Zook feeling the fallout from Florida's loss

Gainesville Sun sports columnist Pat Dooley wrote that Florida's third-year coach Ron Zook had to go. Orlando Sentinel sports columnist Mike Bianchi even wondered if Zook would last the year.

Bottom line: A coach who had been under the gun since the day he was hired was feeling more heat than ever after losing to the worst team in the SEC and one of the worst teams in the country.

When Zook was asked on his teleconference Sunday if he had talked with his athletic director about his job status, he had a one-word answer: "Nope." Reporters asked Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley a similar question after the Gators lost to a 24-point underdog.

"We'll continue to evaluate," he said. "That's really all I can say. We understand how big a loss this is, and we understand it's not acceptable at the University of Florida."

Zook said he wasn't thinking about his job, just the next game. The Gators will play Georgia on Saturday in Jacksonville, Fla.

Georgia has brought out the best in Zook's Gators. Last year, Florida knocked off then-No. 4 Georgia 16-13; two years ago, it handed the SEC champion Bulldogs their only loss, 20-13.

But beating Georgia's Bulldogs doesn't make up for losing to Mississippi State's Bulldogs.

"I wish I had an answer," Zook said. "But those guys tried. Did we make some mistakes? Absolutely."

Zook said if Mississippi State had played all season the way it did against the Gators, it would have been 5-0 instead of 1-4.

"I can't fault the effort," Zook said. "People don't want to hear this, but you've got to give Mississippi State credit."

Gators fans were more interested in what Florida did wrong than what the Bulldogs did right.

In Bianchi's Sunday column, he related a conversation between himself and an avid Gators fan.

Fan: "Zook needs to be fired today."

Bianchi: "You can't fire a coach in the middle of the season."

Fan: "Why not? (former Florida coach) Galen Hall was fired in the middle of the season."

Bianchi: "Galen Hall was accused of cheating."

Fan: "Ron Zook is cheating, too. He's cheating Gator fans out of our enjoyment."

Dooley wrote: "Things aren't getting better and better. You cannot correct a loss like this one.

"It's clear that a change needs to be made, not now because the players don't deserve it, but at the end of another disappointing season. That's all it can be now.

"I wonder if Maine's coach is interested."

His reference was to Division I-AA Maine's 9-7 victory over Mississippi State, which entered the game with a 1-5 record. The Bulldogs had lost 18 of their past 19 SEC games.

It wasn't just that Mississippi State beat the Gators. It was the way they beat them.

The Bulldogs, who ranked 114th out of 117 Division I-A teams in total offense, had 408 yards against the Gators, and tailback Jerious Norwood ran for 174 yards.

Defense is supposed to be Zook's forte. He was a defensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints for two years. He also was a defensive coordinator for the Gators from 1991 through 1993 under former head coach Steve Spurrier.

In 1994, Spurrier demoted Zook to special teams coach. Ten years later, Zook might be facing more than a demotion.

Zook's problems began the day he was hired. As a first-time head coach he was replacing Florida legend Spurrier. If he had any questions about what he was getting into, he only needed to check out the Website, FireRonZook.com.

A top-10 preseason ranking and the high expectations that followed didn't help. Florida returned only one defensive starter from last season, and some of its best players are sophomores.

"It doesn't matter what I think about expectations," Zook said when asked if he thought the preseason expectations were too high. "Obviously, I was concerned about the youth.

"But no one cares or wants to hear about that. You just try to put guys in position to make plays."

The Gators did not make nearly enough of them against Mississippi State.