Flash back to 1989. Georgia had just beaten Florida 17-10, and the players all mocked Florida's fans with the Gator Chomp.

Florida has won 18 out of the last 21.

Then go to 1997. Sebastian Janikowski nailed a big field goal to give FSU some breathing room, and did a huge, exaggerated Chomp to the Florida Field crowd.

Florida drove down the field and won the game three plays later.

Now on to 2007. Wes Byrum of Auburn nailed a huge game winner in the Swamp, and chomped the crowd.

It's up to the 2011 Gators to avenge that.

But how?

Auburn has lost Cam Newton and Nick Fairley, but they still have plenty of weapons.

They have wide receiver Emory Blake, a great leaper with good enough hands who will be depended on for fade routes in big time situations.

They have Ontario McCaleb, a speed demon who has broken at least one run of 20 yards or more in all but three games this year.

They have Quan Bray, an incoming freshman who can play numerous positions with a verbal but solid committment to Auburn.

It's the QB position that may cause Gene Chizik problems.

Barrett Trotter, who will be a junior, is my best guess to land the starting spot, because he was going to be handed the keys to the Tiger offense before Newton came into the picture. He is a very athletic QB with a snap quick release and the ability to take off and buy some time. He can throw on the run if need be, but he is closer to a dop back passer than a spread QB.

Kiehl Frazier is more like Cameron Newton, familiar with a spread option game, but he's going to be a freshman next year and has not seen big stages before at Shiloh High School. Although he is a running QB, he isn't nearly as accurate on the run.

That's exactly what the Gators have to plan to do- make the QB run.

They cannot allow Trotter- or Frazier- to get comfortable, settle in, and pick the Gator apart. They need to knock him down, let him know that he's being targeted all the time.

Who better to do that than Will Muschamp?

The Gators have plenty of speed on defense, and if you've ever played for Charlie Strong, you're able to put some big hits on QB's on command.

So expect the Gators to blitz early in the down count to set the tone, and disrupt the entire offense.

Now, onto the offensive side. They've got speed, they've got playmakers, the only thing they don't have is... a dependable QB.

I think if all Gator fans had to bet their last dollar on who starts at QB against FAU, the answer is going to be John Brantley.

Let's get one thing straight. I know that Steve Addazio's offense was horrible, and the QB he used was just as bad. Or you could flip that, and look at it vice versa.

Whatever you want.

The point is that I'm not a fan of Brantley any more than most of you and I promise you guys that I have very limited patience for him. If my patience goes, then I call for Jeff Driskel.

That's a promise. I'll give Brantley one game to see if he can at least light up a bottom feeder.

Assuming Brantley makes it to the Auburn game as the starter, then that means he will have seen six defenses, played reasonably well at Death Valley in the Bayou (one week before the trip to Auburn) and that he won't likely buckle under the pressure and the lights of Jordan Hare.

But even if it's Driskel, Charlie Weis will figure something out. He's too good of an offensive mind not to.

Bottom line?

Defense plays light out and offense does its job.

Florida 34 Auburn 23

Ever since Charlie Weis was hired, I knew Trey Burton was going to have to switch positions.

But to defense?

Maybe.

Rumors are flying that Burton will become a safety for 2011.

Now that I think about it, this guy could play practically anywhere.

We know that he is extremely athletic, and fast.

He is an absolute end zone magnet.

That's great for a running back.

We also know that Burton can catch and block well, and he played tight end (very well) in 2010 when he wasn't taking snaps.

So if Will Muschamp, defensive mastermind, and Charlie Weis, offensive mastermind, make him a safety, then Trey Burton is a better safety than running back or wide receiver.

Muschamp and Weis know what they're doing.

If the rumor is true, then I'll let Muschamp go to work with him.

The only questions I have is: has Trey Burton ever come on and laid a bone crushing hit on a receiver who has just caught a pass? We know Burton is strong- he's played tight end at the University of Florida.

But does he have the killer instinct that is necessary for a safety?

Can he blast receivers like this?

I mean, that's how Major Wright made his living. Slow, but able to deliver jarring hits to dislodge the ball and ruin a beautifully designed and executed play. We know that Burton's got the speed, but the instict is a must for any safety in the SEC.

I believe that if his rumor holds to be correct, Burton will be very successful. He's got a work ethic in the same range as Tim Tebow, and will do whatever it takes to make himself a success. Plus, as I've said, he's shown two of the most important tools needed to be a good safety- speed and strength. The only other tool needed to be a great safety is hard hitting/instinct (which I believe come together as a package- not many safeties have one but not the other), and we have yet to see that from him.

Muschamp must believe he has it, otherwise he wouldn't have put him there.

But even if he doesn't, can you name me a better person to install it in him than Muschamp?

According to the Orlando Sentinel, John Brantley will return to Gainesville for his senior season.

This is good news for Florida, despite Brantley's shaky (and that's generous) 2010. Now, at least they don't have to break in a first year starter. Even better, Brantley's high school offense at Trinity was nearly identical to the one that Charlie Weis plans to use, and Brantley rode that pass happy offense to a National Player of the Year Award in 2006.

So we know that Brantley will be the man come that Florida Atlantic game.

What else do the Gators have to do in order to be successful under Will Muschamp?

1) Red Zone defense must be lights out

Obviously, we hope that no opponent ever gets inside the Forida 20, but face it, it's going to happen. This is where the really good defenses and the fantastic defenses are separated- in the red zone.

The Gators cannot allow walk in touchdowns like they did during 2010. Because let's face it, as awful as Steve Addazio's offense was, the defense wasn't exactly fantastic. Oh, it was decent, sure, but we Gator fans don't like decency, do we? 8-5 is decent, and we're all pissed off because we lost those 5  games. I'm not saying we should change; that's just who we are.

Anyway, four plays in particular from last year stand out. The first two was Marcus Lattimore shooting through huge holes for TD's, the third was Mark Ingram walking to the end zone via a gigantic gap on the right sideline, and the fourth- and probably most embarrassing- was the entire team either overpursuing Jordan Jefferson or getting pancaked allowing him to walk in for a TD on a play-action pass- right up the middle.

That's just disgraceful. Watch for yourself if you can take it. The three plays I mentioned are at :46/2:54, 1:35, and 4:14

The red zone, for a defense as talented as the Gators, is where a team should be at its best. For also-ran teams like Rutgers, Penn State, Vanderbilt, etc. that's not the case. But for the Gators- and especially for a defensive guru like Will Muschamp- the defense grows more comfortable.

