2022 Rivals Review Week 1

[txbo]

You’re calling Utah overrated because Florida beat them. Utah was all over the experts “playoff team contender” just about everywhere. They returned 18 starters from a team that hung 45 on Ohio State in the Rose Bowl 9 months ago. Personally, I was extremely impressed by them. I’ve seen teams melt in the environment they were in, and they just kept coming.

#1 Brenton Cox, had a good game, 10 tackles and 3 tackles for loss. But yeah, he sucks.

“Spy Richardson and 75% of the offense is negated.” You’ll be forced to understand what you should have already seen if you were being honest about what you watched: Florida has a really, really good OL and several very good RB’s. Young Etienne looks special as a true freshman and he’s 3rd on the depth chart.

A fair assessment of Florida is they look to be a solid team. Not title contenders, probably not even SEC East contenders (although that can change with wins over KY and TN), but a team that can play with just about anybody. Weaknesses are interior DT’s, pass catching TE, pass rush could improve as well. WR’s were a concern coming in but I thought a few guys played well Saturday (Pearsall and Henderson). Strengths are - one of the most gifted athletes I’ve ever seen at QB. I’m convinced AR could excel in the NFL at QB, RB, WR, OLB or Safety, and if you’ve ever seen him on a basketball court you’ll know, the NBA. OL is the best UF has had in many years, with some good depth there. Secondary is deep and talented, talented guys like Kamar Wilcoxson and Corey Collier riding the pine because others in front of them. Ventrell Miller is a total stud at LB, Amari Burney is a crafty vet, Shemar James looks to be the next great LB at UF, playing major minutes as a true freshman.

The hopeful thing for Florida is that young guys on the DL will get better and help strengthen that unit which was getting gouged in the second half vs Utah. If that happens, UF has a chance to win 9 or 10 games. If it doesn’t, we’re still looking around 7 wins.

Gators looked like a team that is completely bought in on their new coach. Every week that goes by, they'll be harder and harder to beat.

I predict that in 2 years, LSU is going to feel stupid for letting Napiere out of the state.

 

[unfrozencvmanvol]

Their biggest flaw is their QB. He just happens to be playing way above himself right now. There will some teams that get inside his head this season, and he will cost them at least 1 to 2 games this season.

I wouldn't count on it. People have been trashing that kid for years and he just keeps getting better. He has kicked our butts two years in a row and it'll probably be three. I for one will be glad when he graduates. He doesn't look good on the hoof, but he is a gamer.

 

[unfrozencvmanvol]

I'm not going to address all of this, but I wasn't really focused on Florida.

The post didn't specify that you were looking at weaknesses you saw. It said "here's how our opponents did".

And it's rather dismissive. For instance, take Vandy. I don't think Vandy will end up having a great record or anything of the sort. However, if you can't watch them and tell that they are clearly better, you're missing something. While they had nowhere to go but up, it would be incorrect to not acknowledge that it may not be doormat Vandy this year. Maybe not bowl eligible Vandy. Maybe still bottom of the division Vandy. But, still a much better Vandy.

And Georgia, your comments blow off their performance as against an overrated Pac 12 team. Well, let's pretend Oregon is merely a 7-5 bowl eligible team at year's end. I can't remember the last time Florida beat a bowl eligible team from a Power 5 by a score of 49-3 (46 point margin) and looked that good doing it. I challenge you to find the last time Tennessee did that. To keep Oregon out of the end zone after all the talent Georgia lost to the draft was impressive.

Oregon had the 7th most talented team in CFB per the composite recruiting rankings. UGA made them look like Austin Peay.

 

[Probably_in_Class]

Oregon is not that good. Bo Nix sucks. I would venture to say that Ball State would beat Oregon.

You know absolutely nothing about CFB then. Ball State over Oregon is laughable.

 

[BlinghamptonVol]

I looked it up on Florida's end. The last time Florida beat a power 5 bowl eligible team by 46 and kept them out of the end zone was in 2008.

Florida beat South Carolina 56-6.

That Florida team won a national title.

Just glad it wasn’t against us.

