Game Preview: Florida Gators vs. Mississippi State Bulldogs

bulldogsTurnovers are Sticking in the Mind of Urban Meyer!

With a game against Mississippi State pending, Urban Meyer is looking at the team's current capabilities to determine whether or not the Florida Gators are going to continue their winning streak for another round.

In terms of the offense, the gators have been struggling to run the ball during the first few quarters of the last game, but they still managed to make 100 yards just in during the fourth quarter. They had a total of four fumbles which were completely inexcusable, and so was the dropped touchdown pass on the behalf of Riley Cooper, as well as six sacks. The other receivers besides Cooper were continuing to struggle, and the Gators only managed to convert four out of thirteen third-downs.

In terms of the defense, they were really put in a bad situation by the offense with two fumbles inside of Florida territory. They did manage to force three and outs following two fumbles within the Arkansas red zone.

As far as special teams go, Caleb Sturgis managed to miss a field goal early on, but he responded well with three more, including one that was 51 yards and managed to win the game with a mere nine seconds left on the clock. The Gators still seem in capable of getting their return game going, however, and they really did not do a good job when it came to kickoff coverage.

As far as scouting the opponent is concerned, Mississippi State, which sits at 3 to 4 and 1 to 2 in the SEC is coming away from a victory in Middle Tennessee of 27 to 6. The Bulldogs, who are led by the former offensive coordinator for UF, Dan Mullen, happen to have one of the best backs in the entire league, who is Anthony Dixen. He was the career rushing leader for MSU. Still, they seem to struggle when it comes to throwing the ball, averaging at about 174 yards with each game, and they are ranking near the bottom of the SEC's leader board when it comes to most of the defensive categories.

The UF Gators coach, Urban Meyer, has already said that he has blocked off a section of the upcoming practice where the Gators are going to be spending some extra time and effort working on their ball security. There may need to be a couple of sessions of this in order to get the UF Gators up to snuff on their ball security.

The Gators definitely need a lot of work here because they have turned the ball over a total of eleven times in the span of only six games, and this figure includes a total of nine fumbles, and four of those fumbles were in the victory game against Arkansas this past Saturday. The Gators obviously need some work before they go up against Mississippi in their next game.

Photo Credits: Roger Smith

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Florida Gators Bests Arkansas Razorbacks

ufarkIn a performance that was both sloppy and riddled with mistakes, the Florida Gators were lucky to have managed to pull out with a win this past Saturday against the Razorbacks in Arkansas thanks to a 27 yard long field goal that was made with only nine seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, ending the game. This field goal managed to break a tie, 20 to 20, capping the end of the game that somehow saw the Gators handling the ball over four separate times on fumbles, failing to protect Tim Tebow adequately and giving up a number of very big plays thanks to the team's defense.

The first drive for the game on the Gator's behalf set the tone quite early, as well as foreshadowed the very long and tedious afternoon that they were in store for. After managing to take over at the midfield following a three and out by Arkansas, Florida drove the ball all the way to the 14 yard line on Arkansas' side. A sack and a missed field goal gave the ball back over to Arkansas, just one of many of the missed opportunities for scoring that Florida experienced during this game.

No points were scored during the first quarter of the game, although Arkansas did manage to punch the ball in during the first play on the second quarter from the one yard line on Florida's side. The first two possessions by Florida during the second quarter resulted in fumbles, and both were within ten yards of the goal. The third possession brought Florida a score with a field goal from the 30. By the point of halftime, Arkansas was winning against Florida with a score of 10 to 3.

Field goals are really what carried the Gators during the game. Despite turnovers and fumbles, they managed to take their first lead during the game with a 77 yard touchdown on the behalf of Tim Tebow and Deonte Thompson. Still, Arkansas did not show any signs of quitting, and they kept marching in an attempt to regain the lead. With only seconds remaining in the fourth quarter of the game, the two teams were tied, 20 to 20, and it was a field goal that knocked the Gators into the lead just in time to cap the end of the game and walk away with another win.

The game was riddled with problems, mistakes, fumbles and turnovers, all of which were completely unnecessary. Despite the fact that the Gators have been performing well, with a so far winning streak during this season, they do not seem to be playing at the top of their game, and there are big holes that need improvements. This was a close game, and the coaches of both teams are likely scouring footage of the game trying to determine what went wrong so that this performance will never be repeated again by either team.

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