Why?

Mainly because when a defense of this level of talent has its back to the wall, the opposing offense has less room to take deep shots. So now there are only two types of passes to defend: short passes that Muschamp's defenses have been known to eat up, and the medium pass has limits because the safeties don't have to worry about anything going over their heads. This is also why a deep pass isn't an option.

2) Muschamp Has to Reestablish the Swamp

Perhaps the most embarrassing thing about 2010 was that Florida lost three night games in the Swamp, boom boom boom, to Mississippi State, South Carolina, and LSU, three historically mediocre teams (although in the last decade LSU has risen above mediocre).

Until last year, however, Urban Meyer was 32-2 at home. That's got to resume with Muschamp. I can live with losing one game at home next year- Alabama. And I do believe that Florida should win that game at home. If it was a road game, I'd say that we have about a 2% chance.

But this is... the SWAMP. Home of the... FLORIDA GATORS. There are... EXPECTATIONS. And those expectations include winning about 95% of our home games.

If the Gators want a shot at the national championship, they've got to run the table at home, (including Georgia), they have to steal two of the three road games (South Carolina, Auburn and LSU) and avoid too many close calls against cupcakes like Kentucky, Vanderbilt, FAU, Furman, etc.

Which do you think is the easiest: going 7-0 at home, going 3-1 in SEC road games (the Gators also travel to Kentucky) and blasting 2 out of every 3 teams on the schedule?

Well, Florida must take the first step. I mean, if they go undefeated in the Swamp, the absolute worst they can do is 7-5. Then they have to take the next two steps.

But Urban Meyer couldn't take the first step last year. Let's see if he can make the Swamp a place where only Gators get out alive once again.

3) Muschamp has to develop his "thing"

I know, that's kind of vague. Let me give yall examples. Charlie Pell first came up with the Gator Chomp. Steve Spurrier created the motto "The Swamp: Where Only Gators Get Out Alive". Ron Zook invented, well, teasing Gator fans by hauling in great recruits and then underperforming like no other. Urban Meyer instituted the blue out against big opponents (which only failed once in 13 tries).

What's Muschamp's deal going to be?

Wouldn't you think that a guy like Muschamp would have some exciting new things in store?

This is vital to recruiting, and Muschamp probably knows that. Recruits would love to hear "Come along to Florida, and join me as we set out to restore Gator football to what it was and more!" The recruit will probably ask what he means by "and more" because Florida won won 3 National Championships, and unless a playoff is instituted, there's nowhere higher to go. So this is where Muschamp tells his recruits about his "thing".

4) Florida has to snap the ball right

I know, I know, it's over. Or is it? This may be obvious, but since we had an All-American guard not being able to snap it right last year, it's worth a mention here. This shouldn't be a problem, I really don't think it will be at all, but you've got to be wary of it.

5) Florida's ground game must hit the home run at least once a game

The threat has to be there. Demps, Rainey, Debose, Gillislee, Brown, Blakeley, the talent is here, Charlie Weis just has to use it.

The only problem I have with Charlie Weis- and it's a major one- is that when he's in a tight situation, his play-calling can be as predictable as Addazio's (oh, no, it can't be!!!) But Weis gets pass happy in crunch time, and stays with it every time.

As predictable as his game on the line play-calling might be, it's still a major upgrade from Steve Addazio. So obviously I'd like to keep him here.

This is where the running game comes in. The Gators have to break off a big play early, so that smart defensive coordinators- especially Kirby- know that he risks a 70 yard TD run by blitzing, and the dumb ones, well, their defenses can't be too good if they're stupid because they're probably at Furman.

6) Brantley must take a deep shot every first quarter

Again, this threat must be existent in order for the Gators offense to survive and thrive. Last year, the box was loaded with more explosives than the Enola Gay.

Obviously, Weis will probably be happy to do this so that every time the opposing DC calls a play, he'll have to accept the risk of blitzing- again.

7) Offensive line must give Brantley/Driskel at least 4 seconds to throw 90% of his passes

The o-line was awful last year, even with 4 returning starters. For that, we can all blame Steve Addazio. But talent wasn't the issue. Rather, it was scheming and knowing what to do and where to block. I'm not even sure Addazio knows what an a-gap is.

This year, it's got to give Brantley ample time to make the type of plays that won him the Player of the Year Award in High School.

8) Brantley must make good decisions

Has anybody noticed how the last few topics have segued into this one? There's a reason for that. I've tried defending Brantley, because he's dealt with being a backup to Tim Tebow for three years only months after he was voted Player of the Year. Obviously, Florida wasn't about to bench Tebow, but think about that for a minute. You blow everybody away in the National Player of the Year Award voting, you're the top QB recruit in the nation, and suddenly, BAM!!! You're sitting as the #3 QB behind Tim Tebow and Cameron Newton.

That would damage the confidence of pretty much everybody.

So I was patient with him, because he is pretty talented and grew up a UF fan.

But in all honesty, he was very inaccurate in crunch time. He made some terrible decisions, none worse than catching the deflected pass against South Carolina for a 15 yard loss. He's got to learn to think better in big time situations.

9) Tim Tebow must be erased from the memories

You think it's going to help Brantley's confidence to see a big fat sign "TIM TEBOW, 2007 HEISMAN TROPHY WINNER"? Some say it might inspire him, but the guy's self esteem is clearly as frail as the crystal ball that Florida dropped as a prank (well... there are all sorts of rumors about what really happened). Talking to Tebow on the phone to receive the news that Tebow believes in him is one thing, but being slapped across the face with a reminder of Tebow's success is quite another.

Look. Tim Tebow was hands down the best player in the history of college football. But unfortunately, he no longer plays for the Florida Gators. Those days are over. Florida needs to concentrate on the HERE and NOW instead of remembering the glory of THEN. Because reliving past National Championships is not going to produce more in the future.

10) Special Teams must remain special

It's no coincidence that Urban Meyer's teams won all 16 games where they blocked a punt.

It's no coincidence that Brandon James, the most dynamic kick/punt returner in the history of the game (well, he might share that distinction with Billy Cannon and Devin Hester) was a member of the most successful senior class of all time, either.

And it's no coincidence that Chas Henry won the Ray Guy Award in Urban Meyer's final season.

