Just got back from the Orange and Blue game. It's difficult to tell the true measure of the team with a scrimmage because so many key players are limited in their playing time, there is no hitting the QB and you have a lot of non-scholarship players filling in gaps. (Andrew Blaylock and Johnathan Phillips alternated at QB in the last couple of series.
Let's start with some high points. I had heard throughout Spring practice that young guys like Frankie Hammond Jr., T. J. Lawrence, Jon Bostic, Brendan Beal, were having great springs and they did not disappoint. Hammond especially had a good game at receiver, even though he missed a couple of catches, granted they were in traffic, but he made some nice grabs, had several good YACs and showed speed and elusiveness.
With Spikes (actually all 11 defensive starters sat) sitting out the game as a precautionary measure, Bostic and Beal made a ton of tackles from their MLB spots. The Gators are ridiculously deep at linebacker and in the secondary. Anytime you have guys like Will Hill and Dorian Monroe running with the twos, you know you've got talent. Monroe, by the way, made a nice one-handed interception of a tipped Tebow pass and had a good return on it.
Two walk-ons who've gotten some press this spring made some good plays in the game. Christopher Scott ran hard and made some good runs. Rick Burgess scored on a 12-yard run and caught a pass out of the backfield. Looks like the Gators plan to throw some to the fullback this year.
Meyer even pulled out a little trickeration for the game. Tebow handed off to Carl Moore for what looked like an end around, but Moore pulled up and completed a pass to Deonte Thompson for a nice gainer. I can see the SEC East defensive coordinators going "Oh crap," as they add another thing to what they must prepare for when they face the Gators.
Other good news is that I didn't see anyone get hurt. injuries have been a problem this Spring, but looks like everyone made it out alive.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
ESPN Prestige Rankings
An Explanation.
Gators at 15 (and rising). Early futility and probations are factors that bring down an otherwise impressive recent standing.
Gators at 15 (and rising). Early futility and probations are factors that bring down an otherwise impressive recent standing.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Tim Tebow ripped off his sling at the Arkansas-Florida basketball game
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- Florida quarterback Tim Tebow walked onto the basketball court Saturday with his right arm in a sling.
When he walked off, the sling was dangling from his left hand.
Tebow, the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner, ripped off his sling at the end of a brief speech at halftime of the Arkansas-Florida basketball game in an effort to assure Gators fans he would be fine following surgery on his non-throwing shoulder.
"Don't worry about this. I'll be fine," Tebow said as he pulled off the sling.
Tebow had surgery Monday, one day after he announced he was staying at Florida for his senior season, and was expected to be ready for spring practice in April. He had a bone spur removed in hopes of reducing chronic inflammation.
Tebow's appearance Saturday came as the Gators were honored again for winning their second national championship in three years.
Several players, defensive coordinator Charlie Strong and coach Urban Meyer received standing ovations as they walked to midcourt.
Strong took a mild shot at anyone who thought Oklahoma was going to continue its streak of scoring at least 60 points against his defense.
"Anyone who thought Oklahoma was going to score 60 on us, it's a shame," Strong said, adding that he has everyone on his two-deep depth chart returning. "If someone scores a touchdown, don't get too excited. We're going to find a way to win."
Then he added, "When you have Tim Tebow, you always have a chance."
Cornerback Joe Haden thanked Tebow and linebacker Brandon Spikes for staying in school, then said, "We're going to win it again next year."
The loudest ovation -- not surprisingly -- was for Tebow.
He earned the offensive MVP award in the Bowl Championship Series title game. Tebow was 18-of-30 passing for 231 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions in the 24-14 victory. He also ran for 109 yards, most of it in the second half.
"I think we proved who should have won the Heisman this year," receiver David Nelson said.
When he walked off, the sling was dangling from his left hand.
Tebow, the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner, ripped off his sling at the end of a brief speech at halftime of the Arkansas-Florida basketball game in an effort to assure Gators fans he would be fine following surgery on his non-throwing shoulder.
