Homecoming 2011! Win or lose we booze! 4-4 baby, Outback Bowl still a possibility? Ok, so one and half of those things sound great. The rest are just frightening. The Florida Gators have lost the last four consecutive games and all of them have come against SEC opponents. Florida hasn’t lost four in a row since 1988. But what about five in a row? We don’t want to know the answer to that one. With Vanderbilt coming into to the swamp, with the same record at 4-4, we better be victorious. This is a must win for Muschamp, cause quite honestly if we lose this game, he may internally combust on the sideline. This is a school that we have typically faired well against and have an 8-1-1 record when facing Vanderbilt during Homecoming.

The Gators come into this game with a chance for some redemption, however the road there won’t be easy this year. The Gator D has to contain Vanderbilt’s Quarterback Jordan Rodgers and  running back, Zac Stacy.  Over the last two games Rodgers has ran for 162 yards and thrown for 426 yards and two touchdowns. Stacy has rushed for 707 yards this year with an average of 7.3 yards per carry. It will be critical to contain Stacy, because if he starts breaking off 7 yard runs one after another, watch out, everything else will open up and the next thing you know we will be down by 14. Vanderbilt is ranked 50th in the nation in rushing yards averaging 167.6 per a game.

On the offensive side for the Gators, John Brantley has to get it going on offense. Last week was his first week back since his injury, so we can write some of that performance off to rust. But this week, no excuses. He has to bring back that early season Brantley who looked comfortable and poised in the pocket (“God…please don’t let that be an aberration or be due to the fact that the first four teams we played this year were terrible.). When the season first started i really thought that just maybe, just maybe two little scat-backs could lead this team to some victories. Unfortunately I was wrong. Its all about John Brantley. We saw this when he was out and our duo of freshman wonder boys managed to put on two of the worst offensive performances I’ve ever seen.

This game is critical. The Gators need to come away with a “W”. Hopefully that W stands for “Win” and not “WTF”