Looks to me Meyer had something going there.

Now it's Muschamp's turn to carry the torch that burns opposing special teams. He will run the defense and the special teams as well in 2011. The key is utilizing speed by putting the fastest guys on the edges to get the block, and Chris Rainey should return kicks and punts. At least, he's the favorite for 2011 as of now.

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Before I sign off, I want to publically blast any Florida fan who wants John Brantley's head. You need to support him if you expect anything good in 2011. Remember in 2008 and 2009, when Tennessee fans started a site killjonathancrompton.com, and he started to really suck? And remember how he sucked any more once he received actual death threats?

You guys are classier than that. It's different from Addazio, because he's a professional who had called plays for 4 years prior to 2010 and had plenty of time to learn and correct himself. Rip on him all you please. But even with him, I don't want to kill him.

So to the jerkoff who thinks he is being cute by putting up iwantbrantleysneck.com, take it down, if you haven't already.

Support him, at least until it's proven that he really does suck and that it wasn't Addazio's fault.

OK, we all know who we lost to last year, and we all know who our rivals are.

But these ten teams have done something to insult Gator foorball in some way. Although some people have forgotten, I haven't and I'm sure some other Gator fans haven't either.

Florida doesn't play all of them next year, but when they do, they need to lay a beatdown on them.

As the 2011 team takes shape, and I know who's won starting jobs, who tore his ACL and will miss the season, etc., I will preview each of these games from a football standpoint.

So here goes, ranging from (10) least necessary to (1) desperately needs a whooping.

10) Florida Atlantic

Next Meeting: 2011 @Gainesville

What? FAU??? They're harmless!!! What have they done? Well, nothing on their own, but their coach, Howard Schnellenberger, once ran it up on Florida when he was coaching Miami (the south Florida version) because the Gator fans pelted his team with oranges. Why did they throw oranges? Schnellenberger flipped off the crowd and did the Gator Chomp. What better way to begin the Will Muschamp era with a blowout win?

9) Miami(FL)

Next Meeting: 2013 @Miami

The battle for Sunshine State Supremacy will be in the Orange Bowl (or wherever the Canes play) in 2013. Let's see if Will Muschamp can embarrass one of the few nearby teams that he doesn't have some kind of relationship with. Jeff Driskel will be a junior then and he'll hopefully have a great grip on Charlie Weis's new offense. Plus, it's essential for recruiting. And, you know, they're a rival who has embarrassed UF in the past (see Schnellenberger).

8) Alabama

Next Meeting: 2011 @Gainesville

The Gators have an awful taste still in their mouths from the past two times they've played the Crimson Tide and they want a shot at revenge. They'll get their chance in the Swamp with a rare rebuilding Bama team that has lost 19 of its 22 starters from the 2009 BCS Championship team. This game should be called the "Talent-Developing Bowl" for obvious reasons- which coaching staff does more with its players?

7) Ohio State

Next Meeting: ???

Who knows when (or if) these two scools will meet again. One thing I know is that the Buckeyes suddenly think they own the SEC because they beat an error-prone Arkansas team in the Sugar Bowl. I'm sick and tired of them running their mouths about how they would have actually tried had they known that Florida was actually decent. I hope Jeremy Foley quits being a ({}) and schedules them, anytime, anywhere. Let's see how good they really are.

6) FSU

Next Meeting: 2011 @Gainesville

Jimbo Fisher and Will Muschamp co-own a beach house. Maybe the two of them should have a deal where the winner of the UF-FSU game wins the beach house for the next year. Whatever they do, Muschamp does not strike me as the type of guy that will put more value into friendships than into winning. His name is Coach Boom, right? They disrespected the Gators last year by cutting the head off a toy Gator right for the world to see (newsflash, that was UF's idea by chomping the head off a toy Indian and carrying it around). But they have to come to the Swamp this year. Ooooooooh. This should be good.

5)Auburn

Next Meeting: 2011 @Auburn

Even if Newton doesn't return, this is still the resurrection of an old rivalry game that needs to be taken seriously. Wes Byrum, who is also gone, beat Florida with a walk-off field goal in 2007 and mocked the Gator crowd with, of course, the Chomp. Plus, they handed Florida their only defeat in 2006. It's up the 2011 version of Gator football to avenge that. Let's see if Will Muschamp can do what Urban Meyer never did- beat Auburn.

4)Georgia

Next Meeting: 2011 @Jacksonville, FL

Muschamp went there. We know that. We hate them. We know that too. So why do we owe them an especially good lickin? Because we always do, and also because Todd Grantham thought he was funny by telling Chas Henry that "you're gonna f*ckin choke!!!". In fact, I'm still not sure we're even for the 2007 Dunce Dunce Revolution the Bulldogs staged. A quick way for Muschamp to get on the Gators fans' good side: put your relationship with UGA down and crush them!!!

3)Southern Cal

Next Meeting: ???

Like Ohio State, this matchup may not happen again for an eternity. But Lane Kiffin still has yet to receive the "welcome to head coaching in college football" beatdown that he asked for the day that he was announced as head coach. Florida can't draw them in a bowl game unless it's a BCS game, which could happen, but not likely. It's not even a possibility until 2012, when USC's bowl ban is lifted. I want to trounce Lane Kiffin so badly, but I think this is going to be an itch that can't be scratched. It's all wishful thinking. Sorry.

2)South Carolina

Next Meeting: 2011, @Columbia

The Gamecocks mercifully put an end to the Gators SEC Championship season, which was just as well. I couldn't have watched Steve Addazio "lead" the "Offense" against Auburn. Can you imagine what would have happened? That doesn't mean we've forgiven our old buddy Steve Spurrier. In fact, now we want to destroy his team. It's in Columbia, which makes it a little bit harder, but it's definitely doable.

1)Ole Miss

Next Meeting: 2012 @Oxford

Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Bet you guys thought this day would never come, huh? The rematch with the team that ruined Florida's perfect season in 2008. I don't know about you guys, but I've carried a personal grudge against Ole Miss ever since that game (and I actually like them). Here's Florida's shot to hand them the beatdown that they were good enough to administer to the Rebels three years ago.

As I said, once I get a feel for what the teams look like, I will go into detail with strategy for each game (except for USC and Ohio State).

From a way too early look, I think that Florida has a shot to win every game on here.

Again, that could change, but we've got awhile.

