Roy Exum
Having spent quite a career as a story-teller in sports, perhaps I am better tuned than most in recognizing the delicious parables and parallels we see on our fields of competition that are, in better truth, some of the most brilliant ‘life lessons’ that unfold before our eyes. I watched a fistful of college football games on Saturday and, by far, the best of the day was a dazzling point-for-point battle of brawn between upstart LSU and No. 6 Florida in Gainesville.
I’ve watched games on Florida Field where the fog rolls in and creates a surreal landscape, and I’ve seen great teams like this year’s Gators get so caught up in their newspaper clippings they are assured it won’t take much to slap down a floundering LSU, the reigning national champs who have ‘stunk it up’ so badly with five losses they are a laughing stock.
C’mon, this weekend LSU started a raw freshman quarterback, COVID testing had reduced the Tigers to a scant 56 players, and coach Ed Orgeron (his horrid 3-5 record causing the 2019 championship rings to tarnish) is even more speechless. I’m telling you … LSU was a 23-point underdog, with two of its best players so disgusted they already ‘opted-out’ for the season.
But what’s this? Somebody forget to tell LSU they were the soup du jour for an end of the regular-season’s feast. When the Gators’ premier cornerback Marco Wilson trotted to midfield as the pregame captain for the coin toss, not a one in the salivating Ben Hill Griffin stadium had an inkling it was really just Marco’s first of two tosses for the night.
The game turned into slugfest. Florida’s brilliant quarterback Kyle Trask, until now easily a Heisman Trophy finalist, snuffed out his post-season candle with three first-half turnovers, one a 68-yard pick-six by LSU’s Eli Ricks. The Tigers cashed a Trask fumble and another interception into field goals, giving LSU 13 “bonus” points while the Tigers committed no turnovers. Still, the high-octane Gators had a total of 609 yards in total offense, including a career-high 474 from Trask with four touchdowns, but LSU could have cared less because it all came down to the last quarter, the Gators tying the game 34-34 after a 31-yard field goal by Evan McPherson, the dandy kicker from Fort Payne, Ala.
Florida then sends the kickoff deep and, with 2:52 left to play, LSU quarterback Johnson runs for next-to-nothing on the first two plays and then pops a piddling 4-yard pass to Cole Taylor. As Taylor is tackled, the Gators’ Marco Wilson pulls him down hard and – get this – ends up with the receiver’s fallen shoe in his hands at the whistle.
In the world of reality, LSU – sorely out of field goal range – would have to punt or tempt the hari-kari ghosts with a “Hail Mary” pass. But, OH NO! Marco Wilson is going to prove to the world he’s the ‘baddest’ cornerback in the world; or nobody comes into our Gainesville “house” and steals nothing!; or, watch this, you Alabama rednecks ‘cause in the SEC Championships (Dec. 19 in Atlanta) we gonna’ own you!; or, “Gators Forever!;” or who in the world knows … but in the blinking of an eye Marco Wilson engraved his name into college football lore.
LSU historians will forever remember Saturday’s game as “The Shoe-In.” The Gators will call the bungle, “The Foggiest Loss of All Time” but, don’t worry, it will be years before the SEC Proper will forget this one.
The Gators’ game captain brazenly flings the downed LSU player’s shoe about 30 feet downfield! Four shocked SEC officials then take their turn to throw … yep, bright yellow “sportsmanship” flags. Now an equally shocked stadium crowd and TV audience watch what would have resulted as a winning drive … or guaranteed overtime! … become swallowed up in the Gainesville fog. What Wilson’s bone-headed antics did was reward LSU with 15 yards and a first down.
From the LSU 33-yard line, the Tigers’ raw freshman quarterback runs for 9 yards. Tiger running back Chris Curry picks up another 7, then 2 more, to the Florida 42 and with just 54 seconds on the clock, LSU’s Curry bashes the middle for 4 yards to the Gator 38.
LSU plays the clock with two time-outs and a nothing pass. With just 29 seconds securing an overtime, LSU kicker Cade York toes a magnificent 56-yard field goal to Florida’s despair. The Gators’ Trask answers the kickoff with three stirring passes of 15, 18, and nine yards, but the clock is ticking too fast. From the LSU 33-yard line with 0:02 on the clock, Gator kicker Evan McPherson misses a 51-yard field goal, and the 6th-ranked Gators lose for the second time this season, and tumble to No. 11 in the Sunday polls.
“There is no joy in Mudville, for Mighty Casey has struck out.”
At a time when it has been said the nation has never been as divided, as those who argue say things they wish they could retract, when individual selfishness means more than a team does, or when “look at me” is a goal more favorable than scoreboard points, Florida’s best cornerback, a junior who has been a starter for the past two years, has just delivered a sterling lesson in why each of us must be so self-disciplined to the degree you never flaunt your emotions, never speak too quickly, nor judge even quicker, or search for the good rather than the goof to enhance the day.
Who ever thought a thrown shoe would ever define us?
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TALK ABOUT ‘PILING ON’: The football-crazed ‘Gator Nation’ went ballistic, of course, its ‘chat rooms’ and social media in such a relentless one suggested placing Marco Wilson under a death watch. Florida head coach Dan Mullen was more clear-headed. "He's disappointed," Mullen said on Sunday. "It's a shame. It's pretty unfortunate in that situation. I don't think there was any intent to taunt, and it wasn't like he was throwing it at their sideline or doing any of that. It was a huge play, he thought possibly a game-winning play, and he kind of threw the shoe and went to celebrate with his teammates, and unfortunately, it was a penalty. So, I think that (was) a mistake instead of somebody really trying to disrespect the game or taunt the opponent."
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THANKS BE TO AUBURN: When it was learned Auburn fired head football coach Gus Malzahn after eight seasons on Sunday afternoon, it took a huge news burden off Wilson and Florida’s loss. Auburn just finished the regular season with a 6-4 record after thoroughly whipping Mississippi State 24-10 on Saturday. It is believed that Malzahn has a contractual buy-out on the latest version of his contract, which is worth about $21.5 million with half due in the first 30 days.
royexum@aol.com