September 8th, 2009 — Florida Gators Football, Gator Game Preview, Gator News, Troy Trojans
The Florida Gators are definitely expecting a bigger challenge this week from the Troy Trojans.
On Monday, Florida's coach, Urban Meyer, said that the Gators are preparing themselves for what is likely to be a much tougher contest this week against the Troy Trojans, at least in comparison to their recent win over Charleston Southern, which was a 62 to 3 win last week. The Trojans, who are currently sitting at 0 and 1 are coming off of a loss to Bowling Green, 31 to 14. Meyer still said that the caliber of skill and talent involved here is going to be significantly higher.
The Gators managed to defeat the Troy Trojans back in 2007 with 59 to 37. While Florida is currently boasting a roster that is filled to the brim with veterans on both sides, in the opener last week there are eight Trojans that just finally made their first college start, and 22 players who were just playing their very first game.
The senior return specialist, who is Brandon James, was just recently named as being the co special teams player for the week by the SEC on Monday. He had played an 85 yard long kickoff return with a touchdown, and had 123 all purpose yards. He got to share this special honor with the Arkansas sophomore player Dennis Johnson, who managed a kickoff return for 91 yards.
With a brand new offensive coordinator, who is Steve Addazio, and two brand new coaches who are calling plays from above, Brian White the TE coach and Scot Loeffler the QB coach, the Gators got to use Saturday's game as something of a testing ground for all of these new responsibilities. According to quarterback Tim Tebow, it was definitely different, but there was some really good communication with the new coaches.
Tim Tebow is remaining in touch with the former offensive coordinator, Dan Mullen, who is now the coach for Mississippi state. Apparently they are still text messaging back and forth, and Mullen wished Tebow luck on the game last Friday.
Current Injuries: Brandon Hicks, the LB, recently returned to practice, where he is battling A.J. Jones of Tampa for some playing time. Lawrence Marsh who has an injured ankle is still remaining probably. Carl Johnson, OL, has a bone bruise, and this kept him from practicing on Sunday but he is expected to be back in the game this week. Brendan Beal, an LB, has an injured neck and so his return right now is relatively doubtful, and it is not currently known whether or not he will be returning any time in the next two weeks. Finally, Jelani Jenkins has a reinjured ankle, but it is probable that he will be returning sooner rather than later.
Photo Credits: Troy Trojan Website
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August 18th, 2009 — Florida Gators Football, Gator News, Offense, Players
If at this point you had to choose the starting offensive line for Florida, Carl Johnson and the Pouncey twins would definitely be there, somewhere.
Where it gets tough is when you have to slot each of the players into a specific position.
Steve Addazio, who is the offensive coordinator for the Gators as well as the offensive line coach, has been quite frustrated by some of the team's injuries as of late. Maurkice Pouncey has not done much during the preseason, for example, because he is still recovery from surgery on his shoulder. Having an all-Pouncey brother guard tandem could be possible since Mike Pouncey could play the other guard spot. This is only going to be possible if the coaches are completely 100% sold on Sam Robey, a redshirt freshman, being able to handle the center position.
Addazio had certainly hoped to take a good look at the sophomores Matt Patchan and James Wilson, however both have injuries. Patchan was sidelined by a concussions and Wilson by an ankle injury, so this past scrimmage on Saturday did not allow Addazio to see them play. Patchan is aiming for a big to take the left tackle position, while Wilson also happens to be having a solid preseason. The key when it comes to Wilson is going to be remaining healthy.
Is there good news for the Gators? Yes. They are building plenty of depth and it appears as if they are going to have quite a few different options come the fall.
Johnson could possibly be playing left guard or perhaps left tackle depending on what Patchan ends up doing for the remainder of the preseason camp. It will appear that Marcus Gilbert is going to be the right tackle starter. Gilbert, who is a junior, has both started as left guard and as right guard during his playing career.
Photo Credits: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/
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July 30th, 2009 — Defense, Florida Gators Football, Gator News, Offense, Players
What you should be watching out for on the offense: The I-formation. The new offensive coordinator, Steve Addazio, has been experimenting over the off season in order to add a few more wrinkles to this equation. This isn't going to end up being 1977 Nebraska, and the spread really isn't going to go anywhere, but part of the plan here is going to be to develop the passing ability for Tim Tebow while allowing the running backs to become more involved. The biggest beneficiary that is involved in the offense this year is the tight end, Aaron Hernandez. The third leading receiver for the team last year is going to get the ball much more often, and now that Murphy and Harvin are both gone, he is going to be the go-to receiver.
What you should be watching out for on the defense: Watch for the backups. 11 starters are returning from a team defense that managed to finish in ninth place for the entire nation, holding down the Oklahoma defense and taking fourth in scoring defense, and this means that there isn't much room available for wild and sweeping changes to this line up, but some of the back ups are better than the starters, and this is a problem without really being a problem.
The team is going to improve if: If the team doesn't buy into all of the outside hype and pressures, and if the penalties slow down, then the team is going to be far better. Every week there is going to be another greatest of all time type of story, and the players are going to want to hit that point. The attention from the media, everyone trying to win the games by three touch downs, is not necessary because all that the team has to do is play up to their capabilities rather than the hype, and everything is going to be fine.
The schedule: Playing on October 10th against LSU and then October 31st against Georgia, and this is it. There is plenty of talk already about a potential upset in South Carolina, but if Florida is going to play as well as its supposed to, then this is not going to be a bad trip at all. Unless there is some kind of a major upset at Kentucky, at Mississippi State or against Florida State, there is nothing else that needs to be worried about.
Who is the best offensive player? The Senior Quarterback, Tim Tebow. You may be sick of him, and it is likely only going to get worse, but he really is that good. He has completed 66% out of all of his passes for 67 touch downs and 6,390 yards, 11 interceptions, 43 scores and 2,037 yards rushing. He throws a much better and much more accurate ball than most of the scouts are giving him credit for. His bruising style of running isn't really pretty but it is still quite brutally effective.
Who is the best defensive player? The senior linebacker, Brandon Spikes, is the best defensive player on the team right now. He has made 239 tackles in his career, breaking up 11 passes, claiming 25 tackles for loss and 3 interceptions. His athleticism and size are prototype for the sport and he is likely to become more of a spokesman for the team than even Tebow will.
Key Player: The key player to achieving a successful season is going to be the sophomore wide receiver Deonte Thompson. Florida isn't going to have another Harvin, but it will have several different receivers capable of flying. Thompson has caught 18 passes, 3 touch downs and 269 yards and he has a catch average of 14.9 yards.
The season is going to be successful if: If Florida manages to go 14-0 while winning the national championship. If anything less than the absolute perfect season is obtained, then the team is going to be disappointed. Anything less than obtaining a national championship is going to be a complete failure. The expectations may be ridiculously high, but they certainly deserve to be.
The Key Game will be: The October 31 game against Georgia. Watch out for this. Georgia is really, exceptionally good, better than they were last year, and they absolutely have the potential to pull off this win in this truly heated rivalry.
Here are some interesting stats from 2008:
- Florida threw 5 interceptions, opponents threw 26.
- The third down percentage of conversions for Florida was 52% or 83 out of 161, and for Opponents was 33% or 63 out of 192.
- The first quarter scoring for Florida was 167 and only 20 for Opponents.
Photo Credits: OPEN Sports
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