Tebowmania is crazy. It never ends, and gets stronger and picks up new followers each week.  Then there are the people who knew him for awhile, or got acquainted with him at some point down the road.

Brainless Urlachers' postgame thoughts on Tebow: "He's a good running back." OK, sure. Let's go with that. Everybody can believe that heading into the game with Tebow. That spurred me to think of what other people would say when asked about Tebow after his most recent miracle.

So here's what everybody else has to say (note: this is realistic fiction, because I can totally picture these guys saying this about Tebow).

Former Florida Gators and now Ohio State Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer

I'm just real proud of Tim, and what he's doing, I knew he could do it and I'm so proud of him for saving me while I was taking my nap. It goes to show you, with good coaching he puts up 50 points, and with bad or no coaching he just finds a way to win games.

ESPN Analyst Merril Hoge

I don't care how much he wins. He needs to get better. Period. He needs better mechanics, or he won't succeed. Winning isn't succeeding. Looking good is succeeding. I'd rather he have Tom Brady's mechanics and go 2-14 than have Tim Tebow flailing wildly and making the playoffs. Looking like a real QB is all that matters, not winning. I refuse to budge.

Former Florida State Seminoles coach Bobby Bowden

The dadgum guy just wins. He must have gotten that from the dadgum garnet paint that was smeared on his jersey in the 2008 game against us. I'm happy for the kid that our end zone paint and winning rubbed off on him, dadgummit.

Rapper Kanye West

(Jumping onstage and grabbing the microphone at the Emmys) Imma let you finish, but first I gotta say Tim Tebow is the best QB of ALL TIME. ALL TIME. All he does is win win win no matter what, got Jesus on his mind, haters never get enough, but all he does is win, win, win, and if haters don't like that they can go jump off a bridge!

New York Jets coach Rex Ryan

He can't play. He didn't do anything so spectacular. If I never give credit to anybody and instead talk trash, why give Tebow anything? Bible Boy can't do anything right but run for two yards. Now excuse me, I've got to go see the doctor about my foot fetish.

Comedian Daniel Tosh

He's terrible. But what do I know? I'm a comedian, not a football analyst. That's because my football analysis is so off base, it's funny. I can admit when I'm wrong. I'm just a little depressed after he owned my Dolphins. That's all. He's great. (HE SUCKS.) I don't know what I'm saying. Maybe I should just stick to comedy.

Alabama Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban

I'd considered asking Roger Goodell to allow the Alabama Crimson Tide into the NFL, since you know, that's where all my guys wind up anyway. Then I watched Tim Tebow against Chicago. I immediately called up my boss and told him forget it. The guy's won 6 straight games, he's pissed off, and he's pissed off at MY TEAM. That's a bad combination. Forget it. Not happening.

Temple Owls coach Steve Addazio

Dive dive dive dive dive dive... what? Dude, I'm on a recruiting trip. I've got these twins, nationally ranked 9th grade swimmers, who could really help my dive program. Their names are Ashley and Sarah and they are both interested in diving (into brick walls, but I haven't told them that yet, that's a surprise for later) for four years. And you want me to comment on Tebow? OK, fine. He's doing OK, but he'd be better if he just ran the dive more. OK? Happy now?

Baylor Bears QB Robert Griffin III

Well, I guess I've got to throw out the Broncos gear John Elway secretly sent me.

Carolina Panthers QB Cam Newton

He may be able to run with and throw the pigskin well against big, nasty defenses like the best of them, but can he run with and throw the laptop against big, nasty security guards like the best of them- like me?

ESPN Analyst Mel Kiper

Whatever, I don't care anymore. ESPN just paid me to bash him for an offseason, and that offseason is over. Onto doing research on how Andrew Luck will be a bigger bust than JaMarcus Russell.

Kansas coach Charlie Weis

Ehhh... he doesn't eat enough cheeseburgers for me to invest in him.

There was one person, on the other hand, that didn't completely smash Tebow's name. In fact, he praised Tebow. He gave the impression it was an honor to watch him playHe seems to know a fair bit about the game, based on his past credentials and resume. He may not be able to pull out ridiculous comebacks week in and week out like Tebow, but he's one of the game's greatest of all time: New England Patriots QB Tom Brady.

I never wanted Charlie Weis fired, but only because I never want a coach fired in his first season.

But let's be honest: what did he do for our program?

No more making fun of Urban Meyer. He won two BCS Championships. Charlie Weis won six games.

How to ditch a program, starring Charlie Weis.

Sounds like a movie title to me.

Weis has taken the head coaching job at Kansas effective immediately. Running backs coach Brian White will serve as offensive coordinator for the Gator Bowl against Ohio State and will continue to serve as interim offensive coordinator until Muschamp finds a replacement.

This may affect recruiting drastically, but one big target that wasn't swayed was star tight end Colin Thompson. This was from his facebook page:

"Sorry for not getting back to everyone tonight about Coach Weis leaving UF, i am happy for him and I wish him the best. I am still a Gator and always will be a Gator. Hope everyone can come out to the game tomorrow night vs ACC at Northeast high school at 7pm"

Well, that's good. But what a lying scumbag our offensive genius turned out to be.

He was supposed to be our hero, our savior, the guy who resurrected John Brantley's career and got Florida back to national prominence. He was supposed to be the guy that erased Steve Addazio's ineptitude and be the play-calling genius he was hailed as all his life.

Yeah... that never quite happened.

Honestly, there wasn't anybody happier than Ryan was about the Weis hire, except for me. Both of us were giddy when we saw that Muschamp had chosen him as our offensive coordinator. I said in one of my first posts on this site that Weis would probably be here a long time, and if he wasn't it would be because he either dropped dead or lied.

But we ignored the warning signs that came with each of Weis' four tons.

The lies.

Specifically, the family lies that we haven't heard for a whole year.

Florida was perfect because his wife was interested in horses, and because there was a perfect school for his special needs daughter nearby. Oh, sorry, ladies, but now I'm gonna move us out of here because I feel it's necessary for myself. Never mind the fact that you just got comfortable. It's about me. Never mind that my son goes to UF and wants to be a grad assistant under me.

Family is supposedly why Weis came to UF in the first place. But haven't we heard that before? Didn't our last head coach tell eerily similar stories about family, family, family?

Whatever. He didn't help us at all, so let's be done with him now. Just because the guy needs a crane to leave his house doesn't mean it's OK for him to play ding dong ditch with our program, but he did it and it's over.

Now, the Gators must find a REAL offensive coordinator after employing back to back dunderheads.

The good news is that it's a very appealing job for the top offensive minds.

I'd like to get Kerwin Bell, for many reasons. First, he's a Gator through and through, which is never a bad thing. Second, it's a job that he would PROBABLY hold for a long time because of the first reason. Because he is currently the Jacksonville Dolphins head coach, and because the University of Florida basically has two head football coaches (one for offense, one for defense), it's seen as both a promotion and less pressure for him. Obviously, JU to UF is a gigantic step up, and going from head coach to offensive coordinator means less to have to worry about.

Third, it would be great for recruiting. For Bell to be able to say to a kid that he's looking to really launch himself, and he needs talent like you to do it is enormous. It means all the world to the kid and his family to hear something like that.

Finally, the offense he runs is exciting, and must feature GOOD BLOCKING, which is something that has been overtly ABSENT from our football team.

There are other options, but the one that not many people are thinking about is none other than thebone's favorite: Kevin Sumlin. Think: he would get to work with Jeff Driskel and Jacoby Brissett, and the jump from Houston to Florida in prestige is huge, and he would still be in control of his own offense.

That's the situation all the hotshot young offensive geniuses would face at UF. They would get to run their own offense, like they did as head coach of a less prestigious school, and wouldn't have to worry about hiring assistant coaches for defense because Coach BOOM employs men who helped make Florida's defense 10th in the nation.

But from the other perspective, I'm not so sure the Gators want a young hotshot. It goes something like this: if you're an offensive coordinator outside the SEC and SEC fans know your name, you're about to become a head coach in the foreseeable future. That's why I don't want Gus Malzahn. He would only be a one year solution. I want somebody who would be here at least three. Malzahn (and other big names like him) has bigger aspirations than sharing a head coaching job. Bell would not for at least a couple of years, and it would be Sumlin's last stop before taking full control of his own program.

Wanting Kevin Sumlin is a bit of a reach, but I would take him in a heartbeat. Kerwin Bell appears to be the best long term (three years or more) solution that also seems the most likely to accept the position.

It's all speculation, and we'll see how things play out.

One thing is for sure: Charlie Weis has more tons in his person than ethics.

It's been difficult to root for the Gators the past couple of years, a team that went 0-6 against the SEC West plus FSU and South Carolina, teams that we always beat up on and owned in the last few decades.

And although most people point to the humongous drop from 2009 to 2010, it's really been a multi year process.

The Florida Gators annihilated pretty much everybody in their way under Urban Meyer for the first four years of his tenure. They were always not far from or on the top of the mountain. There was a dropoff from the BCS CHampionship team in 2006 to 2007, but there was also a load of youngsters who needed experience. They got it and in 2008 the Gators won it all again.

They still beat everybody in year 5, until they got to the SEC Championship- where Alabama exposed Steve Addazio's offense for the train wreck it was and knocked the Gators off the mountaintop. This time, however, the Gators didn't grab on to the mountain until they had fallen all the way out of the top third in the nation.

2010 (8-5) was not a horrible season for the average team's standard. Think about it. Ron Zook's years actually weren't that bad. We made bowl games in each of his three seasons. 64 teams made bowl games those years. We were always in the top half of the country. But then we fell from the middle of the top half to the bottom in 2011.

There's a long offseason ahead, so I'll get into what exactly caused this fall from grace, and no, it wasn't all Urban Meyer's fault. Nor was it all Steve Addazio's fault. But the point is, this is as far as the Gator can fall. I refuse to believe the University of Florida can do any worse than they've done this year. Even if we had Ron Zook again, he couldn't do any worse. He would at least recruit the right players to win 7 games.

Shout out to Atlanta Gator. He was right when he said the Gators' fall from grace has been sharp. But it's also complete. There is nowhere to go but up. Our head coach is a great recruiter and has a great track record of developing nasty defensive players- Sergio Kindle, Brian Orakpo and Sen'Derrick Marx are the most recent. And our offensive coordinator has a great track record of his own, spending time with guys like Tom Brady and at least helping to develop them into great QB's.

Our defense is already there at championship level. Would anybody be shocked if I told you that our defense is top 10 in the country?

It's our offense that needs improvement now, and once Charlie Weis is done weeding out the Addazio players and replenishing our roster with pro style offense players (although losing running back Mike Davis was a big blow) we should be much better than we are now- and it will show in our record.

If there's a guy who can pull us out of this hole, it's Muschamp. Because he's a disciple of Nick Saban- and Nick Saban doesn't let guys just hang on his coattails. While Saban does call his defenses, his defensive coordinators have always been very involved.

So it may take some time, but Florida has the pieces in place- or will- to get back to the top. And soon.

There's a glass case that contains a nauseating secret in Will Muschamp's office.

Some call it the metal rod inserted in his leg after badly breaking the bone. Muschamp calls it adversity in a box.

He promised that his team would overcome adversity when faced with it.

Well, the Florida Gators are faced with a Mount Everest of adversity now. Or more accurately, we find out how much pride is left in this Gator team.

The hideous loss to Georgia knocked the Gators out of the SEC East race... so why keep playing? The answer is simple: pride and self-respect.

This senior class has been one of the best to take the field for the Gators. How do they finish? Most importantly, how does Muschamp finish a rocky first year?

Do the Gators wake up, cut the mistakes and win their final five games (bowl game included), or do they continue to play like garbage and lose their last four?

These remaining four games are all tossups. Even Furman (who nearly beat South Carolina last season). But the Gators lost two straight tossup games. Bouncing back and winning all four, and then a bowl game, would be huge. Losing all four could mean the end of Muschamp's career before next season even begins.

Let's take a look at the implications of all the possible scenarios.

A win over Vanderbilt and this team is feeling good about itself. They're no joke this year and by now everybody knows it. As much as we Gator fans are locked in a silly phase of nostalgia, we need to look at the here and now- this is a legitimate team. This win would give us confidence heading into Columbia to take on a weary South Carolina team fresh off a tough game at Arkansas. A loss in the Swamp to Vanderbilt, however, and Muschamp and Florida's bowl hopes are in trouble.

Getting a win in Columbia will be difficult, because the Gamecocks still have a tenacious defense led by Melvin Ingram and Jadeveon Clowney, and Alshon Jeffrey is always good for a pair of touchdowns. But if Florida can get it done, they'll be riding high and probably blow Furman out. It'll also be sweet payback for knocking Florida out of Atlanta last year. (Then we'll root for Georgia. We'll get payback on them next year, and we can only get revenge on the Gamecocks this year, so let's avenge one of two and knock SC out like they did to us). A second loss in a row to South Carolina could kill any hopes of a decent bowl game.

A win against Furman is expected; a loss here and I'm calling for Muschamp's head. It's that simple.

If there's one game I want to win above all others, you guessed it- it's FSU. It's not just another game, it's a final shot at redemption for Muschamp, and more importantly, the seniors. Then there's the embarrassing blowout the Noles handed the Gators last year, and a Florida victory could really kill FSU's bowl hopes. Of course, it's always nice to give our seniors a proper send off in the Swamp. Oh, and there's a fellow named Stefon Diggs, one of the nation's top receivers, who will be in attendance for this game, and a good UF showing could lure him into the Swamp.

Winning all four will ressurect the Gators' season, and maybe get them back into the Top 25, which is always our goal. I'd be really impressed with Florida if they could bounce back and win four straight. It's definitely something voters would consider for next year's preseason poll, and would be a great message to fans that Muschamp's boys never give up.

The season is far from over. Our chances at Atlanta are gone, but we have four mini seasons left to go, and we must win them all to show that we have pride.

What's left in us, really? I ask you: what is left of our program? Do we fold just because we've been eliminated? Or do we play with heart, guts and pride?

I'll give you my prediction: Florida will lose three of four because they will mercilessly beat themselves.

There, I said it. We'll beat Furman and lose the other three.

Vanderbilt's been so close to pulling off numerous signature wins. The reason they didn't was because the other team made one mistake too few. Arkansas made plenty of errors, but buckled down in crunch time to win. South Carolina made a slew of miscues, but stood up tall when it mattered in the end. Georgia didn't play perfect, but Vandy couldn't catch them napping in the end.

Florida is the worst team in the nation with penalties. They haven't forced a turnover since the Kentucky game. Not only will they not beat Vandy playing like that- they'll get crushed. If I'm James Franklin, I don't even play aggressive- I just sit back and watch Florida fumble the ball away, penalize themselves into 3rd and 20 and then drop punts. I really hope I'm wrong, but Vandy's just been so close so many times and the only thing missing was a late turnover.

South Carolina's defense excels in forcing turnovers, and Spurrier just needs to run a game-managing offense, one that methodically moves the chains, kills clock and eventually scores. He just needs to wait for Florida to beat themselves. And the way they're going lately, they will.

Losing to Furman is unthinkable. One thing Florida is very good at is playing tough defense. Not forcing turnovers, but not allowing teams to rumble through them. Furman won't do much.