Revenge, guys. Revenge is a dish best served cold.

And it's almost here....

Last night, everybody was talking about how FSU had no shot against Duke.

They're #1 in the country, Ryan Reid and Toney Douglas left a curse on the Noles against Duke, plus, you know, it's DUKE.

And, well, they just LOST to FSU.

AGAIN.

In reality, it's been the Noles who've had Duke's number recently.

Especially in Tallahassee.

Darrin Kitchin turned himself on to score 22 points, haul down 10 rebounds, and steal three passes to guide FSU to a 66-61 victory over a shocked Blue Devil team.

Anyway, yall know that since this is a Gators blog, it's got to be related to Florida in some way.

Well, the Gators invaded Tallahassee a few months ago and pulled out a huge win.

Remember how nobody cared about that win, since it came a day after the embarrasing performance against the Seminoles in football?

How much do you care now?

That win just turned out to be gigantic. Now, Florida doesn't really need any more quality wins. Like I said in the last post, the Gators appear poised for a 10-6 (or better, obviously) conference record. 10-6 in any of the power 6 conferences usually does it for the Selection Commitee come NCAA tournament time, barring a handful of embarrassing losses. Florida has just one.

If Florida holds serve and runs the table in the O-Dome, they just need to steal one road victory- which they should get at either Auburn, Georgia, LSU, or South Carolina. Vanderbilt, Kentucky, and Mississippi State on the road might be a bit tougher.

But thanks a lot, FSU. You just helped out Florida every bit as much as you helped yourself.

It was a different building hosting the game in Knoxville, Tennessee.

The game was played on hardwood, not grass.

The coaches wore suits and ties, not windbreaker jackets with the team logo in front.

The ball was orange, and round.

There was a totally different game being played.

The results were still the same.

Florida defeated Tennessee 81-75 in overtime, to deal an early but major blow to Tennessee's NCAA tourney chances while helping out their own case big time. With the win, Florida already has an impressive NCAA resume: road wins at Florida State, Xavier, Tennessee and a neutral site win over 6th ranked Kansas State. Their only really bad loss was to Jacksonville.

We all know that Florida owns Tennessee in football and baseball.

Recently, however, it's been Tennessee who's been beating up on Florida in b-ball. They first started their run by beating the Gators right before they peaked to win the National Championship in 2007. Then it just snowballed from there: a season sweep in 07-08, followed by another one in 08-09.

Last year, Florida led the majority the game in Knoxville. But Tennessee fought back and Alex Tyus missed a 6 footer at the buzzer, and Florida lost 62-61- and the Volunteer band mocked Tyus with the Gator Chomp. But everyone knew that Florida was back. The Gators proved it by crushing the Vols in the rematch in the O-Dome that year.

Then, there's this year.

Bruce Pearl could do nothing about it as Florida built up an 8 point lead in the second half. But the Vols came back to eventually force OT behind strong performances by Cameron Tatum and Tobias Harris.

Not enough. The Gators controlled the ball for the first full minute of the OT, and even though they didn't score, the Vols were beaten both physically and in the game.

Tyus redeemed himself by making a steal and a layup that turned out to be the killshot, and something went off inside him.

Not only did he return the favor to the Vols band, he also stomped on the little "T" near the sideline, then did the same to the other "T" that stood for the Lady Vols.

Billy Donovan didn't look too happy, but whatever.

I certainly was.

In retrospect, though, this win isn't anything major aside from it being an SEC road win.

Since beating top 5 teams Pittsburgh and Villanova, the Vols have done an excellent job screwing themselves. They've lost to Oakland, Charlotte, College of Charleston, and Southern Cal, who is not exactly a national powerhouse. The other loss came to a decent but unproven Arkansas team on the road.

So we won on Rocky Flop, which is excellent. We've broken the curse that somehow has been on top of us for the past few years.

We're also in excellent position for a 10 SEC win season- which almost guarantees an NCAA bid, as long as it's teamed with a decent nonconference schedule/record and at least one win in the SEC tournament.

So here's Tennessee's fight song, Florida's version (if you don't know the tune, learn it here- it's easy!!!):

Glad I'm not on good ole Rocky Flop, where everything goes downhill.

There's nothing you could do but sit and watch as we proposed our will.

Oh Rocky Flop, you're Gatorbait once again, and you're probably feeling ill!!!

Oh Rocky Flop, you'll always be,

SECOND IN THE EAST!!!

Good ole Rocky Flop

Oh Rocky Flop

Oh Rocky Flop, you'll always be,

SECOND IN THE EAST!!!

How DOES

IT

FEEL

TO BE FLORIDA'S MEAL AGAIN

CHOMP CHOMP

With Auburn's defeat of Oregon in Monday's BCS Championship Game, the SEC has now won 5 consecutive BCS titles, two of which came from our very own Florida Gators.  In fact, with the national championship on the line, the SEC has now won 8 consecutive times, with Florida taking home three of those eight.  Of course, our 1995 Fiesta Bowl debacle was also the reason that streak isn't longer, but we'll overlook that.

The streak of 5 consecutive national championships extends what was already the longest in NCAA history (excluding the early years when their were only a few teams and an Ivy League school won every year).  The next longest streak is three consecutive championships, which has been done a few times but not since 1971, when there was much less parity in college football.  For the SEC to do what it has done now, with scholarships limited and with parity at an all-time high in college football, is truly remarkable.

Oregon came into Monday's BCS championship game with Auburn ranked 1st in the Pac-10 in total offense and in scoring, and not by a narrow margin.  Auburn came in to the game ranked 9th out of 12 teams in the SEC in total defense.

Yet, in spite of that supposed mismatch, the game played out much like it had each of the past 4 years.  A supposed top offense was faced with a defense they didn't know how to combat.  Oregon couldn't handle the strength of Auburn's front, which was led by Nick Fairley's dominant play.  The way Auburn consistently got into the backfield so quickly that they were hitting Darron Thomas and LaMichael James as they were in the middle of their option read was something I've never seen before.  Oregon was consistently stuffed in short yardage situations, where they've been unstoppable all year.

