Blame the Rules,,,,,,,,, and whine some more.

[Tigermike 3,053]

If AU had been converted those field goals into touchdowns, the whine from the Gator Nation would be even louder. But because of a severe beatdown instead of a close loss. Also do you remember the end of the first half? Florida allowed the clock run down and actually started running off the field with around 23 seconds or so on the clock. Florida could have run three or maybe four more plays if they had wanted to. I also have to say the writer of this article pointed out "The UF defense had a hard time getting the Auburn offense off the field. In 11 Auburn offensive possessions, the defense had only one three-and-out, which allowed the Tigers to control the ball and burn the clock."

If you want more possessions, then your defense needs to get the other team's offense off the field. That worked for AU didn't it!

Outplayed: Lack of possessions hurt UF

By ROBBIE ANDREU

Sun sports writer

For a coach who has such contempt for the new running clock in college football, Saturday night's loss at Auburn turned into Urban Meyer's ultimate nightmare.

The clock melted away like soft ice cream on hot asphalt for the Florida Gators.

Time disappeared.

Take away the one-play possession that ended in a safety and the Gators had the ball only three times in the entire first half. For the game, UF ran only 45 plays, by far the lowest total for a Meyer team in his five-plus years as a head coach.

"I think (the rule) will change (after this season). I don't know," Meyer said. "It's not a good rule, it's a bad rule. It changes the whole way you call a game.

"It cheats the fans, it cheats the players, it cheats everybody involved in college football. We had three possessions in the first half."

The new rule calls for the clock to start running following a change of possession when the ball is set for play. It also now starts on kickoffs when the ball is kicked instead of when the return team touches the ball.

Meyer didn't like the rule when he first heard about it this past summer. He's disliked it more and more as the season has gone along, culminating with Saturday night's Reader's Digest version of a game.

The coach on the other sideline certainly liked the way it played out. Auburn's Tommy Tuberville was the lone head coach on the NCAA committee that adopted the new rule.

"I know their coach really likes the rule because they're a running team and they want to shorten the game," Meyer said. "He's a defensive coach and it worked."

The Gators, however, did their part to make it work for Auburn.

The running clock had something to do with UF having only 45 plays, but the Gators also played a major role in shortening the game.

Here's how:

* The Florida offense converted only one-of-seven third down plays and the safety in the first half on first down basically took away one possession, leaving the Gators with only three offensive series in the first half.

* The UF defense had a hard time getting the Auburn offense off the field. In 11 Auburn offensive possessions, the defense had only one three-and-out, which allowed the Tigers to control the ball and burn the clock.

* Three UF turnovers, including a first-down interception in the fourth quarter, cut short possessions.

Add it all up, and the Gators were as big a culprit as the running clock in a game that sped by too fast for UF.

"We were moving the ball up and down the field the three times we had it in the first half," Meyer said. "In the second half we got ourselves in a couple of bad situations and the next thing you know you're down possessions and you're starting to panic. You can't do that."

While the offense was struggling to move the ball in the second half, the UF defense was having just as hard a time getting the Tigers off the field. AU's balanced attack kept the chains - and the clock - moving.

"We need to make more chances on offense," Meyer said. "The bottom line is we're down to the 6-yard line (in the fourth quarter) to go win the game (but turned the ball over). I don't want to overreact to the way the game was managed because I don't think it was that bad. The ending obviously was not very good.

"The SEC, with the quality of defenses and the way teams kind of hold the ball, you just don't get many possessions. I've never seen anything like it. I've never seen a team have three possessions in the first half, which is what we had."

In UF's last three SEC games (Auburn, LSU and Alabama), the Gators have averaged only 53 plays a game.

In his five previous seasons as a head coach, Meyer's teams had 60 or fewer plays in only three games combined. This season, the Gators already have reached that total.

After averaging 67 plays a game last season, UF is getting only 60.5 plays a game this season.

Fewer plays means fewer opportunities.

"It's kind of tough when you have that limited number of plays because you want to get into a rhythm," UF quarterback Chris Leak said of the 45 plays in last Saturday's game. "You've got to convert third downs and make big plays when they're there."

And take care of the ball and get the other offense off the field. (That always helps!)

The Gators didn't do a very good job in any of those areas last Saturday.

The result was only 45 plays.

"Turnovers (were part of it)," Meyer said. "When you lose a possession. ... like after the safety, we lost a possession there. Obviously, the fumbles and the interception at the end of the game as well (were factors). The third-down conversions (by Auburn). They're a good running team and they chewed the clock up."

