Cohen: State of the program not enough.

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Seems like every time he sensed his team getting poked, his program getting prodded, Jim McElwain would fire back. Happened after a perceived slight following the Georgia game, a victory where the Florida offense was its standard pedestrian self, picking up 231 yards and a perfunctory 24 points. Happened after the last-second LSU win, when he actually chided his own fanbase, those who dared imply his team wasn’t particularly good.

Happened this past week, in the wake of an abysmal showing in a road loss to Florida State, when he rhetorically asked if Florida had won the SEC East the past two years or not, leaving with the response: “I was brought in here to get to Atlanta. How many years have I been here? OK.”

Yes, there is no doubt on that account, McElwain is 2-for-2, which no coach had ever pulled off in his first two years in the 25-year history of the SEC Championship Game. On the surface, it is not an accomplishment to be sneered at, since it’s the initial goal of every team in the league, to make it to Atlanta – can’t win the SEC if you’re not in the game, right Tennessee?

Yet that’s where it ends, for while the Gators indeed qualified for Atlanta the last two seasons, all it really did was demonstrate clearly to an entire nation how far the program is from being elite again, from truly competing for championships again. Last year it was a 14-point loss that was essentially a 40-point massacre everywhere but the scoreboard. This time it was nearly a 40-point beatdown, an odd 54-16 setback in which the Gators were a yard away from cutting the lead to 10 midway through the third quarter, but failed to capitalize and in the wink of an eye, it was a 24-point margin bound to wind up much worse.

There is no solace in merely a hearty fight (“playing their tails off” in McElwain parlance), no moral victories at Florida. For a while it was closer than folks expected, then it crumbled like a house of cards. Too many mistakes. Too many missed opportunities. Bottom line – not nearly good enough to stand toe-to-toe with Alabama.

For perspective, not many around the nation are sturdy enough to battle with Nick Saban’s bunch for 60 minutes. We’re going to find out in the next month or so if any team can take down the Tide, so deep in so many areas, so versatile in their ability to seize control at any moment.

But that admission doesn’t gloss over how far away Florida truly is, the beneficiary of two years of overly weak play in its own division. A backloaded schedule of Florida State to conclude the regular season (which absolutely has to be changed by the new athletic regime, but we’ll tackle that hombre again down the road), Alabama in the SEC Championship Game and whoever in the bowl contest might sting the Gators again. Last year it was three barely competitive efforts, falling to FSU, Alabama and Michigan by a combined 97-24. With two down and one to go this time around, the ledger stands at 85-29. Something has to change quickly, which McElwain acknowledged postgame in Atlanta.
I will tell you this, I didn't come here to be close,” McElwain said. “We came here to be champions of the SEC. That's what you do when you're at the University of Florida, and that's the expectation, and I understand that.”

What he needs to understand as well is the source of the fans’ frustration, two trips to the Georgia Dome notwithstanding. While he was in essence brought in to get to Atlanta (and obviously leave with a victory), he was first and foremost brought to Gainesville to fix an ailing offense, a sick puppy for five seasons prior to his arrival. To say it hasn’t happened would be a grand understatement.

There is a line of thinking that says Gator fans are spoiled, that all the high-falutin’ offense Steve Spurrier cooked up and resulted in all those championships have skewed the view, yielded unrealistic expectations. For a while the premise may have had some validity, but not anymore. Spurrier has been gone for 15 years, the halcyon days of the ‘90s nearing a quarter-century ago. While some may pine for those days, most are rooted in the present morass where for seven seasons running, Florida has sported one of the worst offenses in the country. Every year. And it is beyond unacceptable.

The offensive ineptitude has been tough to swallow, and much harder to watch, especially given the acumen on defense. By and large, the Gators have played near a championship level on that side of the ball, until the unit eventually gives out, buried by the weight of carrying the program on its battered collective shoulders.

Yes, you’ve heard this before, we’ve written it before, a zillion dead horses have been flogged over the idea that Florida’s offense has to get substantially better, immediately, again. One coach essentially lost his job because the offense was so abysmal. Now another coach has tried for two years, with little positive consequence. Somehow it has to change.

Once more, it was another afternoon of subpar quarterback play, the few sterling moments for Austin Appleby doomed by his propensity for the whopper mistake, or in this case, two whoppers for the price of one. The first interception was beyond horrendous, a first down throw over the middle under duress that effectively negated a beautiful opening drive. The second one was essentially ballgame, handing Alabama the lead before its own offense had picked up a first down. Just can’t win anything of substance playing giveaway.

Yet in the big picture, it’s not simply a quarterback problem for Florida. It might make some feel better if Florida’s difficulties can be pinned down to just one thing that needs to be repaired, but there’s more complexity on the road back to the top. An infusion of talent is needed everywhere, at the skill positions, on the offensive line, and also on defense, which faces a pretty dramatic personnel makeover this spring.

It will be interesting to see how the next month unfolds, because ending the season in the same fashion as a year ago would stunt the growth after two years for McElwain. The Gators cannot afford another bowl no-show, another non-competitive three-loss ending streak. We’ll get to see how truly invested this team is, because it was obvious the Gators had no desire to be in Orlando for last year’s Citrus Bowl. This team maintained it was different, despite the similar arc to the season, and used “finish” as its mantra.

In the end, losing to Alabama on Saturday was a surprise to no one. One program is an absolute powerhouse, best in the nation in its 10th year, the other trying to find its footing in the embryonic stages of the rebuild piece. But after two years under McElwain, the gulf between the Gators and the upper echelon was supposed to have shrunk. Yet based on results, based on the eyeball test, there hasn’t been significant movement in a positive direction, despite two appearances, and subsequent drubbings, in Atlanta.

It will be interesting how McElwain handles his roster, his coaching staff, even his fanbase, in the immediate, because at this point, any reason for optimism comes tinged with a healthy dose of caution.

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