I was doing a little off-season musing about the style of UF's team play this coming fall and trying to analyze what kind of strengths the probable #1 Gators would have and I began to focus on the passing game as an area that lost some key players like Harvin and Murphy. I do think that UF will not be quite as productive point wise this year but with all of those defensive players returning it will not matter if the offense scores 3 or 4 points less per game because the defense will be just that good.....better than last year. That said....the teams that have the best chance to defeat Florida will those that have their toughest.....not fastest.....not most skilled.....but their "toughest" players on offense. Those will be the teams that have the best chance to beat the 2009 Gators because no opposing defense is going to "out-tough" Tim Tebow. When I think of a team with offensive toughness I think of Ole Miss last year because they played with that kind of style. Alabama had that kind of team on offense as well because of JPW, Coffee and Saban and this year I think OU and Texas will play with that toughness factor on offense. Only thing is....none of those teams I mention will be on Florida's schedule unless there is a championship at stake so I see 12-0 in the regular season for Florida with the last two games being the tests for this team on their way to a possible repeat. That's my EOE take on the 2009 Gators......
Huskerman, I start getting the feeling that most of those DVD sales are resulting in being shipped to a small town in Southern Missouri. Have you had to add mailmen yet?
The Gators will have a very good football team to start the year next season. However the number one ranking at the beginning of the season usually does not translate into the championship at the end of the season. Georgia was loaded last year, USC is loaded every year and yet few teams make it through the season unbeaten. Injuries, everyone having your game circled for when you play all will factor in at the end. I like our chances as compared to anyone else, but if I were a betting man and given the choice of the field against any one team I would have to take the field. We will have to see how it plays out.
2009 Schedule Current Standings: Overall(0-0) SEC(0-0) DATE OPPONENT SEC SITE TIME GVO TV RADIO RESULT Sat Apr 18 Orange & Blue Spring Game Gainesville, FL 1:00PM(ET) -- Sat Sep 5 Charleston Southern Gainesville, FL TBA -- Sat Sep 12 Troy Gainesville, FL TBA -- Sat Sep 19 Tennessee Gainesville, FL TBA -- Sat Sep 26 at Kentucky Lexington, KY TBA -- Sat Oct 10 at LSU Baton Rouge, LA TBA -- Sat Oct 17 Arkansas (HC) Gainesville, FL TBA -- Sat Oct 24 at Mississippi State Starkville, MS TBA -- Sat Oct 31 Georgia Jacksonville, FL TBA -- Sat Nov 7 Vanderbilt Gainesville, FL TBA -- Sat Nov 14 at South Carolina Columbia, SC TBA -- Sat Nov 21 Florida International Gainesville, FL TBA -- Sat Nov 28 Florida State Gainesville, FL TBA I would say Oct. 10 is your only concern. Sept. 5, 12, 26,Oct 17, 24 and Nov. 21 are laughers. Sept 19 will be a laugher too as Urban filets Kiffin on national TV. South Carolina and Vanderbilt should at least keep Tebow in for the the start of the 4th quarter. The upset speciala could be Nov. 28.
George, I think you are underestimating Arkansas and Bobby Petrino. They are historically a pretty good opponent and Petrino had them preforming better at the end of the year. Having said that, they haven't beat us since they came into the SEC Conference. Two of those wins were in the Championship game however and we don't play every year. One can only hope about Kiffin and that's all I have to say about that.
The Florida schedule sets up about as well as I can remember except that always tough in BR LSU is just that....in BR. However.....LSU needed a Qb last year and never really found one although I have to take note of what the Tigers did vs. Ga Tech. Also....LSU qualifies as a tough team defensively but not so much offensively from what I saw last year. Toughness on the offensive side of the ball is what will keep a team in the game vs. '09 Florida and If a team doesn't have it then this very seasoned Florida defense will crush them. Otherwise...Arky is in Gainesville and the sour taste of the Ole Miss/SEC West home upset last year will be fresh enough to ward off the Hogs in the Swamp. Likewise FSU is in the Swamp and Tebow seems to love beating up on the Seminoles. No comment on the Vols except to say I expect they'll play hard and wrt to Georgia I think the Dawgs lost way too much to compete with this team on either side of the ball. So....I still look at the SECCG opponent as a team that may bring that offensive toughness factor I am talking about.