"Don't worry about this. I'll be fine," Tebow said as he pulled off the sling.
Tebow had surgery Monday, one day after he announced he was staying at Florida for his senior season, and was expected to be ready for spring practice in April. He had a bone spur removed in hopes of reducing chronic inflammation.
Tebow's appearance Saturday came as the Gators were honored again for winning their second national championship in three years.
Several players, defensive coordinator Charlie Strong and coach Urban Meyer received standing ovations as they walked to midcourt.
Strong took a mild shot at anyone who thought Oklahoma was going to continue its streak of scoring at least 60 points against his defense.
"Anyone who thought Oklahoma was going to score 60 on us, it's a shame," Strong said, adding that he has everyone on his two-deep depth chart returning. "If someone scores a touchdown, don't get too excited. We're going to find a way to win."
Then he added, "When you have Tim Tebow, you always have a chance."
Cornerback Joe Haden thanked Tebow and linebacker Brandon Spikes for staying in school, then said, "We're going to win it again next year."
The loudest ovation -- not surprisingly -- was for Tebow.
He earned the offensive MVP award in the Bowl Championship Series title game. Tebow was 18-of-30 passing for 231 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions in the 24-14 victory. He also ran for 109 yards, most of it in the second half.
"I think we proved who should have won the Heisman this year," receiver David Nelson said.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Spikes to return !
ESPN is reporting that Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes is returning for his senior season.
An official announcement from UF is expected to come later today. The deadline for underclassmen to declare for the draft is today at midnight.
UF is still awaiting word on junior wide receiver Percy Harvin. Harvin has not made an official announcement yet, but at least one family member has said he is going to enter the draft.
An official announcement from UF is expected to come later today. The deadline for underclassmen to declare for the draft is today at midnight.
UF is still awaiting word on junior wide receiver Percy Harvin. Harvin has not made an official announcement yet, but at least one family member has said he is going to enter the draft.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Tebow returning for senior season
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida quarterback Tim Tebow began to walk off the stage to close the Gators' national title celebration Sunday. Then the junior stopped.
"Oh, and by the way, one more thing," Tebow said. "Let's do it again. I'm coming back."
With Tebow back, the Gators probably will begin the 2009 season atop the polls. Florida returns most of a defense that held Oklahoma -- which averaged 54 points a game this season -- to 14 points in Thursday's BCS title game.
Gators coach Urban Meyer said Sunday that linebacker Brandon Spikes and receiver Percy Harvin, both juniors, are still trying to decide whether they should enter the NFL draft.
"They're still researching," Meyer said. "That's all I want is for them to make a good decision."
"Oh, and by the way, one more thing," Tebow said. "Let's do it again. I'm coming back."
With Tebow back, the Gators probably will begin the 2009 season atop the polls. Florida returns most of a defense that held Oklahoma -- which averaged 54 points a game this season -- to 14 points in Thursday's BCS title game.
Gators coach Urban Meyer said Sunday that linebacker Brandon Spikes and receiver Percy Harvin, both juniors, are still trying to decide whether they should enter the NFL draft.
"They're still researching," Meyer said. "That's all I want is for them to make a good decision."
Friday, January 9, 2009
Best win of them all
Thursday night's national title win over Oklahoma was the Gator's best title win ever, capping their best season.
1996 was special because it was the first and it came against FSU, a team we lost to earlier in the season, but it was a blowout.
In 2006, the season was special because I didn't believe we had the offense to be national champs, but our defense carried us the whole way. Again the title game was a blowout.
But this win, and season, was special. We beat No.1 teams in back-to-back games with all the chips at stake. Our offense-talent wise- was the best ever and the defense was one of the best ever. And the final game was a classic, the best BCS title game yet. It was the first time the title game had been tied in the fourth quarter. It featured the greatest offense in the history of college football against one of the best defenses in the country. It pitted a conference known for its offensive firepower against a conference loaded with great defenses. And in the end, it was the greatest college football player/leader refusing to let his team lose.
