The next time you want to criticize Urban Meyer, just stop, please.
If you?re thinking of saying Tim Tebow can?t handle big-game situations, just zip it, por favor.
So the Gators have lost two straight for the first time since Ron Zook - yes, the coach who has his Illinois team ranked just five spots behind the No. 13 Gators.
Gator Nation, I know some of you are upset after you watched Meyer mismanage the clock and his timeouts against LSU.
Yes, that was a mistake, and it hurt the Gators.
But it didn?t cost them the game - that would be the defense?s inability to stop fourth-and-shorts, combined with LSU?s Jacob Hester?s ability to get those five extra inches.
The coaches can only prepare the players so much. After that, it?s the athletes? responsibility to get the job done.
Meyer made one mistake. Newsflash: people, including football coaches, aren?t perfect.
Don?t forget Jan. 8, when Meyer and his staff completely owned Ohio State. The coaching is the main reason the Gators won that game. They were prepared for anything and everything.
Because of Meyer?s strategy, UF fans can be proud owners of the bumper sticker BHonk if you?ve sacked Troy Smith.C
Then there?s Tebow.
As I said before the season, UF fans set up expectations for the young quarterback that he simply can?t reach, even if he does turn Georgia?s Uga into a poodle and makes Bobby Bowden speak in complete sentences.
Now that he hasn?t been perfect the past two weeks, he?s taken some heat.
Stop.
He?s a first-year starting quarterback - who?s a future Heisman winner if he stays healthy - and he just played in one of the most hostile environments he will ever play in, college or professional.
Tebow and Meyer are two of the hardest-working people you will ever meet in any profession. They just can?t be perfect.
Meyer was out-coached by LSU?s Les Miles, but he out-coaches 19 of 20 other coaches.
BHe won a national championship for a reason,C senior wide receiver Andre Caldwell said. BHe?s got his own methods and they work. Everybody just needs to relax and let him do his job.C
Tebow was out-managed by the Tigers? Matt Flynn, but he?s going to outwork every other quarterback tenfold.
BHe?s a human being - he makes mistakes,C Caldwell said. BThat?s part of being a quarterback - they?ll love you one day, hate you the next.C
You probably didn?t foresee the Gators with two losses at this point, but neither did they.
Some of the coaching schemes have been kooky this season with Tebow and Percy Harvin running the show for a few weeks, but Meyer and his staff have learned their lesson. There?s nobody who prepares better for teams than Meyer.
Look what happened to the Buckeyes when UF had more than a month to prepare.
With a week before the Kentucky game, Meyer and Co. will be able to regroup the twice-fallen Gators, and that spells trouble for the Wildcats.
They?ve got a mad, angry UF team coming their way and, just like Meyer has said, the Gators will be Bsmokin?.C
