FSU will roll, but UF will get rolled.
Running off at the typewriter …
Nationally, there’s little question that the mega-matchup between No. 3 FSU and No. 1 Alabama is the most important game of today’s traditional opening day of the college football season, but locally I believe the Florida Gators taking on Michigan is much more meaningful.
The reason can be summed up in four words: “Noise in the system.”
That’s the phrase perpetually embattled former UF coach Ron
Zook always used to describe the fan outcry and media frenzy that would result when the Gators became embroiled in some sort of off-field scandal or lost a particularly big game. The resulting “noise in the system” was so deafening it drowned out any sort of logical thinking and eventually led to Zook’s premature departure from UF.
If the Gators lose to Michigan — and, worse yet, if they get clobbered by the Wolverines — the noise in the system will get turned up to 10 on Jim McElwain’s pro-
gram. The loss obviously would be magnified by the 10 players’ suspensions and the growing perception McElwain’s program is filled with miscreants and malcontents.
Even though McElwain has taken UF to the SEC Championship Game in his first two years at Florida, Gator Nation doesn’t seem to be fully behind him just yet. Maybe it’s because his offense has been awful and his teams have been pounded by FSU in his first two years, but Gator Nation continues to be tepid in its support of its head coach. A loss to Michigan, followed by a loss to Tennessee in two weeks, would ignite a barrage of criticism.
Personally, I think Gator Nation should embrace McElwain and be giddy with the results of his first two years on the job. But as my good friend Pat Dooley of the Gainesville Sun once wrote, “Nobody suffers winning like Gator fans.”
As for FSU, Jimbo Fisher can lose to Alabama Saturday night without any ramifications. He’ll still be beloved by FSU fans and his team will still be able to recover and get back into the national-championship race.
In other words, the Gators need a win today much more than FSU does. This is why I say Florida-Michigan is more significant locally while FSU-Alabama is more meaningful nationally.
That said, as I told an incredulous Paul Finebaum of the SEC Network earlier this week that not only do I like FSU to beat Alabama, I like the Seminoles to win the game handily. Why? Because, in my mind, FSU quarterback Deondre Francois has a chance to be special and is much more accomplished than Alabama quarterback
Jalen Hurts. And we’ve certainly witnessed what special quarterbacks (see Clemson's Deshaun Watson) can do to Alabama’s defense.
MIKEY LIKES: FSU beating Alabama by 12 and Michigan beating the Gators like they stole something (oh, that’s right, they did). …
SHORT STUFF: By the way, how fitting that FSU and Alabama are playing Saturday in the new stadium sponsored by Mercedes-Benz. After all, every player on both teams probably owns one. Bada bing! Hey, we kid because we love. … Public-service announcement: If you’ve had any contact with a Florida Gators football player, please contact LifeLock. … Did you see where the New York Times is reporting it has evidence Florida State’s 2013 national-championship team was sullied by athletic favoritism and academic fraud. In related news, I am reporting that so has every other national champion of the last 50 years. …
As first-year FIU coach Butch Davis was getting his butt kicked 61-17 by UCF Thursday night, my mind wandered back to January 2001 when Davis left a nationalchampionship-caliber team at the University of Miami to take an NFL job with the sad-sack Cleveland Browns. The ’Canes won the national title the very next season under Davis’ successor — Larry Coker — and had one of the greatest assemblages of talent in college football history. Meanwhile, Davis floundered and was fired by the Browns within three years. If Davis — like Howard
Schnellenberger before him — had only stayed at The ‘U,’ he would likely have three or four national titles on his résumé. Moral of the story: The only reason the grass is greener on the other side of the fence is because it’s been fertilized with b.s. …
New nickname for Orlando City: “The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight.” The only player missing from Orlando City’s roster is former Bucs kicker Roberto Aguayo. … By the way, Alex Morgan scores whenever Dom Dwyer wants to. … A moment of silence, please,
Rollie Massimino, has gone to That Big Cinderella Castle in the Sky. … Isn’t it funny how, within a matter of days, Blake Bortles went from possibly being cut by the Jacksonville Jaguars to coach Doug Marrone naming him the starter and saying Blake has never looked better.