I like the blowouts, but they aren't as satisfying as winning a tough battle. And this season was a battle the whole way. The 2008 champs battled through dozens of injuries, a loss to Mississippi and two No. 1 teams to win it all.
GO GATORS
1996 was special because it was the first and it came against FSU, a team we lost to earlier in the season, but it was a blowout.
In 2006, the season was special because I didn't believe we had the offense to be national champs, but our defense carried us the whole way. Again the title game was a blowout.
But this win, and season, was special. We beat No.1 teams in back-to-back games with all the chips at stake. Our offense-talent wise- was the best ever and the defense was one of the best ever. And the final game was a classic, the best BCS title game yet. It was the first time the title game had been tied in the fourth quarter. It featured the greatest offense in the history of college football against one of the best defenses in the country. It pitted a conference known for its offensive firepower against a conference loaded with great defenses. And in the end, it was the greatest college football player/leader refusing to let his team lose.
I like the blowouts, but they aren't as satisfying as winning a tough battle. And this season was a battle the whole way. The 2008 champs battled through dozens of injuries, a loss to Mississippi and two No. 1 teams to win it all.
GO GATORS
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Bowl records by conference
With one bowl game remaining--Florida vs. Oklahoma--we can get a clearer picture of how each conference fared during the bowl season.
ACC (10) (4-6)
ACC (10) (4-6)
Big East (6) (4-2)
Making a case for a BCS Buster
Everyone who reads this knows we favor a college football D-1 playoff system.
With that out of the way, I want to make a case for why the AP should vote Utah No. 1. The BCS No. 1 ship has sailed; whoever wins the UF-Okla game is BCS champ.
--Utah is the only undefeated team. Sure they didn't play as tough of schedule as other traditional BCS schools day-in-and-out, but they beat everyone they played and some of those teams were the toughest teams in the nation.
--Utah bookended their season with wins over two of the greatest college football programs in the history of the game: Michigan and Alabama.
--The Alabama win was especially impressive. They beat Alabama a its strength--in the trenches--something all the experts said couldn't be done. They also showed they have the speed to match up with any team in the country and a quarterback who makes great decisions.
--Utah beat Oregon St., right after Beavers beat USC.
--Utah beat TCU, another program on the rise, which showed it belongs in the BCS talk in the future.
Now could I make a case for Utah as No. 1 and call myself a true Gator fan? Well it is my confidence in the Gators, but also my desire for college D-1 presidents to ditch the archaic postseason play system we have now and put in a real playoff system where the games have meaning. Bowl game supporters argue just the opposite--that the playoffs will render the regular season as meaningless. I can now only point to Utah's win over Alabama and say if the AP doesn't name them co-champ, then their win is truly meaningless.
With that out of the way, I want to make a case for why the AP should vote Utah No. 1. The BCS No. 1 ship has sailed; whoever wins the UF-Okla game is BCS champ.
--Utah is the only undefeated team. Sure they didn't play as tough of schedule as other traditional BCS schools day-in-and-out, but they beat everyone they played and some of those teams were the toughest teams in the nation.
--Utah bookended their season with wins over two of the greatest college football programs in the history of the game: Michigan and Alabama.
--The Alabama win was especially impressive. They beat Alabama a its strength--in the trenches--something all the experts said couldn't be done. They also showed they have the speed to match up with any team in the country and a quarterback who makes great decisions.
--Utah beat Oregon St., right after Beavers beat USC.
--Utah beat TCU, another program on the rise, which showed it belongs in the BCS talk in the future.
Now could I make a case for Utah as No. 1 and call myself a true Gator fan? Well it is my confidence in the Gators, but also my desire for college D-1 presidents to ditch the archaic postseason play system we have now and put in a real playoff system where the games have meaning. Bowl game supporters argue just the opposite--that the playoffs will render the regular season as meaningless. I can now only point to Utah's win over Alabama and say if the AP doesn't name them co-champ, then their win is truly meaningless.
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