The Notre Dame Jet Has Landed in Florida!

GatorJon — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 11:45:24 -0500

A Cessna 560 twin-engine jet with tail number N42ND arrived at Vero Beach Municipal Airport in Florida at approximately 9:00am EST on Monday morning. That particular tail number is registered to none other than the University of Notre Dame.

This can only mean one thing, of course: Notre Dame Officials are out sneaking around behind head coach Charlie Weis’ back looking for his replacement! (1)

It seems so cliché...so "Auburn Jet Gate."

But who on God's Green Earth could they be looking for in Vero Beach, FL?

Is there some unpolished diamond-in-the-rough coaching prodigy on staff at Indian River Community College?

Or maybe they are checking out the Head Chef at the Culinary Institute of Vero Beach?

Or could the chosen one be residing at Vero Beach’s Truth Bible College & Seminary?

Another 0.22 seconds of diligent research told this so-called “scribe” that the University of Florida also has a branch in Vero Beach.

Wait another second—you don’t think...? No, it couldn’t be.

I will leave it up to the reader to connect the dots, but let me just add that the whereabouts of a certain coach, who happens to be named after a pope, could not be determined from checking either his MySpace or Facebook pages.

Coincidentally, there was also no comment on the matter from Notre Dame’s AD, Jack Swarbrick.

Wow! The dearth of information is both inadequate and lacking.

Undeterred and desperate for information, I asked Daisey Mae, an 82-lb. female American Bulldog, for her thoughts on the matter. She responded with a burp-like noise: “bwuurmaff.”

Wait a doggone minute—did she say “BWUURMAFF”?

Could that be “Big Wins Under URban Meyer At Florida, Forever”?

Apparently Miss Daisey has been drinking too much orange Gatorade. She is not up to speed on all the rampant speculation about the Prodigal Son’s planned return to polish the Golden Dome on Jan. 9, 2009.

I only hope for her sake that it does not come to pass.

Bwuurmaff, indeed, Daisey Mae. Bwuurmaff, indeed.

NotNotes:

I m1. I must admit - the thought has occurred to me that this could just be a recruiting trip and that Charlie Weis and/or other Notre Dame coaches went to Vero Beach, FL to visit Zeke Motta the 6’2” 207lb S/OLB from Vero Beach HS who committed to Notre Dame in early October . The plane reportedly left Vero Beach at 11:41am that same morning and flew to Teterboro, NJ before going on to Newark, NJ the next day and then returning to South Bend, IN. That sure sounds like a recruiting trip to me. Plus do you really think Urban and Jack could really hammer out a deal from 9:00am to 11:41am on a Monday morning?

Alabama vs. Florida: Looking Ahead by Looking Back at Common Opponents

GatorJon — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 09:28:25 -0500

Well, it's official: Alabama and Florida will knock heads in the SEC Championship Game on Dec. 6 in Atlanta, GA. As a Gator fan, SEC fan, and FBS college football fan, I could not be more excited about the renewal of this fine rivalry. It has been dormant for far too long.

This game has the potential to be the biggest of all big games in the history of games that are big. But discussion of "how big" will have to wait because there are still games left to be played for both teams.

Call me guilty of looking ahead if you like, but the facts are undeniable: The Alabama Crimson Tide are SEC West champs and the Florida Gators are SEC East champs. Both teams could lose all of their remaining games and would still remain on a collision course for the SEC Championship Game.

Throw in the fact that each team has already played its six common opponents, and I have all the excuses I need to look ahead to the first Saturday in December. Furthermore, I consider winning the conference the ultimate goal for SEC teams and generally do my best to ignore the BCS rankings until after the regular season.

So here we go:

Common Opponents

Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, Tennessee

Win-Loss Record

Alabama 6-0, Florida 5-1. Advantage: Alabama by one win.

Florida lost to Ole Miss. Alabama did not. Alabama had to go to overtime to beat LSU. Florida did not. But a win is a win and a loss is a loss, and Alabama has shown a gritty determination and will to win reminiscent of the undefeated 1992 team.

Call it luck if you like, but luck favors the prepared, and Nick Saban has had his team prepared to win every week.

Scoring Offense (points per game)

Median: Alabama 28, Florida 44. Advantage: Florida by 16 points.

Maximum: Alabama 49, Florida 63. Advantage: Florida by 14 points.

Minimum: Alabama 17, Florida 30. Advantage: Florida by 13 points.

The points scored against the six common opponents suggest a 13 to 16-point advantage for the Gators.

Scoring Defense (points per game)

Median: Alabama 17, Florida 9. Advantage: Florida by eight points.

Maximum: Alabama 30, Florida 31. Advantage: Alabama by one point.

Minimum: Alabama 9, Florida 5. Advantage: Florida by four points.

The points allowed against the six common opponents suggest anything from a one-point advantage for the Tide to a nine-point advantage for the Gators.

The points for and points against data above strongly suggest that Florida will win the game, and I expect the betting lines to reflect this. But I will leave it to other more skilled handicappers to determine a “true line” for the matchup.

Offense (median yards per game)

Passing: Alabama 197, Florida 221. Advantage: Florida by 24 yards.

Rushing: Alabama 158, Florida 200. Advantage: Florida by 42 yards.

Total: Alabama 355, Florida 421. Advantage: Florida by 66 yards.

Florida has the advantage with the offensive numbers as might be expected based on the scoring offense data above. Both teams show good balance. It's hard to imagine Florida having a stronger rushing attack than Bama, but there it is.

Defense (median yards per game)

Passing: Alabama 209, Florida 203. Advantage: Florida by six yards.

Rushing: Alabama 71, Florida 123. Advantage: Alabama by 52 yards.

Total: Alabama 280, Florida 326. Advantage: Alabama by 46 yards.

Alabama shows a distinct advantage in rush defense, but that did not translate into an advantage in the scoring defense data above. Looks like the Tide rush defense versus the Gator rush offense could be a key to the game.

Turnovers

Margin: Alabama +4, Florida +8. Advantage: Florida by four turnovers.

Florida’s advantage in turnover margin could help explain why Florida has an advantage in scoring defense and why Alabama has an advantage in rush and total defense above.

Further evaluation of differences in red zone offense, starting field position (i.e., special teams) and other measures of efficiency could also shed light on why this apparent discrepancy exists.

I wish the best of luck to Alabama and Florida the rest of the way and hope that both teams will be victorious and injury-free. Dec. 6 cannot get here fast enough.

Bleacher Report - Articles by GatorJon

The Notre Dame Jet Has Landed in Florida!

Alabama vs. Florida: Looking Ahead by Looking Back at Common Opponents