Like I said the other day, right now we take some ribbing over a weak early schedule. But I really do believe that in our particular situation this year its a true Godsend to have these sorts of games out there.
You know, the Troy game will not be a complete cakewalk. I mean, Florida ought to win, yes, but Troy has threatened in the recent past to beat some big names.
Those games do absolutely nothing to prepare them for the SEC schedule.
while i won't give Troy the same kudos LG has, i do think there are positives in getting to play two tune up games prior to entering SEC play. FL has been doing this for years remember. and it has always benefited them. before the 12 game schedule, it was a match of two different strategies...we play one game, week off, then FL. FL plays two cupcakes and plays us.
the record speaks for itself.
the benefit is that you can spend more time in prepping for the TN game during those first two weeks...i mean really, how much game prep do you really get in to for WKU when your FL? do you really need to know all thier tendencies and stuff? probably not. you are probably more or less concerned with how you execute your scheme, and less concerned about what WKU will do against you.
same, maybe a little less, goes for troy.
so basically you get an additional two weeks of prep on your scheme w/out the distraction of having to necessarily worry about the oppenent. you'll have a hard time getting me to believe that FL will spend every waking moment of the next two weeks prepping solely for WKU and Troy.
it's a formula that has helped FL get off to good quick starts for a long time now.
and that's not to say that this is the BEST way to do it, but if you do it the right way, it can work to your benefit. Just as if we use having two fairly big games prior to the FL game the right way it can work to our benefit....
anyway......that's my take.