the play call,
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  Speaker 1: the play before. And I don't know if that was
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: a read on Philo's part. You didn't even need the
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: extra yardage for your kicker there. I think a better
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: placement and further field goal probably would have been more
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: beneficial there. And I think that the kicking issues are
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: that this missed field goal is so far and away
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: low on the totem pole of issues that need to
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: be corrected. It was one kick. It's not the end
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: of the world. But I think that that's a little
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: microcosm of things that are going on right now. And
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: that was a huge moment in this game. Summerall explained
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: that he wanted to avoid giving South Carolina another possession
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: with a short field, particularly after that interception. He also
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: said the offensive line had struggled in obvious passing situations
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: and the coaching staff wanted to get a first down
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: before opening things up. I get the reasoning. It's understandable.
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  Speaker 1: But the execution left Florida without the points it needed.
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  Speaker 1: And then after that, we continued to turn the ball over.
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  Speaker 1: Down 31-13, Florida drove into the red zone and had
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: an opportunity to keep things interesting. But follow was stripped
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: by South Carolina defensive end Dylan Stewart. Hey, welcome back,
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: Dylan Stewart. And the Gamecocks recovered. Stewart had a return.
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: He just had returned from that one-game suspension, and he
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: did have a major impact. We talked this week about
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: whether or not he would play angry. He would come
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: out with some fire, and he did. He had a sack,
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: and he forced fumbles. South Carolina entered the game with
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: just two takeaways on the entire season, yet they forced
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: three against the Gators. That is a staggering reversal. The
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: Gators gave the Gamecocks extra opportunities, and South Carolina took
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: advantage of them. But the second major ugly storyline is
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: Florida's inability to finish drives in the red zone. Early
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: in the game, Florida reached first and goal at the
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: South Carolina 9. The Gators ran the ball four straight times,
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: including three quarterback runs up the middle by Philo, which
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: I don't understand. But they couldn't get into the end zone.
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: They settled for a 21-yard field goal. And this is
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: now two consecutive games in which Florida has failed to
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: score a touchdown from inside the five while the game
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: was still competitive. That's a serious concern, but it's also
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: a serious reversal from the first four games of the season.
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: When your run game is struggling, the red zone is
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: where you have to find a way to manufacture points. Instead,
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: Florida made the field smaller, allowed South Carolina to win
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: the physical battle, and walked away with just three points.
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: Sarmal explained that the offense ran into a wall on
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: two plays inside the five. He said the analytics recommendation
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: on whether to go for it or kick was essentially
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: a 50-50 decision, and he chose to take the points,
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: which is interesting too because I feel like he talks
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: a lot about going for it on fourth down, and
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: we saw him go for it a lot the first
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  Speaker 1: four games. So I do wonder about the change in
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: strategy there. But I don't know. I don't think that
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: the bigger question is even whether or not he should
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: go for it on fourth down. I think the bigger
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: question is, is why Florida couldn't finish the drive in
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: the first place. And that's especially frustrating when you consider
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: how much Florida struggled to score touchdowns in the first half.
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: Stockton's 59-yard catch was the only Florida touchdown before the
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: final minute of the game when Jaden Boss scored from
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: the one yard. The Gators moved the ball well between
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: the 20s, but they couldn't consistently turn those opportunities into touchdowns.
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: And that brings us to another issue, self-inflicted mistakes. This
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: is one of the uglier parts of this game. Florida's
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: false starts helped put the offense behind the chains before
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: the interception. A holding penalty on another possession turned second
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: and seven into second and 17. On defense, an offside
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: penalty made a third and 17 situation more manageable for
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: South Carolina. They converted, by the way. Those aren't isolated problems.
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: They're mistakes that compound. A penalty creates a longer down.
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: A longer down makes protection more difficult. A sack or
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: a turnover kills the drive. And on the other side
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: of the ball, a penalty or missed assignment gives the
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: opponent another chance to move the chains. Florida can't keep
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: doing that and expect the result to change. Then there's
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: the fourth quarter decision to go forward on fourth and
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: three from Florida's own 27-yard line. Florida was trailing, and
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: the Gators needed to create something. I get that. Philo's
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: pass sailed out of bounds, giving South Carolina the possession.
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: A few plays later, Sellers found Cyrus wide open for
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: a touchdown after a blown coverage. The sequence effectively ended
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: any remaining hope of a comeback. And finally, there is
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: a larger concern about how this team is responding physically
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: and mentally as the game progresses. Sarmal acknowledged that Florida
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: has looked sluggish and worn down in the second half
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: for two consecutive weeks. And he said the staff has
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: even adjusted practice length slightly because it was concerned about
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: keeping players fresh while maintaining the conditioning necessary to finish.
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: That's something to monitor, but it doesn't change the immediate problems.
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: Florida hasn't finished games well the last two games. And
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: I think you even throw Auburn in there, too, because
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: Florida won. But they gave up some points there at
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: the end. The defense has surrendered big plays late. The
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: offense has struggled to sustain drives. And mistakes have become
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: more and more costly as the games have progressed. Summerall
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: took responsibility after the loss. He opened his press conference
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: by saying, hey, it starts with me. He also said
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: something I think captures the entire situation better than any
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: statistic could. We haven't gotten any better and improved in
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: certain areas to maybe offset our weaknesses. That's the ugly.
