Gators Phone It In Against Ole Miss

Meltdown?  Implosion?  Or perhaps a simple lack of preparation aggravated by overconfidence?  Whatever the reason, and whatever metaphor is forceful enough, the Gators seemed to forget that they are in the SEC, and you can never take an SEC intra-conference game for granted.  You bring your A-game every time, instead of your "blase-A" game.  I know that cell phones are getting smaller all the time, but the Gator players and coaches kept theirs well hidden during this collaborative "phone-in" effort.

Just one simple, obvious decision that was blown -- on the Gators last offensive play of the game they (shockingly) ran Tebow up the middle against an utterly unsuprised Rebel defense.  Imagine if someone on the sideline woke up from their coma and decided to have Tebow line up in that exact same shotgun formation.. and toss a jump shot to a receiver, who would have been not just open but possibly lonely.

Not just tactics, but strategy and execution were intermittent at best, as if the team had a collective case of narcolepsy.  Or maybe a cruel desire to frustrate the Gator Nation.  Whatever the motivation for the lack of motivation, the part that stings the most is that Florida seemed to have a subconscious desire to screw up.  They didn't snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, they wired the jaws of victory shut in the third quarter.

Tebow did have a great 78 yard drive to bring the Gators to a near-certain tie.  After which the "near-certain" point-after practically hit Rebel Kentrell Lockett in the bellybutton.  Such migraine-inducing lack of discipline was the Gators theme for the day.

Three turnovers, play calling showing all the decision-making savvy of a Wall Street investment banking firm, undependable execution on many levels, the worst third quarter in recent memory, and a distressing lack of hunger for victory all meant that the Gators were lucky to only lose by a point.

After the game, Tebow promised that ''You have never seen any player in the entire country play as hard as I will play the rest of this season and you'll never see someone push the rest of the team as hard as I will push everybody the rest of this season, and you'll never see a team play harder than we will the rest of this season.''  He and his team had better honor that promise.  The way things are likely to turn out this year means that all is not necessarily lost for the Gators, but their margin for error is now so thin you can read the fine print of a credit card agreement through it.