I'd flip OU up to the top tier, and Clemson down. OU appears to play defense now, which....giving Lincoln Riley a defense really ought to be illegal. Clemson just doesn't move me until further notice. Thrashing FSU is nice, but I mean c'mon...FSU is a name only at this point.
I'm sure not having Greenard most of the game was a definite minus for Florida, but that's likely still a very good defense. The coverage in particular was by far the best LSU has seen this year. Unless you've poured over the film this year (and why would you if you're not an LSU fan) you might miss in the back and forth that this was BY FAR the hardest LSU has worked for its yards and points to date. They had to mix the playcalling more by necessity, and had to work their way down the field for basically the first time this year.
I think Florida has some depth issues, but the starting defense is still very good imo. Our OL did well and while Grantham didn't blitz as much as his reputation, they did at times but the OL picked it up each time. 0 sacks allowed and 0 QB hurries allowed against Florida is good. Punting only twice against Florida is good.
I'm not even mad at the tackling or coverage. Trask is just better than I expected. He and the receivers just made plays. The only cure for guys like that is a superb pass rush, and we just don't have it. I know LSU fans, pundits and internet doofuses like us will talk a lot about LSU's "suspect pass defense" but honestly, just watch the film. They've cleaned up a lot of tackling woes from the Texas game and they almost always have as good of position/coverage as you could ask for. We just don't have the pass rush to help them out and a good QB and good receivers are going to win some plays with enough time. I've said it before and I'll say it again: LSU is just an elite pass rush away from being as good as anybody.
We'll see how UGA responds to this weekend, but I've been slowly losing some confidence in them. Not enough to make them not the favorites in the east, but Florida's stock is rising after last night. They went toe to toe with a very good LSU team in a hostile environment, really the game hinged on about two plays LSU made that Florida could not. Stingley's INT and a goal line stand is what separated this game from covering the spread to being tied and going to OT. The Cocktail Party is shaping up to be great. Maybe between now and then Kirby Smart will remember that he has one of the best QBs on his roster and start being more aggressive. I would've thought that after UGA's recent games against Alabama, holding leads and trying to sit on them late, Smart would've abandoned that philosophy and adopted a more aggressive "hell with you, we're gonna keep coming" mentality, but UGA so far seems determined to slow the game down, minimize the number of plays (WHY? when you have better recruits and Jake Fromm, go ahead and maximize the number of plays to lessen the chances of a something wonky happening) and take a "safe" approach. I just don't think that's the era we're in right now with the SEC.
Mullen didn't play it safe last night, he went for it nearly every chance he could, however that looked, and UF may be gaining ground on UGA simply by nature of the game right now.