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: It's not just that Florida lost. It's that the weaknesses
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: exposed against Missouri showed up again against South Carolina, and
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: the Gators didn't have enough answers. So now let's step
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: back and look at the bigger picture. Florida's 4-2 overall.
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: They're 2-2 in SEC play. Two weeks ago, this was
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: a team riding high after a 4-0 start that included
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: a big win over then number four Ole Miss. Now
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: the Gators have lost two consecutive games by an average
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: of 23.5 points. And the numbers show how dramatically this
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: offense has changed. Through the first four games, Florida was
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: averaging 53.5 points and 532.5 total yards per game, according
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: to all the stats we have. Over the last two games,
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: those averages have dropped to 18 points and 256 total yards.
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: The rushing attack has gone from averaging 260 yards per
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: game through the first four to 81 across the last two.
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: That's not a small dip in production. It's a major
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: change in identity. And so I'll acknowledge that the early
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: wins may have masked some of the team's weaknesses. And
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: he has been telling us that there were weaknesses all along.
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: This is not a coach who, you know, pounded his
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: chest and told us we were back. He has pointed
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: out these deficiencies. But he also said sometimes when you're winning,
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: it masks maybe the things that are not going right
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: or that you're not doing well. And that's important. The
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: first four games created optimism and understandably so. But the
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: last two weeks have shown that Florida still has a
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: lot of work to do before it can consistently compete
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: with the better teams in the conference or hell, even
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: the not better teams in the conference. The question now
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: is whether the coaching staff can identify the right adjustments
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: and get this team moving in the right direction. Offensively,
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: Florida has to become a more physical team up front.
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: It needs more consistency out of the running game, better
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: protection in obvious passing situations, and improved run zone execution.
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: The Gators also need to take care of the football.
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: You cannot give away three possessions in a game and
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: expect to overcome it against an SEC opponent. Defensively, the
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: third down failures have to stop. Florida has to find
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: a way to pressure the quarterback without leaving receivers wide open.
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: And the secondary has to do a better job finishing
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: plays when the opportunities arise. They have to tackle better.
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: Watching their tackling and watching their tackling with former players
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: in the stands is miserable. They have got to fix
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: that issue. And the team has to play with greater
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: consistency for four quarters. Sarmal has been willing to acknowledge
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: that the problems exist. He's talked about it publicly. He's
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: taken responsibility. And he said the staff has tried different
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: personnel groupings and different defensive approaches. That's a start. But
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: accountability only matters if it leads to improvement. And the
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: schedule doesn't offer much time to figure things out. Florida
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: travels to Texas next. Following that, they've got a bye week.
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: And then it's Florida, Georgia and Atlanta on Halloween night.
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: It's scary. That's a difficult stretch for a team trying
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: to regain its footing. The Gators don't need to fix
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: every problem in one week. But they need to show progress.
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: They need to establish a more reliable offensive identity. They've
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: got to stop giving opponents extra possessions. And they've got
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: to demonstrate that some mistakes aren't going to keep deciding
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: games for us. The Florida team we saw in September
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: looked capable of competing with just about anybody. The Florida
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: team we're seeing over the last two weeks has looked
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: like a team with fundamental problems on both sides of
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: the ball. And the gap is what makes these losses
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: so concerning. So when we look at Florida's 38-19 loss
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: to South Carolina, here's where I land. The good, Bailey
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: Stockton showed that he could be a playmaker in the
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: passing game, and Miles Graham continues to show his ability
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: to disrupt opposing quarterbacks. The bad, Florida's running game has disappeared.
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: The offensive line is struggling to win the physical battle,
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: and the defense can't get off the field on third down.
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: And the ugly, turnovers, penalties, missed opportunities in the red zone,
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: and a missed field goal before halftime, coverage breakdowns that
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: allowed South Carolina to pull away. The Gators didn't lose
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: this game because of one player or one bad decision.
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: They lost because too many things went wrong across all
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: three phases, and the same problems that showed up against
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: Missouri appeared again. So now the question is, how do
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: they respond? Coach Summerall acknowledged that his team hasn't improved
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: enough in the areas where it needs to. The next
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: step is showing that those corrections can happen on the field.
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: Florida still has time to change the direction of its season,
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: but the margin for error is shrinking, and the upcoming
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: schedule is unforgiving. For a team that started 4-0, the
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: last two weeks have been a reality check. And if
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: Florida wants to get back to playing the kind of
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: football that had Gator fans so excited early in the season,
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: it has to start with the basics. Win the physical battle,
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: stay on schedule, finish drives, protect the football, get off
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: the field on third down. That's what this team has
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: to prove it can do. I do think that there
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: is some middle ground that this team can find between
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: what we saw the first four weeks of the season
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: and where we are now. This team maybe wasn't as
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: good as that 4-0 record made us think, but I
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: also believe they're not as bad as this 0-2 stretch
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: has shown us either. We've got to kind of find
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: an equilibrium, a middle ground, and see if we can
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: improve from there. I appreciate you guys for tuning in,
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: sticking with me while I rambled through all of these
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: thoughts that I've had in my head for the last
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: 12 hours. We appreciate prize picks for all they do
• 24:13
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• 24:16
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• 24:19
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• 24:21
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• 24:25
  Speaker 1: all their support. And as always, guys, in all kinds
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: of weather, go Gators.