 

[Ham and Egger]

On Georgia 1-0): Beat Oregon. Guess what? A Pac-12 team was overrated. Guess what else? Bo Nix still sucks. UGA has serious inexperience on D. Their run D was suspect. CBs were suspect. Their O looked good, but it was against a Pac-12 defense.

Did you watch these games completely on the sauce or with a blindfold on? That Georgia team may have a inexperienced defense, but they have size, speed and depth galore. How long do you think they'll be inexperienced? Me? Not long.
They were surgical on offense and they executed an excellent gameplan. Willie Martinez or Todd Monken? That's not a real question.

We are not beating that team in Athens. Sorry man, we wish we had their roster.

Florida is going to be trouble. Georgia is a death star.

 

[vettefool]

Leaving off the G5 or less teams on the schedule here's how our opponents did after week 1:

Pitt (1-0): Beat WVU. Anyone who watched this game saw their O and D lines aren't where they were reported to be over Fall camp. DBs got bailed out by WVU WRs dropping almost everything that hit them in the hands. Rush D and Pass D were not strong. On offense, Slovis was meh. They aren't going to be able to keep up with our O next week.

Florida (1-0): Beat Utah. Guess what? A Pac 12 team was overrated. Utah's offense never had much of an identity. Even still, running towards uf's de #1 almost always led to a gain because that guy couldn't set an edge to save his life. Stat chaser, not team player. On D, play more zone and spy Richardson and 75% of the uf offense is negated. If the Utah qb (or entire offense) doesn't panic that entire last drive, uf loses and people talk about a 'good effort' from florida.

LSU (0-1): Lost to FSU. Terrible locker room culture. Coach who can't win big games. DL injured against FSU. D can't set the edge. O is dysfunctional. Hooker gonna feast. For the Brian Kelly lovers out there, here's his record while at ND vs the top 10:
2021: loss to number 7 cincy
2020: beat number 1 clemson without trevor lawrence, lost to number 3 clemson, lost to number 1 alabama
2019: lost to number 3 Georgia
2018: beat number 7 stanford, lost to number 2 clemson
2017: lost to number 7 Miami
2016: no top 10 games
2015: lost to number 7 ohio state
2014: lost to number 4 FSU
2013: lost to number 8 Stanford
2012: vacated
2011: lost to number 4 stanford
2010: no top 10 games
He was 2-10 with a win against Stanford and DJU.
***Edit to add Boutte has deleted all references to LSU on his social media. See locker room culture above.***

Alabama (1-0): Beat Utah St. Nothing gained from game against patsy.

Kentucky (1-0): Beat Miami Ohio. Led 13-10 at half. Nothing special on offense from uk. D was solid but nothing spectacular. Not worried about our game with them.

Georgia (1-0): Beat Oregon. Guess what? A Pac-12 team was overrated. Guess what else? Bo Nix still sucks. UGA has serious inexperience on D. Their run D was suspect. CBs were suspect. Their O looked good, but it was against a Pac-12 defense.

Missouri (1-0): Beat Louisiana Tech. Looked ok on O and D but it was La Tech after a coaching change and with a new qb. Mizzou wr #3 looked good.

South Carolina (1-0): Beat Georgia St. Losing to Ga St in 3rd qtr. Needed 2(!) blocked punts returned for tds to put the game away. Spencer Rattler won't be the starter by the time we play. No heart in that kid.

Candy (2-0): Beat Elon. Good job Vandy. You won 2 games. Now you will lose a lot. They are a cupcake who happens to be in the SEC.

Wow we are going undefeated, lol. Get real. is everyone this unrealistic? Must be because school was out for Labor Day recesses.

 

[BlinghamptonVol]

On Georgia 1-0): Beat Oregon. Guess what? A Pac-12 team was overrated. Guess what else? Bo Nix still sucks. UGA has serious inexperience on D. Their run D was suspect. CBs were suspect. Their O looked good, but it was against a Pac-12 defense.

Did you watch these games completely on the sauce or with a blindfold on? That Georgia team may have a inexperienced defense, but they have size, speed and depth galore. How long do you think they'll be inexperienced? Me? Not long.
They were surgical on offense and they executed an excellent gameplan. Willie Martinez or Todd Monken? That's not a real question.

