I had misgivings about that game. I remember how impressive Florida was throughout 2005, but I also remember that they hadn't played the same schedule we had played, and thinking we'd win - but in a close game. I figured we couldn't stop them from scoring but that we could shorten the game with our ball-control ground game.
We watched the game at the home of my wife's work buddy. Both she and her husband were Florida alums. After the first quarter I was not feeling too comfortable, but felt we weren't in any trouble. It was an exciting game.
After the second quarter, we spent most of halftime trying to cheer up our hosts with comments like, "You guys could come back..." and the like. I spent the whole second half holding in my glee.
One thing - Tommie gets way too much credit for "The Run." The Gators gave up on that play. That's pretty obvious. Yeah, he fought on and tore out of their grasp, but they were barely giving a half-hearted effort to bring him down. Florida's defense wasn't SO bad, nor was Tommie SO good, that he could break away from seven determined tacklers. It was just a case of a team being mentally and emotionally beaten, and Tommie and the Huskers at their peak.
Read the context of what I wrote, people. I never said Tommie Frazier wasn't good. It's ridiculous to gig my post if you're not reading it correctly. Sheesh.
Guys, knapplc has a valid point here. I can expand on it a little bit.
Yes, that run is probably one of the best plays in Cornhusker football history. And yes, a lot of what happened there had to do with Tommie being Tommie. But you also need to consider a couple of things.
1) That was the longest run Frazier had had all year up into that point. If that was "all him", why hadn't he done something as equally as impressive before that game? Don't read any more into that than what you have to. I'm just saying, that was a first for Tommie.
2) That score came when Nebraska was up 42-17 or something like that, giving Nebraska 49 points after the run. Does anybody really think Florida was trying their best at this point in the game? If you think so, you are severely mistaken. You try being down by 30+ points in one of the most important games of your life, and tell me how "motivated" you would be.
3) From the replays, you can tell a lot of the Florida players are going for the strip instead of the tackle. That also helped Tommie break free from some of those tackles.
So, I'm not saying that the run wasn't impressive or that I don't love to see it, because I do. I just think it's important to realize that came at a very vulnerable time for the Gators.
