Football season is upon us and, once again, Urban Meyer and the Florida Gators field a team with national championship aspirations. While they’ll only admit to setting their sights on an SEC crown, a BCS bid would likely go hand in hand with that accomplishment.
Last year, only one year removed from winning the second national championship in school history, the Gators (9-4) had what, by their standards, could be considered a disappointing season. While featuring a quarterback who had arguably the most productive season in college football history, the Gators were still saddled with several weaknesses, including a porous and inexperienced secondary and an inconsistent rushing attack.
The 2008-9 season brings another year of promise to the Gainesville faithful as the Tim Tebow-led Florida Gators have as good a chance as anyone to bring home a conference and potentially national title.
Quarterbacks: Tim Tebow has become the poster boy for college football. After a record-setting season in which he became the first quarterback to both rush and throw for twenty touchdowns, Tebow is in position to become only the second player behind Ohio State’s Archie Griffin to win back-to-back Heisman trophies. Such a task will not be easy. Not only will he continue to have a target on his back, he likely will not have the carries he did last year. Nor will Coach Meyer want to keep him in harm’s way. With seemingly unlimited options in the backfield, Tebow will see decreased carries and likely an increase in pass attempts. Redshirt Freshman John Brantley are Cameron Newton continue to battle for the back-up role with Brantley leading the way ever so slightly. Neither should see serious playing time unless Tebow gets hurt or the Gators hold a considerable lead in any given contest.
Backfield: The Gator backfield may be as talented and as deep as it’s ever been. Florida features speed, speed and more speed. And with Meyer’s lack of tolerance for the fumble, he will look to platoon whoever can hold on to the football until deciding on a feature back. With Percy Harvin still recovering from an ankle injury, USC transfer Emmanuel Moody will likely get the bulk of the carries. However, with Kestahn Moore, Mon Williams, the lightning quick Chris Rainey and even Brandon James, Meyer and Tebow will have a full arsenal of weapons from which to choose. The question is not whether they’ll be able to score, but whether they’ll be able to control enough clock after consistently running past their opponents.
Receiving Corps: Florida was dealt a blow when they lost Cornelius Ingram to injury, but as is the case at most big play positions, Florida simply reloads. Aaron Hernandez and Tate Casey will catch the bulk of the passes from the tight end position and Louis Murphy is ready to step into the role as senior leader of the wide receivers. With an ailing Percy Harvin, Meyer will either have to get imaginative or hope that some of his youth will step up to contribute some big plays.
Offensive Line: The Gators stand 6’3” to 6’6” and weigh 310 lbs across the board. Phil Trautwein, Jason Watkins and Jim Tartt are all seniors and twin brothers Mike and Maurkice Pouncey shore up the rest of the line. Tim Tebow is tough enough to bring down as it is. With that amount of protection, he should have plenty of time to hit his wide open speedsters.
Defense: Much is expected out of sophomore defensive end Carlos Dunlap. He played like a man possessed in this spring’s Orange and Blue game, leading the team with four sacks. With the departure of Derrick Harvey, junior DE Jermaine Cunningham, Jr. will provide Florida with some well-needed experience. Similarly, junior linebackers Dustin Doe and Brandon Spikes will be forces to reckon with. Spikes led the Gators with 131 tackles in 2007. If there is any area in which the Gators need to improve, however, it is their secondary. The 2006-7 national championship defense set the bar high, which last year’s youth as of yet has failed to live up to. Even with another year under their belt, the secondary is still young. Wondy Pierre-Louis is the only junior. Sophomore Joe Haden shores up the other side of the field. Safety Major Wright proved to be a hard hitter last season but the coaching staff will still be looking for marked improvement. While the Gators finished first in the SEC in rushing defense last year, they ranked dead last in passing yards allowed per game. If the defense is at all able to convert turnovers into touchdowns, with their already potent offense, the Gators should be a serious title contender.
Special Teams: The multi-purpose Brandon James once again highlights the Florida special teams. The 5’7” James is a highlight reel waiting to happen and is a threat to put six on the board every time he touches the ball. Kicker Jonathan Phillips is now a senior and sophomore punter Chas Henry was money in the bank last year… that is when the Gators had to punt.
Schedule:
Aug 30 – Hawaii
Sep 6 – Miami
Sep 20 - @ Tennessee
Sep 27 – Ole Miss
Oct 4 – @ Arkansas
Oct 11 – LSU
Oct 25 – Kentucky (HC)
Nov 1 – Georgia (Jacksonville, FL)
Nov 8 - @ Vanderbilt
Nov 15 – South Carolina
Nov 22 – The Citadel
Nov 29 - @ Florida State
One familiar with Florida’s traditional schedule will notice a few glaring changes. In-state rival, the University of Miami, is back on the schedule. UF hasn’t beaten Miami since 1985 and will be looking to exact decades of revenge against a rebuilding Miami team.
Traditionally, Florida would schedule two cupcake teams before their conference opener against Tennessee. This year, they have scheduled a bye the week before that contest. They have additionally abandoned their October of doom, deciding to mix in a home game instead of a month of consecutive road games that usually resulted in at least one loss. Their conference road schedule is favorable, traveling only to Knoxville, Fayetteville and Nashville. The Florida/Georgia game is held in Jacksonville at a neutral site. As always, Florida finishes its season against the Seminoles.
Outlook: While no SEC schedule can be considered easy, the Gators’ is not overly intimidating. If they can escape a tough match-up in Knoxville, they shouldn’t be seriously be tested until Georgia, assuming they can handle LSU in the Swamp. The Gator offense, which finished third in the nation in scoring last year with 42.5 point per game, should put up similar numbers, meaning their defense just needs to be functional. Even with number one Georgia ranked in their division, with this amount of talent, anything less than an appearance in Atlanta for the SEC Championship game, will considered a disappointment for this Florida team.
