motorcitycane
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Florida Gators
2012: 11-2
Coaching: Following an abysmal 7-6 2011 season, Florida fans were outraged with HC Will Muschamp's performance. It's needless to say he is back in their good graces following a 11-2 2012 season. Will Muschamp is a defensive guru with previous collegiate stints at Texas, Auburn, and LSU. Muschamp brought in the highly regarded Brent Pease who is known as an offensive mastermind. Pease tailored last seasons offense to fit his personnel. He looks to do the same this season. The gators achieved a 65:35 Run
ass Ratio last season. Pease and company would like to throw the football more this season but will need to rely on an offensive line that gave up 39 sacks in 2012 to improve. The strategy that Pease plans to use to achieve that goal is to run the ball against Toledo and Miami. Both Teams who ranked in the bottom quarter of college football in stopping the run. They plan to ease him into the passing role. Many want to point to Florida's offensive numbers and say that they have struggled. The reality is that was part of the strategy for UF last season and it worked against big time schools and nearly cost them games against Bowling Green, TAMU, Missouri, and ULL.
2013 Positional Breakdown
QB: The Gators will be led by junior QB Jeff Driskel this season. The former #1 overall HS QB prospect managed to achieve a 63% pass completion rate for less than 1700 yards in 2012. He had 12 Passing Touchdowns, 5 INT's, 400 rushing yards averaging 3.5 yards per carry, and he scored 4 times on the ground. Driskel is quicker than fast and doesn't hesitate to run once defender's turn their backs to him. His passing is spotty. Even with that 63% completion rate, Driskels downfield shots are rare. He averaged 6.75 yards per attempt. Showing that he likes to throw the short, quick routes instead of the intermediate and deep routes. He get's sacked a lot, as the Gator's offensive line is unimpressive to put it nicely, so durability concerns are raised. Driskel will need to learn how to throw the ball out of bounds as opposed to taking shots to the body. Those hits wear down over time. It's needless to say Driskels improvement will be vital to the success of the Gators this season.
RB: Losing Mike Gillislee stings a bit for the Gatos but many Florida faithful believe Matt Jones (52 carries for 275 yards) will be a better RB than Gillislee. He's stronger and faster than Gillislee and is reportedly running a 4.40 right now. Jones had a spectacular spring and has solidified himself atop the depth chart. While many expected Mack Brown to back him up early enrollee Kelvin Taylor has also had a great spring, and had Jones not stepped up, Taylor would be the likely starter. While Pease may have wanted to run Jones into the ground Taylor has been so good that that they can't leave him on the bench and the team claims to want an Alabama style duo in the future.
WR: This position group has been lacking for quite some time at Florida and losing their top targets hurts a lot. They will rely on Quinton Dunbar, Andre Debose, Solomon Patton, and Alvin Bailey to lead the receivers this season. These guys will need to get open a lot more this season, it doesn't help that the receivers are on their 5th position coach in 5 years. It's unsettled maybe that can change in 2013 with improved offensive line play.
TE: Losing Jordan Reed to the NFL stings. He accounted for 25% of Florida's receptions last season. That's big time production from receiver and running back that is missing for florida this season. TE Clay Burton will likely open the season as the starter but don't be suprised if Colin Thompson steals his thunder once the regular season gets rolling.
OL: This position group has to do better. They have to do better in pass protection for Driskel or it will be a long season for the Gators. This spring they were hit by injuries along the OL. The injuries got so bad that the team cancelled it's spring game and opted to hold a open practice. Injuries, Pass Protection, limiting penalties are keys for this group in 2013. The good news is that the team will be receiving a plethora of transfers to help this group out. They allowed 39 sacks last season while leading the SEC in Penalty's. Eliminating those things will let us know whether Florida is a 9 win team or an national title contender.
DL: They lost Shariff Floyd and Omar Hunter but this group is still pretty solid. Domonique Easley (26TT, 4sacks), Dante Fowler (30TT, 2.5sacks) Leon Orr, and Ronald Powell will lead the group. The latter led the team in sacks in 2011 but missed 2012 due to and ACL tear. They also have some quality backups and good freshman as they have recruited well.
LB: Jon Bostic, Jelani Jenkins, Lerentee McCray are gone. Long gone Bostic will be the toughest one to replace he was the heart and soul of the LB corps and was one of the most recognizeable LB's around CFB. Mike Taylor and Antonio Morrison look ready to step their games up to replace the senior leadership on this team.
DB: I don't care what anyone says about Purifoy, Roberson, and Watkins, but the secondary is a problem and will be a problem. Josh Evans and Matt Elam meant so much to this defense along with Bostic and Floyd. That really it's going to be a blow. They need to get some young safeties ready to play as they will be targeted early and often. Yes the Corner trio is very good and very talented but without that great safety help there will be some guys running behind UF for big plays. The sooner this position gets cleaned up the better of they'll be. They get an A+ as far as Corner's are concerned. It's like a C+ on the Safety's until further notice. Especially losing guys like Evans and Elam.