In the defense of fairness, Oregon's strength is their running game, and run defense happens to be the only thing Auburn is good at.  It was a lucky matchup for Auburn, who would have been in big trouble against a high powered passing (rather than rushing) offense.  Nonetheless, the extent to which Oregon's run game was shut down is beyond what any Pac 10 fan could have imagined.  Oregon averaged 303 rush yards per game this year at an average of 6 yards per carry.  They ran for more than 230 yards ten times in twelve tries this year.  But on Monday night against Auburn, the Ducks managed just 75 yards rushing on 32 attempts, a measly 2.3 yard per carry average.

The result was a game that Auburn controlled the majority of the way.  Realistically, Oregon was lucky the game was as close as it was.  Darvin Adams couldn't come up with a long pass on 3rd down of Auburn's 1st possession that he probably should have caught, Cam Newton and Eric Smith botched an easy touchdown on 4th and goal from the 1 yard line, and Newton later missed Darvin Adams on a long touchdown on a great "in and go" route that left Oregon's cheating safety 12 yards behind.  Oregon's only offense came on one long pass play and a late turnover by Cam Newton.  They were never really able to consistently move the ball long enough to sustain a long scoring drive.

So what is it about these SEC teams that has led to such success in these games?  Early on, people thought the answer was speed.  But speed wasn't really a factor either of the last two years, and particularly not this year where Oregon had a clear advantage in that department.

The real answer is defense.

"Defense wins championships".  The motto is as old as football itself, and never truer than right now, which is ironic given that the game has turned towards the offense more than it ever has before.  After a run at pure offense in the 90's, the SEC has been a defensive conference in the last decade.  And while things play out differently during the season when you're matched up with a bunch of teams that know you well and have been playing you for years, when everything is on the line at the end of the year, it's usually defense that leads the way.

There is no better example of that than Florida themselves.  Amid all the talk of Urban Meyer bringing the spread offense to the SEC and people arguing over whether or not it would work in a power conference, it ended up not even mattering because defense ruled the day.  In 2007, we had possibly the greatest offense that we've ever had at Florida, with only '96 and '97 rivaling it.  Tim Tebow won the heisman, and we lit up the scoreboard.....and lost four games.

In 2006 and 2008, our offense was actually pretty mediocre (especially in '06), but outstanding defensive play vaulted us to the top.  The 2006 Ohio State team was considered by some to be one of the best teams of all-time headed into the BCS Championship Game, and that was mostly on the reputation of their offense.  As you'll all remember, the result of that game was Ohio State's offense being unable to match the yardage output of their opening kickoff return.  2008 was similar, with the vaunted Oklahoma offense being held to a paultry 14 points.

The heroes of the SEC's five straight BCS championship wins are not Heisman winners like Cam Newton, Tim Tebow, and Mark Ingram.  Rather, they are defensive studs like Nick Fairley, Joe Haden, Jarvis Moss, Terrance Cody, and many others who rose to the occasion when it mattered most, alongside defensive coordinators that have out-schemed their unprepared opponents..

I also want to touch on one other point that I believe factors in to this SEC streak, and that is passion.  I was at the 2006 National Championship game, and Florida fans were outnumbered by Ohio State fans 70/30.  But in spite of the huge numbers disadvantage, Florida fans were still so much louder than the Ohio State fans (even before the game got out of hand), and so much more passionate.  You could hear this on Monday night as well as my TV was practically shaking when Oregon had the ball and Auburn fans were making noise, while the reverse could not be said.

Say what you will about momentum and the crowd in football, but there's no doubt that that passion transfers on to the players.

So where am I going with all of this?  Well, in my oh so humble opinion, two of the largest factors in the SEC's unprecedented streak of national championships are passion and defense.  Now, assuming that "bad hair" isn't an option, if I asked you to describe Will Muschamp in two words, what would they be?

Passion and defense.

Bam.

I cannot blame Ryan in any way for not giving me a spot to team up with him earlier when Steve Addazio was still bumbling his way around at Florida. It was a complicated deal that I'm not going into.

But now that I am working with him, and since I've gotten a dozen or so emails in the last week regarding my thoughts on him, I'm going to put up one- and only one- post regarding him. It's kind of beating a dead horse, so this is the only time I'll do it.

Plus, if not for Addazio, I'd probably never be a writer (as you can tell from my bio).

Anyway here goes:

Dear Steve,

Congratulations!!! You've successfully wrecked the 2010 Florida season!!!

You've also been successful in causing Urban Meyer heart issues from watching you "leading" the "offense"!!!

Wait, what offense?

The one whose average scoring drive against an inept Penn State defense was a paltry 9 yards?

The one that accumulated a whopping 26 yards through three quarters against Miami Ohio?

The one that generated a combined three touchdowns in its five losses (all other scores were drives of 25 yards or less)?

Or the one whose leading receiver in the Outback Bowl was Ahmad Black, with two catches for 129 yards?

Yeah, sadly, that's considered an offense. Some messed up world we live in, huh?

Your playcalling was an insult to the knowledge of college football fans, and downright dangerous for the players- that's how Demps hurt his foot, by running dives all day against Tennessee.

In fact, my 3 year old niece could call a more effective game by randomly picking plays out of a hat.

Somebody at the Temple athletic offense should just buy you a PlayStation3 with Madden 2011, so you can ask Madden for all the plays.

OK, so I haven't gone into football details yet. I know. But I'm not sure you'd understand them. For instance, I'm not sure you even know what a vertical pass is.

Oh, my bad, you most certainly do.

A vertical pass is any ball thrown 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage to a 150 lb receiver on third down and 25.

Never mind with explaining anything to you- you just don't listen. I've calmly explained your mistakes and what to do instead on my old bleacherreport account, to no avail. I even created a second bleacherreport account and ripped on you there, thinking that you might take the hint and realize that it wasn't just one Florida fan who hated you, it was a lot more.

So going into detail with you is clearly pointless.

You are hopeless.

Urban Meyer knows it, Jeremy Foley knows it, Dan Mullen knows it, incoming recruits know it, and even that inbred dunce Jimbo Fisher knows it.

The only people that don't know it are the athletic people at Temple, and you.

Or maybe you do, but you're too selfish to realize it.

Most importantly (and embarrassingly), Dan Mullen not only knows it, but tormented and disrespected Florida with it.

He knew what an offensive idiot you were and called just a single pass play the whole second half, challenging you to score ten measly points.

What did you do, Steve?

Did you rise to the challenge, realize that Mississippi State wasn't going to score again, and actually try something creative?

No. You laid an egg.