FSU isn't a great team, they're average. How Florida does against them depends on if they play FSU or Florida. What I mean is, do they play well, or do they play like trash? EJ Manuel is good, not great. Does Florida pressure him or do they take a nap and allow him to beat them? FSU's defense is good, not great. Does Florida attempt to block them or do they snooze? It's completely up to them. I believe they'll beat themselves again.

Here's my problem with Muschamp, and with Weis. It's understandable for teams to be committing penalties left and right and miss blocking assignments in the first few weeks of a coach's tenure. But it's week 10, and the same issues not only haven't gone away, they're worse. This team shows no sign of improvement from week 1, and if anything, regressions. Sure, the competition has gotten better, but we're supposed to get better as the season goes on. That's a coach's job, and Muschamp has not done that. He's come out and admitted it, which is good, but until I see a big improvement over a two game span, I cannot trust this team.

Do I think Muschamp and Weis can get the Gators back to the top eventually? Yes. They will get guys that suit their systems and we will see an improvement next year. DJ Humphries, Jessamen Dunker and Omari Phillips, three of the nation's top 15 offensive linemen, are on the way, as are Mike Davis and Matt Jones to install a real physical pro style running attack. Jeff Driskel and Jacoby Brissett will have the summer to improve and learn the complete Charlie Weis offense. So the future looks very good for Florida.

Just be prepared to lose a few more games we shouldn't first.

I seriously doubt there is a single Gator fan in existence that does not remember the fake field goal by LSU last year to save the game for the Tigers and seal a win in the Swamp.

That was one of the games that Steve Addazio got plenty of help from his defense and special teams and still lost. Of course, if the offense functions at all then there's a 50-something next to Florida's name on the scoreboard and there's nothing to worry about, but still, had the football not bounced like a basketball on Derek Helton's pitch to Josh Jasper the Gators would have won.

But forget that for a minute. There were obvious deficiencies that were concealed a year ago until Alabama exposed them, and instead of getting together to discuss the issues and how to solve them, Urban Meyer took a Tylenol for his chest pains and took a nap, and the rest of the coaches followed the leader. The rest of them, that is, but Addazio.

Steve Addazio isolated himself in his room and worked on a number of things in his free time. They included writing invitations to linebackers for free trips through the A-gap tunnel and into the backfield, drawing up more creative ways to throw 3 yard hitch routes, and how to turn one of your most explosive players (Trey Burton) into a QB despite his obvious inability to throw the ball.

This coaching staff is nothing like this, as they are all hard workers who follow Will Muschamp's (and, I guess, Nick Saban's) example of not leaving the office until the problem appears fixed. Then, it gets tested out in practice and if there are still problems, get right back in there and work on them some more until it's fixed for real.

So forget working on fake posters with phony quotes from Jarrett Lee. Forget stomping on the eye of the Tiger or telling your band to spell out "Geaux Heauxme You Heauxmeauxs" or anything silly like that. Don't even think about doing the Gator Chomp after a score. Just play football. Work on your issues.

This is what I want to see in Baton Rouge:

Better blocking

The blocking was simply horrendous against Alabama. Horrendous as in Steve Addazio horrendous. Maybe even worse. It's got be reversed against a nasty Tiger defense that will harass Jeff Driskel 24/7. If Florida wants any chance whatsoever, they have to block a decillion times better than they did last week. This will free up Rainey and Demps, who were grounded a week ago completely, which should open up one on one matchups for Driskel to exploit and slowly gain comfortability as Florida's QB.

More pressure

Not only did AJ McCarron have all day to throw, not only did Trent Richardson take handoffs and have enough time to play eenie-meenie-minie-moe over which gap to rumble through, the Gators often sent a heavy number of defenders and produced ZERO pressure. The Gators absolutely cannot allow Jarrett Lee any time to throw, because he can hurt Florida deep. And if Michael Ford or Spencer Ware get comfortable running up the gut... game over.

Driskel slowly worked in

Warm him up with soft, easy tosses to Rainey and Demps on screen plays, and if LSU covers them to start with, toss an easy hitch route to Burton or Jordan Reed. Slowly get him acclimated with being a Florida QB, and eventually begin to exploit those one on one mismatches that Charlie Weis is so fond of.

Great special teams

It was special teams that ultimately doomed the Gators last year, despite Andre Debose returning a kick for a TD. It could doom Florida once again if they aren't very careful of Lesprechaun Miles and his bag of tricks.

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It's a business. The Gators have issues that need fixing. This is a business trip to Baton Rouge, and if the business part goes well, then the fun can begin.

As Caleb Sturgis's field goal split the uprights to increase the Gators' lead to 10-3, the Swamp was going crazy.

So was I.

But in a different fashion.

I was screaming at the TV, here we go again, not being able to convert touchdowns in the red zone. And I knew the Gators had to play a perfect game in order to beat Alabama, which was gone the instant they had to bring in Sturgis.

What I didn't know is just how bad it would be.

Simply put, the Gators are not there yet.

Where to start? The red zone issues were sad, true, but there was a lot more to Florida's worst home loss since 2002. And shockingly, it wasn't penalties, either. No, those disappeared, and hats off to Muschamp for that. But there was a new, equally embarrassing issue.

The Gators got manhandled in the trenches like I've never seen before, on both sides of the line of scrimmage.

Last week, Kentucky the drug got us Gator fans high, saying stupid things like watch out Alabama. I was admittedly among them. But the effects of drugs does eventually wear off and people who took them fall back to earth. And last night we got a scary sight of how real our team is- how really inept we are up front.

My deepest thoughts go out to Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps. They are two of the most explosive players in Gators history, who will have to watch both their junior and senior seasons as the Gators rebuild. They didn't have great games last night, but then they had nowhere to go. Rainey did break off a nice run, but that was the lone highlight for the two of them combined.

Seriously, I wondered at times if the Gators were even trying. It's understandable when you're down 38-10, but it was 24-10 for the entire third quarter, and there was absolutely no push then. In fact, aside from a few select plays in the first quarter, there was no push at all.

The real shame is John Brantley. Just when he showed that maybe he can be a legitimate QB, he got injured. Why? Oh, right, because he was under more pressure than a Middle Eastern president. His secret service did a horrible job blocking for him, and that's what led to his 48 yard TD pass to Courtney Upshaw.

OK, so you get it the blocking was bad, the front 7 was bad, what else?

That's all that needs to go wrong, because when you can't tackle an opposing running back, the doors to play-action are kicked open, now the defense is really scrambling, it sets up the one on one mismatches that Charlie Weis is so fond of but Dan Quinn is not, and so on. Now combine that with not being able to block... your running game has been powered off... meaning your QB, despite having those sacred one on one matchups, CANNOT GET RID OF THE BALL, meaning sacks and turnovers are just bound to happen, and maybe injuries as well. And that's exactly what happened.

This is an issue that needs to get better quick, because if it doesn't, it will become the Gators' achilles heel. It's also an issue that hides the rest of your team. Alabama never knew how good Rainey and Demps were, because they never got in space. Three beautiful passes aside, John Brantley never had a chance to prove how good he really is. Had the line been a lot more dominant, he might have thrown for 500 yards- who knows?

But let's keep things in perspective. This was Alabama, a team that now controls its own destiny to the BCS Championship and was in the talk since the preseason. Because of the messed up world the Gators live in, they do too- not for the BCS Title (not that you give up on that) but for an SEC East Title with a loss next week at LSU.

At this point, I'm almost conceding another ugly loss next week in Death Valley. I honestly couldn't care less about the final score, as long as it's not disgusting like last night. Because Georgia and South Carolina both have a loss, the Gators can lose next week and then run the table, meaning all three teams would now have two losses but Florida would have the tiebreaker over both of them.

And if Florida can somehow pull the shocker next week? Incredibly, they control their own destiny to the national championship. A victory in the house of the best team in the nation should put them back in the top 15, and if they run the table as other teams go down one by one, they're almost certain to be in the top 5 come the SEC Championship. A win against the West champion (probably Alabama) would prove that it was just a fluke last night. Think about that- 12-1 in the SEC, with Alabama, LSU and Auburn from the West in your schedule, and getting payback shows that you're hot at the right time.

Is that going to happen? Probably not.

But please remember that teams do get better as the season goes on, remember that Will Muschamp and Mickey Marotti do not take too kindly for such foolishness as losing this badly in the Swamp. If any coach can get this team back on the right track, it's Nick Saban. Or any of his disciples.

And before you groan and say that's not going to happen in one week, please remember that LSU has a history of losing big games at home to Florida. See 2003, as the most recent example, although Steve Spurrier also went 5-1 there. In fact, until Urban Meyer's arrival, Florida had lost just two games there since 1979- which was the year the Gators had a perfect record (the wrong kind of perfect).

The Tigers also have a history of putting on choke jobs at home. See Tennessee 2010, where the Vols gift wrapped LSU a win that they had earned, Troy 2008, where LSU trailed 31-3 late in the third quarter until they woke up, calmed down, and took advantage of a few missed opportunities by Troy to close it out and won.

And then there was the Florida game in 2003, when LSU inexplicably did nothing right at all, and lost 19-7.

So, weird things do happen in Death Valley.

Can next week provide another one?

More importantly: can the Gators take a big step forward?

That will depend on the play of the offensive and defensive lines... and the QB.

Through little fault of his own, and this is hard to say, but it's time to bench Brantley even if he's fully healthy. We're going to have a hard enough time next year replacing Rainey and Demps, but to add a QB transition to that is just going to be impossible to do, and next year is the year I expect Florida to be back in the national championship hunt. I'd been saying ever since Tebow left, three years and we're back in the hunt. I'm not saying we have to win it or be a bust, just make a serious run at it. Our chances increase if we make the switch to Driskel now, as he's going to take his lumps sometime or another, why not be now, when we're clearly rebuilding?

Doing this would be kissing our BCS dreams of this year goodbye, but that's OK. I'm not that impatient. I just feel so bad for Brantley, after starting out with what looked like it would be his best game ever end with a serious injury. And I feel just as bad for Rainey and Demps, and even Deonte Thompson, for watching us rebuild for the second straight year.

Our goals for the season have obviously been lowered, but they're still pretty respectable: sweep the three SEC East teams and split the next two games against the West teams. I don't think Furman will be much of a problem, and then beat FSU. Then, if Brantley's healthy, I would play him in the bowl game as a thank you for being loyal, because Driskel will have already had the better part of an SEC season to take his lumps (although I'd still like to win the bowl game so if he's doing terrible then I would bench him before the game gets out of hand).

Doing all this will mean the Gators won 10 games, something even an underachieving team can be proud of, the SEC East, which is always our goal every year, Driskel will be ready for next year and Brantley will have played one last time for the team he loves. And let's all be honest here, there's nothing sweeter than watching a loyal senior clinch your bowl win. Raise your hand if Ahmad Black was not the perfect man to seal the Outback Bowl victory.

I thought so.

So all is not lost. The Gators do have their work cut out for them, but if they improve enough quick enough, the SEC East is theirs.

And if they improve tons by next week, and stay there the rest of the season, from the top ranked team's house through an SEC Championship Game? The BCS Championship is theirs.

It's hard to imagine somebody who is already a Heisman candidate a third of the way into the season as a secret weapon.

But believe it or not, he really is.

The diminutive Rainey has become known and feared by opponents- except for Alabama.

In three games against the Crimson Tide, he has compiled 3 carries for 9 yards. Not exactly Heisman type numbers. Then again, he never really played against them. He left the 2008 SEC Championship Game with a groin pull early, then hurt himself again a year later in the 2009 SEC Championship Game. And then of course there was last year, when Rainey didn't even play at all because he was suspended from the team.

So this is Alabama's first chance to see what this guy is all about.

And he's all about speed.

You can watch all the tape you want. But if you do not have that type of speed on your team to practice against, you can't really know what it's going to be like until you face him in a game. Trent Richardson is a great running back, but not even he has the RPG's Rainey has. Rainey won't be running people over like Richardson, or even like Tebow, but he is a shifty running back that can make even the best tacklers miss.

You know all of that.

Funny thing is, Alabama doesn't. Sure, they might know in THEORY that he's more elusive as a greased pig (sorry Arkansas fans) but until you try tackling him you can't know for sure. Of course, none of us have tried tackling Rainey either, but we've spent the past four years watching other teams try to and mostly fail.

Perhaps the most dangerous thing about Rainey is when he DOESN'T have the ball. Florida also has this guy named Jeff Demps who may have a little speed as well. With people keying on Rainey, Demps can find a runway and take off, like he did against Kentucky. Of course, Kentucky is just a drug but just because you do something when you're under the influence doesn't mean you can't do it in reality- just means it might not happen. But freeing up Rainey is definitely something to try.

If I'm Charlie Weis, I don't use Rainey a whole lot early in the game. I would let Alabama psyche themselves out and overstress stopping Rainey so we can test out the above theory. It's not like Rainey is our only playmaker, far from it. Whatever Weis does, he should use a heavy dose of Demps and Gillislee in the first half, only use Rainey when he really needs big yards.

Charlie Weis has always said that he will wait another year to fully install his pro-style offense with pro-style personnel. Until then, he's just going to ride the talent he has. That's a great way to be, since you'll get the best production out of them in ways you won't get the best production out of guys like Mack Brown or Mike Davis. But he hasn't had the chance to fully unleash them against great opponents... yet.

I'm still not convinced he's fully shown his playbook. I've always thought that he should keep a lot of it bottled up for Alabama and Georgia (I don't care how bad they might be I HATE losing to Georgia in ANYTHING).

What else might he show?

I've been waiting for Weis to unveil the diamond spread, which isn't really a spread as much as it is a diamond. It's where a QB, and three receivers/running backs line up in a diamond shape behind center, and the QB can pitch, hand it off on a counter/sweep/dive play, throw a swing pass, run an option (though not with Brantley, noooooooo way), or even throw a bomb to any one of them. The Gators are completely equipped to run that, as you can use any combination of Demps, Rainey, Burton, Hines, Hammond, Debose, Dunbar and Gillislee- all of whom are really fast and can shake tackles. All the QB needs to do is throw accurate swing passes so the guy is catching it running downhill, and Brantley has done that very well this year.

Maybe Alabama has speed on defense, but they wouldn't be able to stop that. And even if I'm just dreaming and Weis never even thinks of it, it's very difficult to stop a guy you've never really played against before. The Tide defense can work all they want on shooting gaps and pressuring the QB, which they're very good at, but the problem is, if Weis does his job, Rainey won't be in the backfield and Alabama won't have a chance to blow up the play- because Rainey won't be there.

He'll be off and running, and with him, the Florida Gators on his back.

I loved the field goal with a minute and a half left in the game to run up the score to make it 41-3 after FAU coach Howard Schnellenberger did the same thing to Florida when he coached Miami in 1980.

But that was the happiest moment for me.

Sure, there were bright spots, such as Rainey and Demps running rings around FAU defenders, and Brantley looking a lot more confident, and of course a nasty defense, but something just didn't seem right for Florida.

In fact, lots of things didn't seem right.

Let's start with this stat: 3 picks thrown by Florida, none by FAU. This is after Florida's defense picked off an FBS 4th best 22 passes last year. Granted, you lose Janoris Jenkins and Ahmad Black... but you've got ESPNU 150 players taking their places. I understand the lack of experience, but that kind of talent across the board alone should be worth a pick per game, especially against a team like FAU.

