JonathanXC;686347; said:
Exactly...i'm sick of people comparing 2006 Florida to 2002 Ohio State. WE DIDNT LOSE IN 2002. People just assumed we couldn't beat Miami because we won close games. Well Florida has won close game...AND LOST! If Ohio State had lost 1 game in 2002, there is NO WAY they would have been in the NC game. Florida is LUCKY to be in the championship game, because they lost...Ohio State was NOT lucky in 2002 to get in the championship game, they won all their games on the field...and that's what got them in. That's what made them a team of destiny. If Florida is this gritty, defensive, always wins close games team of destiny, then they shouldn't have lost to Auburn. Plus might I add...that their defense isn't near as good as ours was in 2002...their defense isn't even as good as ours this year. People talk about them being a great defensive team...yet they don't even have the best defense in the game!!! Maybe they have an edge at OLB...maybe.
We are a whole heck of a lot better than Auburn...and even though Florida is #2 and Michigan is #3...Florida is whole heck of a lot worse than Michigan.
This is Florida...
Michigan minus Woodley, Hart and Manningham.
First, I completely agree with my esteemed colleague (and former co-worker) that the 2002 Bucks aren't much like 2006 Florida. They were both underdogs . . . sure. But in every game a team is favored, so every game has an "underdog." A team that wins every game, though often in an ugly fashion by close margins, is usually privately doubted, but no one can question that they earned their way into proving they're the best. A team that wins most of its games, though often in ugly fashion and by close margins, and actually loses once, has not earned that right. They will be doubted publicly and, if they do make it to the championship game, people have the right to doubt they belong there.
And Chris Leak being a "heady" quarterback is indeed a stretch. Experience is not a virtue in itself -- you need to perform well in big-game situations, or at least show that you are improving. Leak hasn't done that; all he's done is fail to live up to the potential he went to UF with in the first place. He's a slightly better Chris Rix.
Now, all that said, I don't know if I buy that OSU's defense is clearly better. Holding LSU to 10 points is pretty damn impressive. You'll see what I mean when the Tigers hang about 70 on the most overrated, overhyped team of all time: The Fighting Charlie We . . . err, Irish, of Notre Dame. I'm not saying that Florida's defense is clearly better; I'm simply saying that the question is in doubt, and, like all questions of this kind, will be decided on the field come January 8th. After we gave up nearly 40 to UM (granted, 8 of those came in a prevent defense, but still), I think we're fooling ourselves if we don't acknowledge that our D has the propensity to give up big plays from time to time.
One thing that can be said for us: our defense has always done enough for us to win. They've been able to rise up whenever we needed them to. Just look at our "transition" D after turnovers; it's been amazing all year, and that ability to step it up when we've most desperately needed it (not just because the game is close, but also because a turnover creates momentum and what an offense does with that turnover is an even bigger momentum shifter) is, maybe more than anything, what characterizes OSU's D this year. The same thing happens when opposing offenses cross midfield; that's why our scoring D is #1.
Florida's D? They're certainly good. But have they done enough for UF to win every game? Have they stepped up in every situation, whether the O put up huge numbers (like we did against UM) or has a rough outing (think Illinois)? The answer is no.
Fortunately, these sorts of comparisons don't mean much. The fact of the matter is it's hard to stack up the cream of the SEC with the cream of the Big Ten on paper because the conferences just don't have that many common opponents -- and even if they did, those sorts of comparisons are the most inexact of sciences. Guess they'll just have to play the damn game, and even then, the best team may not win.