We are not beating that team in Athens. Sorry man, we wish we had their roster.

Florida is going to be trouble. Georgia is a death star.

This year is probably as inexperienced as they’ll be on D in the next few years, so this might be our best chance til Nico gets some reps under his belt down the road. Is it a great chance? No. Oregon ran ok until they got so far behind they couldn’t really run anymore. We have a better outlook to run on them this year than last year when they had huge #99 gobble up everyone. Also, their corners left some dudes open. Safety play and bad bo Nix play masked that somewhat, but I expect Heup and Hooker to take better advantage of that than Oregon did. Maybe we get lucky on D and they drop passes, fumble, or get penalties.

Florida... AR is going to be trouble. Not convinced about the rest of the team, Napier does seem like a significant upgrade over their last 3 coaches, but people also loved Pruitt for his 8 game win streak!

 

[BlinghamptonVol]

Wow we are going undefeated, lol. Get real. is everyone this unrealistic? Must be because school was out for Labor Day recesses.

Who said we’re going undefeated?

 

[RockyTop140]

Is there anything any of these opponents did that was any good?

Hell, you made it sound like Georgia looked like trash.

Georgia is really the only write up on here I disagree with. They looked good. The Florida Utah game was hard to judge. Don’t know how good Utah really is. What I do know is Florida is more talented than Utah, and had Utah capitalized in the red zone, it could’ve been a different ball game. Not to take away from Florida, they played a pretty good game. We just don’t know how much it tells us about them yet.

 

[Vol423]

Bright orange tinted glasses, and I mean bright.

...bright like the surface of the sun.

 

[RockyTop140]

We have beaten Georgia in Athens a couple of times when they had the better team. We just might be able to do it again this year.

Outside of last year, Georgia has always had a game or two under Kirby where they slip up. Now they’re still absolutely loaded, but I wouldn’t be shocked if we are able to stay in that one until the end

 

[ftsandersvol]

I keep hearing this…..he keeps winning, impressively. He has a Natty. Not sure what else the kid can do?

Had Bama not lost their two top receivers, he would have lost two straight to Bama. He is like a gambler on a hot streak in Vegas. You can keep betting but eventually your luck is going to run out.

 

[Vol737]

Georgia is solid and it will be between them and Bama again. UF did what they had to do to win and sometimes that means a little luck too. I don’t know what Utah lost from last year or how experienced they are, but they’re still a tough out and have been pretty good for years. We need not think FLA is a gimme, It’s not. We will quite likely need a little luck and total execution offensively to beat them. Why? Because it’s FLA and it hasn’t been easy for us at all the last 20 times at bat with them. I’m optimistic, but I can’t tell enough from our game or Florida’s. I’m just focused on Pitt for now. GBO!

 

[Rocky Top T]

Leaving off the G5 or less teams on the schedule here's how our opponents did after week 1:

Pitt (1-0): Beat WVU. Anyone who watched this game saw their O and D lines aren't where they were reported to be over Fall camp. DBs got bailed out by WVU WRs dropping almost everything that hit them in the hands. Rush D and Pass D were not strong. On offense, Slovis was meh. They aren't going to be able to keep up with our O next week.

Florida (1-0): Beat Utah. Guess what? A Pac 12 team was overrated. Utah's offense never had much of an identity. Even still, running towards uf's de #1 almost always led to a gain because that guy couldn't set an edge to save his life. Stat chaser, not team player. On D, play more zone and spy Richardson and 75% of the uf offense is negated. If the Utah qb (or entire offense) doesn't panic that entire last drive, uf loses and people talk about a 'good effort' from florida.

LSU (0-1): Lost to FSU. Terrible locker room culture. Coach who can't win big games. DL injured against FSU. D can't set the edge. O is dysfunctional. Hooker gonna feast. For the Brian Kelly lovers out there, here's his record while at ND vs the top 10:
2021: loss to number 7 cincy
2020: beat number 1 clemson without trevor lawrence, lost to number 3 clemson, lost to number 1 alabama
2019: lost to number 3 Georgia
2018: beat number 7 stanford, lost to number 2 clemson
2017: lost to number 7 Miami
2016: no top 10 games
2015: lost to number 7 ohio state
2014: lost to number 4 FSU
2013: lost to number 8 Stanford
2012: vacated
2011: lost to number 4 stanford
2010: no top 10 games
He was 2-10 with a win against Stanford and DJU.
***Edit to add Boutte has deleted all references to LSU on his social media. See locker room culture above.***

Alabama (1-0): Beat Utah St. Nothing gained from game against patsy.

Kentucky (1-0): Beat Miami Ohio. Led 13-10 at half. Nothing special on offense from uk. D was solid but nothing spectacular. Not worried about our game with them.

Georgia (1-0): Beat Oregon. Guess what? A Pac-12 team was overrated. Guess what else? Bo Nix still sucks. UGA has serious inexperience on D. Their run D was suspect. CBs were suspect. Their O looked good, but it was against a Pac-12 defense.

Missouri (1-0): Beat Louisiana Tech. Looked ok on O and D but it was La Tech after a coaching change and with a new qb. Mizzou wr #3 looked good.

South Carolina (1-0): Beat Georgia St. Losing to Ga St in 3rd qtr. Needed 2(!) blocked punts returned for tds to put the game away. Spencer Rattler won't be the starter by the time we play. No heart in that kid.

Candy (2-0): Beat Elon. Good job Vandy. You won 2 games. Now you will lose a lot. They are a cupcake who happens to be in the SEC.

Heck ,Utah would have beat us! Very good team! We have no chance against Bama or Georgia. Get real!!!!

 

[Ham and Egger]

Smart has lost one game after his first season that was bad and that was SC. He lost the east to a pretty good UF team that took Bama to the limit. His other losses are really just to Bama in the CFP and the SECCG. What are the one or two annual slips they have? I keep reading this narrative, but don't see the evidence.

Whatcha got? The Carolina game? I get being optimistic, but be realistic.

 

[cgrish]

LOL. What game were you watching? Georgia's run D and CB's were suspect? They gave up 3 points to a ranked (albeit over-ranked) team.

I totally agree with you. O will score points, they just went up against a top ranked defense. And I am a Vol fan all the way, but I do recognize talent.

 

[Ham and Egger]

This year is probably as inexperienced as they’ll be on D in the next few years, so this might be our best chance til Nico gets some reps under his belt down the road. Is it a great chance? No. Oregon ran ok until they got so far behind they couldn’t really run anymore. We have a better outlook to run on them this year than last year when they had huge #99 gobble up everyone. Also, their corners left some dudes open. Safety play and bad bo Nix play masked that somewhat, but I expect Heup and Hooker to take better advantage of that than Oregon did. Maybe we get lucky on D and they drop passes, fumble, or get penalties.

Florida... AR is going to be trouble. Not convinced about the rest of the team, Napier does seem like a significant upgrade over their last 3 coaches, but people also loved Pruitt for his 8 game win streak!

Napier is a good, smart coach. Jermy Pruitt was not.

 

[titansvolsfaninga]

Georgia is elite. There’s no spinning that.

They're not elite. They are good, but not elite.

 

[BlinghamptonVol]

Georgia is really the only write up on here I disagree with. They looked good. The Florida Utah game was hard to judge. Don’t know how good Utah really is. What I do know is Florida is more talented than Utah, and had Utah capitalized in the red zone, it could’ve been a different ball game. Not to take away from Florida, they played a pretty good game. We just don’t know how much it tells us about them yet.

I mean, I was just trying to find stuff on Georgia other than ‘they completed demolished a top 15 team like nobody’s business.’ Our best chance from watching that game is to have a good run game compliment some one on ones with their corners. Their safeties already look elite. Their linebackers look fast. I think we can get some push on their d line.

 

[BlinghamptonVol]

I don’t disagree, just remember how we thought we had won the lottery when Pruitt won those 8 straight against terrible competition and had like 25 guys committed in May so we had the #2 class. Maybe Napier can be fool’s gold like Pruitt? He can probably read and write so I know he has a leg up on JP. Glad we got Heup!