On the flip side, Brantley had been hearing all offseason long from Weis NOT to force throws. Then Brantley proceeds to throw a ball that gets tipped at the line and is picked off. Later, Weis calls for a pop route into the end zone. The way for this play to work is to aim it over the crossbar, so only your receiver has a chance to catch it. The idea is, if he doesn't, nobody will. But Johnny B throws a numbers-high ball into triple coverage and guess what happens?

Jeff Driskel had an even worse fate- his first pass as a Gator was picked off. He simply overthrew it, and that's part of being a freshman and taking your lumps. What I don't get is why you put him in so early. Weis may want him to get experience, but what can he possibly prove against FAU? Even if he shreds them for 500 yards... it's still FAU. Big whoop.

Brantley, on the other hand, has this and only this season to prove himself. HE needs the big confidence booster, not Driskel. Put him in when it's 38-3 and leave him in for the rest of the game. Because, like it or not, in tight spots, Brantley will get the call. He has the experience edge over Driskel and will be called upon in crunch time this year. Even Jordan Reed would probably be called upon before Driskel with the game on the line for the simple reason that he has a year under his belt and Driskel does not.

Another major issue is guess where a first down snap went? If you say Brantley's hands, you're incorrect. It went way over his head and all the way into Wakulla County. I thought we'd seen that movie before, and it was too good of a horror film to watch again. I understand it's the first game, and there might be some sloppiness. Having said that, FAU did not do that once, though they did get a punt blocked. This cannot happen if Florida wants to win big games.

Perhaps the most obvious question unanswered: where was the deep ball? With no exaggeration, Brantley threw deep this game as much as he did against Miami Ohio last year, and if you haven't removed the 2010 part of your brain, you know that's NOT GOOD. Wasn't that why Charlie Weis was brought in?

Actually, Weis was brought in to do what he does best- exploit opponents' weaknesses over and over. But he did that too much last night. FAU's weakness was simple- they could not catch Rainey or Demps. Since neither are really tall, the best way to utilize them is to run them outside and throw swing passes to them. But as I've stated for months now, Weis does have a tendency to fall in love with his mismatch a little too much. Sometimes, it will be to such an extreme that he forgets about the rest of his team, which was the case tonight. We only saw a couple of deep balls throughout the game, which is OK for now but this will need to be a big part of the offense for Florida to succeed.

And then there were PENALTIES. I mean, EVERYWHERE you look, there was a penalty of Florida. The Gators committed 9 penalties for 65 yards- that's nearly HALF of FAU's  yardage total. That doesn't even count all the yards wiped out on Demps' opening kick TD on- with no apologies- an absolutely retarded block in the back. You really think anybody's gonna catch Demps? Come on, be real. If you think the answer is yes, you should be on the bench for sheer stupidity. Once again, it's the first week of the season, so things might get sloppy, but when Alabama rolls in here, those dumb penalties just gotta go.

There really isn't a lot of good to take away from the game aside from the obvious stuff- a great defense (look at all the ESPNU 150 guys in the front 7, you can't honestly tell me you're surprised), Rainey and Demps being phenomenal (which anybody who watched SEC football over the course of the last 3 years could tell you when blackout drunk), Brantley looking confident (which is what happens when you work with a guy with a track record like Charlie Weis has) and a much improved offense (hard not to do when you consider who our OC was a year ago, my old buddy, Steve Addazio). No pleasant surprises, which is fine for now, but we better get some answers in two weeks against Tennessee if not next week.

So we won our opener with relatively little heartburn, which is great. We also got approximately zero answers, which is not. But next week we get a slightly stiffer test in UAB, so we'll see if anything new surfaces there.

Before I head off to upstate New York for the summer, I figured I'll give you guys one final humongous post.

I also thought it would be fun if I gave my projections, and compared them to Joey's (even though we're formatting them differently). So here we go:

FAU Owls

Coach: Howard Schnellenberger (9th season: 53-55)

Who They Are: The Gators' test dummy for their new schemes. If Florida has any issue at all, I will be shocked. No, I won't. That's not strong enough. I will be a word that hasn't been invented yet if Florida wins by anything less than five scores.

They've also got a coach that's got a star marked beside his name in all Gator fans' books. Remember when Gator fans gave Schnellenberger, then the Miami coach, the peace sign? Remember how he gave half of it back? Remember how our fans then unloaded a barrage of oranges at him? Remember how he then ordered a needless field goal to make it 31-7 with very little time left?

Well, I do. I saw tape of that and was incensed. I was pleased when Urban Meyer tacked on a field goal against Miami in 2008 to make it 26-3, but we got the wrong guy. It's Schnellenberger who has a target on his back and it's Schnellenberger who's going to ultimately pay the price. We didn't really get him good enough in 2007- I want more.

What They Will Do: Play the Lane Kiffin Game and try to avoid getting their doors blown off, all by leaning on Alfred Morris, their leading rusher from 2010. They have maybe 2% of the talent that Florida has, and trying to do too much with that talent results in... a blowout. At least they had a good QB last year. But Jeff Van Camp is gone, leaving the QB spot wide open.

This just makes the decision easier: run. Yes, great idea, Howie boy, run against a front 7 that has three ESPNU Top 10 players in the nation. Run against a front 7 that's coached by Will Muschamp. Yes, yes, yes, genius!!!

You might be asking: well, shouldn't they throw some? Legitimate question, admitted. Now here's the answer: if FAU throws, Florida is going to hang triple figures on them. Throwing against a Muschamp led defense can lead to three things: interception, incompletion, or sack. There won't be any time to throw. Get one off and it's going to be batted down if not picked off. Incompletions stop the clock, meaning a longer game, and more Gator snaps. I don't know how much of a soul Muschamp has, but when Charlie Weis has a reason, he runs it up. And he likes reasons.

What Will Happen: The producers from the End of the World! will show up and ask Schnellenberger if he'd like an audition. That's how bad this game should be. Florida is way, way, WAYYYYYYYYYYYY too strong. Morris gets overworked and Tyler Murphy and maybe even Chris Provancha will see plenty of action in mop-up duty as this game is over by halftime.

Projection: Florida 73, FAU 3

UAB Blazers

Coach: Neil Callaway (4th season: 15-33)

Who They Are: In short, a Trojan Horse. This is a team that's done mediocre in their in the woeful C-USA, but that doesn't come close to explaining how they nearly pulled off a daring mid-afternoon robbery in Neyland Stadium and then a few weeks later gave Mississippi State the fight of their lives last year. True, those are two average SEC teams, but the best from C-USA shouldn't beat an SEC team not named Georgia, should they?

No, they shouldn't. But this is a team that makes its living by capitalizing on opponent's mistakes. Their QB may be the single most underrated in college football. His name is Bryan Ellis, and, as a sophomore, just missed breaking 3,000 yards through the air. Again, this was mostly in the C-USA, but a good chunk of this came in Tennessee and Mississippi State- both times on their home fields.

What They Will Do: Aside from their QB Ellis, and equally underrated receiver Patrick Shed, they don't have lots of talent. But this is a scrappy, shin kicking and feisty team. They fight and fight and fight until the end. The problem with that is, you're still facing the Florida Gators. So you need to be careful with your scheming.

The Blazers have a decent running game, though it took a big hit with the loss of Frantrell Forest. Patrick Hearn will be their lead guy this year, but running against the Gators is probably a bad idea unless you've got Mike Dyer, Trent Richardson or Marcus Lattimore.

UAB will likely run only when they have to, in obvious running situations- sometimes. But they're going to want to test out the sophomore Patrick Shed against a great defense again. That's not to mention Ellis, who has nothing to lose in his first big game of the new season. Expect UAB to pass, pass, and pass some more. When they're done with that, they'll likely settle for some passing action. Only then will they run- when Florida's playing five cornerbacks and two safeties.

Whether or not their weak defense can hold us to 40 or not will be the key. Likely they will not. Even if Florida just ran Wildcat on every play they wouldn't hold us to 40. They will send blitzes from every angle possible to try to fluster a clearly uneasy Brantley. But if Brantley can drop it off to Demps or Rainey or Debose, game over. And that's what's going to happen.

What Will Happen: There's no way that we will see a repeat of last year's opening act flop here, for at least 4736284648378302 reasons. But the most obvious one is our new head coach, with a new system. Do you think a guy who coached a game with blood running down his face would allow a debacle against UAB like the one we saw last year? He certainly wouldn't be taking a nap if it happens.

UAB is a scrappy team, they will fight. They will certainly not buckle under the pressure of being in the Swamp, not when they nearly won in Neyland and Davis Wade. And they will throw. But lots of throwing means more incomplete passes. Which means more possessions for both teams. Which means more UAB punts. Which means more Florida scoring drives. Which means a severe beating is coming.

Projection: Florida 59, UAB 24

Tennessee Volunteers

Coach: Derek Dooley, (2nd season: 6-7)

Who They Are: A team that's given Florida a run for their money each of the last three times they played. They put some fear into Gator fans by putting together long drives only to hand the ball over at our doorstep in 2008. 2009 was the game we were supposed to maul the Vols, yet we could only squeak out a 23-13 "win" (thank you, Steve Addazio). And then there was last year, when Urban saved Addazio by calling for the fake punt to shake awake a sleeping Gators team.

This is also a team that many project will be a lot better and eventually contend for the SEC East crown. In 2012. Which is not this year. In other words, I respect what you're doing over in Knoxville, Derek, but you're still a year or two away from making some noise in the division.

What They Will Do: Good question. Do they rely heavily on Tauren Poole, one of the most underrated running backs in the country, or do they ride the hot hand in Tyler Bray? Now that Dooley is settled in, he's got more players that fit his system (either freshmen or older guys that learned it for a year). Assuming Bray beats out Matt Sims, the Gators will need to keep multiple guys deep at all times.

Remember how the Gators were unceremoniously torched- TWICE- for 40+ yard touchdowns last year? Yeah, that's kind of exactly what can't happen if Florida wants win number 7 in a row over UT.

But that's what Tennessee will try to do- throw over the top. The problem will be getting the time to get a throw off. You can bet Muschamp will be blitzing all day to try to thwart the youngster's confidence (Bray is a sophomore). Justin Hunter will likely be covered by Jeremy Brown, and will be the matchup to watch.

This may be the first and only game of the year where we see somebody try to beat us by punching it up the gut. Yeah, we know our defense is TALENTED. All that is to Derek Dooley is confetti. He's going to want to find out for himself how tough and nasty we really are. But perhaps the key of the game for Tennessee will be how well their offensive line plays. They were thin a year ago, and they played well toward the end of the year- against Kentucky, North Carolina, Memphis Vanderbilt, Ole Miss and South Carolina. Five of those teams suck. It's not impressive.

As fo defensively, my guess will be the same as it is for every team- harrass Brantley, and try to confuse/rush him by throwing in safety blitzes on third and longs. But this isn't a very good idea. Their pass defense is horrible. When your secondary sucks, the answer isn't to ignore it and hope it goes away. It's to put more guys back there. Because whatever else they say about Brantley, he does have a strong arm.

What Will Happen: I know reading lopsided predictions is fun, but it ends here. Tennessee, like UAB, is a knee kicking, fight til I'm dead team that will scrap until the clock hits zero. Unlike UAB, the Vols are an SEC team. They play 8 SEC teams a year, not 2 every five years. They face talented teams every week, not twice a year.

I think Tennessee will back off on blitzes a little bit too much, which is when Brantley will find a streaking Frankie Hammond for a long TD. Then they'll come back with more rushes, and Brantley will simply dump it off to Chris Rainey for a big gainer. This will all amount to a second half avalanche of points, maybe even a comeback. I say after a solid first half, everything falls apart for a young Tennessee team in the twilight of the Swamp.

In the end, the Gators win. But not before we get a good look at the future of this mini rivalry. Tennessee isn't going away- they're coming straight at us. But Florida's just too much. Too fast. Too powerful. Too smart. Too good.

Projection: Florida 34, Tennessee 13

Kentucky Wildcats

Coach: Joker Phillips (2nd season: 6-7)

Who They Are: Sorry, mothers and Puritans out there. They're our bitch. Nothing short of it. This is a team who last beat us in 1986. This is a team we've beaten 24 straight times. This is a team that we've beaten by a combined 152-26 in the last three meetings. This is a team that twice surrendered 400+ yards to Steve Addazio- something no other team can claim.

Need I say more?

What They Will Do: Play defense and punt, of course. Danny Trevathan is an extremely underrated linebacker, and can shut down the good running back. Winston Guy is a heat seeking missile in the secondary and can break up a pass here and there. But right there, you have all the bright spots for Kentucky.

The Wildcats lost Derrick Locke, Randall Cobb and Mike Hartline. Therefore, UK has approximately no scoring threats. Morgan Newton was talked about as the possible starter a year ago, but lost out to Hartline. He'll start this year in all likelihood. Too bad that he won't have any explosive skill position teammates to dump it off to. His biggest help will probably be the Commonwealth Stadium fans. But don't laugh- the Cats shocked LSU here a few years back. Upsets do happen.

Strategically, Kentucky is every bit as helpless as Furman and Vandy. Throwing without a good offensive line is a bad idea- either a sack, a pick, or a knockdown will happen. We've been here before, right? So if I say Florida will blow UK out because they'll get 10 possessions per half, you won't be shocked, right?

Running the ball isn't any better of an option. When teams are huge underdogs, usually (but NOT always) they try to establish the run game to get momentum. I predict that the Cat will try to run with whoever winds up starting (between about six guys), get frustrated, and will try throwing. But that's like aggressively pouring Kentucky Moonshine down your throat to try to drown away the sorrow. It doesn't do any good, and leads to you doing stupid things. Like self destructing. Which is what will happen.

As for defensively, it doesn't even matter what they do. Florida is simply way too talented to NOT be able to burn this team if they were to pick names and positions out of a hat and randomly assign players to different positions. And that's essentially what happened in 2010- Burton the tight end running for five TD's- and Florida won by five scores.

What Will Happen: Combine Florida's talent, Kentucky's impatience and Florida's momentum after 24 straight wins, and you've got the recipe for a blowout. I will say this- if UK is ever going to break the streak, Joker Phillips will be the guy that does it. But not this year and not in the near future. This one's going to get ugly, fast.

Projection: Florida 62, Kentucky 13

Alabama Crimson Tide

Coach: Nick Saban (5th season: 38-12 (five wins from 2007 were vacated))

Who They Are: A team that's not endeared themselves very well to Gator fans, but also one that's taken a gigantic hit with the losses of four key players from a year ago. If the Gators want to avenge the last two years' defeats, it's now or never. Mark Ingram, Julio Jones, and Greg McElroy, the dearly departed offense of the Alabama Crimson Tide, leave gigantic spots to fill. Marquize Maze and Darius Hanks should fill Jones' spot. Trent Richardson and Eddy Lacy should fill Ingram's spot. Either Philip Sims or AJ McCarron will fill McElroy's spot.

The other major loss is Marcel Dareus, a dynamic defensive end. But that's going to be an easy fix. Defensive losses are easy to replace when you're Nick Saban. They've got loads of talent and should have the best defense in the land. This is a national championship contender despite not having a proven offense.