That game made me seriously wonder if you called plays with the Magic 8 Ball Nicki Meyer gave you for Christmas four years ago.

It also made me wonder if Meyer would throw you out of a window, or if fans would beat him to it and lynch you.

Another thing that made me want to kill you was your mismanagement and/or benching of our best players. Chris Rainey I understand, because, well, we all know why. He was suspended, and rightfully so.

But what about Jeff Demps? He was nicked, sure, but if you're going to play him, don't just put him in and have him block- that carries more injury risk than running.

By the way, since I'm on the subject, your blocking schemes were atrocious. You had Jeff Demps blocking Terrence Cody in the 2009 SEC Championship game. That's like asking a 12 year old girl to guard Shaq.

Anyway, Chris Dunkley, Frankie Hammond, Omarious Hines, Justin Williams, Gerald Christian, Andre Debose, Mack Brown, and Mike Gillislee all saw either limited or no action.

Instead, you ran Emmanuel Moody 30 times a game, and backed him up Demps- up the middle of course. Never mind the fact that somebody could weigh him on the 3 inch by 4 inch scale my physics teacher uses to weigh legos, corks, and most recently, marshmallows.

Andre Debose might have been the next Percy Harvin this year. But who knows? Not us- and we could have if you'd only listened to the fans calling for him to touch the ball. He was dynamite on kick returns, taking two to the house and narrowly missing on a third.

Why the hell did he not get more touches on offense?

Why was Hines running 2 yard hitches while Carl Moore was going "deep" (meaning 15 yards)?

Why was Thompson running 5 yard out patterns?

Why was Brantley running options?

Hey, here's a better question:

Why bother asking this?

You're too dumb and stubborn to realize it. The sad thing is, you probably are patting yourself on the back right now thinking that you did a fantastic job.

But Indiana fans and Florida fans know better.

At Indiana, you went 7-28 as a playcaller. Your offense was an average of 99th in the country out of (then) 115 teams for those three years (2002-04).

At Florida... nahh, I don't think so, I've already tormented you guys enough with the memories.

So goodbye, Steve. Peace out, and don't ever come back unless you're paying Jeremy Foley the SEC and BCS Championship payout from 2009, and at least a Capital One Bowl payout from 2010.

Temple: do you know what time it is?

Time to dive, bitch, you and your new head coach!!!

No, really, it is.

When someone says the word "recruiting", college football fans generally think of incoming freshmen. This is a skill that coaches have to thrive at, being able to convince a high school kid to play for his team.

Will Muschamp, as everybody knws, is a phenomonal recruiter.

He's known to poach recruits from far across the land.

Recruits, meaning high school kids.

But what the hell did he say to convince Janoris Jenkins to stay for his senior year?

I mean, really, think about it- the guy is a Top 10 Draft pick in everybody's mock draft. Scouts are oohhing and ahhing over his talent. Basically, everyone assured him that going pro was the best decision.

Everyone, that is, except Will Muschamp, who HAD to have had something to do with his decision. There's no way Jenkins just sat down with his family and decided to stay. It's just not possible.

So how about that huge victory for Will Muschamp. This is a great sign for Florida- if he can convince Jenkins to stay, then you have to wonder if he could snag a guy at the last minute on signing day.

The only downside to this is that Florida loses any chance it previously had to land Nick Waisome, the UF-no-wait-Alabama-no-I'm-sure-this-time-UF-no-I-mean-FSU recruit.

Obviously, the upside is that Florida has a corner that it can depend on.

Will Muschamp should bottle and sell whatever he said to Jenkins, because it would sell more than ice cold Gatorade at a noon game in the Swamp.

Now, onto the football part of this:

Ryan basically stole what I was going to say, except for one thing: the leadership.

I'm not saying Jenkins can serve up some rousing speeches at halftime against Auburn in a tie game. I am saying that he should be able to lead by example, and give Josh Evans, Jaylen Watkins and Matt Elam time grow as defensive backs, and when they're inserted into the lineup, they'll be ready.

Looking back, when I first heard the news, I thought that it was complete BS. Jenkins has one reason to stay- to play under a pro-style defense under Will Muschamp.

Like Ryan said, Will Muschamp is in essence our defensive coordinator. Dan Quinn is just along for the ride.

Will Muschamp is also the best recruiter in the land.

Who else could save a top 5 class and retain the best cornerback in the country?

I typically try to keep this section more about opinions than news, but this one was just too surprising not to put something up.  I'll throw in my two cents as well to justify it.

Less than a week ago there were several reports that Janoris Jenkins was foregoing his senior season in favor of the NFL draft.  Despite Jenkins being a huge loss for the Gators, there was barely any discussion about this because pretty much everyone knew it was coming.

Now, a few days later, the shocking announcement that Jenkins will NOT be entering the draft and will instead be returning for his senior season has come out.

My first reaction to this was that it is going to really spoil my "Biggest offseason losses" article that I've been working on, since Jenkins was near the top of that list.  At least it will make the painful decision of who to put #1 on that list between Jenkins and *spoiler alert* Ahmad Black much easier.

As a Gator fan, I'm ecstatic that Jenkins is coming back.  Jenkins was our best offense early on in 2010, as we repeatedly found ourselves in close games against weak teams that were finally broken open when our opponent made the mistake of trying to throw at Jenkins.  Beyond the countless crucial turnovers he forced this year, having Jenkins on one side of the field allows us great freedom with our defensive playcalling.  Like Austin in 2010, Muschamp/Quinn can now be much more aggressive with blitzes and also can protect the weaker DB play on the other side (though Jeremy Brown is coming along nicely) with safety help.  And let's not forget his ability to take big name receivers out of the game.  AJ Green will likely be a top 10 pick in the NFL draft this April, and Julio Jones will likely be a first rounder as well.  Jenkins shut them both down.  If the Jets had Revis island, then we have Jenkins island, and he is only going to get better as a Senior.

On the flipside, as a fan of Gator players, I can't help but think that Jenkins is making a poor decision.  If he were to leave for the NFL right now he would almost certainly be a top 15 overall pick, which is getting near the peak of where a DB can go in the draft.  He could maybe vault his stock 5-7 spots higher this offseason, but is that really worth the risk of an injury or off year?  It just seems like there is a lot more room to fall down than to rise up.  Maybe he's worried about a lockout, or maybe he was just salivating at what he could do in a Will Muschamp defense.

