If you're studying or ever have studied human behavior, then you know what shaping is. Well, if you don't, here's the perfect example:

In 2008, the Gator baseball team, in its first year under Kevin O'Sullivan, made the NCAA tournament, but was promptly eliminated in the FSU Regional.

In 2009, Sulley's second year, the Gators hosted their own region, and won it, but were knocked out in their own Super Regional by Southern Miss.

In 2010, Sulley's third year, the Gators won their own region, won their own Super Regional over Miami (thanks to a bunch of errors) to advance to the College World Series but were immediately bounced by UCLA and FSU.

In 2011, Sulley's fourth year, the Gators won their own regional, beat Mississippi State in their own Super Regional, and then beat Texas and Vanderbilt twice in the College World Series, but their bats went cold against South Carolina in the national championship series and lost.

That's shaping- take a step closer each year and praise the improvement each time. Now, though, it's time for the Gators to take that final step and win it all. The preseason  #1 Gators have really slumped after starting out 20-1. They still have a good chance to win the SEC, and they will get home field until the College World Series unless they really collapse down the stretch, but there's no excuse for the lack of run support for their pitchers.

At one point, this Gator lineup was by far the most feared in the nation, hands down. Nolan Fontana has an excellent on base percentage to lead off, and the Gators have perhaps the biggest 3-4 punch- Mike Zunino and Preston Tucker. The rest of the lineup is pretty solid too, with Vickash Ramjit, Justin Shafer, Casey Turgeon and Brian Johnson all power threats at the plate.

But for some reason, the Gators now can't seem to buy a run. This awesome lineup has not scored more than five runs in three weeks- and that was against Bethune Cookman. OK, the Gators have played some good teams- Mississippi State, Arkansas and Kentucky are all probably NCAA tourney bound- but the Gators usually break out in at least one game in a series. Or, as I should say, they used to.

It's fair to say the Gators peaked at the wrong time- back in March- but that doesn't mean they can't peak again. Teams change during a season, and if the Gators changed for the worse, they can easily change for the better. All it takes is one guy getting really hot at the plate and the rest very well may follow suit.

The good news is, the Gators' pitching has been top notch pretty much all season, and pitching and defense win championships. All you need is more runs than the other guy, and if the Gators' suddenly frozen bats heat up for a string of runs in one big inning, you have to like the Gators' chances in that game.

The Gators have a tune-up game against Samford tomorrow before wrapping up their season at Auburn this Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The SEC tournament is next week, followed by the NCAA Tournament. Basically, the Gators' bats better wake up soon if they want to make this season successful and do something that Florida fans have come to expect from pretty much all their sports teams- win a national championship.

These Gators have the bitter taste of past failures stuck in their mouths, no doubt. Preston Tucker made the killing error in the loss to Southern Miss three years ago. Mike Zunino lined into the game ending double play against FSU two years ago. And the entire lineup was silenced by South Carolina last year.

Let's see if those memories really make the Gators into a championship team.

I know Georgia won the SEC East last year, but you can't say they were the favorite, nor can you say they're the favorite this year.

Simply put, Georgia was the single worst team to ever represent a finalist for a conference championship contest.

In their defense, they did win 10 games- with a schedule softer than a feather. They beat Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, and Mississippi State by an average of 9 points. Three of those teams they struggled against didn't even make bowl games. The other three were 6-6. So to sum it up: all six of these teams were .500 or below in the regular season. They also had a 31-17 win over a de facto mid major team in Georgia Tech, which was semi-impressive since you never take a win on the road lightly. In addition, Georgia blew out big bad Coastal Carolina and New Mexico State. Boring.

The two and a half games Georgia looked legitimate were: a 45-42 loss to South Carolina, a game that was yet was actually not their fault in a comic sort of way; the Gamecocks scored in some of the most unconventional ways possible (fake punt, pick 6, fumble recovery, another fumble recovery that put the ball inside the UGA 5), a 45-7 blowout over an Auburn team that had nothing whatsoever to play for (and boy, it showed) and the first half against an LSU team that seemed perfectly content to give Georgia a half to run up as big of a lead as it could before settling down and playing to win in the second half instead of showing a flair for botcher seldom seen in a Pee Wee game, let alone an SEC Championship.

Get the point?

The Dawgs are not a team to fear. If anything, they are a team to laugh at, mock, and dismiss in any national title talk.

See for yourself.

When you're done laughing, take a second to look at their schedule from a year ago.

See what I mean?

But now, in 2012, the schedules have halfway evened out. Alabama and Auburn are off the Gators' schedule, replaced by Texas A&M and Missouri, two mediocre ex-Big 12 teams. Then remember how close the Gators were in all of their losses to the teams not in last year's BCS Championship Game. Meanwhile, UGA's schedule is pretty much the same. The one difference is Missouri replacing Mississippi State, which is basically a lateral move. Neither team particularly impresses as better than the other one.

The only other possible threat to Georgia's SEC East repeat chances aside from Florida would be the obvious choice, Carolina. Losing Alshon Jeffrey is a blow, but never count out a Marcus Lattimore led team (as long as he's healthy.)

Here are my way too early SEC East projections for 2012:

1)Florida- This is strictly by default. Remember, Georgia was awful last year and won the East due to a nice schedule. Florida should definitely be better on both sides of the line of scrimmage. Even with the loss of Ronald Powell (I've heard he is targeted to return for the first SEC game against Texas A&M), this defense is simply evil. The offense has enough playmakers (Andre Debose, Trey Burton and Quinton Dunbar especially impressed) to put up winning point totals, but this team will ride its defense. The schedule sets up nicely, with the toughest opponents (LSU, South Carolina) coming to the Swamp. The road games are for the most part jokes. The Gators are a good, not great team, but will win the East not because they are so great, but because there's simply nobody better.

2)South Carolina- Cocky is never out of the race to Atlanta for one two word reason: Marcus Lattimore. Assuming this warrior is healthy, Carolina should ground and pound their way to the mid 20's every game. With their defense, that should be enough. Melvin Ingram, Stephon Gilmore and Devin Taylor have departed for the NFL, but Jadeveon Clowney is still a one man wrecking crew up front and should do his usual job of singlehandedly forcing the opposing QB to make quick and often bad decisions. Connor Shaw seemed to have a good grip on the offense last year. He'll need to if Carolina wants to get back to the ATL. It'll be a replay of last year- the SEC East title game in Gainesville. But this time around, the depleted Gamecocks don't have quite enough to win, despite a fairly easy schedule.