 

[BigALWiLson]

You’ve done a lot of typing this morning, almost therapeutically trying to convince yourself Florida is an easy out and their win was “meh, no big deal.”

Regarding AR, throughout history, a lot of great teams have done a lot of great things by having that “one guy” another team couldn’t stop. Sometimes that one guy can burn you if you spy him and burn you if you don’t spy him. Some dudes are just good and the answers aren’t easy.

I think TN has a really good chance to beat UF this year. I think TN is improved and well coached. I’ll be more confident one way or the other after I’ve seen UF/KY and TN/Pitt play. But I also know that Florida was way grittier, way tougher and way more polished than I could have imagined going into game 1 vs a very good Utah team, and I have complete confidence FL won’t have inferior athletes vs anyone they play outside of Georgia and maybe aTm.

I also think Florida’s defense probably matches up better with TN’s offense than Utah’s offense (I know that’ll be an unpopular opinion and it’s NOT a shot at TN).. TN has an excellent offense! But from UF’s perspective, Utah has two dominate TE’s, a big bruising RB, experience dudes on OL who make a living pounding the run game, and a scheme that is run heavy. Florida has quality SEC LB’s and elite athletes in the Secondary, but an average interior DL. Personally, I’d rather play a team that is fast-paced and wide open and likes to chunk it around vs a team that can ram it down our throats and hit the TE consistently. But that’s just me. Good luck vs Pitt and may we both show up undefeated in Neyland in a few weeks. That’s where both programs belong.

I can agree with UF looked better than at any time a season ago. That said Utah lost 4 games last year and look to be on the same track. I look at them and I don't see speed or playmakers. I see the tight end for sure. He could play in this league but the coaching in that game was piss poor and I like Whittingham. His decision making is a big part of why UF won the game. AR looks special in the fact he makes others look better around him. I don't think UF is a bad team but I don't think Utah is a great team by any means. I dont like your depth at RB or DL I also wasn't sold on your secondary. I mean we are talking about the SEC as a conference that is 14-1 to start the season. Alabama is going to prison rape Texas. It is basically UGA and Bama.. OSU can not compete with either. Everyone else is on the same playing field and I will conclude A&M, Kentucky and even Arkansas did not look good imo.

 

[cgrish]

This year is probably as inexperienced as they’ll be on D in the next few years, so this might be our best chance til Nico gets some reps under his belt down the road. Is it a great chance? No. Oregon ran ok until they got so far behind they couldn’t really run anymore. We have a better outlook to run on them this year than last year when they had huge #99 gobble up everyone. Also, their corners left some dudes open. Safety play and bad bo Nix play masked that somewhat, but I expect Heup and Hooker to take better advantage of that than Oregon did. Maybe we get lucky on D and they drop passes, fumble, or get penalties.

Florida... AR is going to be trouble. Not convinced about the rest of the team, Napier does seem like a significant upgrade over their last 3 coaches, but people also loved Pruitt for his 8 game win streak!

Imo AR is going to be trouble for every team Fla. faces. He reminds me a lot of Cam Newton. I was very impressed with Fla. I actually thought they would have an off year, but they beat a good team, Utah will probably win out the rest of the year.

 

[Vol423]

I mean, I was just trying to find stuff on Georgia other than ‘they completed demolished a top 15 team like nobody’s business.’ Our best chance from watching that game is to have a good run game compliment some one on ones with their corners. Their safeties already look elite. Their linebackers look fast. I think we can get some push on their d line.

We didn't even get a good consistent push against Ball State's defensive line. Again...what games are you watching?

 

[BigALWiLson]

Imo AR is going to be trouble for every team Fla. faces. He reminds me a lot of Cam Newton. I was very impressed with Fla. I actually thought they would have an off year, but they beat a good team, Utah will probably win out the rest of the year.

No way Utah wins out unless coaching gets smarter and they find some wide receivers. The TE cant do it all and their best running back was completely winded. I will add the qb **** the bed on the toss and his int in the endzone. So he really isn't a great decision maker either with the game on the line. They should have never put him in those situations and you also nrver not take points on the road in a close game when you don't have athletes... EVER. Utah knew they were never going to out athlete UF.