Either way, having Janoris Jenkins be a part of the 2011 Florida Gators is going to make this team a lot better.  People wondered about Muschamp's ability to recruit.  While the recruiting of high school players still has a month left, Muschamp may have already won the biggest recruit already in school in the SEC.

Nothing has come out yet on whether or not this will affect Will Hill's decision to go pro.  It would be ironic if Jenkins stays on for his senior year while Hill sticks to his decision to go pro.  Hill is all talent and no production, a disappointment so far.  If anyone could use a year playing in a Will Muschamp defense (and getting better as a player under him) it is a guy like Will Hill.

The good news about these guys is that nobody can catch them in a footrace.

The bad news is that they're seniors.

These guys can run like hell but nobody really knew it last year because of our best buddy, Steve Addazio. Watch the way these guys can fly.

If you notice detail, then why don't you guess where most of their biggest plays (against SEC teams, FSU, and bowl games) were?

You guessed it. 2008. With Dan Mullen calling the plays.

Of course, Charlie Weis's new system will be completely new, but the speed will remain. A lot of other guys could break out, too, like Chris Dunkley, Omarious Hines, Frankie Hammond, Andre Debose, etc.

Speaking of Debose, it's unbelievable how Addazio never used him. I think that he thought that Debose was a wizard, not a football player. That's because every time he touches the ball, something magical happens.

If he gets involved the way he should, then Demps and Rainey are freed up because suddenly they're not the only threats on offense. So if they will succeed, then Debose along with Mike Gillislee will be tearing up the field too.

Here are their strengths and weaknesses in a nutshell: Both can fly, but there are some differences bwtween them. Demps can shake off hits at a rate far more than his size would suggest, and can block pretty well also. It's just that he doesn't know exactly where to block- of course, that could have had to do with Addazio. Rainey, on the other hand, can break tackles as well as anybody, but his blocking is behind Demps' and he has slightly better hands in the receiving game. Both, however, can catch reasonably well.

So these guys will be utilized with more than just running. Coach Weis gets pissed off when backs whiff on blocks, which was a big issue last year when Mike Gillislee moved left to block a gust of wind and Kelvin Sheppard came in untouched for an easy sack. So look for them to be involved in blitz pickups, too.

Basically, these guys can do it all. If Charlie Weis uses them right, they will.

To finish this post, I want to touch on one more thing: how this affects Brantley.

As Ryan mentioned, Brantley's confidence is badly shaken and needs a big boost early in the season. He needs to regain leadership, but in order to do that, he's got to have something go right for Florida. He needs a big confidence booster for the Gators as a team.

What better can you think of than Demps or Rainey breaking a big one to start their senior season?

John Brantley was supposed to be UF's next great quarterback.  After sitting behind Tebow for three years, 2010 was going to bring us a new offense suited to Brantley's dropback passing style, and he was going to light up the scoreboards.

Of course, what actually happened was the polar opposite of that.  The offense was not adjusted, and Brantley was horrendous.  Against SEC opponents plus FSU and Penn State he completed 52% of his passes at 6 yards per attempt with 5 TDs and 9 interceptions.  Was his awful season the result of the horrific, poorly suited offensive system and play calling of Steve Addazio, or was it the result of John Brantley just not being very good?

The short answer is "both".  Obviously, Brantley was not put into a position to succeed.  He was asked to run an offense that was suited to quarterbacks that are nothing like him, and a poor version of that offense at that.  To make matters worse, we eventually went to a three QB system that often saw Brantley on the bench for two plays only to be called in to try and convert a 3rd and long.  Any quarterback that makes the majority of their throws on 3rd and long is going to have poor efficiency numbers.  And let's not forget the horrific O-line play this season.

But that doesn't tell the whole story about John Brantley.  Brantley is an inaccurate passer that has difficulty reading the field, is afraid to take chances, and has almost no leadership capabilities.

People love to talk about the rotating quarterbacks not allowing Brantley to get into a rhythm, and there's certainly some truth to that.  But you don't need rhythm to accurately throw a 3 yard crossing route or 5 yard out, and Brantley struggled even with those passes.  Brantley's decision making reminded me of Matt Leinart in the pros.  A 'captain checkdown' who's so quick to look for the underneath outlets that he never really even gives the downfield options a chance.

If Brantley chooses not to transfer, he'll likely be Florida's starting QB next year (at least out of the gates) in spite of a horrific 2010.  Driskel won't start as a true fresman, and Brantley is more suited to Weis' pro-style offense than Reed is.  His leash won't be long, and regaining the confidence of his teammates (who were visibly upset with him in the FSU game) won't be easy.  Brantley was already a somber, poor leader even before his teammates gave up on him, and now that will only get harder.

The plus side is that I believe Brantley can be adequate in a pro style offense.  Sure, his upside may be Doug Johnson (and not just because he wears #12 and his passes always sail high), but you can win 10 games with Doug Johnson and good coaching, as Florida did in '97 and '98.  What Brantley needs is a simple offense with easy reads.  But the most important fix for Brantley will be mental.  If his confidence remains what it is right now then he will be useless, and we'll see nothing but checkdowns out of him until he checks down to a comfy spot on the bench.  Rebuilding a quarterback's confidence is extremely difficult.  Doing it with a quarterback as mentally weak as Brantley appears to be may be impossible, but it's his only chance.

So what do you guys think, is Brantley just a victim of a bad offensive scheme that was not suited to him, or would he have failed even in a system built for him?

With the Steve Addazio nightmare finally over, the task of rebuilding the side of the ball that's not called defense (can we really even call what we had in 2010 an "offense"?) now falls into the hands of one of Will Muschamp's first hires, Charlie Weis.

I'll get right to the point here, the hiring of Charlie Weis is a huge coup.  A successful NFL offensive coordinator coming off a great season and taking a college job that's not a head coaching position?  I don't think many people dreamed that would happen.

Sure, the Notre Dame fiasco is the freshest thing in most people's minds when the name 'Charlie Weis' comes up, but some people just make great coordinators and not great coaches.  Josh McDaniels is one of those guys, Mike Martz is one of those guys, Romeo Crennel is one of those guys, and yes, Charlie Weis is one of those guys.