3)Tennessee- this is the bold pick of the article. If I'm wrong about this, then Derek Dooley begins to feel the heat in Knoxville. A third straight season in the bottom half of the SEC East, no matter how many injuries the Vols have, would spell doom for Dooley, one of the true class acts of the SEC (a grudging admission from a Gator fan). Last season Georgia was on the verge of firing Mark Richt in 2011, only to win 10 straight games (albeit against horrible competition, remember). The same could happen to the Vols this year. Tyler Bray may be virtually unknown now, but I don't believe that Tyler Bray's talent will be unknown to the world for long. His top target, Justin Hunter, will return with a special fire in him. Together, the two could send scoreboard numbers flying, along with help from a much improved offensive line. But the question marks on defense are too big and too many to seriously label this team a contender.

4)Georgia- this isn't really so much a slap in the face to Georgia, nor a hopeful plea from a huge Gator fan as much as I would like to say it is. No, this is simply a guess that all the close games UGA won last year will turn into heartbreaking losses in 2012. Florida, Vanderbilt and Kentucky in particular could have easily beaten Georgia and Tennessee, Ole Miss and MSU were never out of it until the last few minutes. Their 2012 schedule is essentially the same, as is their roster, particularly on defense. Their lone big loss is their great tight end Orson Charles. Perhaps their real losses come due to suspensions- Alec Ogletree, Bacarri Rambo, Sanders Commings and Branden Smith are all out from a variety of 1-4 games. That means they might lose a game to a mediocre Mizzou team they shouldn't- and if they do, well, then they certainly won't win the East unless they can pull off a string of thrillers- again. Which is nearly impossible to do in the SEC- even in the weaker division.

5)Vanderbilt- the Commodores are no joke. Ask Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, or even Alabama. All four of those teams beat Vandy, but not without a serious fight first. And with Alabama and Arkansas off the schedule in 2012, the Dores have a real chance. For once, Vanderbilt, kick started by energetic coach James Franklin and QB Jordan Rodgers, appears to be a legitimate threat to win the East. The schedule even sets up nicely- South Carolina, Florida, and Tennessee have to visit them, and they go to Georgia, Kentucky and Missouri. The only problem is that the rest of the SEC knows not to take them lightly, and when you're in the SEC and you suddenly have high(er) expectations, you tend to fall flat. Plus, you know, they're Vandy. They always make Vandy plays, even when they're good. Watch this good-by-other-conference-standards-but-not-by-SEC-standards-team this year and you'll see what I mean if you don't already know.

6)Missouri- say hey to the new kid on the block. Here's your schedule. Now go take your maulings. Truthfully, Mizzou is probably sick of hearing how good the SEC is by now and they're hungry to take the league by storm, but that doesn't mean they will. In fact, chances are they won't, no matter how good QB James Franklin (no relation to Vandy's coach) really is. They're in way over their heads. Even if heralded freshman DGB (Dorial Green-Beckham, the latest awesome three letter nickname in college football) turns out to be a stud, he and Franklin will never light up scoreboards against the nastiest SEC defenses. Good luck with that. Their defense actually wasn't bad last year, and should be good again this year, but they need more offensive playmakers before they can make a run, even with the element of surprise with them. They'll get there in time- Gary Pinkel recruits too well not to- but not yet.

7)Kentucky- fresh off their season ending triumph over Tennessee, Kentucky celebrated for hours on end. Now, they can play all the mediocre to good SEC teams and be reminded of why they like basketball so much. Josh Clemons emerged as a playmaker last year for them, but he couldn't carry them by himself. There are too many ghosts on this team- Derrick Locke, Randall Cobb, Mike Hartline and Micah Johnson. Now two more join them from last year's team: Winston Guy and Danny Trevathan. The defense can't be all that good, and unless Morgan Newton emerges as the next Cam Newton (there's no relation there) Joker Phillips is in for a long season.

You can't pick a single hero from last night's game too easily.

Was it Bradley Beal, who led the Gators in scoring? Erving Walker, who nailed the most clutch 3 of the year to stop Marquette's run at the end? Michael Rosario, who made huge contributions off the bench in by far his best game of the year? Kenny Boynton, for hitting all the clutch free throws towards the end of the game?

Whoever you want to pick is fine with me. Because this is a team sport, and this team has matched last year's success by booking another ticket to the Elite 8.

However, the Elite 8 is no stopping point. Generally, you get much more "we're just happy to be there" in the Sweet 16. Everybody would like to win the Sweet 16 just for a chance to play another game. That's the same motivation as there is in the first couple of rounds. The Elite 8, on the other hand, represents a chance for kids to play on the biggest basketball stage in the world- the Final Four. Move over, NBA Playoffs, even the Finals, the NCAA Final Four is the most watched basketball event in existence.

Who wouldn't want to play in the most prestigious basketball event of the year? The hunger is upped for both teams. Florida has a double dose of fire as Boynton and Walker, while not quite fireballs of intensity, haven't really forgotten the bitter loss to Butler from a year ago. Erik Murphy and Patric Young also played small roles on that team, and they didn't take too kindly to it either.

It's not like they could forget that game even if they wanted to.

Billy Donovan has forced his team to watch the last 8 minutes of the CBS broadcast over and over and over again until the scars from that fateful day in NOLA were reopened, gashing blood. Well, not really. But by now, the Gator players are so sick of seeing that ugly collapse (Donovan started showing it the day after the Gators routed Norfolk State) that they should come out breathing fire against Louisville.

Instead of Boynton or Walker, the only two remaining starters from that team, it is Bradley Beal who has become the team's vocal leader. The best part- he doesn't need to say anything to Walker, the only senior, or Boynton, the only true junior in the starting lineup. A freshman trying to motivate an uppserclassman doesn't always pan out. He only has to worry about his fellow youngsters, the ones that either did not play or were not even on the team.

The Gators' fire will likely be matched by that of Louisville, who as I'm sure you know by now has a great head coach in Rick Pitino, who coached Billy Donovan and later hired him as an assistant coach.

Intensity and desire alone, however, will not get it done.

The Gators need to play just like they did against Marquette last night. Tough defense, points in transition, and make some threes. The only problem with last night (this morning, for me and those of you in the Eatern Time Zone) was that the Gators refused to put Marquette away. Whether somebody would bobble a pass and tip it right to Marquette, miss four open threes in two straight possessions, unnecessarily foul to give Marquette a bonus point after an open layup, or turn the ball over....

The bottom line is, the Gators cannot afford to let Louisville hang around like that. Marquette's best shooters, Darius Johnson Odom and Jae Crowder, kept missing big threes that could have as much as tied the game in the final minutes. Florida was very lucky that they missed, and cannot expect Louisville, led by Russ Smith, to miss such open looks.

The other key is to win the foul battle and get to the line.

Aside from Kenny Boynton's foul shots in the waning seconds, which were mandatory from Marquette's perspective, Marquette fouled the Gators A LOT. CaDougan especially could not take his hands off Gator guards. The referees let him get away with a lot, but he crossed the line a few times and occasionally got called for it. The Gators, on the other hand, didn't foul a whole lot and as a result forced the Eagles to earn most of their points from the field.