What They Will Do: Like Kentucky, play defense and punt. Unlike Kentucky, however, it's not a last resort, it's how they won the BCS Championship in 2009. All a Nick Saban offense has to do is put together one good drive a game in order to succeed- because their defense will bail you out every single time. Florida tried to do this in the SEC Championship in 2009, but lost because THAT'S NOT WHAT YOU DO WHEN YOU HAVE TIM TEBOW, JEFF DEMPS, RILEY COOPER, AARON HERNANDEZ, CHRIS RAINEY, DEONTE THOMPSON... etc. Florida's offense had 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 times the talent on offense Alabama did, but played conservatively despite that... THANKS ADDAZIO.

More specifically, Alabama needs five things to succeed on offense: a QB that can call a smart game and can make one or two clutch plays per game, a good (not necessarily great, but above average) running back that above all else, does not fumble, a single explosive receiver, a single sure handed receiver, and a fantastic offensive line. Alabama has had this the last three years under Saban, and use this conservative, half court offense to eat large slices of time off the clock and steadily add to the point total.

You will never see Alabama try to quick strike and gain big chunks of yardage. In fact, I believe Saban has done it exactly twice in his four years at Alabama- once on the first play from scrimmage in the 2008 SEC Championship and once against Auburn last year while they were on their little rampage. Nothing will change in this game aside from the names on the jerseys.

While on defense, it's the same game plan that Florida will have- harass the QB and force bad throws. If Florida fails to do this, they're in trouble. If Alabama fails to do this, they're screwed. The difference in this game is that Florida is simply faster. Sure, Saban recruits monsters that can run, but let's see them catch the NCAA 100m national champion, Jeff Demps. Or Chris Rainey. I'd love to shake the hand of any guy that weighs over 250 and can catch either.

What Will Happen: Alabama's got far less margin for error than Florida. It's in the Swamp, Bama is chasing a BCS title while Florida is rebuilding, and therefore can accept a few losses, Florida's got more dangerous playmakers, and Saban has all the pressure of winning the teacher-student matchup. That's not to mention that Alabama has an even more hellacious schedule than they did last year, and this game starts a particularly nasty swing.

If Alabama can get to John Brantley and force bad throws, they will win. But if Brantley is ordered to utilize his dump off routes, Alabama will get burned. That's the key- Florida can afford to go all out after the QB and miss. They've got one guy, Richardson, to worry about. But Rainey can break tackles every bit as well as he can and Demps is faster. The pressure gets to Alabama as Florida pulls the Shocker in the Swamp- at least to the rest of the nation. To us Gators, it's just the start.

Projection: Florida 20, Alabama 13

LSU Tigers

Coach: Les Miles (7th season: 62-17)

Who They Are: A combination of talent and luck. Jordan Jefferson may be the single biggest enigma in college football. What will he be like in 2011? Will he play like the guy that engineered the 38-3 beatdown of Georgia Tech in the Chick Fil A Bowl as a freshman under new OC Steve Kragthorpe? Or will he flop like the guy that was known to be a turnover machine and eventually lost his starting job in 2010?

But LSU isn't an offensive team, although they do have electrifying running back Spencer Ware coming back. They also return Michael Ford, who is slightly more explosive than Ware but has a penchant (according to Miles) to fumble. LSU is a defense first team. They have heavy losses, including Patrick Peterson, Kelvin Shepard and Drake Nevis. Morris Claiborne should fit in nicely at CB, and watch out for freshman DT Anthony Johnson to have an immediate impact replacing Nevis. It's the linebacker spot that will determine just how good LSU is.

What They Will Do: Kill clock, kick field goals, and, for the third straight team, play defense and punt. LSU has the best offense that Florida will have faced to this point, however, so they'll put some points on the board. If nothing else, Jefferson is a good runner. Overpursuing him leads to touchdowns- as we saw twice last year. Terrence Toliver is gone, which is a big hit to the offense.

But there are these two guys that were so hyped two years ago, and LSU fans are just waiting for him to break out the way we're waiting for Deonte Thompson to break out. Their names: Reuben Randle and Russell Shepard. These guys are electrifying in space, and you can bet that with Kragthorpe calling the shots, they will touch the football plenty. Jordan Jefferson does not need to do much, other than run for an occasional big gain and dump it off to either of these guys or hand it off.

When Florida has the ball, expect LSU to come with heavy blitzes. I know, you've seen this before. But every team is going to try to throw Brantley off of his comfort zone. The big difference between LSU and everybody else (except maybe Alabama) is that their defense is FAST. Maybe not Jeff Demps fast, but as close to it as possible. If you miss tackles, Les Miles will not play you. So don't expect a lot of youtube runs from this game. It should be a nasty slugfest- much like the one we saw in Death Valley two years ago.

What Will Happen: Florida's offense will finally have met its match. This defense is still loaded, despite losses in every section. This is UF's first big road game of the year, to a stadium as big as its own (maybe even bigger). This is right in the middle of a particularly evil stretch for Florida, after Alabama and before a road trip to Auburn, so it'll be very tough to pull it out.

Unlike previous teams, LSU will have success blitzing against Brantley. They have the speed to get to him and to catch guys on screen plays if he escapes. Of course, this will lead to a busted coverage or two, but in the end it will work out for LSU. Their offense can just kick field goals after killing 6 or 7 minutes per drive. The Tigers get it done at home and hand the Gators their first defeat of the year.

Projection: LSU 26, Florida 14

Auburn Tigers

Coach: Gene Chizik (3rd season: 22-5)

Who They Are: A thorn in the Gators' side. A team that somehow has an uncanny knack for kicking game winning field goals against UF, more often than not ruining Florida's season. Of course, we do it back to them plenty, such as the time we crushed them in the SEC Championship Game, but as SEC fans, you have to be angry about the losses, (unless of course when in an argument with a Barner).

This is, to be blunt, the shell of the team that won it all last year. Their QB, Cam Newton, is gone. Their top receiver, Darvin Adams, is gone. Their rock left tackle, Lee Ziemba, is gone. Their mammoth DT, Nick Fairley, is gone. Their most dependable tackler, Josh Bynes, is gone. Their best cover corner, Zac Etheridge, is gone. Hell, even their Mr. Clutch Field Goal Kicker, Wes Byrum, is gone. It's not pretty.

What They Will Do: Auburn is an SEC school not named Vanderbilt. They will find replacements. The question is how well do they fit in? Kiehl Frazier is my bet to win the starting job. I'll also bet that he won't be nearly as effective as Newton. This team is going to have more issues than Jurgensen at a prom because they don't even know what they're going to be this year. If Barrett Trotter wins the job, the offense will be different.

The only huge part of last year's Auburn team that returns is a great running game. Mike Dyer, who, call me crazy, but may actually be better than Marcus Lattimore, and Onterio McCalebb return, and you can bet that they will carry Auburn as far as they go. But now let's remember what the strength of our defense is. Yep, it's our run defense. But Auburn has no choice. They have no proven QB and a lone proven receiver (Emery Blake), who will be matched up with Jeremy Brown- our lone proven cornerback.

The rest of the game will be the Unproven Bowl, at least for Auburn. Defensively, your guess is as good as mine- I'm not even sure if I know half their defense has been set. I do know Neiko Thorpe is extremely underrated as a cover corner. He will likely be matched with Deonte Thompson. This is probably going to be the team that attacks Brantley the least- they cannot afford to miss. If they do, then Demps/Rainey/Debose/Gillislee goes bye bye, and the next thing we hear is Orange and Blue coming through our TV's. Their front 7 is especially thin, and without Fairley they simply won't be trusted to do much until they prove worthy of higher duty.

What Will Happen: The Gators are PISSED. At Auburn, at Wes Byrum, at Cam Newton, at both sets of Tigers, and at themselves for letting the LSU game the previous week get away. They'll play better because of it, because Will Muschamp is that kind of guy. He's also the kind of guy that will throw a relationship with a former school in the garbage to stomp on them and show that they need him more than he needs them. Then he'll be nice and shake hands, after the damage has been done.

The only chance Auburn has is that Florida always loses interdivision games that they shouldn't. It happens to the best Florida teams ever to step on the field. In fact, the last time the Gators won in the state of Alabama? 1999. No longer. That ends here, as the Curse of the Gator Chomp comes back to bit Auburn and hand over their little Eagle for a nice dinner.

Projection: Florida 37, Auburn 9

Georgia Bulldogs**** RIVALRY GAME

Coach: Mark Richt (11th season: 96-34)

Why This Rivalry is So Intense: If these two teams were 0-7 heading into the game, the fan base of the winner would be ecstatic. A win here could even make you temporarily forget the shortcomings of your own team, such as last year with Stevio running the (circus) show. Lose this game, and you're in for a frustrating year's worth of garbage from the opposing fans.

Aside from that, though, this game is huge in other ways. There's the fact that the winner of this game usually goes on to play for the SEC Championship, or least a much higher bowl game. Even last year, Florida knocked Georgia out of the East race in this very game. Because it's late in the season, a loss here can be crippling.

Then there's the recruiting effect. UF and UGA are two of the top 10 schools in the southeast, and the best players come from the southeast. Winning this game has sealed recruits dozens of times in the last few years alone. Most notably, had Florida won the 2007 game, AJ Green might have become a Gator.

Who They Are: Put a big fat star next to the 34 losses above, and as a footnote, simply type in "one of those losses was by a score of 49-10!!! That should count as ten losses right there!!!" It would get he point across that we hate them, right? Cool! So you all know the mutual hatred between UF and UGA. Hate. That's right, hate. You want clarification? Kidnap and rape your neighbor's beautiful 12 year old daughter, abuse her, and then kill her. That pretty much sums it all up, up to and including retaliatory measures that could wind your victim's parents in jail.

Kidding, hate, and biases aside, Georgia loses a lot. Not a lot of players, mind you; but a lot of talent. The aforementioned AJ Green is gone, along with Justin Houston. Maybe even more so than Green, losing Houston is a big hit. In order for Todd Grantham's new scheme to work, they needed the same guys back for one more year. Aaron Murray remains fearsome, sorry, that's not going to change. They also lose Washaun Ealey, probably for no reason other than he was afraid to get his eye poked. Not really. He left because he got into some trouble (surprised?)

What They Will Do: Take deep shots alllllllllllll dayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy longgggggggggg. Murray's got a gun, and Orson Charles has the hands to catch his bullets. The two were teammates and touchdownmates back in high school, so don't be surprised if Charles is Murray's favorite target. As much as I like to taunt Georgia, Richt isn't stupid. He knows our strengths and weaknesses. Caleb King might get a few carries just to keep Muschamp on his toes, but no more. The running game will probably fall into the hands of Isaiah Crowell. How well he does in his inaugural Cocktail Party will go a long way in determining Georgia's fate.

On the defensive side, I refuse to believe that their defense can be any worse against Florida than it was last year (450+ yards of total offense surrendered!!! TO ADDAZIO!!!) So I will have some respect for them until they prove to be unworthy of it. In their defense, it was a completely new scheme and it can take time to learn it. So what I predict will happen is a barrage of blitzes at Brantley all day. The problem with that is, their rush won't be all that good unless somebody really steps up. John Jenkins and Jarvis Jones scare me, but that's two good players against five or six. As of now, nobody else has really proven to be much of a threat.

They also might try to deliver a few cheap shots on Florida to set the tone. They have a history of doing that. Unfortunately, Florida has a history of doing it right back, sometimes worse. Biases aside, both teams really need to cut it out. BOTH TEAMS DO IT. Anyway, this could be cause for a penalty, which could lead to playing a little passively... which could lead to a big gainer.

What Will Happen: I don't care if Herschel Walker, AJ Green, Knowshon Moreno and Matt Stafford all come back to play in the 2011 game. Round up a roster of college all stars and put them in Bulldogs uniforms. It won't matter. Florida will still win. The curse on Georgia is so strong, it will take at least three consecutive Georgia wins in this series for the hex to be lifted. Florida's won 18 out of the past 21, and even when Georgia appeared to be the better team, Florida won (see 2002, 2005 and 2010). The fate lords gave the Dogs a bone in 1997, 2004 and 2007, but when will they again?

Specifically, Georgia is cursed in regard to holding onto the football. It's like Gator jerseys are huge magnets that just rips the ball away from them and into our arms. They turned it over 13 times in the last three years, and I say more are coming this year. Maybe it's the curse, but it's probably got more to do with the fact that Florida's front 7 will be evil and ready to maul anybody carrying a football. The offense will do what it has to do and Florida will get the W.

Projection: Florida 37, Georgia 14

Vanderbilt Commodores

Coach: James Franklin (1st year: 0-0)

Who They Are: A walk in the park on the way to South Carolina. A year ago, Florida ran wild against the Dores in a 55-14 win (and it was worse than the score implies). This is probably all you need to know, that an Addazio led bunch could put up such a number. Florida has won 22 straight.

What They Will Do: Lose. Big. Going into strategy here is pointless: they have no talent. They've got plenty of intelligence, but no way in hell can they match up with Florida in football. Basketball and baseball are different stories. Their lone legitimate player is linebacker Chris Marve, a highly underrated pass rusher and tackler. But you can't run a defense with one guy. My guess would be to try to blitz and force Brantley to make mistakes, but by this time of the year, Florida will have seen that too much to NOT be prepared for it.

On offense, your guess is as good as mine. They'll probably run Warren Norman and Zac Stacy, two pretty good running backs, by Vandy standards, anyway. But they are good enough to hurt you if you turn your back completely. QB Larry Smith has no weapons, so he'll probably just hand it off most of the day. If you've read previous parts of this post, you know what will happen if you run too much against the Gators. I guess it's possible that Vandy tries the air route but they have no proven receivers, so unless one steps up, it won't help them.

What Will Happen: Florida has won 22 straight, many by huge margins. That's what's going to happen this year, though probably not in a fashion quite as ridiculous as last year, where it was 55-7 after three quarters. No matter who the coach is of Vanderbilt, or of Florida, this is a game that the Gators should control until the next Ice Age. Make it 23 in a row.

Projection: Florida 45, Vanderbilt 6

South Carolina Gamecocks**** RIVALRY GAME

Coach: Steve Spurrier (7th season: 44-33)

Why This Rivalry Is So Intense: I know, you're probably wondering why this game is a rivalry and Tennessee isn't. It's simple. Tennessee is no threat to us, and they've taken their whippings like Pavlovian dogs. Since Spurrier us, this game has meant nothing. Of course, it was live or die then, but that was 10 years ago.

Now, Tennessee is rebuilding, and South Carolina has actually had a lot more to do with Florida's success/lack of success in the last decade. In 2005 and 2010, the Gamecocks directly cost Florida trips to the SEC Championship game. In 2006, it took a pair of late blocked kicks to beat them and to keep our BCS Championship hopes alive. True, we went down to the wire against Tennessee, but the Carolina game was more of a "Thank god we survived" game. The 2009 game was extremely nerve wracking until the tipped pass led to a pick and a Tebow touchdown to clinch it, while UT just played not to get blown out.

And then, of course, this is the game we're going to have to win if we want to get back to Atlanta. The Gamecocks get home field here, and have won some big games on their turf. They are looking like the co-favorite, along with Florida, to win the East.

Who They Are: The team that accepted Addazio's idiocy as a gift, and rode it to the SEC Championship game. This is a group that's seen the big stage before, and done well there. But this is also a group that's been known to choke late. Even last year, when they beat Florida to wrap up the East, they got annihilated by Auburn in Atlanta, lost to FSU in Atlanta as well, and this was all following a blowout from Arkansas.