When Florida lost (got rid of) Steve Addazio, we lost one thing.  Recruiting.  For as much as Addazio sucked at everything a person can possibly suck at, he was still a good recruiter.  How he convinced those kids to come play in his wretched offense is beyond me, but somehow he did.  Charlie Weis brings that same recruiting panache with him, without the part about sucking at everything else.  For all the struggles he had at Notre Dame, his teams there were good at two things, scoring points and bringing in top recruits.  Those two things will be his only jobs at Florida.

So let's look back at the career of Charlie Weis.

He entered the NFL in 1990 and spent his first seven years as various types of assistant coaches (running backs coach, tight ends coach, wide receivers coach, etc).  After spending 1996 as the wide receivers coach for the New England Patriots' explosive offense, he was given his first gig as an offensive coordinator in 1997 with the New York Jets.  That Jets offense actually took a step back in '97 from where they were in '96 (mediocre), but in '98, in Weis' second year, they finished 4th in the league in offense.  You may remember 1998 as the last good season of Vinny Testeverde's career, one year after he was cut by Baltimore.

In 1999, Testeverde got injured early on and the Jets offense took a big step backwards with Rick Mirer and Ray Lucas leading the charge.  New England had seen enough though, and hired Weis to be their new offensive coordinator in 2000.

New England's offensive stats are not as good in the early 2000's as people remember.  They put up a lot of points, but not a ton of yards.  A big part of that was the strength of their defense, which led to the Pats nursing a lot of leads.  Of course, the big thing everyone will remember from that era is the decision to go with Tom Brady as their starting quarterback, and many super bowl victories to follow.

By 2005, the Patriots were rolling along with Brady and Weis and a top 5 offense, when the Notre Dame job became available.  Weis took over a team that had finished 82nd in the country in total offense in 2004, and led them to a 10th place finish in his first year in 2005.  2006 was similar, as many of you will recall the media believing ND to be a national championship contender during those years, but their defense was just too bad.  In 2007, Brady Quinn had graduated and the nation's top recruit Jimmy Clausen got the start for Notre Dame in what proved to be a horrible year, offensively as well as defensively.  Notre Dame's offense didn't come back until 2009, Clausen's junior year, when they again finished in the nation's top 10.

Finally, Weis was fired from Notre Dame after the 2009 season where a top 10 offense paired with a horrible defense led to a 6-6 finish.  He took over the Chiefs job in 2010.  The Chiefs had finished 2009 with the league's 25th ranked offense, made no major personnel changes in 2010, and ended up finishing 12th in Weis' first year there, vastly improving as the season went on.

So what conclusions can we draw about Charlie Weis?  For starters, he is not the type of guy who has finished with a top 5 offense at every stop along the way.  In fact, his offenses, statistically, have rarely finished in that threshold.  On the flipside, in every case, his teams have all shown a drastic offensive improvement within two years of his arrival, in more cases than is just pure coincidence.  With Florida, and following up Steve Addazio, that will be no tall order as a band of merry monkeys could probably coach this offense to a significant improvement within the next two years.

What we have in Charlie Weis is a guy who has been successful at running pro style offenses, and is a good recruiter.  What more could we have asked for with this hire?  That's a serious question, for the people that are disappointed with Weis, who would you have rather had?  Sure, a guy like Steve Spurrier or Gus Mahlzan would have been great, but I'm looking for reasonable answers here as obviously Spurrier is not going to take an OC position and Mahlzan probably won't move until he gets a head coaching gig.  I know a lot of Gators wanted Kerwin Bell, and while I would have liked to see what he could do as well that was before I ever dreamed that a guy like Wess would take a college OC job.  And were his son not soon to be enrolled at Florida, he likely wouldn't have.

Will Muschamp will have our defense ready to go within two years, as he has everywhere he's been.  Charlie Weis should do the same for the offense.  The coaching staff is really shaping up, and the major question left for Florida next year is whether John Brantley sucked because he played for Addazio, or whether he sucked and also played for Addazio.  That's something we'll be exploring here soon.

As for Dan Quinn, the new defensive coordinator hire, all you really need to know there is that he has a history with Muschamp and will likely be there to run the day to day things with the defense.  Let's make no mistake about it here, Muschamp loves defense and he is our real defensive coordinator.

Steve Addazio is finally gone.  Before he left, however, he called plays for Florida's offense one final time in the Outback Bowl.

The game was pretty much what we've come to expect out of Addazio.  Actually, the game was exactly what we've come to expect of him.  Short passes, predictable runs up the middle, and a lot of offensive ineptitude.  Fortunately, this was one of those games where the defense bailed us out, scoring twice and setting up the offense with a short field countless other times.  Sure, Florida scored 37 points on the day, but Florida's touchdown drives on the day went for 0, 0, 15, and 25 yards.

Revel in this game Gator fans.  Revel in the fact that this was the last time you'll have to watch a team consistently try to pick up 2 yards and 3rd and 8 (I counted at least 4 times we ran two yard crossing routes into traffic on 3rd and 5 or longer, and at least one other QB draw on third and long).  Revel in the fact that this was the last time you'll have to see us go an entire half where the furthest the ball ever traveled downfield in the air was 12 yards (with the second furthest being a 4 yard slant pass to Karl Moore on 3rd and long early in the game), which Florida did once again on Saturday.

That is, unless you decide to start watching Temple football.  I'm sure you'll see plenty of that there if you ever miss it.

There were lots of interesting stats that came out of this game.  John Brantley went 6/13 for 41 yards with an INT.  More impressive about that performance though is the whopping 3.2 yards per attempt.  Jordan Reed's horrible 4.6 ypa actually seems good by those standards.  As bad as those ypa numbers are, the yards per completion numbers are even scarier at 7.2.  Not only was that by FAR (needed some emphasis there) the worst yards per completion number of any team that played on Saturday, but it was also worse than more than half of the teams that played on Saturday's yards per attempt numbers.

Our leading rusher (Reed), rolled downfield at 2.8 yards per rush on 24 carries.  Some of that was set back by sack yardage, but still, we see what happens when the defense knows that every play is going to be a run up the middle or a pass within 3 yards of the line of scrimmage.

Truly, our best offense on the day was our defense, and that's where our stat of the game comes in.  Ahmad Black was, in a sense, our leading receiver.  His 129 return yards on his 2 interceptions were more than every Gator receiver had on offense combined, and by a comfortable margin.

And that is how Steve Addazio leaves us, as fantastically as he began.  Farewell, Steve Addazio, and good luck Temple Owl fans.