As a team, getting to the foul line, playing great defense, outrebounding the Cards and making threes is what Florida has to do to win. Bradley Beal does all three of those exceptionally well, and at this point I'm worried he leaves for the draft. I put all my trust in him to rally the youngsters to play their best, and I trust Boynton and Walker to motivate themselves to play their best games of the season. When you've seen great things for three straight games, you can kind of grow to expect more. And I do. The expectations have been raised now, and while a loss to Louisville wouldn't be shocking, it would be crushing, and unacceptable. We're so close now, and we have a shot at redemption after last year's heartbreaker.

Play like they did last night again tomorrow and the Gators will be back in the Final Four. We're so close... I can almost taste that spicy Cajun chicken...

One of Reggie Nelson's lasting images as a Gator was picking off John Parker Wilson and taking it 70 yards to the house to seal the 28-13 win over Alabama in 2006- and had dozens of other big time pass breakups in his final year at Florida.

Of course, Percy Harvin was a human highlight reel during his time at Florida, but especially in his last two years when he got more touches.

For two years, Janoris Jenkins locked down on some of the best young receivers (or future receivers) in the NFL, such as Julio Jones, Alshon Jeffrey, Brandon LaFell, and AJ Green.

Last year, Chris Rainey was unquestionably the Gators most explosive player, consistently breaking tackles and turning nothing into something.

What do all these guys have in common?

They all wore the number 1 on their jerseys once they really matured into excellent players.

Or, in some cases, when the coaches thought they needed to provide some spark in a player to make them really break out the way they envisioned when they recruited them.

Since I really started following Gator football at the rate I do now in 2006, it's worked every time.

Wideout Quinton Dunbar and linebacker Jonathan Bostic have been issued number 1 for offense and defense, respectively. Issuing number 1 for somebody on the Gators (and I'm sure for a bunch of other teams too) is similar to naming the player captain. It means the coach has high expectations or high trust in the player, and usually both. The difference between an actual captain and somebody that wears 1 is the physical ability of the player wearing 1 (obviously, exceptions are made for guys like Tim Tebow or Joe Haden).

Captains usually are appointed for leadership reasons- going the extra set of reps in the weight room, on the practice field, or encouraging the teammate that just missed a tackle or fumbled the ball away. Sure, Tebow was a beast, but if he had a poor attitude he might not have been named captain. The number 1 is given out to players that have tremendous physical ability AND is willing to go that extra mile to get the absolute most he can out of his talent.

But numbers are issued in spring practice (at least with Will Muschamp they are), and he has basically sent a message to his team that Dunbar and Bostic are going to lead by example and that he expects greatness out of both of them.

Credit Urban Meyer for this. This was his idea. Muschamp merely retained it as part of his winning formula- give number 1 to guys who you really have faith in.

Just like the guys before Dunbar and Bostic, these two have shown flashes of immense talent, but (especially for Dunbar) these moments have been few and far between.

Something that might help Dunbar get more action is the agreement of former Gator wide receiver Omarious Hines to play running back (and wear number 20) in his senior season. This is part of Brent Pease's new offense- crazy packages that confuse defenses to the point of busted assignments- but I'll get into that tomorrow. Hines switching positions clears the way for Dunbar to shine alongside Andre Debose, who has already proven to be not only a great receiver, but a legitimate threat to score from anywhere on the field if you mess around. And even if you don't mess around, he might still score.

As for Bostic, he has actually proven himself already. He co-anchored a defense that finished in the top 10 in the nation. Unfortunately for Florida, the offense sucked so much that holding Auburn, Georgia, FSU and South Carolina to 79 combined points ultimately meant nothing. With an offense, and wins in those four games, Florida is 10-2, in Atlanta, and Bostic gets some recognition.

But that's why these guys were given #1 anyway- to prove their worth.

And hopefully their worth will guide the Gators back to glory.

Muschamp seems to think that's exactly what will happen.

So let's join him.

Really?

You give Murray State (a midmajor with an unimpressive resume aside from the 30-1 record) a 6, Florida State (who we beat by ~20 with almost identical records) a 3, and you give Florida a 7?

Come on now.

Maybe this is compensation to the Gatorhater nation for seeding UF as the #2 team in the South a year ago.

I thought the NCAA Selection Committee wasn't supposed to work that way....

But whatever, it did, and the Gators need to deal with it.

In fact, the sooner Gator Nation accepts this seemingly unfair fate, the sooner we can realize just how lucky we are.

We didn't draw a single dominant team in our region, just a bunch of average, run of the mill teams and a couple of good but not great teams. Florida falls under that good but not great label, which means they have as much of a shot at the Final Four as anybody in the West region.

A number 1 seed is supposed to be an aura of invincibility, royalty and dominance. A number 2 seed conveys the message of "we're the only ones that have a shot at taking down #1. So get out of the way and let us have our shot." In other words, equal condescendance over early round opponents. Number 3 represents the just-below kingship status, and number 4 represents a dark horse Final Four candidate.

That's how the Committee wants it to look.

The #1 seed in the West (Michigan State) was up for grabs the entire last few weeks. The Spartans beat Ohio State- the same Buckeyes the Gators played tough til the very end on the Bucks' home floor- for the Big 10 title and that final #1 seed. But Sparty's 27-7 record, including embarrassing losses to Northwestern and Illinois, raises some questions about just how dominant they really are, especially when fellow #1 seeds Syracuse (East) and Kentucky (South) are a combined 63-4. Even the third #1 seed, North Carolina, was 29-5, including a blowout win on a jet carrier ship over... Michigan State. The Spartans don't particularly impress as the #1.

Missouri, the Gators's future SEC East (for football, anyway) rival, is the #2. They appear slightly more impressive than MSU. At least they won their conference. They are 30-4, but their schedule- and three of their losses- were humiliating. A sweep at the hands of Kansas State paired with an inexplicable loss to Oklahoma State makes their upset chances real. They're certainly beatable- and the Gators wouldn't have to wait long to find out. All they have to do is beat UVA, and barring a first round shocker at the hands of Norfolk State, the Gators and the third set of Tigers in the SEC will square off.

Marquette is the 3 seed, and they would be a problem for the Gators on a good day. The only thing wrong with that from their perspective is that a good day against the Gators has to mean that Florida is having a bad day from beyond the arc. For Florida, it's great. Marquette is a great team, no doubt- but they've been beaten up all year with an admittedly grueling Big East schedule. Big East teams generally don't do well in the Big Dance- they couldn't put a single team in the finals for 7 years before last year.

The team that frightens me the most is the 4 seed, Louisville, but the Gators wouldn't face them until the Elite 8. Like Marquette, they are a Big East team, but unlike Marquette, they are on a hot streak, coming off a conference tournament title. They clearly are not feeling the effects of fatigue that the rest of the league is. They also play like the Gators- relying heavily on the three- which means whoever does what they're comfortable with better will win. That could be a problem.

