With Florida clinging to a 17-14 lead against South Carolina at halftime, defensive coordinator Charlie Strong knew exactly how to get his defense back on track after the worst half of football his unit has played this season.
“We were playing a little off pace — a little bit — and we knew once we calmed down, settled down, coach was telling us how this was going to be a championship game,” junior cornerback Joe Haden said. “He’s like, ‘This game is going to lead us to a championship,’ so people were just playing with so much emotion.”
His unit responded by allowing the Gamecocks to gain just 41 yards of offense in the second half.
Senior linebacker Ryan Stamper also heard Strong’s message loud and clear.
“(He was) just letting us know we’re not playing the way the Florida defense is suppose to be played,” Stamper said. “We’ve got to come out and play the second half better or our season is over. We’re going to the SEC Championship, but we’ve got other goals after that, too, so if we lost this game that wouldn’t have happened.”
There are only two possible goals Stamper could have been alluding to: winning a national championship or going undefeated.
No other goal would have been ruined by Florida losing that game on Saturday.
And if that’s what it takes to motivate the team, what’s wrong with looking ahead to focus your team on the task at hand?
Everyone assumes looking down the road will result in an upset because Florida won’t be focused enough on the mighty FIU Panthers.
The chance to make history is a vastly superior motivating factor to beating FIU or FSU.
“We’re just trying to get to Atlanta.”
I can’t possibly tell you how many times members of the Florida football team have uttered those words to the media from the beginning of fall practice through the first half of the schedule.
A few players came clean before the season started, saying the Gators had hopes of going undefeated on their way to another national title, but coach Urban Meyer quickly put the kibosh on that.
From then on, the players were only to say their goal for the season was to get to Atlanta and another SEC Championship Game.
I personally don’t believe that was ever true, but even if it was, those goals have clearly changed. It would be stupid not to adjust long-term goals once they have already been accomplished.
But what is it now?
Pasadena.
And it should be.
Just as the team used Atlanta as a long-term goal to get them through the conference slate, the motivation of a third national championship in four years will be used to take the Gators down the home stretch and to “The Promised Land,” as sophomore safety Will Hill put it Sunday.
Meyer and his coaching staff would never admit that they’re using that Crystal Ball as a motivating tool, but a couple of his players have already made it apparent — that is exactly what’s happening.
It’s nice to pump out clichés about taking it “one game at a time,” but even Meyer revealed his mindset after Saturday’s game.
“I’m so tired of seeing balls come off fingertips,” Meyer said of two would-be touchdowns that grazed off of wide receiver Riley Cooper’s hands. “We all know what’s coming down the road, and we have to make those.”
I don’t think he was talking about the Panthers or the Seminoles.