Florida's future outlook for 2013 and beyond:
Losing so many key players on defense will hurt. They will still field a top unit but it just may not be a top 10 unit. The good thing for Florida is that their schedule this season is not as dificuly as 2012's. This is a team that could have a few things happen. They could lose 4-5 games if guys don't step up. They could also be in the NC hunt if everyone steps up. Overall I expect two or three regular season loses with their best chance at a title being in 2014. As far as recruiting is concerned Florida look's to keep bringing RB's the way that Alabama is bringing in RB's. They currently have Dalvin Cook committed and are still in the running for at least 3 more top RB's. In the future they believe they have 2015 RB Jordan Scarlett locked up as well also. So while I personally believe Florida was an overachiever in 2012 and will struggle in 2013 I believe 2014 is Florida's year to do damage.
GAME DAY
Sept 7th, 12:00PM
There are SO many X-Factors to this game I can't really say who will win. Especially without fall camp and week one arriving to see who gets injured and excetera.
Questions for Florida
Does Florida keep shooting themselves in the foot with penalties?
Will the Florida OL be healthy? Can they protect Driskel?
Is Jones as good as advertised? Will recievers step up?
Will the safety's contain Miami receivers? (See Dorsett against ND)
Which young LB's step up for Florida? Will they step up by week two or later in the season?
Stat Predictions
Offense
Morris 250-330 yards, 2-3 TD's, 1 INT.
Duke Johnson 70-110 Rushing Yards
Crawford 60 Total Yards
Defense:
1-2 sacks. 1 Turnover.
Miami will be really motivated to play this game. It's in Miami and we may not play Florida for a while the way things are looking. So an inspired win may not be out of the question. Also to those on the board that want to hype of the Florida team take the following into consideration. Most penalized SEC team, Gave up 39 sacks, lack of a passing game, lost KEY defenders over the off-season, lost a stud RB to the NFL and you have some room for thought. Don't forget Florida has started games out slow. If they start slow against a face paced team like Miami this game could be over by the 4th if Miami capitlizes on those mistakes. Similar to the Louisville game. We would also have to not slow down.
Last Season Florida started slow against:
Bowling Green (Tied 14-14 with 9 to go in the 3rd)
TAMU (TAMU up 17-7 at the Half)
Tennesse (Tenn up 14-10 at the Half)
LSU (LSU up 6-0 at the Half)
Vanderbilt (VANDY up 7-0 After the 1st)
UGA (UGA up 10-6 going into 4th)
Mizz (MIZZ up 7-0 at the half)
So even if we are up Miami has to keep scoring Florida showed that they were a great second half team.
With that said this game will go one of two ways.
Florida Wins 20-13
Miami wins 42-35
I still think Florida takes this one in a nail bitter.
2012: 11-2
Coaching: Following an abysmal 7-6 2011 season, Florida fans were outraged with HC Will Muschamp's performance. It's needless to say he is back in their good graces following a 11-2 2012 season. Will Muschamp is a defensive guru with previous collegiate stints at Texas, Auburn, and LSU. Muschamp brought in the highly regarded Brent Pease who is known as an offensive mastermind. Pease tailored last seasons offense to fit his personnel. He looks to do the same this season. The gators achieved a 65:35 Run
ass Ratio last season. Pease and company would like to throw the football more this season but will need to rely on an offensive line that gave up 39 sacks in 2012 to improve. The strategy that Pease plans to use to achieve that goal is to run the ball against Toledo and Miami. Both Teams who ranked in the bottom quarter of college football in stopping the run. They plan to ease him into the passing role. Many want to point to Florida's offensive numbers and say that they have struggled. The reality is that was part of the strategy for UF last season and it worked against big time schools and nearly cost them games against Bowling Green, TAMU, Missouri, and ULL.2013 Positional Breakdown
QB: The Gators will be led by junior QB Jeff Driskel this season. The former #1 overall HS QB prospect managed to achieve a 63% pass completion rate for less than 1700 yards in 2012. He had 12 Passing Touchdowns, 5 INT's, 400 rushing yards averaging 3.5 yards per carry, and he scored 4 times on the ground. Driskel is quicker than fast and doesn't hesitate to run once defender's turn their backs to him. His passing is spotty. Even with that 63% completion rate, Driskels downfield shots are rare. He averaged 6.75 yards per attempt. Showing that he likes to throw the short, quick routes instead of the intermediate and deep routes. He get's sacked a lot, as the Gator's offensive line is unimpressive to put it nicely, so durability concerns are raised. Driskel will need to learn how to throw the ball out of bounds as opposed to taking shots to the body. Those hits wear down over time. It's needless to say Driskels improvement will be vital to the success of the Gators this season.
RB: Losing Mike Gillislee stings a bit for the Gatos but many Florida faithful believe Matt Jones (52 carries for 275 yards) will be a better RB than Gillislee. He's stronger and faster than Gillislee and is reportedly running a 4.40 right now. Jones had a spectacular spring and has solidified himself atop the depth chart. While many expected Mack Brown to back him up early enrollee Kelvin Taylor has also had a great spring, and had Jones not stepped up, Taylor would be the likely starter. While Pease may have wanted to run Jones into the ground Taylor has been so good that that they can't leave him on the bench and the team claims to want an Alabama style duo in the future.
