This week’s trip behind the woodshed simultaneously elates us and breaks our hearts. It gave us glimpses of the glory that would be on its way to Tuscaloosa in coming years, and it displayed the maddening frustrations of the Mike Shula era. A sunny Saturday afternoon in October took us on a journey of highs and lows that many Tide fans remember vividly to this day.
The Florida Gators came into Bryant-Denny stadium undefeated, ranked No. 5, and riding high. The team had a hotshot new coach in Urban Meyer who was fresh off guiding Utah to a perfect season and BCS bowl victory. Gator fans thought they were witnessing the beginnings of an Urban legend and quickly fell heads over jorts for their cocky spread-option guru.
The Crimson Tide entered the game also with a 4-0 record but without the fanfare of the Gators, and appeared to finally be hitting their stride under coach Mike Shula, who was in his third season following an awkward, hurried transition after the Mike Price debacle.
Florida received the opening kickoff and promptly fumbled on their first play from scrimmage. Although the Gators recovered the fumble, they could do nothing on offense the rest of the series – which would become the theme of Urban Meyer’s teams when they visited Tuscaloosa.
Following a Florida punt, Alabama wasted no time as quarterback Brodie Croyle connected with receiver Tyrone Prothro on an 87-yard bomb for a touchdown on the Tide’s first play from scrimmage. The Tide could have taken a knee on every offensive snap for the rest of the game and still cruised to victory, but decided to treat the fans to an offensive explosion which is traditionally rare for Alabama teams. Instead of answering back, Florida quarterback Chris Leak promptly threw an interception that was returned inside the Gator five-yard line. Tim Castille punched it in from there to put the Tide up 14-0 and from there the game was less one of football and more one of stomp the chomp.
In the second quarter, Florida did manage to kick a field goal, so perhaps it isn’t fair to say that they were completely impotent on offense that day. Actually scratch that; it is completely fair. Demonstrating what would be a hallmark of Meyer’s Gator teams, Florida managed to move the ball deep into Alabama territory but lacked the toughness to line up and run in between the tackles for touchdowns. Despite almost 40 passing attempts, the Gators could not muster 200 yards of passing offense and Leak threw two interceptions.
Florida was absolutely dominated that day, and not even their Oakley Blades could hide the tears in the eyes of Gator fans. Many unhappy UF supporters drove their IROC Z’s back to Gainesville completely dejected, and I am reasonably sure they only stopped for Publix subs and Sonny’s BBQ along the way.
Unfortunately we cannot simply revisit the happy memories of a blowout victory over a rival without examining the extenuating circumstances of the day. October 1, 2005 would be the final time we would see Tyrone Prothro suit up and take the field for Alabama. Prothro played the game of his life that day, exploding for 134 receiving yards and two touchdowns. By the time the fourth quarter started, the Tide was up 31-3 and Prothro should have been nowhere near the field of play. He should have been on the bench, basking in the glow of his spectacular performance and watching his younger teammates get some playing time. Instead, Shula elected to leave the starters in the game even when it was comfortably in hand.
Early in the fourth quarter Alabama had the ball and was threatening to score again. Brodie Croyle lofted a pass that should have been caught by Prothro for his third touchdown of the afternoon. Instead Prothro got his cleats caught in the turf, causing him to break his tibia and fibia in a fashion so horrific and grotesque that I still cannot bring myself to watch the replay. The cheering of the Gator fans could be heard over my TV speakers, fueling my loathing of that fanbase and their obnoxious behavior.
During the Spurrier years, Florida fans grew quite full of themselves and morphed into an entitled, arrogant bunch who felt it was their birthright to win the SEC. The way they treated Ron Zook was disgusting as well. I realize that Zook was not a terribly effective coach but the way he was excoriated by Florida fans was over the top and uncalled for. I was living in Orlando at the time of his firing, and I remember that the school still forced Zook to appear on his weekly TV show and a good man was forced to sit and endure caller after caller telling him that he was a poor coach and not up to Florida standards.
The cheering of the Prothro injury took it to another level though, and for me placed Florida fans on the same level with Auburn and Tennessee fans. My rage has mellowed in recent years, and I now view Gator fans merely as small, annoying, yapping dogs. They just don’t seem all that bad anymore, probably because recent years have seen Nick Saban humble their bluster, foil their offense and break their coach.
Poor game management would be Mike Shula’s legacy and would ultimately lead to his dismissal. Whether it be leaving starters in too long or a dozen consecutive iterations of Darby up the middle, Shula never figured out how to coach a complete 60-minute game, and when coupled with an inability to recruit at a consistently high level, that caused him to lose support of the fanbase and ultimately the athletic director. Even though the 2005 team won ten games, Shula’s decision to leave Prothro in the game was costly. How different would the games against LSU and Auburn been that season with Prothro in the lineup? A trip to Atlanta would not have been unthinkable. Fortunately for Alabama fans (and much to the chagrin of Miami Dolphins GM Don Shula), the 2006 campaign would be Shula’s last. His successor would go on to upgrade the team’s recruiting, conditioning, in-game decision making and ultimately on-field results.
It cannot be argued that Urban Meyer’s tenure in Florida was anything other than spectacular; he did win two national championships after all. On this particular day in Tuscaloosa however, he nothing more than an Urban Myth. Meyer’s teams never manged to score a touchdown in Bryant-Denny Stadium. After multiple trips behind the woodshed courtesy of Nick Saban, Meyer developed health problems causing him to retire twice. Recently he has returned to coaching, but in Ohio, far far away from Tuscaloosa where he is apparently content to be the tallest midget in the Big 10. Roll Tide.
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