But forget that for now. It's all irrelevant right now because if Florida loses to Virginia they won't be playing any of these teams.

Virginia is another good, but not great team that sort of slipped off as the season progressed. It's just so hard to say what will happen against them because the Gators don't really have a backup plan in place if their threes don't fall. Patric Young will not be able to take on the whole UVA team.

There's no in depth analysis needed here. No detailed projections, keys or secrets. It's all quite simple. Does Florida make their threes at a clip of at least 1/3, and do they rebound at least half of their misses?

If yes, then bring it, Mizzou. Walker, Boynton, Murphy and Beal have a surprise in store for Pressey and co.

If not, then there's always next year...

First, I'd like to apologize for being gone so long.

Second, I'd like to say that I think- and hope- this time I'm back for good.

Third, I'd like to express my utter disgust for the Gator basketball team.

Fourth, I'd like to say that they have as much of a chance of winning the national championship as anybody.

That's right. The 9 loss Gators are as erratic as anybody in the country, yet due to the current system, they still have a shot at the crystal basketball.

The NCAA tournament allows 68 teams in the field. 25 of those go to conference tournament champions (or in the case of the Ivy League, the regular season champion), leaving 43 at large bids. Personally, I believe it's disgraceful to give South Dakota State the same mathematical chance of winning it all as Kentucky (unless they're one of the last 4 in and have to play that extra play in game... but still), but that's not the point.

Barring a trip to conference tournament championship (which is quite unlikely since the Gators would probably face Kentucky in the semifinals), the Gators will enter the Big Dance on a Big Cold Streak. Yes, even colder than the handshake between Meyer and Richt following the 2008 Cocktail Party. Losses to Georgia, Vandy and probably Kentucky twice in the last 5 games is not what Billy Donovan wants to see heading into a bad draw in the Dance.

Yet thanks to the NCAA's idea to give each conference champion and some average big conference teams a bid, Florida will probably face one of them unless they really tank and lose to Alabama/South Carolina. The Gators appear to be a low 4 seed or a high 5 seed right now, meaning they'll face either the best mid-major champion or the worst power conference team in the tournament. That's great news for Florida, since very few of those teams actually have the speed and athleticism to play defense. Heart, guts and pride, yes, but not the physical ability to blanket Erving Walker and Kenny Boynton beyond the arc... which leads me to my next point.

The SEC tournament doesn't mean anything for Florida. They could lose by 50 to Kentucky and it won't do anything. It might lower the seed, but that doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

The way the Gators play, either they make their threes or they don't. When they do, they can beat FSU, Alabama, Vanderbilt and Mississippi State- all NCAA tournament bound teams- and can hang with Syracuse, Ohio State and Kentucky. When they don't, they lose to Rutgers, Georgia and Tennessee- all teams that are currently out of the 68 team field.

It's really that simple. Even if Patric Young is having a great game, the Gators will still lose if they don't hit their threes. He eclipsed 20 points against Kentucky, and the Gators trailed 46-44 midway in the second half. Then the Gators started missing, and Kentucky opened up the floodgates.

I don't really like this style of basketball. I like to mix it up and get the big guys the ball inside sometimes. Patric Young is fully capable of scoring 40 points a game if he was the featured part of the offense and 30 if he was as much of a contributor as the three point shooters. It cost the Gators a trip to the Final 4 last year, and if the Gators go cold like they did against Rutgers or Georgia then they can expect an early upset.

However, this is the style of play the Gators have now, and when it works, it is very frightening to play against. I can easily see the Gators make a Final 4 run, but of course, in the NCAA tournament, it's one game at a time. So it's going to start with that gritty but woefully inadequate defensively 12-13 seed.

Predicting when the Gators will make their threes is as perilous a way to make a living as exists in North America. I really feel bad for Vegas bookies who have to set lines for this game. However, one way you can have some confidence about their three shooting is if you know they have confidence. A good night shooting threes plus win in your back pocket just a couple of days ago would be a good sign for the round of 32- at least going into the game.

In other words, if the Gators shoot well in the first round, there's a good chance they will have confidence to at least begin the game in the second round against a better opponent. Confidence, aside from proper technique and focus, is the key to making threes. By this line of thinking, if the Gators shoot well in the first game, they're going to the Sweet 16.

Remember, the prototypical first round 12 seed opponent gets to the Dance on hustle, pride, and determination- not athleticism and talent. That makes Florida a horrendous nightmare of a matchup for them- because they can't get in front of the three point shooters to contest and alter the shot. Even if they somehow do get in front of Walker or Boynton, they have the speed to flash past them and either get a bunny layup or kick it out to another (and now wide open) three point shooter.

The main way upsets happen in the Dance is if the underdog forces the favorite to play the type of game that suits the underdog, hang close and win the close game. The only other way (more likely for a team like Florida) is if a team literally misses all their open shots. So if Walker, Boynton, Beal and Murphy combine to go 2 for 30 from three point land, then yes, the Gators could lose to Seton Hall or Western Kentucky.

But let's say that horrible above scenario doesn't happen. The Gators get a lot of open threes and make a solid percentage of them- say a third. Patric Young can grunt out 15 points and keep the opponent honest. Now the Gators have a winning streak, and more confidence. You would have to take that result as a Gator fan heading into the second round. That's really all Gator fans can ask for.

Once the Gators are on a roll, they're hard to stop. They've had multiple long winning streaks this year, and against a good team here and there.

It would be nice if they won the SEC tournament. But I would be happy if they just played well and limited the turnovers, got the majorty of rebounds... and see them taking and making threes with confidence.

Which they've done against some of the best teams in the nation.

One more thing I want to touch on- there's no home court advantage in the Dance. Sure, the sites might be closer to some teams than others, but the floor won't be painted one team's colors with a huge logo on midcourt. Each school gets an equal number of tickets to start with, and while some might be sold to other team's fans, the most uneven the fans could ever really be is 70-30, and only for first/second round games for the top two seeds. The only court that matters is neutral and heading into the SEC tournament, the Gators are 1-0 on neutral courts.

Oh, and by the way, seven of Florida's nine losses were away games.

My prediction?

Level up the site, pack your bags, we're going to the Sweet 16.

And if we can hit our threes there, regardless of who we play, maybe a little further.

That's not OK, Gators.

In fact, that's the sorriest I've seen the Gators play since the 2004 Mississippi State game.

At least one of the units (offense or defense) showed up in every game since then to a greater extent than they did today.

From just looking at the 54-32 final score, the average person would probably think that the Gators blew the doors off the Paladins, and allowed them to crawl back to make it somewhat respectable.

The fact is, if not for a complete turnaround in the players' mindset, the Gators would have fallen victim of maybe the biggest upset of all in a weekend filled with them.

