Owls44 I agree with you 100%. Do I think Troy is good, of course. I do not think they are this Big Bad machine that people are making them out to be, unless you consider FAU a big bad machine as well. Whether or not Florida played their starters up until the 4th quarter, I am sure the starts played at 1/2 speed once they had the game in the bag. Why would you as a starter give 100% knowing you already beat them and risk the chance of getting hurt and being out for the rest of the season. I do give them credit for beating OSU, but I think we could have just as well beat OSU if our guys did not come out the 2nd have with their heads up their butt's. We totally gave that game to OSU, it was not because they were that much more of a superior team then us.

faudiehard said

Whether or not Florida played their starters up until the 4th quarter, I am sure the starts played at 1/2 speed once they had the game in the bag. Why would you as a starter give 100% knowing you already beat them and risk the chance of getting hurt and being out for the rest of the season.

I don't think they played at half speed. Injuries suffered by Florida players (mostly starters) during 2nd half vs Troy:

Andre Caldwell (WR) - sprained the medial collateral ligament in his right knee
Brandon James (RB) - sprained ankle
Jarred Fayson (WR) - left knee
Bryan Thomas (S) - sprained an MCL
Percy Harvin (WR) - knee

At least they lost to another future SBC member in football.  This is probably a good thing as the coaches can point to this for the guys to keep their focus.

22, you don't know what you are talking about.

They were down 49-7 at the half.  That is not competitive.

Troy started off the game with its special teams giving up 21 to 28 points - almost immediately. I think Florida started every drive in the first half in or near the red zone. By the time Troy ironed out its kicking (never did fix the punting) and made adjustments the game was out of hand.

But, Troy came back in the second half and scored 17 straight points. The Gators could not stop the Troy offense and the Troy defnse shut down just about everything that was working for Florida in the first half. The Florida coaching staff was upset and the fans were grumbling.

Florida had its first teams in the game until the last 2 minutes of the game, and around that point, Troy pulled its first-stringers as well.

Tennessee scored 13 points off its offense on that same Gator team. Troy scord 31 and could have scored more (missed a FG and had some offensive mistakes that killed drives), with the ball in good position near the end.

Why would you as a starter give 100% knowing you already beat them and risk the chance of getting hurt and being out for the rest of the season.

… Because you are young and not very experienced and your coaches are screaming their brains out at you; because you are being embarrassed (in the second half) at home before 91,000 people; because your team has lost the momentum and the other team's fans and band are making more noise than your fans; because the opposition has scored all the points in the third quarter; and because your fans are making some noises that sound much like boos.

Motivation enough?

Is Florida the better team? Sure. But take away those punt blocks and a couple of kicking team errors and the game would have been close.

BMarkey said

… Because you are young and not very experienced and your coaches are screaming their brains out at you; because you are being embarrassed (in the second half) at home before 91,000 people; because your team has lost the momentum and the other team's fans and band are making more noise than your fans; because the opposition has scored all the points in the third quarter; and because your fans are making some noises that sound much like boos.

Motivation enough?

Is Florida the better team? Sure. But take away those punt blocks and a couple of kicking team errors and the game would have been close.

Geeeeez…Didn't mean to ruffle those Troy feathers of yours  ;D

I'm not mad, but I am tired of hearing about how when an underdog (FAU, Troy, MTSU, etc.) team does well against a top-tier team, how that team must have played its subs a lot.

I don't know if it's Western Kentucky being that good as much as it is Middle Tennessee being that far down.  Louisville's loss at home to winless Syracuse last night was a huge eye-opener.  Syracuse has been blown out in every game they've played so far, and before the Louisville game Syracuse was ranked in the bottom 4 in all of 1-A in every single offensive category.  Louisville is eye-balling a losing season because of their lackluster defense.  Their offense won't be able to lift them over South Florida, West Virginia, Cincinnati, Rutgers, Pittsburgh, and probably UConn.

Middle Tennessee hosts FIU on Saturday.  If we lose there, than a winless season in in the cards for the Raiders.  After being decimated by injuries and player losses, we will have to accept our limitations and continue following our team realizing that our lack of depth and experience will be our downfall for every game we play this year.

I don't think any team that has suffered the player losses that we have when we have could ever finish good on the season.

BMarkey said

That is terrible. Man, MTSU is making a habit of giving I-A start-ups their first I-A win.

'Just bad for our conference.

You want to see something that's bad for our conference, just wait until October 13th when we have to go to Memphis who lost by 30+ to Central Florida last night and has only won one game this year to 1-AA Jacksonville State.  I'm not optimistic, but I'll still be there supporting my team.

BMarkey said

22, you don't know what you are talking about.

They were down 49-7 at the half.  That is not competitive.

Troy started off the game with its special teams giving up 21 to 28 points - almost immediately. I think Florida started every drive in the first half in or near the red zone. By the time Troy ironed out its kicking (never did fix the punting) and made adjustments the game was out of hand.

But, Troy came back in the second half and scored 17 straight points. The Gators could not stop the Troy offense and the Troy defnse shut down just about everything that was working for Florida in the first half. The Florida coaching staff was upset and the fans were grumbling.

Florida had its first teams in the game until the last 2 minutes of the game, and around that point, Troy pulled its first-stringers as well.

Tennessee scored 13 points off its offense on that same Gator team. Troy scord 31 and could have scored more (missed a FG and had some offensive mistakes that killed drives), with the ball in good position near the end.

Hey, I gave Troy credit.  I said until we beat them, they are the class of the conference.  But come on….49-7 at the half is still 49-7 at the half.  Scoring 17 straight points in the 2nd half is great, but in the end, who cares?  You can't argue that once a team gets up by a score like that in the 1st half, there is a tendency for them to let up a bit in the 2nd half.  Whatever occurs in the 2nd half is still fairly meaningless….for UF anyway.  I'm sure it was good experience for Troy.  But for all intents and purposes, the game was over after 30 minutes.  Whether UF played their starters, reserves, whatever, the outcome was decided early.  That was my only point.

BMarkey said

I'm not mad, but I am tired of hearing about how when an underdog (FAU, Troy, MTSU, etc.) team does well against a top-tier team, how that team must have played its subs a lot.

I agree, but you were down 49-7 at the half…that's not exactly doing well.