But this team is extremely talented. Stephen Garcia, Marcus Lattimore and Alshon Jeffrey form maybe the best QB-RB-WR trio the SEC has seen since Tebow/Harvin/Murphy in 2008 (McElroy/Ingram/Jones from Alabama has to be given consideration, though). And once again, this team will be solid up front defensively. The addition of Jadeveon Clowney should be an immediate upgrade to this front 7. But even without Clowney, this pass rush is fearsome. Melvin Ingram is a one man wrecking crew, and must be stopped if Florida wants to win.

It's the pass defense that will make or break Carolina. Stephon Gilmore is good overall, but has a tendency to bite on fakes and get beaten long. DeVonte Holloman likes to make big hits- sometimes too much and miss completely. This secondary will certainly have their hands full with Deonte Thompson, Frankie Hammond and Omarious Hines, and if Florida runs a lot of fun n' gun type pass plays, Carolina could be in trouble.

What They Will Do: Try to disrupt Brantley's rhythm by coming at him all out. Failure to get to him will be fatal, so they will be bringing the blitz all day. They'll use their crowd, and their front 7 to give him as little time as possible and to aggravate him as much as possible. The offense only has to score 20, maybe 30 to win if they can successfully shut down the passing game.

When Carolina has the ball, it'll be the same balanced attack that they'll probably use all year- lots of balls to Jeffrey and a little Lattimore action to complement it. Or vice versa, depending on the opponent. There's no way Lattimore can duplicate his 200+ yard game from last season. He probably won't even get the ball half as much, since the Gators' defensive strength has switched from pass defense to run defense.

What Will Happen: An angry Florida team will come in here ready for war. South Carolina will happily accept the challenge, and a high scoring slugfest will be on. The Gators have all the pieces in place to play along, including the right play caller.

But the Chicken Curse is still on. South Carolina will choke once again late in the season. Florida will be more than happy to take advantage and claim the SEC East Crown- but not before getting a taste of how good this team could be without a curse riding them.

Projection: Florida 42, South Carolina 31

Furman Paladins

Coach: Bruce Fowler (1st season: 0-0)

Who They Are: A cupcake. Plain and simple. Florida has as much of a chance to lose this game as I do of being elected President. Do you really think Jeremy Foley would schedule a decent team right before Florida State? Ever since the regular season went to 12 games, Florida has played Appalachian State, Florida International, the Citadel, Florida Atlantic, and Western Carolina.

Of course, you can insert your "better be careful and not take them lightly" comment here. The truth is, I've only seen parts of one game from Furman ever- last year against South Carolina. I don't really know a whole lot about them, and when that happens, it's an unconscionable blemish on the weak scheduling of Jeremy Foley. Oh, and did I mention Florida should wash Furman away?

What They Will Do: Your guess is as good as mine. Probably try not to get blown out, but that never works. You know, run a lot, play the deep pass, etc. Problem is, Florida manhandled Appalachian State last year when they did that- with Steve Addazio. Obviously, the Paladins would like to pressure Brantley, but that's probably going to have to go on the wish list for Santa Claus. By the time he gets back to them, the Gators will be prepping for a bowl game.

What Will Happen: The loss of QB Cody Worley is not what Furman needs. But it's what they have to deal with. This is a team that's going to have way too many problems of its own to even dream about causing any for Florida. If the Gators lose this game, then you shouldn't believe anything you ever read about Gators sports again.

Projection: Florida 69, Furman 7

Florida State Seminoles**** RIVALRY GAME

Coach: Jimbo Fisher (2nd season: 10-4)

Why This Rivalry Is So Intense: To be blunt, 31-7. That was the score of the first game in this series that a retarded chimpanzee "directed" our "offense" since 2003 that we paid the price for. This rivalry lost its luster throughout the past decade because Florida so regularly whomped on FSU that Bobby Bowden had to open a separate checking account just to be able to pay for new mailboxes because his old ones were overloaded with hate mail from peeved FSU fans wondering why FSU couldn't even compete.

OK, that was funny. Now this is not: FSU is back. Yes, a Gator fan just admitted that the Noles are definitely on their way back. Which makes this rivalry fun again. Sure, the last year was pretty painful when dealing with FSU fans, but now it's a legitimate series again. Not only that, two friends get to test their skills out on each other. Wait, did I say friends? Oh yeah I did. But make no mistake, Jimbo and Muschamp will put that aside.

The recruiting is fierce, too. Many times, the outcome of this game has swayed recruits the other way, most notably the Pouncey twins to Florida, and Tim Jernigan to FSU. A loss in this game is devastating mostly for that reason, if you put aside the wars between fan bases.

Who They Are: A team that ended the illusion to even the dumbest and most ignorant fans. The charade was over at halftime of this game: even the least informed UF alumni knew that something was seriously wrong in Gator land after this debacle. They are also arguably our biggest rival (some, including me, say Georgia, but make no mistake, I'm not especially fond of FSU either).

This is Jimbo's second year at FSU, and 2nd years are almost always going to tell you the most about who the coach is and how good the team will be. In year 2, you've got your scheme down, your players know you better, they've been through a run with you, etc. Look at Nick Saban, Chip Kelly and Gene Chizik's second years. All notably more successful than their maiden voyages. Yes, Gator fans, I do believe Fisher will join that list, as I do with Muschamp.

Talent wise, it's scary. Xavier Rhodes is quietly a top 5 cornerback in the country, and Nigel Bradham is a highly underrated linebacker. Brandon Jenkins anchors what should be a nasty defensive line, and Greg Reid is a pretty good punt returner and not a bad cornerback to boot (although matching him up with Deonte Thompson is a bad idea). Those four players all made Phil Steele's All-American preseason team, too.

The offense is what will make or break FSU's season. We know in theory that EJ Manuel can be good, but in his two biggest starts- the ACC Championship game and in 2009 in the Swamp against top ranked Florida- he did more to hurt his team then help it. He is very mobile and can throw well, and will have a dizzying array of weapons to throw to. Willie Haulstead and Taiwan Easterling will be his two top targets, and both had more than a hand in the beating that Florida took last November. Chris Thompson will anchor the ground game and can catch some passes if he needs to as well.

What They Will Do: Do what all teams equipped with enough talent will do: try to beat Florida with the pass and try to force Florida to pass. Though Thompson is a very good running back, he probably won't be the focal point of the FSU offense in this game. Jimbo's going to want to air it out all day against a talented but likely battle weary secondary that has one player with a full season of starting experience: Jeremy Brown. All other returners either came in for certain plays or became starters later in the year. And FSU's receiving corps has plenty of starting experience.

As all other teams do, Florida State will likely come after Brantley in waves. However, by this point, Florida will have either established themselves under Brantley, or will have decided to drop him for Jeff Driskel or Tyler Murphy. Plus, I'm pretty sure Charlie Weis will have gotten his blitz pickup packages all sorted out, and the players will be comfortable. And then there's the surprise I hope that Weis has been working on, too.

What Will Happen: Charlie Weis is smart. Maybe he won't have an entire new playbook ready for FSU, but he'll definitely have something new. Maybe it's a single play. I don't know. I do know that he'll have something ready, and FSU will not be expecting it. And it will be costly. And then the sky will fall in for FSU.

Make no mistake, FSU. You guys are back. But I just don't think that you're quite up to the task of winning a game in a stadium that holds 90,000+ that hates your guts. Or a stadium where you lost your last three games by a combined 116-29. The Gators have owned you in the Swamp historically, though probably not in a fashion quite as lopsided or as humiliating as 45-12, 37-10 or 34-7. FSU will get plenty more wins over Florida under Fisher. This will not be one of them. The Gators deal the fatal blow to FSU's national championship hopes- deja vu, 1997.

Projection: Florida 24, FSU 10

SEC Championship Game: Arkansas Razorbacks

Coach: Bobby Petrino (4th season: 23-15)

Who They Are: A team that will take the West by storm and will defeat LSU in the SEC West Championship in the Battle of the Golden Boot. This will be a battle weary team, as Alabama, LSU, and Mississippi State will all give them tough tasks. But they've got the depth for fight it off, on both offense and defense.

Tyler Wilson takes the reins from Ryan Mallet, and as impressive as he was against Auburn, people have made too much out of that one performance. He is a good quarterback, but good is all you need in order to succeed when you've got Jarius Wright, Joe Adams, and Greg Childs to catch your passes. The three receivers are all fantastic route runners and make nasty cuts, so it only takes one missed step to hear the Arkansas fight song and a group of red helmeted players celebrating.

Having Knile Davis doesn't hurt either. He is the real key to this offense- can he take pressure off of the passing game? If so, it will be a long day for Florida's defense. He possesses the scary trio of talents: power, agility, and doesn't fumble. He can also block very well when asked to.

The defense should be very good once again. For the fourth straight year, Jerry Franklin will anchor the defense. Jake Bequette really stepped up and had a great season last year. Elton Ford will probably draw the crucial task of shutting down the big play, which Florida will try to live by, and Rudell Crim will help. This is the key matchup, if Florida can beat Crim and Ford deep.

What They Will Do: Score. A lot. For once, Florida will be facing an offense that can light it up against the best. Arkansas's defense doesn't even have to do a whole lot. They just have to make one or two stops in the first half before they get a chance to blow it open. Unfortunately for Arkansas, the Gators aren't going away. UF's offense will be pretty good this year, and Charlie Weis would sooner eat his house keys than watch his offense get shut down.

But Arkansas has a balanced attack that has no weaknesses, and they're facing a team that's strong against the run and fair against the pass. So they'll throw. A lot. They'll run Knile Davis plenty, but the passing game is what will win it.

If Arkansas wants to win, however, they will need to stop Brantley & co. They'll do that by blitzing wide, and forcing him to step up in the pocket and beat them deep while he's hearing footsteps. That's not easy for Tom Brady, let alone John Brantley, to do.

What Will Happen: This may very well be Arkansas' best team under Petrino. I don't think Florida's defense will see an offense like this one the whole regular season. The converse is not true. Arkansas will have seen Alabama, Mississippi State and LSU's defenses, all of which should be very good. But, I don't think any of those teams have the offense that the Gators have- maybe LSU. This makes for an offensive fireworks show for the Southeastern Conference Championship that may top Florida-Alabama 2008, except this time with heartbreaking results.

Projection: Arkansas 55, Florida 49

Capital One Bowl: Nebraska Cornhuskers

Coach: Bo Pelini (4th season: 30-12)

Who They Are: A team that just joined the Big 10 for this season, but a powerful historical program. Florida would like a little payback from the 1995 Fiasco Bowl, a 62-24 humiliation in Arizona. I don't think either team will score 62- I'm wouldn't be surprised if both teams combine for 24. This promises to be a nasty slugfest between one of the best quiet defenses in the country, and a good defense with a good offense to match it in Florida.

Taylor Martinez (and all his scrambling), will return for his sophomore season at Nebraska, and he'll have Rex Burkhead to hand the ball off to. Burkhead isn't fantastic in any measure, but just does lots of things well. He can give you 30 carries, not fumble and average three and a half yards a touch. That's not bad by any means. Martinez will have respectable targets to throw to, including Brandon Kinnie and Quincey Enunwa. The offensive line will be the key. It loses both of its starting guards, and the only solid starter returning is center Michael Caputo.

The defense will be very good once again. My NFL team, the New York Giants, did take CB Prince Amukamara, (a very good pick, in my opinion, could be the co-steal of the draft along with Ingram to New Orleans at 28) but Alfonzo Dennard may be just as good, if not better (yeah, you heard this before, Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson) and will probably draw the matchup with Thompson. The front 7 returns most of its starters, including Jared Crick and Baker Steinkuhler, but they do have one major hole to fill: Pierre Allen, who left his end position.

What They Will Do: Control the clock, manage the game, and unleash a ferocious defense on Florida. Not just blitzing, I mean they can drop back and dare Brantley to beat them in double coverage, because they will be confident that they can win that battle. And they probably can. Their offense will probably only score ~20 points, and that should be enough to win them games all year. If their defense can keep up with Florida's speed, then this game will be included.

I would also expect Nebraska to run a good deal of Wildcat- something Florida probably won't see much of throughout the year aside from LSU and maybe Alabama. Arkansas doesn't need it to succeed. I wonder if Florida would be properly prepared to stop it, as Rex Burkhead does lots of damage with Wildcat, and I hope they would be.

What Will Happen: An ugly game that will be won in the trenches either way will come down to the wire. But I just see too much power in Nebraska's defense. They're too fast for Florida to blindside with quick strikes. They're too strong to slam Mack Brown up the gut and expect anything more than a yard and a half per carry. Unless UF's offensive line significantly improves from what I see it at now, Nebraska will squeak out a win- but a far cry from the Fiasco Bowl.

Projection: Nebraska 17, Florida 13

OVERVIEW

Of course, there are a lot of variables in these predictions. The most obvious one is that I'm assuming that John Brantley beats out Jeff Driskel. But what if that doesn't happen? What if Florida's offensive line becomes the best in the nation within three games? And of course, this isn't to mention injuries, although those are boilerplate variables for any predictions.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this preview, and kill many potentially productive hours over the summer reading this when you're bored and cannot wait for Florida football to begin. You're in good company- I'm counting down the minutes and sometimes even seconds.

I'll see if I can get one more post in before I go- one final Steve Addazio to Gator Nation letter, to kind of send myself off with a bang. And again, I may be able to write some stuff over the summer, but if I do, it almost certainly would be at a rate lower than this.

If this is indeed my final post, then have a great summer, all of you (except Jurgensen. You can get syphilis from your troll buddies for all I care).

I'll see you in mid August and GO GATORS!!!

Will Muschamp, despite what our boy Jurgensen believes, is no idiot. He knows when to admit he doesn't know something, which is every bit as important as knowing the amount that he does. And in case you hadn't heard, Charlie Weis has been hired as our co-head coach.

There, I said it.

Charlie Weis and Will Muschamp are co-head coaches.

Weis is in charge of 50%- the offense- and Muschamp is in charge of the other 50% (the defense).

Now, let's get you sidetracked a little bit and go off topis for a minute.

When Muschamp took the job, after everybody got over the shock, three main questions were asked: What will your offense be, what will your defense be, and how much energy will you show.

We know what's happened with the first two.

The third question- enthusiasm- is tricky. While it's never a bad thing to have energy, to pump your fist, to jump around, etc, it can get out of hand and then you are labeled a psycho. Not a horrible reputation to have, but then think about this: what happens the second you're accused of attacking a player? Accused of cursing at opposing fans?

The nanosecond the accusation is made, you're dead- because everybody has tagged you with the stigma "nutcase". Doesn't matter if a thousand people back you up, because in all likelihood they're your friends and will do anything to keep you out of trouble. All an angry Georgia fan has to do is say "Muschamp spit on me on his way to the stadium" and Muschamp is in trouble before you can say BOOM.

There are other potential issues, too- namely health issues. What happens if Muschamp does the Gator Chomp so hard he breaks a bone in his hand? What if it's slick outside and while preparing for a chest bump, he slips and tears an ACL? What if he turns an ankle? etc... etc... etc...

These were some of the concerns about having the intensity that he does, and they are legitimate.

But as an assistant, he could afford to be like this. Get injured, and hand the defense over to a DB coach for the week, or maybe even the head coach. Attack a player, or a fan, and while it's embarrassing for the school, they'll recover. Get suspended, and once again, have a position coach run the D. Assistants, even young and promising ones, are not just replacable, they're a dime a dozen. Look how fast Mack Brown snatched Manny Diaz.

