Through the first week of October, former Florida Gators national championship- and Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Danny Wuerffel will be contributing his post-game thoughts about how the team performed the previous Saturday exclusively here on OGGOA at the beginning of each week.
The 1996 winner of eight football and academic awards, Wuerffel has a unique perspective as a four-year player at Florida who passed for 10,875 yards and 114 touchdowns in his college career. Enshrined in the team’s Ring of Honor in 2006 and set to be immortalized in a statue outside of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in 2010, he is now the executive director of Desire Street Ministries, which works to revitalize impoverished neighborhoods through spiritual and community development.
I’m generally a very positive person. My close friends know I can usually find the silver lining in just about any situation. We lived through Hurricane Katrina, lost our home and all our possessions, and still my wife and I saw many blessings in the midst of the tragedy. In fact, the name “Katrina” actually means, “cleansing” or “purification.”
Sometimes, though, I have to be a little more creative than others to stay positive.
Alabama is a great team. They are solid in every phase of the game, they will be a tough team for anyone to beat, and they certainly deserve the No. 1 ranking. I knew going into this game that Florida would have its hands full.
The frustrating part is that the Gators actually played well enough to be in the game. We moved the ball well, had several opportunities in the red zone and basically shut down their offense in the second half. But the silly mistakes and turnovers kept the game far out of reach. We had our opportunities, we just didn’t capitalize.
Florida lost a big game against a great opponent. So where does that leave them?
Well, I think the defense should come away with some confidence. This growing group of young players is developing into a great unit.
In general, the offense moved the ball fairly well. It just didn’t capitalize on opportunities and made costly turnovers, both of which can be fixed. I still feel Johnny Brantley is an outstanding player, he just made a couple of bad decisions. (I’ve been there.)
The Gators are a good young team that is off to a solid start to the season, and we still have the opportunity to have a great year. Getting back up after a tough loss is part of the deal, both in life and in football. There is a lot of football to be played, and I’m ready for another big game this weekend against LSU.
Go Gators,
By joining together people from all walks of life who are interested in redeeming the inner-city, Desire Street Ministries believes that they are bringing together leaders who actually move into the neighborhood, indigenous leaders who already live there, and neighbors who “move in” spiritually through prayer, encouragement and financial support. Please take a moment to visit Desire Street Ministries online or in person and find out how you can help support and/or donate.
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