The 4 best non-SEC teams all went down- #2 Oklahoma State, #4 Oregon, #5 Oklahoma, and #7 Clemson to all but ensure that the SEC will put two teams in the BCS Title Game with LSU, Alabama and Arkansas vying for those two spots (if Arkansas beats LSU on Friday, hell breaks loose). But had Florida lost to a mediocre FCS team, more people would have been shocked than all the other four upsets combined.

Not me. And not many other Gators fans, either. We with knowledge know this team is comically bad- and has been pretty much all season.

The saddest part is that there wasn't a single reason, stat or bad play that caused this early meltdown- it was a total team effort and commitment to playing as if their heads had been dumped in sleeping powder. What? There's no such thing as sleeping powder? Well, I didn't think there was such a thing as allowing an FCS team to walk into the Swamp and jump all over us for a 22-7 lead after the 1st quarter, so pardon me for making something else up.

The point is, the Gators all pitched in to help form one big mess of a performance, albeit a bowl clinching performance. The defense was terrible in the first quarter. They routinely missed gap assignments, allowing Furman QB Chris Forcier to run around like a wild man and complete any pass he felt like- which was a LOT. The offense couldn't do much after their first drive, either, unless you count snapping the ball over Brantley's head for a safety, until they scored to make it 15-7. Then the defense was caught completely flat footed for a trick play TD to make it 22-7.

After that, the Gators woke up and played better. Sort of. But they had lots of help from Furman, who offered up a pair of pick 6's, allowed Andre Debose to simply run a fly pattern with no safety in the same zip code for two long TD's, and just generally replaced the Gators as the team trying to beat themselves. Aside from the 76 yard TD for the Paladins that was stuck in the middle of all these mistakes (which was nauseating), the Gators played relatively mistake free football after the first quarter (for them, anyway).

The good news is that Florida is going bowling. Missing out on a bowl game is the ultimate indignity for a Gators program that's won 3 national championships in the past 15 years. and two in the past 5. At least the Gators dodged that bullet.

Now, though, comes a huge test for Will Muschamp- the Florida State Criminoles.

Forget the whole Beach House Bowl deal. This is Muschamp's huge chance to show what a great motivator he is. Today's game is the equivalent of an entire store's worth of ammunition for Muschamp to get his guys ready for a huge rival. This game against FSU will go a long way in determining how fired up Muschamp's guys are for a rivalry game- and maybe in general.

And one more thing- don't call for Muschamp's head yet. We didn't lose the game, first of all, and besides, Nick Saban lost to Louisiana Monroe in the lowlight of a truly gruesome 7-6 inaugural season as head man of Tuscaloosa. Everybody wanted him fired after that season. Funny, those "Fire Saban" chants kind of died down in 2008, didn't they?

Once Saban got guys who were committed to running his gameplan, the Crimson Tide ripped off 12 straight wins before eventually falling to Urban Meyer's explosive Gators. Turns out Saban's Tide was just putting it off a year- because with even more/better/older players ready to play Saban football, the Tide did it all over again- this time defeating the Gators and then the Texas Longhorns for a BCS Championship. Now he's got a statue of himself outside Bryant Denny Stadium, a mere 105 weeks after being criticized and hated and wanted fired.

In short, the Gators were horrible today, but let's see if Muschamp can turn into a blessing in disguise- not just against the Criminoles, but long term.

Or if it's really an accurate representation of who we are.

Which would be sad.

The South Carolina Gamecocks defeated the Florida Gators in the most un-Spurrier way possible.

Eat clock with long drives, change field position, and punt.

Against the anemic Gators, though, the Gamecocks could have taken a knee on every play and still won.

Because the Gamecocks were far from perfect themselves. In fact, they tried to give the Gators a free football game, but being the nice guys they are, Will Muschamp's crew refused to take it Maybe Muschamp wants his boys to win, and not allow the other guys to lose.

How did it happen?

Well, once again, let's start with penalties. The Gamecocks actually committed far more than Florida, but the Gators' came at the worst possible times- like 3rd and goal and 4th and 3. Again, these are the procedural pre-snap penalties that drive any coach out of his mind. The pass interference and late hits are more costly, true, but they also show that your player is hustling and playing with emotion. So that's at least a trade off.

I'm starting to lose faith in Weis. It hurts to say, but I really am. The play-calling looked so much like it did a year ago with Addazio- dive left, dive right, occasional sweep, fumble, sack, two yard out pattern... with the same results. To Weis' credit, though, I'm not so sure he has any other option. The offensive line is comically bad, and by now it's pretty obvious that Brantley's confidence is permanently and irreversibly messed up. Sure, there's all this talk about him being a tough guy for coming back, and while I applaud his efforts, it doesn't translate into results.

I will not call for Muschmp's firing, or Weis's... yet. The schedule is a nightmare, granted, but the Gators could be 8-2 right now. If they catch all the punts against Auburn, don't commit 16 penalties against Georgia- many of them on third down- and convert in the red zone against South Carolina... guess what? This Gators team is 8-2, off to Atlanta, and maybe ranked in the top 10.

But no. We're the Florida Gators. We tease our fan base by playing well for awhile against the great teams- see the touchdown to Andre Debose against Alabama, the 17-3 lead against Georgia, etc.- and THEN we choose to screw ourselves with authority, so hard that we cause the second big bang.

Give Muschamp time. Let him and Weis recruit guys for their style, and see how it works. I just think that being left with Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps is more than enough to work with to have success. The offensive line issues, however are Urban Meyer's fault. He was too busy napping along with Steve Addazio to even sense that the line was horrendous. So for that, yes, Urban Meyer did leave the cupboard bare.

I'm sick of this. But I will tolerate it. Again, this is not last year. Last year our offense was just offensive to the minds of real football fans. Steve Addazio committed genocide on people's brain cells both by running killer dive plays and then explaining to the poor peasants of Gainesville how the play works, interspersed with telling people that "everything's gonna be OK".

This year, we are left to clean up the mess that Addazio started. It happens in politics all the time- I'm not getting into what party I am or anything, just saying that when a new President comes in, he often doesn't like what his predecessor has done with something and will try to fix it. But it sometimes gets worse before it gets better (in his eyes), and in the long run, improvement will be made. So I am giving Muschamp two more seasons (2012, 2013, this season's been shot in the head multiple times) to get this team to Atlanta. There are some positive signs already- the team has played three ranked teams really tough. They just gave the games away because they're not used to that spotlight.

For next year, here are the problems that MUST be fixed. I've been hammering on them all year, and the Gators haven't seemed to have made any adjustment or commitment to fixing them. Maybe by putting them in bold will help. We can start next week against Furman, and then continue to work on them against FSU and if we make a bowl game (no sure thing) then we'll work on them there:

Offensive line

Good thing Jessamen Dunker, DJ Humphries and Omari Phillips are on the way. Charlie Weis would be better off playing offensive line all on his own than sticking the current starters back out there to wreck another QB's confidence. The trio of big baddies all rank as top 15 offensive linemen. I don't expect them to be Michael Ohers in their first game, but by 2013, after a year of learning the SEC game, these guys should be primed and ready for war. Good protection can mean the difference between a win and a loss on even one play.

