Blog Exchange: Florida

Orange Clockwork

Published Thursday, September 17 2009 - (0) Comments

It's back!

In an attempt to gain some insight into what's going on in Gator country, I turned to someone who follows Florida football on a daily basis. Jeremy Fowler covers the Gators for the Orlando Sentinel. I sent him a batch of questions leading into the Tennessee-Florida game, and he answered them.

You can read Jeremy's blog here.

1. Let's just get it out of the way. How much are Kiffin's comments this offseason being used as a motivational factor for Florida this week?

JEREMY: It's certainly motivation, but players might be tired of hearing about it by now. They've been fired up about this since February after the recruiting allegations went down. They might get a healthy reminder from coaches on Friday or Saturday, but by now the motivation is already built-in. They are ready. They will let The Swamp crowd carry them.

2. Everyone's expecting Florida to just run roughshod over Tennessee. If that happens, could it be a bad thing for the Gators, since they arguably won't face a tough test until their trip to LSU next month?

JEREMY: I don't see it as a bad thing at all. They get that bye week before LSU on Oct. 10, so they certainly won't overlook that game. Next week they play Kentucky, which has always been a pretty easy win for them. A blowout Saturday just validates what they thought would happen all along.

3. How different is the Gators' offense without Percy Harvin?

JEREMY: There's not a player on the roster with Harvin's versatility, but collectively the Gators can do almost everything they want. They can still line up receivers out wide. They can still swing Jeff Demps and Brandon James as hybrid weapons. They still have deep threats. The one thing we haven't seen is whether Tim Tebow has enough bailout options when games are tight against tough SEC defenses. Percy was always a bailout because he could make a play at any time, in any game. I think tight end Aaron Hernandez could fill that void because he can catch almost anything. The wide receivers are vastly unproven, and though Riley Cooper has impressed so far, he's impressed against Charleston Southern and Troy. We'll learn more about this offense this week.

4. Special teams has been a huge factor in the last three meetings. Are the Gators still as good in the kicking game, or is the jury still out there because the previous two contests have been so one-sided.

JEREMY: Only question mark right now is the field-goal unit after Jonathan Phillips, Mr. Reliable all of last year, missed one from less than 40 last week and missed an extra point in the opener. His inconsistency has prompted Urban Meyer to open the position battle between Phillips and Caleb Sturgis. But Brandon James is still Brandon James and the Gators are still a threat to block a punt at any time.

5. Health on the offensive line's an issue for the Vols right now. How are the Gators' defensive linemen looking through two games?

JEREMY: It's a mixed bag. On the edge they are lethal with Jermaine Cunningham, Justin Trattou and Carlos Dunlap, and there's no reason to worry about their no sacks in week one -- the Gators played a vanilla defense on purpose. But starting DT Lawrence Marsh missed the first two games with an ankle, and backup Omar Hunter isn't ready to be the primary weapon up front. DT Jaye Howard hasn't made many plays so far.

6. Lastly, a prediction on the game. Think Florida wins by four TDs as the bookies expect?

JEREMY: Florida covers the spread, but barely. Tennessee's defense is good enough to avoid a 50-point blowout. I get the feeling Eric Berry isn't going to
let that happen. But Florida's going to put eight in the box and force Jonathan
Crompton to beat them. And I'm pretty sure Crompton isn't the guy to get he job done. It feels like Tennessee has been trying to run the ball up the middle on Florida for years without much success.

Discuss This Story

Be the first to comment: Sign In or Create Profile

To comment, you must register.

Comments are the sole responsibility of the registered user participating in online discussions. You agree not to post comments off topic, abusive, obscene, defamatory, vulgar, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned.

Click here to review our complete user agreement.