So, anyway, the people that asked this question have a point: should Muschamp continue to act like a residential nut on the sideline?

While he promised to cut down on it, he'll still be a little crazy. Guaranteed.

But now let's connect everything. Since Weis and Muschamp are technically co-head coaches on the field, he's got a little leeway with his insanity.

This segues right into our keys for 2011, in no specific order after the first one.

1) Muschamp must play "Tim Tebow cheerleader" role

John Brantley is no Tebow, except for one thing- his throwing arm. He's got exactly zero other traits in common. Even his footwork could improve, despite him always being a pro-style guy. Anyway, the point is, until he proves otherwise, John Brantley is NOT a leader. If the QB is not a leader, the head coach better be. Weis will lead Brantley with x's and o's; and Muschamp will lead by "let's go!!!" It won't help much with the x's and o's but it may get his guys to closely follow those x's and o's, go beyond their limits and win. I want to see Muschamp going nuts after every play until the game is already won. He can call it a day if Florida is up 59-3 with a minute and a half left.

2) Jordan Reed must get some meaningful snaps

Obviously, Weis was not brought along to work with Reed. But look around the SEC, hell, the NFL. 65% of every team in existence has some form of the Wildcat implemented into their offense. Florida essentially ran the Wildcat with Tebow for four years, and look what it got them. But here's what Charlie Weis had to say about Reed and his throwing ability:

"Can he sling it? You betcha."

That's too obvious of a clue that Reed won't do anything as a QB. It will likely be its own little package- I doubt he will run the same pro-style attack as Brantley- but no different than other teams. Except for one thing- he can throw. Besides, Brantley's confidence is clearly shot, and though he may regain it throughout our first four games, he may lose it again against the Crimson Tide. So Reed can take some pressure off of him by getting a snap or two a game and reeling off a big gainer.

3) Andre Debose must step up

To call Debose's freshman season a bust is reasonable, accurate- and 100% thanks to Steve Addazio. How he failed to realize the talent of this gifted freshman is beyond me. Maybe he thought Debose was the team chaplain after hearing all about people referring to him as a god. For whatever reason, he did the bulk of his damage on kick returns. That's all well and good, but he's got to do more.

Chris Rainey, while explosive, is one player. If he's double teamed, there goes his production. But unveil a second dual threat and the D simply runs out of defenders. You cannot double team two guys, because that's either going to require a safety to abondon his position, freeing up a deep receiver, or it allows a dump off to Demps, who's now got only one man to juke out and he's gone- the defender that Rainey/Debose doesn't block. You could also put a linebacker on them, but that's even worse. The LB better have some wheels or else he'll be alerting the local police of suspicious paranormal activity- how could such an ordinary human being disappear?

The bottom line is, if Debose is dangerous, then Rainey is free. And while defenses spend all day frantically trying to stop them, Florida's point total is rapidy increasing by increments of 7.

4) Win the turnover battle

There's nothing that sets the tone of a game better than a bone jarring hit. Not even an opening kickoff TD- all that does is fire the team up. It shows the special teams is ready to go. A big hit can fire the team up, and send a message to the opponent: we're ready for you, bring it on. Aside from the energy boost, it also carries a possibility of a turnover.

Winning the turnover battle almost guarantees a victory, unless yours go for 85 yards the other way and theirs go 5 yards. Take care of the football is a phrase that every coach is bored of, it seems so boilerplate. Maybe it is. But it's so crucial a concept that it's got to be drilled into kids' heads by the time they're in Pop Warner.

As we saw last year, the only reason Florida scored any points at all was because of their defense. The first four games in particular stand out. Florida was 4-0, and- yes, it's true- John Brantley threw a lone interception during that time. That's it, just one. And it came in a blowout of Kentucky. Meanwhile, our defense was leading the nation by a few miles in most picks until we ran into Alabama. In that game, Florida lost two easy touchdowns because of turnovers inside Alabama's 1 yard line. Alabama gained two easy touchdowns because of a pick 6 and a drive that started at Florida's 16- thanks to a pick.

Take those away, and the score is 20-17 Florida. Am I saying Florida would have automatically won? No. But you can see what a difference turnovers make.

5) Score touchdowns in the red zone 90% of the time

Because of all the (well earned) bad reputation Addazio had, people blamed him for this, and that, and then those. But many people were so focused on attacking the glaring weaknesses, they missed some other normally obvious errors with our offense.

One of those things was our red zone offense. We were horrible in 2009, with Tebow, in the red zone. For some teams, it is understandable. There are confined spaces, meaning your playbook is confined. But for an option oriented attack that thrives in those confined spaces, with Tebow no less, scoring touchdowns less than 90% of the time is an abomination. It's simply not acceptable.

This would be the place for Jordan Reed most of the time. There are fewer plays available for use inside opponent's 20, but more opportunity for Reed to shine. That's not to suggest using him on every play, but to mix it up. Maybe even an improved version of Addazio's 3 QB rotation that we saw against Georgia.

But whatever we do, we've got to- GOT to- score touchdowns in the red zone. Aside from getting a kick blocked, this is the situation that drives me most completely insane. And if we are gifted with field position inside the 20 thanks to  kickoff return, a blocked punt or a turnover, we need to score 6 every time.

Yes, every single time.

If we're going to be a great team, we must capitalize on every gift we receive.

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Now, let's just wait and see how many of these we can check off.

It's been a few months since Steve Addazio left Florida, yet his awful job as our OC has stuck with me all this time. I can't shake it, even knowing that Charlie Weis is coming to town and will be running our offensive show. And I don't buy Muschamp being our head coach.

Right there is inverse #1. Last year, there was no firm leadership of our team. But Muschamp and Weis will be co-head coaches of the Gators, ensuring that both units will be disciplined, and, well, better.

Then we look at the strengths of our team. If you can call it a strength, our offense got the yardage it did by grinding it out. Of course, this caused more three and outs and heart failure than it did anything positive, but whenever our offense WAS clicking, it was because of a good long drive (to be fair, there was about one of these per game).

This year, look for our offense to throw, throw often- and maybe too often. Weis has a tendency to get pass happy when things aren't going great, which is inverse #2. This is the inverse of last year, where Addazio would run dives whenever things weren't going well (and even when they were, honestly).

In 2010, our offensive line was a "strength", if you could call it that. It was certainly a veteran bunch, though you wouldn't know it whenever Champion Pouncey snapped balls all over Alacha County. But an experienced line is a luxury we don't have this year.

Now, the rest of the experienced offense is going to have to pick the young o-line, instead of the other way around, for inverse #3.

Now, let's go to our defense. Last year, our pass defense was abysmal, and this was only not known on a wide scale because Addazio's offense was SO bad. Either that, or the defense snagging enough errant footballs to build a house (who would build a house out of footballs? Oh, Addazio, of course. Then when the wolf comes by and threatens to blow it down, Addazio would tell him to bring it on. Then the wolf huffs and puffs and blows the house farther than Addazio's longest drive all year.)

This year, without Janoris Jenkins, our secondary will certainly go through growing pains. Jeremy Brown can do a good job on one receiver, but our defensive line, which will be Muschamp's baby, will have to carry a huge load. They promise to be nasty, following great springs from former ESPNU Top 5 recruits Dominique Easley and Ronald Powell. Inverse #4 will be our front 7 carrying the secondary, not the reverse.

Then we look at the coaching staff. There are a bunch of differences here. The first one, is, of course, the head coach. Even Muschamp vs. Meyer can be broken down into a few inverses, but if there is one glaring difference, it's their energy level. Meyer in 2010 was clearly not the Urban Meyer that loved life and showed it in 2008. Will Muschamp? Check out the videos of him chest bumping Brian Orakpo and going nuts over a big 3rd down stop on youtube.

So, inverse #5 will be Muschamp being one of the most energetic guys to ever step into the Swamp, as opposed to Meyer, who was near the point of indifference in 2010.

How about the rest of the coaching staff? Meyer's 2010 group included three guys that are now coaching Temple, and Teryl Austin's role was demoted in his move to the Baltimore Ravens. Muschamp's staff includes one of the best offensive minds in the nation, and a slew of others with lots of NFL experience.

So inverse #6 is a switch from a below average coaching staff to an above average one.

This one is probably the most obvious, but it's going to happen- functional offense from I-hope-Chas-Henry-wins-the-Ray-Guy-Award-or-else-our-offense-accomplishes-nothing offense. Henry battled safety Ahmad Black for the title of our best offense. As great as he was, that's something that any decent coach would be ashamed of. No more. With Weis, we can rely on our offense more. If only because it cannot get any worse, the offense will be better.

But you guys knew that from the day that Weis was hired. So I'll put it this way- our offense will have more responsibility. Even in 2009, with Tebow, the Gators won games with fantastic defense, fantastic special teams, and one good drive from the offense. That was all it was. If not for a 500+ yard Sugar Bowl performance, Tebow would have had his worst year as a starter statistically.

THAT'S HOW BAD ADDAZIO WAS.

He was smart enough to realize what a lights out defense we had- you'd have to be a residential idiot not to- and simply didn't care what the offense did, because he knew Brandon James and our D would win the game. Then we all saw what happened when you don't trust your offense against a good team.

So inverse #7 will be playing to win on offense, not playing to avoid catastrophe.

From the team itself we move to the fan base. Gator fans everywhere want a national championship, but realistically, that's probably not going to happen. Last year, many fans (not all) bought into Urban Meyer's promise to tweak the offense. Let's face it. I love Urban Meyer, but that was nothing more than a bald faced lie. Running the option with an immobile QB that broke Tim Tebow's record for passing TD's is simply not a good idea. But by hearing that, Gator fans became giddy and bragged about how the offense would be the most explosive one yet. Funny, I'm not hearing that about last year's team much anymore.

This year, we fans know maybe 2% of what our team will look like, since Muschamp blocked spring practice. We know we'll be better, but we cannot take much at all from our spring game. The fans this year are in the dark, and know to be patient. That's inverse #8.

The ninth inverse is probably the one that will work most to our advantage- assuming Brantley steps up. That probably gave it away, at least somewhat. But in 2010, leadership came from the underclassmen. Andre Debose sparked our team numerous times with big kick returns (too bad we had you know who to throw all our momentum away). But at least he tried. Ahmad Black certainly led to some extent, but the front 7 was a mess. Terron Sanders and Justin Trattou didn't do badly, but Jelani Jenkins, Sharrif Floyd, and even Jon Bostic led by example and made some huge plays. Bostic in particular excites me for the future.

But then look at Jeff Demps. It seems that poor Mr. Demps was rewarded by Addazio for reeling off huge gainers by a comfy seat on the bench. Chris Rainey was suspended, and rightfully so, but when he returned, the was the only legitimate threat on our team. Deonte Thompson? Well, it depended on his mood. Carl Moore? Maybe if he got the ball more (no pun intended).

But most of those guys above were young. This year, (hopefully) John Brantley will lead our team. It's what QB's are supposed to do. Of course, to this point Brantley has shown as much leadership capabilities as an albino kitten roaming around a library, but you've got to believe that Weis can change that at least somewhat. If you don't, then I advise you against watching Gator football this year.

Jeff Demps will be counted on a lot more, let me tell you. This year, there will be no sprained ankle plan. You know, where guys that don't show as much emotion as Tim Tebow in practice do not play in the games. Brantley, Thompson, Rainey and Demps will all have heavier loads. I'm not sure Demps can fully maximize his potential, if only because there's just SO much talent in that offense. What he can do is lead by example- reel off a big one and watch the younger guys follow suit.

Inverse #9 is that this year, we have proven upperclassmen leaders.

The 10th and final inverse is simple. Reclaim the Swamp. Our biggest games are at home. Alabama, Tennessee, Florida State. Whereas last year, many of them were away. Or so it seemed. Then we lost to a trio of teams at home that we had beaten by 10 points each the year before in their homes. We went from a 13-3 win at LSU to a 33-29 home loss. Sure, blame it on the field goal, but then remember how many times we went 3 and out. We went from a 29-19 win at MSU to a 10-7 loss at home. We went from a 24-14 win at South Carolina to a 36-14 embarrassment in the Swamp.

Tim Tebow and a smothering defense certainly had something to do with this, but come on. We hadn't lost three games at home in a row since 1989. The last time we lost three straight home night games? Gee, I'm not sure that EVER happened before, though I invite anybody to look it up.

The point is, this year, our Swamp motto will read: The Swamp, Where Only Gators Get Out Alive. Whereas last year, the Swamp's motto was: The Swamp, Where Only Riverboat Gamblers, Former Favorite Sons and Former Assistants Get Out Alive. Or even more simply: The Swamp, Where Only Tigers, Bulldogs, and Gamecocks Get Out Alive.

The Swamp will become a fearsome place once again, and it will be a place to fear for opponents once again.

Inverse #10 is very easy to remember: NOT IN OUR HOUSE!!!

There are easy things to tell that will be completely reversed- Addazio to Weis for example- and then there are others that aren't quite as easy to detect unless you think about them. But nobody here is a Georgia fan. We all know how to use our brains. Right?

So, after taking a look into the changes from 2010 to 2011, we can be sure that if Muschamp's boys didn't wear orange and blue, we wouldn't know what team this is.

It's certainly not the Gators of 2010.

Recently, I broke down the signature points and parts of the last decade.

So now let's go to the next decade and take a look there.

I'm looking into the crystal ball that Florida won three years ago and I see...

1) College football will become a 5-team game.

5 teams will dominate the game- Florida State, Alabama, Oregon, Oklahoma and Florida. These teams are a mix of rich historical programs and hot recently (recently will fluctuate- FSU is hot based on last year, while Florida is hot from winning 2 BCS titles in the past 5 years). These are pretty much the top 5 places to be right now for recruits, and knowing that they all have young, hot coaches and talent wants to go there, they will have the most success.

2) Many other major programs will sink to the bottom for violations

USC, Ohio State and Auburn, among others, appear to be in neck deep with the NCAA. I'm expecting the NCAA to hammer OSU after the most recent findings. And it wouldn't surprise me if something else was discovered in the Cam Newton scam. Something new seems to surface every month with him. USC may not be done, either. Kiffin and Orgeron are the worst with violations (although they may still believe Urban Meyer owns that distinction) and it wouldn't surprise me to see them take additional punishment. Due to all the punishments, these three will fall to the cellar of college football.

3) Urban Meyer will return to coaching

With every passing day, Ohio State seems more and more in trouble. Since Jim Tressel is the man to blame for that, he may be kicked out. And we all know it- Urban Meyer has a special place in his heart for OSU. The fact that he had a mild heart attack following the annihilation of the Buckeyes in the BCS Championship game slams that point home. And real tired he is- working with ESPN, traveling around the country, having his own TV show. Maybe there's less stress, but not a lot less work. He just couldn't watch Addazio mismanage his team anymore. If he's not Ohio State's next coach, he'll be in charge of somebody by 2020.

4) Steve Addazio will be fired within three seasons

Usually, with non BCS conferences, tolerance for losing is much higher, but I believe that he will be SO bad that Temple will have no choice. Let's look at it like this- he's too selfish and arrogant to let somebody else run his offense. We've seen that as Gator fans. We've also seen what happens when his offense is run using incredible talent (Tebow, Cooper, Hernandez, Nelson, Demps, Rainey etc.), what happens when it's run with good talent (Brantley, Thompson, Hines, Hammond, Demps, Rainey, Debose, etc.), and now we're about to see what happens when he runs it with no talent (at least relative to the SEC). It won't be pretty. Cue the Ron Zook thoughts, 100 times over. This will not be pretty.