Deep receiving threats

I haven't really touched on this because it's far down the line of problems the Gator have, but UF has sorely lacked a dependable deep receiver. It's safe to say now that Deonte Thompson has been a bust. We need another Louis Murphy-type receiver, or an Aaron Hernandez type tight end. We'll be getting both in Latroy Pittman, Kent Taylor and Colin Thompson. In Taylor and Thompson we have arguably the nation's two best tight ends, and Pittman is a speed demon.

Cut the penalties

Watching the Gators get flagged repeatedly for the same pre snap infractions makes me want to strangle small animals so they can let out some freakish cries that my own throat cannot make in order to express my utter disdain. I'm kidding. I love animals. I am not kidding, however, when I say the Gators get so many flags thrown at them you could collect them all and start a new continent. The penalties just gotta go, along with the lazy attitude that some of the players have when they simply ignore Muschamp's tongue lashing and do it again. If the penalties stay, the wins will continue to fly away.

Great defense

Here is where Urban Meyer left the cupboard stacked. At least, if you believe ESPN, scout and rivals. Ronald Powell, Jonathan Bostic and Dominique Easley have silently done great jobs but the rest of the defense just isn't living up to their billing. Of course, that's hard to do when your billing is the greatest recruiting class in recent memory, but then the top-ranked senior class of 2009 (Tim Tebow's class) reached their potential and beyond. Muschamp is known to recruit and coach great defense, so I have some confidence this will be the first issue fixed. It's not really bad to begin with right now, but it's not at championship level, and all of these goals are what Florida needs to do to get to Atlanta. The defense will get there first.

-------------------

The QB position isn't really as important. Sure, it's nice to have a Tim Tebow or a Tom Brady, but it's not necessary. All we need is a Doug Johnson, and you can consistently win 10 games and get to Atlanta with Doug Johnson. That would be the last position that needs an improvement. Look at how LSU and Alabama are doing without a great QB. One loss between them and it came against each other in overtime. It's defense that wins championships, and our coach is Will Muschamp.

So one day we'll return to glory again.

It's weird to see the Gators in the same conversation as bowl eligibility. Even last year, it wasn't really a question.

But losses to South Carolina and Florida State could mean that Florida will be watching the bowl games from home, since Furman does not count toward bowl eligibility.

On the flip side, a win in either one guarantees a bowl.

South Carolina is first.

Right now, Georgia, Florida State, South Carolina and Auburn are tops on the list for payback from the Gators. The Bulldogs and Tigers will have to wait until next year, and FSU can wait until Thanksgiving weekend. But we have a chance right now to get even with South Carolina for the embarrassing beating they gave us in the Swamp to claim the SEC East. Yes, this means Georgia wins, but again, that can wait until 2012. We can only pay back SC, so either we get revenge on neither of the two, or one of them. I'll take one of them.

A victory would complete the gigantic fall from being the team to beat in the SEC East to watching the SEC Championship Game at home and potentially dropping out of the Top 25. Though injuries have certainly played a key part in that, the Gators can take the pleasure of knowing that hammered in the final nail on the coffin, and the teams will be even.

But this game means more than that.

This might seem familiar, and yes, this is what I wrote prior to the Georgia game, but every game in college football means so much since there are so few of them. This is a chance for Florida to prove that they have turned the corner. Vanderbilt was one game. Can Florida play good football consistently, or was it just a one game deal? Vanderbilt was no joke, but Carolina is better, even without Lattimore. Hopefully, the maturity and improvement process will continue in this game, too.

If the Gators win out, then it's all good in Gator Nation. We have a top 5 recruiting class coming in, with guys fit to run Weis's system on offense, including three of the nation's top offensive linemen, two dynamite running backs to replace Rainey and Demps, and more defensive help. We'll be looking good in 2012. And really, that's all we're playing for- to set ourselves up for a good 2012 season (that and to give the loyal seniors a great sendoff).

Let's not think about what losses would do, because these are all winnable games. Of course, Florida has blown two winnable games, so we know this team is perfectly capable of ending its season in horrific fashion.

It really comes down to this- win out and the Gators' pilot season under Will Muschamp is a success. 9-4 with wins over rivals Tennessee and FSU, at the home of a top 15 team and a bowl win would be some feat for this team after losing four straight.

But perhaps the best thing about it would be to see Muschamp's favorite philosophy get used by his players to perfection.

Adversity.

Then we'll know Muschamp is for real.

Urban Meyer did not leave the cupboard bare. Those who know that's true now have a legitimate argument for the people who don't.

It's a simple argument, really. Two words.

Jeff Demps.

He rescued the Gators today, much like he did a year ago against Miami Ohio, and kept the Gators alive for a bowl game. It's shameful, really, that a program like Florida is even worried about making a bowl game.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

But back to the game.

The Gators played a little better overall, and I realize that the maturity process goes game by game very gradually. My only complaint with Muschamp and Weis (who we know are really co-head coaches) is that the improvement process didn't start until today. The idea is for them to start out shaky (though not Miami Ohio shaky) against FAU, play a little better against UAB, then a little better against Tennessee and then Kentucky and so on. The scores are irrelevant. I was watching for smarter, more mature play each week, and it went the opposite way.

But anyway. Enough of the past and let's focus on today's game.

I was impressed that the Gators committed only five penalties, and one of them was not called. Come on, be honest, if the flag had fallen for pass interference late in the game on Pop Saunders nobody could complain. Five penalties isn't great, but it's acceptable and a whole world better than the 16 it committed against Georgia last week... certainly for this team that wears self destruct buttons on their gloves it's something to break open champagne for.

What's not acceptable at all is catching a pass early in the game, breaking tackles, getting to the 2 yard line... and then FUMBLING THE BALL AWAY AT THE GOAL LINE so that not only do you not score, not only does Vanderbilt take the ball, they get it at the 20 yard line.

For god's sake... HANG ONTO THE BALL. I would rather Omarious Hines or whoever it is next time take a voluntary seat at the 20 yard line every time than have him try to score, succeed 75% of the time and the other quarter of the times be lost fumbles. I get the fact that he's trying his hardest and just wants to make a big play turn into a huge play, and can appreciate his effort, but there's an instance of trying too hard.

Other than that, though, and a few busted assignments on both offense and defense. Sure, there was plenty of material for me to criticize, but it's gotten a lot better overall, and I am proud of this team for overcoming a horrific four game skid and bouncing back to beat a Vanderbilt team that is a far cry from the joke it used to be all the way up to last season. Their coach, James Franklin, has done a spectacular job.

