[Cliffs for you illiterates:
--Gotta develop team confidence; you do so by starting strong; Florida not BYU is the true litmus test/confidence booster; beat Florida and UT makes its year much much easier.]
College football, more so than at any other level, is about momentum and it's about taking advantage of it. That's what we did at Auburn last year and against Kentucky at home. But having momentum and seizing it is often a function of believing you will win and seeing it done. This team has lacked confidence for two years, though it's shown flashes of getting it back.
Not to recap the complete history, but:
--In 2017, Ga Tech shook this team to the core and pulled back the mask on how inept our scheming was and our talent deficiencies. We proceed to lay eggs against 2 cupcakes, almost losing to UMass, then gift the Gatas a heroic win by not finishing them off and that stupid hail mary.
--In 2018, WVA exposes Helton, then our offensive proceeds to play musical chairs for 12 weeks. We created a needless QB controversy because our first-year, defense side head coach didn't appreciate the why the QB position is a little different than CB or Safety. But importantly, when we relied on our guys and put them in good situations, we got ourselves Auburn and Kentucky.
I say all that as a preface to this. I'm not looking at UK, Vandy, Mizzou or USCJr. right now. We need to win those, to be sure, but for me, it's all about the first 4 weeks of this season, which are critical. I know everyone's talking about must-wins this and must-wins that, specifically BYU, who if we don't beat convincingly we're screwed anyway, so I think people can get off that whole storyline. But to me, if you can open up strong offensively in GA state, get the D flying around and technically sound in that game, and above all, get these guys feeling confident, we'll be on track for a growth season.
This team MUST string together 3 strong performances then go down to the Swamp and play its tail off. Don't forget, the last two trips to the Swamp (one of which was by that 2017 4-8 team) were decided by 1-point each. We've played them close down there, and while I get the lack of confidence after our . . . whatever last year was . . . there is still the fact that the Seniors on this team have played well enough to beat Florida 3 out of 4 years.
My takeaway: For me, it's confidence. Confidence + UT Football = What happened in the Florida game. We HAVE to be competitive in that game, and hell, we really need to win the damn thing. Florida always has been and always will be the gatekeeper of our destiny as long as they are at the top of the schedule. If we beat Florida we will have momentum and we will have confidence. For the young, foundational players on this team, that win will pay for years to come and set a whole new mentality for our program. The Florida game is the most important game of year, without a doubt. We don't want to talk about it because it looks like we'll lose it, but I'm not so sure, my friends.
You beat the Gatas and you are 4-0. We just need to beat UAB and somebody else to make a bowl, and that multiplies the ways you can get to 7, 8, maybe even 9 or 10 (counting bowl or not). We need to get started strong, understanding there will be freshman growing pains, but we need to see the team's identity early and have that identity remain throughout the season, wins or losses. That's how we'll develop our confidence, and that's the first step to getting back to being a respected program, IMO.
--Gotta develop team confidence; you do so by starting strong; Florida not BYU is the true litmus test/confidence booster; beat Florida and UT makes its year much much easier.]
College football, more so than at any other level, is about momentum and it's about taking advantage of it. That's what we did at Auburn last year and against Kentucky at home. But having momentum and seizing it is often a function of believing you will win and seeing it done. This team has lacked confidence for two years, though it's shown flashes of getting it back.
Not to recap the complete history, but:
--In 2017, Ga Tech shook this team to the core and pulled back the mask on how inept our scheming was and our talent deficiencies. We proceed to lay eggs against 2 cupcakes, almost losing to UMass, then gift the Gatas a heroic win by not finishing them off and that stupid hail mary.
--In 2018, WVA exposes Helton, then our offensive proceeds to play musical chairs for 12 weeks. We created a needless QB controversy because our first-year, defense side head coach didn't appreciate the why the QB position is a little different than CB or Safety. But importantly, when we relied on our guys and put them in good situations, we got ourselves Auburn and Kentucky.
I say all that as a preface to this. I'm not looking at UK, Vandy, Mizzou or USCJr. right now. We need to win those, to be sure, but for me, it's all about the first 4 weeks of this season, which are critical. I know everyone's talking about must-wins this and must-wins that, specifically BYU, who if we don't beat convincingly we're screwed anyway, so I think people can get off that whole storyline. But to me, if you can open up strong offensively in GA state, get the D flying around and technically sound in that game, and above all, get these guys feeling confident, we'll be on track for a growth season.
This team MUST string together 3 strong performances then go down to the Swamp and play its tail off. Don't forget, the last two trips to the Swamp (one of which was by that 2017 4-8 team) were decided by 1-point each. We've played them close down there, and while I get the lack of confidence after our . . . whatever last year was . . . there is still the fact that the Seniors on this team have played well enough to beat Florida 3 out of 4 years.
My takeaway: For me, it's confidence. Confidence + UT Football = What happened in the Florida game. We HAVE to be competitive in that game, and hell, we really need to win the damn thing. Florida always has been and always will be the gatekeeper of our destiny as long as they are at the top of the schedule. If we beat Florida we will have momentum and we will have confidence. For the young, foundational players on this team, that win will pay for years to come and set a whole new mentality for our program. The Florida game is the most important game of year, without a doubt. We don't want to talk about it because it looks like we'll lose it, but I'm not so sure, my friends.
You beat the Gatas and you are 4-0. We just need to beat UAB and somebody else to make a bowl, and that multiplies the ways you can get to 7, 8, maybe even 9 or 10 (counting bowl or not). We need to get started strong, understanding there will be freshman growing pains, but we need to see the team's identity early and have that identity remain throughout the season, wins or losses. That's how we'll develop our confidence, and that's the first step to getting back to being a respected program, IMO.