5) Kick blocking and speed will play more important roles

Urban Meyer left behind two major things- build a team on speed and block kicks. Get the fastest guys to play for you and you can't fail. With a good conditioning coach, strength can be acquired. Speed cannot be. So it's vital to recruit the fastest kids, because you can push them in the weight room and they'll get bigger. Meyer also showed what happens when you block a kick- victory. Maybe it's a fluke, but in games UF blocked a kick, they were 16-0 under Meyer. Look for teams to copy these tactics in the future, and look for more speed and blocks.

6) Florida-FSU rivalry will return to the national spotlight

Steve Spurrier vs. Bobby Bowden was a classic. Every time the teams played. Even if the score was as lopsided as 52-20 in a national championship. The two teams were always highly ranked and the game meant something nationally as well as in the state. Look for more of that in the future, with slightly better sportsmanship and class by both teams. Both teams definitely appear poised to make a jump to the top very soon, and since they happen to be in each other's way, this game will get more views than a Justin Bieber concert.

7) Oregon will reign as king of the Pac-12 and will control the West

The way Chip Kelly is headed, Oregon might not just own the West, but own the country pretty soon. He gets to select who he wants, not the other way around, with recruits. Such is the power of winning successive Pac-10 (or Pac-12) championships. See USC in the previous decade. So weak is the western half of the country that Oregon and Boise State are the only nationally respected teams. Arizona is going down. USC is in shambles. TCU just joined an even more shameful conference than the one it was just in. Utah has lost the last of Meyer's guys a few years ago, and have not been relevant since.

8) The Big East will collapse and realignment Part II will occur

West Virginia and Louisville have a simple option to avoid disaster. Get out. And take the new guy (TCU) with you. One of you can take TCU to the Big 12 and the other one can join newly independant Boise State, Notre Dame, BYU, Army and Navy as independants. Why WVU and 'Ville? Because those are the only two anybody respects. Seriously: the Big Least lost their last two BCS Bowl games 48-20 and 51-24. Who CAN respect that? Everybody else should just go to the FCS. The fact that an Addazio led Gator team beat a USF team that was a field goal away from beating the champions of that conference and winning it themselves by a score of 38-14 proves that the Big Least is not worthy of playing with the Big Boys. Other than that, though, I think the conferences are pretty much set.

9) College football will create a playoff

It's easy. Kill the rediculous games (Florida-Citadel if you need clarification), and play 10 regular season games. 8 conference games (or 9 for the Big 12) one other must be against a BCS team, and the last one must be an FBS team (the Big 12 can eliminate the BCS team if they choose). 16 teams in the playoffs, selected by the BCS. Play the games at teams' home sites and the championship games will rotate between the Rose, Sugar, Orange and Cotton Bowl. Punish the Fiesta Bowl for what they did forever and restore the greatness that the Cotton Bowl once had. If the bowls don't like it, they can choose to whine and complain about it, or they can propose that two teams play in a neutral site at their stadiums during the season. For example, the Gator Bowl can offer Florida and Georgia to play in the Gator Bowl every year, and they'll get money that way. The Capital One Bowl can offer to hold Florida-Miami every year, and then hey- problem solved. UF-Miami becomes a regular season again in the process. Or if they don't want to play every year, they can offer Georgia and FSU to play every other year. Or something like that. It's going to happen, once somebody with power gets the idea.

10) Florida becomes QB U

With Charlie Weis, Florida will definitely get good QB play. But what not everybody knows is that the chances are good that he'll be here for awhile. He has said that he doesn't plan on being a head coach again, his son is attending UF, and he'd like a fresh start. Look for Jeff Driskel to become a star after Brantley leaves, and Driskel's successor as well, and so on.

As I sat down to write an article about the Orange and Blue game I had trouble figuring out what the general gist of it was going to be.  The problem was, we really learned very little.

The first problem was that it just seemed to fly by.  The whole thing lasted less than two hours including halftime.  But the real issue was the offensive line injuries.  As a result, we saw a lot of backup linemen, many of them tired from having to play both ways, get pushed around all afternoon long.  It's hard to evaluate an offense when the line is getting pushed around like that.

We've now seen the "new look" Gators offense.  It wasn't really anything new or revolutionary on a football-wide scale, and was a pretty prototypical pro style offense, which I'm sure is enough for most Gator fans tired of the spread after last year.

John Brantley looks like his same old self, or at least the same one we saw last year.  Maybe slightly more comfortable out there, but an alarming number of his passes still sailed or were knocked down at the line.  Again, it's difficult to evaluate it too much with the pass rush in his face all game long, so maybe he gets a bit of a pass on that front, but there certainly wasn't much to prove to us that he has turned things around yet.  Some of the passes he missed, and missed badly, were just inexcusable.

Tyler Murphy really stole the show from Brantley, and "stealing the show" in this case merely took a mediocre performance.  My major complaint with Murphy was his inability (or unwillingness) to put some touch on his passes and take some heat off of it.

Aside from the new offense, the other thing that most Gators fans were excited to see was freshman sensation Jeff Driskel.  Driskel certainly looked like a true freshman out there, but in all I liked what I saw of him.  Unlike Murphy, he demonstrated not only some good zip on his passes, but also the ability to float it over the top when necessary.

The real winner of the orange and blue game was neither orange nor blue, but rather the defense as a whole.  Yet again though, it's difficult to be sure how much of that was the easy win they got in the trenches against the tired, battered offensive line.  There were definitely several plays where the secondary let receivers get way too open, way too far downfield.

I don't think anyone believes that the Orange and Blue game lived up to the expectations this year, but it's a long offseason, and there's a lot of work that will still be done before the 2011 season kicks off.

We know that Andre Debose, to this point, anyway, has had a fantastic spring.

But you cannot gauge much from him yet, for two reasons: Nobody is there watching (aside from the coaches, obviously), so we have yet to see for ourselves. The other reason is that Debose hasn't really done much in games yet. Of course, that's due in large part to my BFFL Addazio, but still, he hasn't done it.

But with Rainey, it's very different, because we HAVE seen him do it in games.

And Muschamp is saying that he's doing great.

Here's a sickening stat for you- despite missing FIVE FULL GAMES and part of a SIXTH, Rainey was STILL THE TEAM'S SECOND LEADING RUSHER in 2010.

Now, this tells readers two things: how bad Addazio's offense was, or how great Rainey was.

Have I ripped on Addazio enough yet?

Good, now let's look at the other side of that coin.

Chris Rainey, despite how bad the offensive coordinator or even the offense itself is, is electric. He makes men miss and can singlehandedly ruin defensive coordinators' schemes and matchups... and this brings me to Charlie Weis.

If there's one thing above all others you need to know about Charlie Weis, it's that he finds good mismatches and then ruthlessly exploits them. He is NOT a pass lover. Of course, a lot of mismatches are in the secondary vs. receivers category, so that's why he throws deep so often when he has great receivers. Not because he loves seeing long bombs, but because somebody on defense does not match up well with a receiver.

So now let's go back to Rainey. I nicknamed him and Demps the 'triple T's' after the 2008 Arkansas game (where they both accounted for over 100 yards) for a bunch of reasons, and hopefully the name will catch on this season.

Oh, sorry, I forgot to define Triple T.

There are actually multiple explanations.

One is that they are tiny twin terrors- pretty self explanatory.

Another is that they are both triple threats: Fast, good hands, great tackle-shakers.

And the third is that when used correctly, they gain three times as many yards as they were supposed to than they play called for (even when Mullen was around- remember, this was 2008).

So let's talk about 2010. The Florida Gators were abysmal, and their offense sunk to levels previously reached by only submarines. What was lost in how awful the season was was how dynamite Rainey and Demps were. Remember the above stat.

Now, let's put all these pieces together.

Rainey, even under Addazio, shined as an explosive playmaker who turned nothing into something.

He's fast.

He can break tackles.

He can catch.

Charlie Weis loves finding mismatches and riding them all the way.

See where I'm going?

You know how some people have AB blood type and are considered "universal recipients", meaning that if they need blood, anybody with any type of blood can safely donate blood without causing an issue?

Well, Rainey is a "universal mismatch".

Don't believe me? Pretend to be a defensive coordinator. Try to get an even matchup with Rainey. I've already tried.

Linebacker

Generally, linebackers have medium speed relative to the rest of the field. Of course, there are exceptions, with a freak hybrid defender or a converted safety, but nobody has two of them. Besides if anybody has one, then Weis does the same with Debose. But back to the matchup: I'd love to meet the linebacker that can beat Chris Rainey in a footrace. If the play is a run, the linebacker has a shot to stop Rainey, but there's still the possibility of Rainey breaking a tackle. And if the play is a pass, the LB has no shot- no way a linebacker can closely enough mimic Rainey's cuts to stay with him.

Defensive lineman

Zero shot this works. Maybe- MAYBE- the D lineman can keep up with Rainey on a running play to the outside (for some strange reason, I don't think he'll be going up the middle much). Then, even if he can catch him, there's still the little matter of tackling him. And of course if Rainey goes out for a pass, forget it.

Cornerback

This appears to be the safest bet for defenses- it'll be very difficult for Rainey to go all the way. Cornerbacks in the SEC are very much able to defend a deep receiver, and stay with Rainey. Most likely, the corner will play loose, fearing Rainey getting past him and going the distance. But if this is what defenses choose to do, then Weis will order the ten yard plays that add up. And once the defense tightens up, Rainey will burn the secondary for a long score sooner or later.

Safety

Not really an option, what if Rainey runs sweeps? This would cause more problems than there originally were.

The probable solution

What would I do?

I'd try to think along with Charlie Weis and try to predict the type of play he'll call, and then match up with Rainey a player at the corresponding position. For example, if it's 3rd and 13, chances are good a pass is coming. So then put a corner on Rainey, and have a safety lurk nearby if Rainey runs a deep route. This way, if it's a quick screen to Rainey, the corner is right there to stop it. Again, the tackle has to be made, and the corner cannot get faked out by a cut, but the chances are much better of Rainey being stopped. And if Rainey goes deep and burns the corner, the safety is there to at least force Rainey to make a difficult play.

Now, you might be asking, so how does Weis free up Rainey then?

Well, he can't.

But fortunately for us, our team isn't named the Lakeland Burners, or the Chris Raineys. It's named the Florida Gators and there are 10 other players on offense- 5 others that are capable of making huge plays.

So Weis can exploit mismatches with somebody else- like Debose, Demps, Thompson, and whoever else he has on the field for various formations and plays.

Then Rainey is left alone again to do something else huge.

Looking at our offense as a whole, there's only one way to stop it- have a defense that is just as fast. Since most teams are not equipped with this gift, yes, I'm saying that Florida should blow everybody else away. I would say that we have one big question mark- our offensive line- and aside from that, we know exactly who we want to be.

I cannot wait for Will Muschamp to lead this team out of the tunnel against Florida Atlantic.

Obviously, for something like this, the possibilities are endless. Why Muschamp closed spring practice, I don't know for sure, but I've got a few good theories.

I've never been a fan of asking coaches what they plan to do differently in the second half, or what will we see today. Honestly, if I were a head coach and some bright eyed, 23 year old reporter asked me what to expect from my team, I'd just tell the reporter to suck me off, because what's the point of giving the world a heads up on what's coming?

I mean, really, say you're playing Georgia. It's 7-7 at halftime, your defense is playing great but your offense is atrocious. You've worked on some Wildcat in practice, and you're ready to spring it on Georgia in the third quarter. Why the hell would you give even the slightest tipoff?

Obviously, Will Muschamp agrees with my line of thinking. Of course, the Orange and Blue game is open to all fans, but as the coach, you get to choose what you show off. In practice, you can create and test out numerous different plays and formations and nobody knows better.

But don't expect anything huge from the spring game. Don't expect to see one team start the game in a trips set and a home run ball on the first play. If Muschamp is smart, which I believe he is, then the offense shown in the spring game will be slightly reminiscent of the same spread that Addazio meant to run last year. Again, there will obviously be differences, because if Muschamp really thinks that teams will believe the Gators will run the same ultra failure that they tried to run last year, he's sadly mistaken. So there need to be some signs of Charlie Weis in the offense- but mixed in with some spread. Maybe some play-action bootleg, the triple option (Colt McCoy's Texas version- hand it off/pitch it wide/play-action bomb), swing passes, and yes, some dive plays.

So there's no doubt in my mind that Weis is working on some things in practice that we the fans will not see until the season actually starts. And even then, don't expect to see an entire new offense against FAU- Charlie Weis needs to slowly unveil it, piece by piece.

Anybody else remember when Dan Mullen created and ran totally new plays in many big games? That's a big reason why Florida was so successful- nobody knew it was coming, and when they tried defending Mullen's newest gadget he'd simply dial up the airstrike and a bomb would land in a receiver's arms in the end zone.

So what Weis should do is run as little as necessary of the new stuff in order to beat the spread against FAU and UAB, which should be no less than 20 and probably will be somewhere in the low thirties. Unveil a little something against Tennessee if you need to, use Kentucky as a test dummy for something much bigger, because it's an away game and do you really believe Nick Saban wouldn't be suspicious of his former colleague if his offense showed nothing new? Not t omention Charlie Weis?

So throw out a little something funky against the Vols, and something much bigger against UK, and maybe make the Crimson Tide think that they've seen it all. Or maybe have them be prepared for one new little tweak, but have them thinking that they get the hang of our offense.

That's when Weis should unload half of his remaining playbook, heaping new play after new play on the Tide.

Save a little something for LSU and Auburn each.

Now the bye comes up.

This is when Weis comes up with another new trick or two, and drops it on Georgia for a nice little surprise.

Vanderbilt requires nothing but full attendance from our players, and South Carolina requires another new play or formation.

Furman calls for the same level of intensity as Vanderbilt.

Now, the Criminoles come to town. Bobby Bowden no longer patrols the sidelines, but Weis should be able to hear his "what the dadgummit heck is that???" as he springs a nasty little surprise on FSU- namely, the rest of the new playbook.

In every game, like in math class, Florida needs to keep themselves fresh in what they've previously unveiled. For instance, if the unveil some new Wildcat formation against Kentucky, they have to try it against Alabama at least once or twice.

Now... what exactly could Florida be working on?

One of the big things that I'm pretty sure is coming is some Texas style option. You know- QB in shotgun, two tailbacks on either side of him in a variation of the split T where Brantley can either hand it off to one of them, pitch it to another, or play fake to one and throw a deep bomb.

But I'd be shocked if there weren't just as many defensive changes.

Bet on seeing lots of blitzes, lots of sacks, and lots of letters of complaint from Steve Addazio to Will Muschamp saying "Hey! You're not allowed to do that! No fair!!! It's not supposed to be 7 on 5!!!"

Seriously, I'd be very surprised if Florida doesn't blitz on 90% of the plays.

But blitzing is a very vague and general term.

I'd say watch out for two main kinds of blitzes- zone and corner. If the Gators scare the hell out of opposing QB's, they can rattle the QB and the o-line and force them to come up with emergency changes and more blockers. Once Muschamp realizes that the opponent is going heavy, he can send a corner in lieu of a linebacker who drops back. This might confuse the opposing QB, because he'll see the corner coming and he'll think he has less time to throw but a man open... and that's when he'll rush a throw right over the middle to a wide open Jelani Jenkins.