Really, I have nothing but good wishes for James Franklin and have to tip my cap to him. He was ridiculed as a moron for taking the Vandy job, but hey, it is an SEC school and aside from the military colleges where the players have to be great soldiers and tough enough to handle the grueling plebe system, coaching at a highly regarded academic school such as Vanderbilt, Stanford or the Ivy League Schools is about as tough as it gets. But it's the toughest at Vanderbilt by far because of the conference it plays in. You can't beat the Gators or the Crimson Tide or either set of Tigers on the field any easier than you can convince a recruit from Nashville to attend Vandy over them.

Yet somehow, Franklin has loaded his team with highly regarded players and has come oh so close numerous times this year. He's lost to Arkansas, Georgia and Florida by a combined 13 points. Those three teams have a combined 18-7 record, and Arkansas is #7 in the nation.

Nevertheless, a win is a win, so while I offer my hand to James Franklin to say good game, the Gators still control the Commodores by their throats. This makes 21 straight victories all the way back to 1989. The Gators also lead the all time series 34-9 with this one, and it's especially sweet because this is the best Vandy team since 2008- when Florida led 42-0 before pulling the starters. This Gator team is obviously nothing compared to that 2008 team, but to see them fight through and get this win was beautiful.

Anyway, each year, somebody different plays the role of Head Commy Killer (last year it was Jordan Reed, 2009 was the defense, 2008 was Carlos Dunlap, 2007 was Tim Tebow, 2006 was DeShawn Wynn, 2005 was Reggie Lewis... and so on) and this year it was Jeff Demps, who ran for a career high 158 yards, including a move so dirty en route to a 52 yard TD that essentially won the game that it was immediately rated NC-17 by the United States Motion Picture Association. Sorry kids, you'll have to wait until you're 18 to see that filthy cut by Demps.

So we escaped the Swamp with a win on Homecoming, which is never a bad thing, especially since we lost our Homecoming game last year to Mississippi State in the Greatest Misguided Attempt At A Game We Wish Was Never Played In The Swamp. We have reason to believe that our team is getting better, it's just not showing in our win-loss record. That will come next year and even more so in 2013.

We'll get there.

In the meantime, let's get ready for South Carolina.

Quick question: can we win that game?

The answer depends on if Florida improves as much from this week to next week as they did from last week to this week. If we do, then I love our chances, because without Marcus Lattimore South Carolina is a chicken with its head cut off... in more ways than one.

But really, what could be sweeter than choking the chicken and killing their chance at Atlanta? Think how sweet that would be... then know that if we come prepared, it will become a reality.

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.

Um, can we get Ron Zook back?

Goodbye, wins.

We won't be seeing you again anytime soon.

Maybe in a few years Will Muschamp will get players that suit his system that can win. But for now, there's no question that this Gators' team is the worst since 1979. Kentucky is just that bad, people. We proved nothing by blowing them out.

We officially suck.

Where to start? The offensive line, who gave up five sacks in the first half alone- when Georgia was missing two of its starters?

The penalties? How about 14, for over 100 yards. That's just sick. That's unheard of.

Allowing Georgia to go 3 for 3 on fourth down?

What about -19 rushing yards?

That's all horrible, but the worst part is that it came against... GEORGIA. This is a team that no matter how bad the Gators are, they give games away. And they tried to again this time around. Aaron Murray got picked off, Blair Walsh missed two field goals inside of 40 yards, they allowed Jordan Reed to walk in for an easy touchdown on a busted coverage... basically, the Dogs were playing like they were cursed by the Jax Jinx, as they call it, and still won the game.

That's unacceptable.

And let's get something clear- this is NOT John Brantley's fault. He played a great game. But you'd never know it the way the offensive line played (like mentally challenged monkeys with bacterial infections). This is most decidedly not his fault. If not for him, and for Georgia trying (and failing) to beat themselves, we would have been blown out.

I won't jump and start calling for Muschamp's head. But I'm approaching that point at an alarming clip- maybe by kickoff of next season. It's not that Florida has had its worst stretch since my father was in college. No, it's because they team up with their opponent and beat themselves mercilessly- and there's been no sign of improvement. There's no implication, no NOTHING that tells me that this team is headed in the right direction. We're going backwards. We very well might not make a bowl game. Scary? Yes. Possible? Yes.

Anybody here convinced we're better than Vanderbilt? I'm not. Something in James Franklin's eye tells me his guys are just waiting to unleash a nasty surprise on somebody, and we're Vandy's next opponent.

Think we can beat South Carolina on the road? I don't. They don't have Marcus Lattimore, and just don't need him. They still have a ferocious defense that must be salivating and at the opportunity to play (with) our offensive line.

If we don't beat Furman, I will call for Muschamp's head right then and there.

Can we beat FSU in the Swamp? That splits into two different questions. Are we talented enough to? Yes. Will we? Absolutely not, and that opinion will not change unless I see drastic changes in the discipline of this football team.

Here's how bad this is- I actually want Steve Addazio back. No, not as the offensive coordinator, because that will never happen no matter how bad we are, but as our offensive line coach. Remember when we had Urban Meyer, our offensive line was pretty good. The Pouncey twins, Phil Trautwein, Carl Johnson, Jim Tartt, remember these names? Probably not all of them, because o-line guys don't get a lot of ink when things go well. Did Addazio do a fantastic job strictly as o-line coach? No. He did a good job. Good is all we need, but would seem like heaven after watching this five man sieve.

What's even worse to me is that the Gators started out playing well- and THEN unraveled. Georgia, much like the past 21 years, was left for dead. Unlike the past 21 years, Florida completely choked away a 17-3 lead and lost. It feels so sick, but somebody tell me this rivalry isn't turning back over to Georgia's side. These teams beat each other for 20 years or so with frightening regularity, and 20 years ago, Florida began their dominance, and now it's Georgia with a huge series turning win. We'll see what these teams look like before next year's game, but I'm not really feeling confident.

It's also the end of not only the ownage of this rivalry- kiss the glory days goodbye. Two 4+ loss seasons in a row officially end the Florida golden age. Perhaps someday we will get back there, but I don't see it happening for another few years.

All isn't lost, however. Not talking about this year, because aside from beating FSU and making a bowl game there's really nothing to play for, and next year will be a rebuilding year as well, but we should look very good in 2013. Jessamen Dunker, Omari Phillips and DJ Humphries will have taken their lumps in 2012 and our green defense will have gone through another year in the SEC and be ready for whatever comes at them. So there is hope for the future.

And, of course for basketball season.

Today, I'll get you read for tomorrow's Georgia game with some fun facts, x's and o's, and predictions.

First come the fun facts.

-Florida has won 18 out of the last 21, 11 out of the last 13, 5 out of the last 6, and the last 3.

-The all-time series is tied 38-38 since the venue of the game was moved permanently to Jacksonville in 1933 (not counting 1994 and 1995 when it was moved to each team's stadium).

