and the loss just took the polish off a really fun tailgate, so here goes...

• The tailgate was a blast.  A great mix of real people I know, imaginary friends, my daughter's college age friends and a few passersby who nobody knew.  Big thanks to my wife and daughter for standing the long vigil and all the work they put in on setting up the tailgate spot, making jello shots, getting food ready, and just being there with me at O'dark thirty.  SwampWoman and SmartAlecG8R provided some excellent victuals in the form of Queso dip and some killer Jambalaya; as usual there were raves about the cooking. Thanks to all who stopped by: Coach Tony, BabySister, Viking, Orange & Brew, Saltwater Gator, Dark Gator and Native leap to mind right away, but there had to be 50 or so people there during the course of the day.  Apologies to anyone I didn't mention by name. The kids had fun playing beer pong and ladder ball.  Tip of the hat to Allie's friends Nathan and Melissa who actually beat me to the tailgate spot.  I got there before 6am, but they had gone out the night before, realized driving was a no-no so they slept in their car across the street from the tailgate spot.
• What a poor display of offensive football in this game.  We did have two long drives, but the rest of the night was pretty awful.  We had two TD drives that went for 9 plays and only 33 yards combined - 3.7 yards a play.  That's not good and those were TD drives. Our rushing game is all but nonexistent. Without Demps we have no speed threat from the RB position.  At this point in the season a 10+ yard run is greeted with shrieks of joy as if a phenomena never before seen has suddenly appeared before our eyes.  This leads us to…
• The offending line.  I am shocked that they have played so badly this season.  It is inexcusable.  We can point fingers at the coaches, but these are veteran players.  These guys have been through the SEC a couple of times, they know what it takes to succeed.  Either they don't have it or they don't want it, at least not badly enough.  For most of the game they were abused by the LSU defensive front. Woes in both the running game and the passing game could be greatly reduced with improved line play. I am extremely disappointed.
• The defense on the season has played better than the offense, but to say they've played well would be an overstatement.  Black and Hill combined for 22 tackles vs LSU - where were the LBs?  But in this instance it would be unfair to call out just one unit.  The defense must stand as a whole.  On Saturday they #badword# the bed.  They #badword# it early, they #badword# it late, and they #badword# it when it really mattered.  They gave up over 240 yards in the first half alone.  They let a team averaging 109 passing yards a game throw for 224.  And when it really mattered…
• The last 3 plays of the last drive were a horror show for UF fans.  Even after the fake FG - more on that in a second - they had more yards to go than there were seconds left in the game, just keep the play in front of you.  First they hit a 28 yard slant against our best CB when we KNOW they have to throw the ball.  We blitz the LB, leave the DB one and one with NO ONE in the middle of the field short or long, and effectively lose the game on this play.  We follow it up by getting burned in the corner where Brown mugs Tolliver but gets away with it because the ref is a) blind b) hitting on one of the LSU cheerleaders, c) incompetent.  Matters not.  We align the defense to stop Tolliver.  Brown is on him and Hill is out there too, lined up to prevent the slant.  But of course Brown decides to do the one thing he cannot do and after a one step fake to the inside by Tolliver gives him the sideline and effectively negates the safety help from Hill.  He is torched for the second time in two plays on the exact same move and throw and the game is over.
• The fake FG.  The mind boggles.  Jenkins is in but he acts like he needs to block a 53yd FG by a guy who has no chance to make such a kick with no pressure.  He is in perfect position - were he playing for the fake - to blow the play up and win the game.  Why this was not paramount in his mind is between him, God and his coaches.  It's not like LSU hasn't run this exact same fake fg before.  It's not like LSU hasn't run a fake fg before against UF.  It's not like LSU hasn't run a fake fg before against UF with many of these guys on the team for it.  The fans knew it was coming, the TV announcers knew it was coming, people dead 1000 years knew it was coming.  UF looked like they didn't know it was coming.  It was like watching Lucy pull the ball away from Charlie Brown again.  Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.  Well shame #badword#ing shame on us.
• Urban Meyer is not done, burnt out, in need of retirement.  That is absolute nonsense and unworthy of further comment.  That said, perhaps he needs to rewrite the guidelines for being graded a champion and reassess what it means to be a playmaker. 
• Identify the playmakers.  Omarius Hines is averaging 15 yards every time he runs or catches the ball from scrimmage.  Dubose looks like he might be able to make a play of two, maybe we should let him touch the ball more than 14 times in half a season.  Gillislee is averaging 5.5 yards a carry, Moody 3.4, but which player has 33% more carries than the other?
• Don't ever, EVER boo your own team.  Boo the refs, boo the opposing team, but never boo your guys, not even if you're "really booing the play calling."  That is wrong.  Send letters, write on message boards, call in to radio and TV shows, but don't boo when you don't like the way a play your guys ran turned out.  EVER.