Again, you have to remember, young QB's don't think their best when an all out blitz is coming after them.

And Florida gets plenty of young and inexperienced QB's.

Tyler Bray of Tennessee is our first victim. He's shown promise, but he has yet to play in a real loud and hostile place. Let's see how he does in the Swamp.

Morgan Newton of Kentucky will likely be terrified of the mass of Gators he'll face.

AJ McCarron of Alabama will be facing one of the new packages/plays I mentioned earlier, and if Florida's big guys- namely Sharrif Floyd- can bust the A-gap a few times early and put a few big first quarter hits on him , he'll be crying for his mommy. Nobody wants to get hit out of nowhere by Floyd. Maybe Ronald Powell can even come along and make a sandwich.

Jordan Jefferson and Jarrett Lee of LSU both suck. Come on. Let's remember that Lee had one good drive last year against Florida. Of course, it won the game but that was one of the games where the offense inspired the defense to suck as well, and the defense accepted the incitation.

Kiehl Frazier of Auburn is a freshman, and frightening him should be easy since Auburn loses their entire offensive line.

Aaron Murray of Georgia will be a little tougher. He's only a sophomore, but he's been thorugh an SEC run before. Of course, he hasn't faced LSU or Alabama, meaning he hasn't ever faced a ferocious defense yet.

Larry Smith of Vanderbilt doesn't need to be scared, because he has no weapons anyway.

Stephen Garcia of South Carolina will be toughest of all. Again, though, Carolina always collapses toward the end of the year. Even last year, the Gamecocks choked with losses to FSU and Auburn in the Chik-Fil-A Bowl and the SEC Championship game, respectively. Not to mention the blowout they took from Arkansas. Only Steve Addazio's massive suckage kept the Gamecocks from completely imploding. If it happens again, he may be on the bench and the Gators will coming after a bright eyed Connor Shaw.

With Florida State, Muschamp should have a field day assuming he takes into account the fact that EJ Manuel can run. You never want to blitz a running quarterback TOO much, but if Muschamp doesn't get blitz happy, Manuel could be running for his life all day.

Lastly, I want to touch on something completely different. Last year, the Gators finished... well, I'll let you guess.

What do you think Florida's fourth quarter margin was?

30 points.

That's right, Florida outscored their opponents by 30 points in forth quarters despite losing 5 games.

What does that say about Strength and Conditioning Coach Mickey Marroti?

One of the smartest thing Muschamp has done so far was to retain him.

And I believe that Muschamp is a smart guy.

So to wrap this up, if Will Muschamp is smart like I believe he is, he'll slowly reveal the new face of the Florida Gators.

If you don't really know football, and just like to say yay team, then just believe what you want to believe.

If you think you know football and you don't, then just google your team's name followed by "looking great".

But if you know football and can see through propaganda and coach-speak, then you know that a former player talking with great excitement about the 2011 team is a big deal.

Shane Matthews is no longer being humped by University public relations guys; he's now been out of UF for roughly 20 years. He isn't subject to the BS compliance rules that shattered my chance at getting an interview with Jeffrey Demps. He's a free man and can say whatever the hell he pleases.

He doesn't have to say things just to make fans feel good and UF look good.

But he did.

He gave his honest opinion about the new offense.

“It’s a concept,” the former Florida quarterback said. “It will be easy for these guys to pick up on that. It won’t take long at all. Charlie Weis and Aubrey Hill and the offensive coaches will coach it up well. They’ll make it simple for these guys. People think it’s complicated, but it’s not. They’ll put the players in a position to be successful.”

Not only is he speaking his honest mind, he's also talking from experience. Once upon a time, the Gators had this guy named Emmitt Smith. When he left, Spurrier took over and tore down the offense to build it back up all over again in a completely different way. Matthews had to learn the new Fun n Gun offense, which as I'm sure you know was a wacky machine gun type offense that passed on nearly every play and sent waves of receivers in different directions.

Matthews was adamant in stating that it wasn't a difficult transition. Perhaps this was due in large part to the offensive brain power of Steve Spurrier.

Replace Matthews with Brantley... now replace Spurrier with Weis... and there's really no difference, aside from Matthews being a little more successful prior to the switch than Brantley.

Charlie Weis knows offense the way Tim Tebow knows the end zone.

Expect Weis to do what he's done previously- exploit favorable one on one matchups and ride those mismatches to blowout wins.

More specifically, the play-calling needs to be better... wait I forgot I was just talking about Charlie Weis. I nodded off into a dream about the Gators going five and out. Yes, five, because the refs had such pity on Steve Addazio that they gave us six downs instead of four.

Anyway, Weis made his living in one way in particular.

For every defense, there's a way to beat it. I was only kidding when I pretended to be Addazio and said that the way to beat bump-n-run coverage is to lie down and take a nap and hope for a flag. But in reality, there are a bunch of ways to beat it.

One way to beat bump-n-run is to overload one side of the line of scrimmage with a trips set of receivers, and have them run very unnatural routes. The possibility of the defensive backs getting confused is maximized, which is when Brantley will release a bullet, because there's got to be SOMEONE open in that split second of confusion.

Another way to beat it is to send a man in motion, to confuse them. They might lose track of who they're covering, allowing a quick snap and a throw for an easy 15 yards.

But thanks to my time toying with offense as a GA, I always think one step further. And I'm wondering if maybe we could even pull off that three headed clusterf*ck Addazio imagined up during a particularly intense session with a curled up dive play pamphlet that I mentioned. You know, where one QB lines up to take the snap but somebody else walks behind the center and takes it instead. However, in the name of scoring points, let's ditch the part about throwing a two yard hitch right where the defense is waiting. Because there's no doubt, Georgia was confused when we did that.

So let's take it a step further. How about we line Chris Rainey up in the gun to start with, after running some first quarter Wildcat. Let's assume we've run it a minimum of five times and at least three of them were big gainers (10 yards or more). Now they don't know what the hell to do if they see Brantley quickly get in position to take the snap. So let's capitalize on their consternation and lob a bomb downfield for an easy touchdown.

But as much as I'd like to think otherwise, chances are that Charlie Weis is smarter than me at offense. So if he doesn't use the play I just described,he'll come up with something else effective. Because that's what he does- finds mismatches and exploits them all day.

So I don't really want to hear this transition BS. We're big boys now, we can manage.

Matthews' Gator teammate, receiver Tre Everett, agreed with me and then made a bold prediction.

“I don’t think there is going to be a tough transition for anyone. I think it will be far easier than some think. They have some great athletes and these coaches have done this before. I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re right back where we’re supposed to be- as a national contender next season.”

But even better, Everett predicted that the receivers at Florida would have a lot of fun, saying it will be a welcome change for them.

Whether Deonte "Dr. Strangeglove" Thompson learns to catch a football is yet to be seen.

But the point of this post isn't to plagiarize a reporter's article (Robbie Andreu); it's to infuse some confidence in you guys.

Again, these guys aren't being assaulted by PR guys 24/7; they're free men, and can say whatever they want.

And they have every reason to be optimistic.

I've said this a lot before; I'll say it again.

Florida is stacked with talent.

STACKED.

As in LOADED.

As in THEY CAN WIN THE 2011 BCS CHAMPIONSHIP.

Speed especially remains.

Will Muschamp has enough speed on this team to form an Olympic track team.

The pieces are in place for a BCS Championship. We've got a QB with a great arm, an offensive coordinator that has proven to wring out as much production as possible, three very talented running backs, speedy receivers, a nasty front 7 on defense and a ball hawking secondary.

Oh and a brilliant defensive mind.

If something goes wrong on our quest for a third national championship in six years, it won't be talent.

Before I begin this post, everybody who knows a Tennessee fan go up to him, and say "Brent Brewer" and laugh. He is the newest Vol to swap UT orange for prison orange.

Now. Onto more important stuff.

Remember when I told you guys in one of my first posts, about a month and a half ago, that Muschamp needed to coin his, for lack of a batter word, "thing"?

Well, I'm not trying to be arrogant, I'm trying to make a point, but that's exactly what he's doing now.

Anybody remember this?

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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".

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So, now we think. What could that "thing" be?

For those of you who are thinking, quit the rah rah stuff and let's get to work on football already, Muschamp's got you beat there too. He's hired Charlie Weis (BREAKING NEWS- REALLY?) to work with the offense and resurrect the talent that our boy Addazio wasted. And Muschamp is no slouch himself when it comes to football details, either- he's been working on that too.

But, like I said, this is absolutely essential for recruiting. There's got to be that "come along to Florida, and... do this... do that... be a part of xyz..." weapon that a coach carries when on a visit.

I'll leave it up to you guys to think about it, and if you want to, start a forum discussion posting your ideas.

I do believe that Muschamp must keep all the traditions in place, and simply add his new "thing" once he figures out what it will be. He hasn't come up with anything yet, just said that he needs to work on it. But knowing the way he works, he WILL get it done, and it WILL be done with a BOOM.

But deep down, I honestly believe that he already has it in his mind. Maybe the kinks to it haven't been figured out yet, but I'm willing to bet that he's got something planned, and he's just not saying what it is. I'm not saying he should or shouldn't; that's just the way things probably are.

He's already seen some new plays. But now, even though Muschamp is a defensive guy, I'm willing to bet that he's done at least some offensive planning.

What new creations might be in store on offense for 2011?

One thing I'm pretty sure will happen at some point to some degree is some Wildcat; just because an offense is pro style doesn't mean there won't be some gimmicks in the offense. Look at the Dolphins; they ran wild with it en route to a playoff berth a few years ago when they didn't have a QB they thought they could depend on and instead entrusted some of their skill position players to run the offense.

Sound familiar? Is there a team named the Florida Gators out there that has lots of speed and a QB they don't trust? Yeah, I can think of one.

I also believe that some form of the option will stay. With a dual threat QB, it's almost always the best way to go, and even if they don't use Jordan Reed, Jacoby Brissett could come in at times and run the option. If you think about it, it's similar to the Wildcat. It's the same idea, really.

Or they could run a different version of the triple option: Brantley in shotgun with Mack Brown next to him and Gillislee or Demps on the other side of him. Brantley can: hand off to Brown on a dive (USED CORRECTLY), pitch it to Demps/Gillislee or throw a bomb to a flying Chris Rainey, who lines up in the slot.

Yet another idea is to run the diamond: Brantley in shotgun, Brown directly behind him, about 5 yards back, and Demps/Gillislee/Rainey on either side of him. Brantley can hand it off or pitch to Brown, with the other two running backs giving him lead blocks, pitch it to the backs on the sides, or just to keep the defense honest, throw a crossing pattern to Jordan Reed or Gerald Christian.

Finally, Florida can run the trapezoid, which is more or less a made up formation by me during my time as GA- four running backs lined up next to each other in shotgun, any one of them can take the snap, they can hand it or pitch it to any of the other three or keep it, run tight end reverses with a few lead blockers, the possibilities are endless. It's sort of like a mega-Wildcat with four skill position players.

So the sky's the limit for formations and culture; the question is, what new things will we see?

We don't have to wait long; spring practice is in three weeks.

I've made a highlight film of Demps and Rainey together, but that doesn't mean they're identical.

All the announcers mention Rainey and Demps together, but that doesn't mean they're identical.

They're both the same size and same age, but that doesn't mean they're identical either.

There are lots of difference between them. The thing is, in the spread offense, it wasn't that easy to tell for anybody outside of a savvy football fan. But next year, the following differences should become obvious to anybody smarter than Steve Addazio.

Here are some things that Demps is better at than Rainey:

Straight speed.

There was all that talk about how Rainey and Demps always tied in footraces, or how Demps would win one, and Rainey would win the next one, and so on. Untrue. Rainey has beaten Demps a few times, but he won't do that too many times. Running straight, Demps is simply faster. That's not to say Rainey's slow- but it's like comparing a Concord jet to a regular jet. Demps has incredible speed, while Rainey is pretty fast.

Blocking

Whenever Tebow had to go deep, Demps was always the one back to block for him. Rainey always went out. Why? Because Rainey always went for the kill block, the highlight reel shot up high, and often missed. Demps always stayed low and cut his defender down or away from the play.

Better overall running back

Rainey can play more than one position, and like I've said before in the two step article, that's not necessarily a bad thing. What it does mean is that Demps will see time as a tailback before Rainey, as Rainey will likely have to play receiver, probably in the slot. Demps is more familiar with the position, knows how to be a running back, and is great at finding a hole and blasting through it. The only problem last year was that Addazio's blocking schemes were a mess, so Demps had no holes to exploit.

Now here are some things that Rainey does better than Demps:

Acceleration

Rainey is like a light switch; turn him on and he's ON. No waiting a few seconds for him to hit top speed- he's there INSTANTLY. That may be why he's beaten Demps at all- he hits top speed so fast that if you saw him take a handoff and blinked your eyes, he'd already be flying. However, though he certainly is no slug when it comes to running, he's also no track star like Demps. That's why he sometimes gets tackled from behind; he doesn't have the breakaway speed like Demps.

Catching the ball

Or, I should say, he has more experience doing it than Demps. Rainey is the more natural receiver and has pretty good hands, so I would not be surprised if the first deep ball of the year goes to Rainey. We've only seen Demps catch a few, and maybe Demps has glue hands, but we just don't know.

Explosiveness

We all heard about Andre Debose being the next Percy Harvin. Honestly, though Rainey has just as good a chance to be the next Percy as Debose. Rainey has nasty juking lateral moves that Demps either does not carry in his repertiore, or does so quickly that human beings cannot follow them with the naked eye. Oh, sure, Demps can break tackles at a rate far more than his size would suggest; just not as often as Rainey.

What to make of this? Well, Demps will almost certainly be the starting tailback come the Florida Atlantic game. As for Rainey, there's no set position for him, but he's just too valuable and explosive to keep on the bench. My guess is that he starts in the slot. And here's a bold prediction: Mack Brown will move to fullback for some packages to allow Demps and Rainey to line up in the backfield together in the POW-ER I.

If you don't know what the POW-ER I is, remember the 2006 championship game, when there was a fullback and two tailbacks all lines up behind Chris Leak? You know, four guys lined up directly behind each other? Well, that was a pro style formation, albeit a funky one. But I believe that will be back this year to confuse defenses. I also believe there will be some Wildcat with Demps and Rainey and maybe even Debose.

The point of this post is to get you guys to realize two things: One, I'm not just some guy who looks at Florida's schedule and sees the five losses, sees that our offense sucks and says, Oh, Addazio's a moron and just blasts him without thinking that there's anything else to football aside from the offensive coordinator. As much fun as blasting Addazio is, there's more to football than him. I actually do know football, regardless of what thebone says. Two, please don't mistake Rainey for Demps,or vice versa. They have their differences and you cannot simply insert Demps in the place of Rainey and tell him to do what he's been doing all game. They're different players, as you should see with Weis running the show as opposed to Sgt. Slaughter-Your-Own-Team.

By the way, I'm TRYING to get an interview with Demps, to see what he thinks of it. We have a mutual friend and I've talked to him about setting up an interview. Again, it's not definite, but if it does happen, I'm sure you guys would love that, right? An exclusive interview with Demps for inallkindsofweather? Would you guys like that?

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.

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.