TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Meyer Concerned About Gators Buying Into Hype

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 24, 2007

OXFORD, Miss. - Urban Meyer believes his young University of Florida football team may have bought into all the hype generated by a 39-point win against Tennessee on Sept. 15, and the UF coach thinks that may have led to overconfidence leading into the Gators' ugly, 30-24 win at Ole Miss on Saturday.

'The same thing happens at Notre Dame and Ohio State; you play a good game and maybe you didn't play as good, maybe the other team didn't play well, but regardless, everyone's a hero and has all the answers,' Meyer said. 'We did not play particularly well in a lot of areas against Ole Miss.

'You look at our history, in 2005 we beat Tennessee, play great defense and then just get crushed by Alabama two weeks later. Everybody had all the answers. So I'm very concerned about that with a young team.'

Meyer will not have to worry about that problem this week. Associated Press poll voters, who bumped the Gators two spots to No. 3 following the Tennessee win, dropped Florida to No. 4 on Sunday. In the season's first edition of the Harris Interactive poll, voters tabbed Florida No. 4. The Gators remained at No. 3 in the coaches' poll.

SATURDAY NIGHT LIGHTS: CBS elected to pick up Saturday's Florida State-Alabama game, leaving ESPN to broadcast Saturday's Florida-Auburn game. The Gators and Tigers will kick off at 8 p.m.

WHAT WENT RIGHT: Florida QB Tim Tebow broke the 40-year-old school record for rushing yards by a quarterback with 166 yards on 27 carries Saturday. Also, WR Percy Harvin once again proved himself one of the nation's most dynamic players with 11 catches for 121 yards and a touchdown.

WHAT WENT WRONG: Meyer admitted he leaned on Tebow too much; he would prefer his quarterback not carry more than 10 times a game. Also, Florida's inexperienced secondary got exposed, allowing three passes for more than 20 yards and two longer than 50. The Gators' pass rush struggled again, this time with senior DTs Clint McMillan and Javier Estopinan playing virtually the entire game.

INJURY UPDATE: Meyer said he hopes to have CB Markihe Anderson (knee), WR Andre Caldwell (knee) and WR Riley Cooper (ankle) back against Auburn. Meyer said that while TB Kestahn Moore (shoulder) and K Joey Ijjas (thigh) are nursing injuries, he expects them to play.

Andy Staples

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT