Looking to What’s Ahead for the University of Florida Gators

Stephen Garcia

First, let's review where the Gators have been lately:

Following four sacks by Tim Tebow, an offense that was often only one dimensional and a really big lack of what we like to see in terms of big play production, the Gators may have won against Vanderbilt but they did not spank the competition the way that many people had predicted. The defense was still quite superb in terms of this 27 to 3 win, which only allowed Vanderbilt to enter into the red zone one time throughout the entire game.

The Gators did not have a single offensive passive play that was longer than a distance of 21 yards before the 64-yard passing play by tight edge Aaron Hernandez, which happened late during the fourth quarter of the game. Tebow did display great accuracy with a total of 15 out of 20 completions for a total of 208 yards; however he often seemed to be looking rather uncomfortable in the pocket.

Now let's look ahead to see what the Gators are going up against next:

South Carolina, sitting at a record of 6 wins and 4 losses looks to be poised for yet another meltdown late in the season after having started the year with 5 and 1. The USC offense has only scored a total of three touch downs total in their losses to Arkansas and Tennessee, compiling nearly 750 yards on the USC defense which was once quite steady. The quarterback for the team, who is Stephen Garcia, has taken great strikes during his sophomore year of play, and yet he has received what seems to be absolutely no help from the team's ground game.

Now let's see where the UF Gators are in terms of injuries this week:

The running back Chris Rainey has a shoulder injury, and the wide receiver Deonte Thompson has a rib contusion injury and yet both of these players seemed to play just fine against Vanderbilt after having been limited in the practices over last week. Brand Antwine has a shoulder injury, Carl Moore a wide receiver has a back injury, Jeremy Brown has a back injury and Brendan Beal has a neck and back injury, and all four of these players could potentially be out for the remainder of the football season.

This week running back Emmanuel Moody said that at 19 and 0, teams are really beginning to come out and gun for the Gators. Many teams are listing the Gators as their most important game to win, and teams are finding themselves scheming in an attempt to beat the as yet undefeated UF Gators once and for all.

Photo Credits: Tennessee Journalist

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UF Gators Slated to Face Georgia Bulldogs

bulldogsThe University of Florida Gators are having some offense problems, it seems, and this is becoming the fuel that Georgia needs to get pumped up for the upcoming game.

Looking Ahead -

The output on the behalf of Georgia has really paled in comparison to their previous seasons. The defense with the Bulldogs, who are at 4 and 3 right now, is currently last in the entire SEC with a total of 27.7 average points allowed for each game, and truth be told, the offense for the team is not doing much better either. And still, the Georgia team really seems to have a chance this upcoming Saturday simply because of the fact that the Gators are struggling in the red zone. Plus, the Georgia team wants to avenge their loss to the Gators last year. In this rivalry, Georgia is sitting at 3 wins and 16 losses since the year 1990.

In Review -

If you take away their lack of production in the red zone, the Gators seem to have had a pretty decent game in their win of 29 to 19 against Mississippi State. They managed to rush for a total of 172 yards in the first half, and the team's defense did not allow for an offensive touchdown while rushing toward three interceptions and three sacks. Florida still converted one of six trips to the red zone into touchdowns as a result of the predictable action on the behalf of Tim Tebow, who was alternating between rushing and rolling on play action. Still, Tim Tebow only completed 12 out of 27 for a total of 127 yards, making this the worst game for him out of his entire career.

Current Injury Update -

Right now, running back Jeff Demps who has been out with a sprained neck is looking to be returning to practice as early as Tuesday or Wednesday. Brandon Antwine, DT, managed to re-injure an old problem with his shoulder, so he is not likely to be returning this week. According to Urban Meyer, a number of players are slated to be returning this week, including LB Brandon Spikes who was out on a groin injury, Lawrence Marsh who was out on an ankle injury, Jaye Howard who was out on a knee injury and Justin Trattou who was out on a bicep injury.

Quote -

Regarding the red zone offense for the University of Florida Gators, Urban Meyer, coach of the team said that this is an area that has, in the past, been a strength, and it will get back to being a strength again.

Next Game -

The University of Florida Gators are going up against the University of Georgia in Jacksonville.

Coverage -

You can watch the game on CBS on Saturday at 3:30 pm.

Photo Credits: jeffhreed

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Game Preview: Florida Gators vs. Mississippi State Bulldogs

bulldogsTurnovers are Sticking in the Mind of Urban Meyer!

With a game against Mississippi State pending, Urban Meyer is looking at the team's current capabilities to determine whether or not the Florida Gators are going to continue their winning streak for another round.

In terms of the offense, the gators have been struggling to run the ball during the first few quarters of the last game, but they still managed to make 100 yards just in during the fourth quarter. They had a total of four fumbles which were completely inexcusable, and so was the dropped touchdown pass on the behalf of Riley Cooper, as well as six sacks. The other receivers besides Cooper were continuing to struggle, and the Gators only managed to convert four out of thirteen third-downs.

In terms of the defense, they were really put in a bad situation by the offense with two fumbles inside of Florida territory. They did manage to force three and outs following two fumbles within the Arkansas red zone.

As far as special teams go, Caleb Sturgis managed to miss a field goal early on, but he responded well with three more, including one that was 51 yards and managed to win the game with a mere nine seconds left on the clock. The Gators still seem in capable of getting their return game going, however, and they really did not do a good job when it came to kickoff coverage.

As far as scouting the opponent is concerned, Mississippi State, which sits at 3 to 4 and 1 to 2 in the SEC is coming away from a victory in Middle Tennessee of 27 to 6. The Bulldogs, who are led by the former offensive coordinator for UF, Dan Mullen, happen to have one of the best backs in the entire league, who is Anthony Dixen. He was the career rushing leader for MSU. Still, they seem to struggle when it comes to throwing the ball, averaging at about 174 yards with each game, and they are ranking near the bottom of the SEC's leader board when it comes to most of the defensive categories.

The UF Gators coach, Urban Meyer, has already said that he has blocked off a section of the upcoming practice where the Gators are going to be spending some extra time and effort working on their ball security. There may need to be a couple of sessions of this in order to get the UF Gators up to snuff on their ball security.

The Gators definitely need a lot of work here because they have turned the ball over a total of eleven times in the span of only six games, and this figure includes a total of nine fumbles, and four of those fumbles were in the victory game against Arkansas this past Saturday. The Gators obviously need some work before they go up against Mississippi in their next game.

Photo Credits: Roger Smith

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