WR: This position group has been lacking for quite some time at Florida and losing their top targets hurts a lot. They will rely on Quinton Dunbar, Andre Debose, Solomon Patton, and Alvin Bailey to lead the receivers this season. These guys will need to get open a lot more this season, it doesn't help that the receivers are on their 5th position coach in 5 years. It's unsettled maybe that can change in 2013 with improved offensive line play.
TE: Losing Jordan Reed to the NFL stings. He accounted for 25% of Florida's receptions last season. That's big time production from receiver and running back that is missing for florida this season. TE Clay Burton will likely open the season as the starter but don't be suprised if Colin Thompson steals his thunder once the regular season gets rolling.
OL: This position group has to do better. They have to do better in pass protection for Driskel or it will be a long season for the Gators. This spring they were hit by injuries along the OL. The injuries got so bad that the team cancelled it's spring game and opted to hold a open practice. Injuries, Pass Protection, limiting penalties are keys for this group in 2013. The good news is that the team will be receiving a plethora of transfers to help this group out. They allowed 39 sacks last season while leading the SEC in Penalty's. Eliminating those things will let us know whether Florida is a 9 win team or an national title contender.
DL: They lost Shariff Floyd and Omar Hunter but this group is still pretty solid. Domonique Easley (26TT, 4sacks), Dante Fowler (30TT, 2.5sacks) Leon Orr, and Ronald Powell will lead the group. The latter led the team in sacks in 2011 but missed 2012 due to and ACL tear. They also have some quality backups and good freshman as they have recruited well.
LB: Jon Bostic, Jelani Jenkins, Lerentee McCray are gone. Long gone Bostic will be the toughest one to replace he was the heart and soul of the LB corps and was one of the most recognizeable LB's around CFB. Mike Taylor and Antonio Morrison look ready to step their games up to replace the senior leadership on this team.
DB: I don't care what anyone says about Purifoy, Roberson, and Watkins, but the secondary is a problem and will be a problem. Josh Evans and Matt Elam meant so much to this defense along with Bostic and Floyd. That really it's going to be a blow. They need to get some young safeties ready to play as they will be targeted early and often. Yes the Corner trio is very good and very talented but without that great safety help there will be some guys running behind UF for big plays. The sooner this position gets cleaned up the better of they'll be. They get an A+ as far as Corner's are concerned. It's like a C+ on the Safety's until further notice. Especially losing guys like Evans and Elam.
Florida's future outlook for 2013 and beyond:
Losing so many key players on defense will hurt. They will still field a top unit but it just may not be a top 10 unit. The good thing for Florida is that their schedule this season is not as dificuly as 2012's. This is a team that could have a few things happen. They could lose 4-5 games if guys don't step up. They could also be in the NC hunt if everyone steps up. Overall I expect two or three regular season loses with their best chance at a title being in 2014. As far as recruiting is concerned Florida look's to keep bringing RB's the way that Alabama is bringing in RB's. They currently have Dalvin Cook committed and are still in the running for at least 3 more top RB's. In the future they believe they have 2015 RB Jordan Scarlett locked up as well also. So while I personally believe Florida was an overachiever in 2012 and will struggle in 2013 I believe 2014 is Florida's year to do damage.
GAME DAY
Sept 7th, 12:00PM
There are SO many X-Factors to this game I can't really say who will win. Especially without fall camp and week one arriving to see who gets injured and excetera.
Questions for Florida
Does Florida keep shooting themselves in the foot with penalties?
Will the Florida OL be healthy? Can they protect Driskel?
Is Jones as good as advertised? Will recievers step up?
Will the safety's contain Miami receivers? (See Dorsett against ND)
Which young LB's step up for Florida? Will they step up by week two or later in the season?
Stat Predictions
Offense
Morris 250-330 yards, 2-3 TD's, 1 INT.
Duke Johnson 70-110 Rushing Yards
Crawford 60 Total Yards
Defense:
1-2 sacks. 1 Turnover.
Miami will be really motivated to play this game. It's in Miami and we may not play Florida for a while the way things are looking. So an inspired win may not be out of the question. Also to those on the board that want to hype of the Florida team take the following into consideration. Most penalized SEC team, Gave up 39 sacks, lack of a passing game, lost KEY defenders over the off-season, lost a stud RB to the NFL and you have some room for thought. Don't forget Florida has started games out slow. If they start slow against a face paced team like Miami this game could be over by the 4th if Miami capitlizes on those mistakes. Similar to the Louisville game. We would also have to not slow down.
Last Season Florida started slow against:
Bowling Green (Tied 14-14 with 9 to go in the 3rd)
TAMU (TAMU up 17-7 at the Half)
Tennesse (Tenn up 14-10 at the Half)
LSU (LSU up 6-0 at the Half)
Vanderbilt (VANDY up 7-0 After the 1st)
UGA (UGA up 10-6 going into 4th)
Mizz (MIZZ up 7-0 at the half)
So even if we are up Miami has to keep scoring Florida showed that they were a great second half team.
With that said this game will go one of two ways.
Florida Wins 20-13
Miami wins 42-35
I still think Florida takes this one in a nail bitter.
