College Football Fan Site

10:03 pm | October 14, 2018 | Go to Source | Author: Pat Dooley

Florida coach Dan Mullen, left, and Vanderbiltcoach Derek Mason meet on the field after their game Saturday in Nashville, Tenn. Florida won 37-27. Mullen prefers not to talk about what prompted his Gators and the Commodores to spill off the sidelines. Mason says a Florida player said something to the Vanderbilt coach. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

The Sunday Blog comes at you from the Charlotte Airport finishing up our third trip in four weeks. Nothing but in-state games from here on out.

The penalty assessed to both benches in Saturday’s Florida-Vanderbilt game was a new rule put in this year and you can expect plenty of discussion on it the next time the SEC gets together. No matter the intent of the rule, any rule that can result in a player’s disqualification from a game when he is sitting on the bench doing nothing is a stupid rule. I’m surprised nobody thought about that. I’m all for keeping players under control (and in this case coaches), but it’s simply not a good rule.
I know that I quote Tom Petty a lot, but Saturday brought to mind these lyrics from “Hard To Find a Friend.”

“Everything changed/

Then changed again.”

That was our college football landscape on a Saturday where upsets were flying and near-upsets were multiplying like rabbits. My AP ballot now has Ohio State at No. 2, Clemson at No. 3, Notre Dame at No.4, Texas at No. 5 and LSU at No. 6. A week ago, LSU’s schedule was going to be a gauntlet after the Florida loss. Now, they have a legitimate shot at the CFP. So does Georgia despite a drubbing in Baton Rouge. I have the Gators at No. 12 and that in itself seems hard to believe.

Florida’s offensive explosion Saturday is another illustration that it’s coming around on that side of the ball for the Gators. And because of that game, Florida is all the way up to 67th nationally in total offense and 34th in the more important yards per play. Hey, it’s not the Fun ‘n’ Gun, but it’s better than what we’ve been watching around here for the last eight years. More than anything, I think most fans have genuine confidence in the coaching staff.
OK, I’ll be able to sit back and watch ball with the rest of you this week. Looking forward to it and even though it’s not a dynamic schedule, we know better, right? Here is Saturday’s Four-Pack:

Michigan at Michigan State, noon, Fox.

N.C. State at Clemson, 3:30 p.m., ESPN.

Mississippi State at LSU, 7 p.m., ESPN.

Oregon at Washington St., 7:30 p.m., Fox.