Florida Vs. Kentucky: Come On, Brent Pease, Hang Half A Hundred

Florida offensive coordinator Brent Pease is one of the most popular people in Gator Nation this week, with his Gators coming off shredding Tennessee's defense for over 500 yards and 37 points. And with lowly Kentucky looming, his charges are now expected to at least approximate that performance again.

But with Kentucky never really seeming like a challenge for the Gators, there was and is room for a storyline about scoring to materialize, and Kevin Brockway helped make one happen when he excavated a comment Pease made to the Ocala Gator Club this summer:

"I coached Jared," Pease said in Ocala. "Jared is one of those guys that was talking trash when I took this job. So that's good for about two extra launch plays, trying to get to 50 points on those guys when they come to campus."

The Jared in question is Jared Lorenzen, the former Kentucky quarterback and perpetual "Hefty Lefty" who was coached by Pease at Kentucky in the 1990s and fired shots at Pease when he was hired for some reason. That's just sort of where Lorenzen is now: He's the commissioner of whatever the UIFL is and he's good at running his mouth so that people remember who he is. Pease has every right to be mad about a former player hinting at unflattering secrets and stories.

But this isn't about Jared Lorenzen, and it's not personal for Pease: It's just all about him.

It's not exactly a secret that Pease wants to be a head coach somewhere at some point, and that he won't be the guy at Florida unless something bizarre happens. The way to make a name in the coaching business is by doing splashy things that get media attention and backing them up by producing dominant teams or units. Steve Spurrier is beloved because he was brash and because when he talked about "hanging half a hundred," his Gators did it.

Pease could do the same thing: Instead of demurring about remarks made in a setting designed for rah-rah, he could have owned them, saying "We want to score 50 points on everyone, because when you score 50 points, you win." He could have given Florida fans a reason to care about the Kentucky game that is an annual snoozer except when the 'Cats have a quarterback worth mentioning (Tim Couch, Lorenzen, Andre' Woodson) or when they take out Florida's quarterback worth mentioning (some Tebow guy).

Actually, "could have" isn't the right phrasing, because Pease and Florida can still do that. All it takes is setting half a hundred as the bar and clearing it for Brent Pease to add another bullet point to his resume.