NOTES:

Starting wide receiver Jemalle Cornelius, who did not touch the ball in the loss to Auburn, was limited by a pulled hamstring, Meyer said. "He was hurt. He was about 80 percent," Meyer said. Cornelius is being held out of practice this week. ... Leak has been named a semifinalist for the prestigious Draddy Award, which recognizes an individual as the top performer in the country for combined academic success, football performance and exemplary community leadership. Defensive tackle Brad Culpepper and quarterback Danny Wuerffel are past winners of the award.

http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...90381/-1/sports

[JB33 1]

Nice to see objectivity does exist in Gatorville. Nobody, however, mentions burning up its three second half timeouts. That was huge. That was worth at least a free first down when was trying to run out the clock.

[geauxscott 0]

I really don't see the current clock rules holding up next season. Very few coaches like it!

[rolltoomer 0]

I really don't see the current clock rules holding up next season. Very few coaches like it!

We may see a mod to the last few minutes of each half, at least.

[bigsixfive 328]

I really don't see the current clock rules holding up next season. Very few coaches like it!

We may see a mod to the last few minutes of each half, at least.

That is unfair because it favors the team that is losing. The clock should be blind to the game, but if you slow it down in the last few minutes then that's favoring the endzone challenged teams out there. A 2 minute rule would be ok, but adding in the old clock stuff for the last minute or two isn't. The rules really aren't that bad. I don't like them simply because TV crams the same number of commercials in a slightly smaller time slot. The other rule I don't like is the start on change of posession. That burns way too much time off the clock.

[AFTiger 282]

Two minute rule?

[AUesquire 1]

Anyone recall the Arkansas game? By the end of the game, it was painfully obvious that we just couldn't dream of stopping them, even though they were just lining up and playing smashmouth football.

Time outs or no time outs. The bottom line for the AU/UF game in 2006? CTT called his defense a bunch of bed-wetting mama's boys. He challenged them and they responded. Florida was NOT going to score and had that game gone on much longer, someone (Leak) was going to get hurt.

Screw the calls, screw the clock and screw the Florida Gators, their fans, their coach and the their media. Q. Groves, the LBOH and the rest of the defense was begging for this game to go on all night.

DEAL WITH IT!!!

[AUloggerhead 2,253]

The SEC puts out weekly statistics here.

They've been keeping track of the game time and number of plays from last season (see bottom of page 8 of the pdf file.) The net result of the new clock rules has been a decrease in overall avg game time of 13 minutes, and that translates to a difference of about 10-11 plays. Bogus. If they just wanted to decrease the length of the game, they could have achieved the same result by reducing the length of each quarter from 15 to 12 minutes. You know, high school rules.

So, for all the hoopla surrounding the new clock rules they have decreased the overall length of the game. One has to question if 13 minutes is really that significant. If you're going to be out there for 3 hrs and 5 minutes anyway, ... ... what's another 13 minutes? It doesn't seem worth the trouble. The one significant change I can see from these rules will be to push teams to go no-huddle more often.

[TigerHeat 9]

So, for all the hoopla surrounding the new clock rules they have decreased the overall length of the game. One has to question if 13 minutes is really that significant. If you're going to be out there for 3 hrs and 5 minutes anyway, ... ... what's another 13 minutes? It doesn't seem worth the trouble. The one significant change I can see from these rules will be to push teams to go no-huddle more often.

There's an EXCELLENT reason for the shorter game. It gives Urban an excuse why his boys got one in the "L" column:

Shortened game + loud "noise" + paid off Auburn refs = unfair loss for the unstoppable Gators. If only he'd had an extra 37 minutes....

We may hear similar noise from West Vance in a month.

[WarDlowe 39]

could urban meyer whine about anything else? first it was the noise, then it was us paying the officials, now it's the clock rule. suck it up, you got beat douchebag.

[OKieAuburnDoug 1]

Mack Brown whined about the clock rule after the Shorthorns got whipped by OSU!

[bigsixfive 328]

There's an EXCELLENT reason for the shorter game. It gives Urban an excuse why his boys got one in the "L" column:

Shortened game + loud "noise" + paid off Auburn refs = unfair loss for the unstoppable Gators. If only he'd had an extra 37 minutes....

We may hear similar noise from West Vance in a month.

37 minutes would have been worse. The Gators were deteriorating rapidly. It really would have been a rout then. Crier would be better off claiming a 1st half moral victory and demanding only 2 quarters be played.