-The last Gator head coach to lose to Georgia in his first year was Charlie Pell. Since then, Galen Hall, Steve Spurrier, Ron Zook and Urban Meyer all beat Georgia in their first try.

-In the last three Florida-Georgia games, history was made. In 2008, Florida crushed Georgia 49-10, which was and still is the worst loss for Mark Richt. In 2009, Tim Tebow broke Herschel Walker's record of rushing TD. Last year's game was the first ever to have overtime not just in the Florida-Georgia game, but in any neutral site game involving two SEC teams.

-Florida is 2-0 when calling a timeout in the final 30 seconds (1993, 2008).

-The Gators are +11 in the turnover battle in the last 3 games against Georgia

OK, now onto the serious stuff.

The Gators could not like their chances in this game any more with the return of a slew of starters. Everybody's been talking about how much the return of Brantley means. Sure, it helps, but not as much as Jeff Demps at top speed. To me, that's our biggest advantage- maybe even our secret weapon. Georgia does not have much tape on Demps from this year, and the tape they have is from FAU, UAB, Tennessee and Kentucky. Of course, Demps is just as fast against the Wildcats as he is the Crimson Tide, but the defense is better and faster for Alabama.

The larger point is this: at some point, sheer volume wins. Georgia cannot stop Chris Rainey, Jeff Demps, Trey Burton, Frankie Hammond, Omarious Hines, Jordan Reed, Andre Debose (another big player making his return), Deonte Thompson and Mike Gillislee. Nobody can. Of course, when you only use three of them, anybody can stop them. So when Demps went out against Alabama, and Charlie Weis stubbornly refused to use Michael Gillislee, Trey Burton and Jordan Reed, Florida's offense floundered. Rainey, Thompson and Mind you, it was stuffed the entire second quarter with Brantley, so it wasn't Jeff Driskel's fault.

So I beg of you Charlie Weis, please don't be Steve Addazio and run Rainey 40 times and neglect Gillislee and Demps. I don't think you will, but you have proven to be quite predictable with who the ball will go to. Spread it around.

To sum it all up, the first key is to spread the ball around. It's like feed the fish- everybody needs their share.

The second key is hidden behind the otherwise superb play of the defense- force turnovers. The Gators have not forced a turnover in the month of October, which is humiliating for a team that only two years ago won 13 games with its defense and Tim Tebow. Georgia is not an explosive offensive team, nor do I expect them to look like one tomorrow. I expect lots of pressure on Aaron Murray, sacks, fumbles maybe- nothing but good things from our superior defensive front 7 that is somehow last in the SEC.

The third key is simple- great special teams. A big return, a blocked kick, etc, could change the game around in an instant. And please, oh please, just catch the punts.

The fourth key is better blocking. It doesn't matter who's taking snaps, if he doesn't have time, the Gators' offense will go nowhere. Sure, the Gators played Alabama and LSU, two great teams, but then the offensive line was manhandled by a horrible Auburn defense. It must be leagues better tomorrow.

The fifth key I have for tomorrow is the inverse of Addazio's biggest focus- stay on schedule in the down and distance. The Gators need to force Georgia's offense into as many uncomfortable situations in the down and distance as possible. That's where more mistakes come, as opposed to third and 1. It will also force Georgia to be predictable with their play-calling.

Key number 6 is avoid penalties. It's simple. No explanation necessary. AVOID PENALTIES. The Gators have excelled at beating themselves this year with stupid, unnecessary, pre-snap procedural penalties. It needs to stop. Now.

All in all, I have a good feeling about tomorrow's game. From Malcolm Mitchell being ruled out, to Kwame Geathers and Shawn Williams being suspended for the first half, Demps, Brantley, Debose, Ronald Powell, Caleb Sturgis and Dan Wenger being ruled probable, plus, you know, 18 out of the last 21, I like our chances.

Florida 24, Georgia 10.

Looking at the title of this post, no, I am not referring to a bra size; I am referring to the two things that have kept the Gators from being blown out in Spurrier type fashion, as opposed to just being soundly beaten.

The D's and Debose and defense, and they will play a major part in trying to defeat the Gators' opponent on Saturday... which is history.

Yes, the Gators are fighting history on Saturday in Jacksonville against the #22 Georgia Bulldogs.

As you may have heard, the Florida Gators have won 18 of the last 21 games against Georgia. Steve Spurrier took special pleasure running up the score on the Dawgs and then taunting them in the postgame press conference. Even Ron Zook managed to win two out of three against Georgia, twice dismantling potential national championship hopes for UGA. Along came Urban Meyer and he too ruined UGA's BCS Championship hopes, and then put a pair of embarrassing beatdowns on Georgia followed up by an OT win.

What you may not know- or, to be honest, what is for some reason hidden- is the fact that these two teams swap turns bludgeoning each other with regularity for a period of roughly two decades.

So history suggests that the pendulum in this rivalry has reached its peak on our side, and will begin a swing the other way.

Basically, recent history is on our side, but complete history is not.

But throw that out. Silly end zone dances aside, football games are won and lost with x's and o's.

The Gators will probably get John Brantley back, but that's not even close to being our biggest advantage. That distinction goes to... our defense.

Look at the Auburn game, and how the Tigers could score only 17 points. This Auburn offense is still pretty good, despite their QB troubles. Between Onterio McCalebb and Mike Dyer, they have two explosive playmakers that can potentially win games. Both were for the most part silent in the Florida game.

LSU's offense is far better than people give them credit for. They scored 41 on Florida, true, but then take away the field goal that was set up by the fake punt, which was on the special teams. Then remember the jump pass, an indefensible play that was only called because Florida's defense had stuffed LSU at the goal line twice in a row. They played in my opinion, the best team in the country, and thanks to the offensive line's ineptitude, couldn't get off the field.

And then look at the Alabama game- 7 points directly came off a pick 6, and they had trouble moving the ball on us for most of the second half until they put it away.

Throughout the season, the defense has been solid. Not great, but solid. And they'll only get better. Urban Meyer didn't leave the cupboard bare at all. These are tough, talented kids that will do what it takes to get better, especially with Will Muschamp pushing them.

Our other major bright spot in our dreadful October has been Andre Debose. He's proven to be a big play threat, burning both Alabama and LSU for 65 yard touchdowns. Brantley (or whoever is our QB) should give him chances to make big plays deep down the field.

Debose was compared early on to Percy Harvin. I can see that a little bit, but he's not Percy- they just share the characteristics of having a knack for making big plays. He's also a speed demon, like Harvin, and can break tackles like him too.

Whether or not he is Harvin, though, is irrelevant. The larger point is this- the Gators sorely need a proven deep threat to free up Chris Rainey on the perimeter. Rainey is technically a wide receiver, but does the bulk of his damage on plays that belong to running backs- running plays, screens, flare routes, etc. Since Florida lacks a second player that defenses must pay equal attention to as they must for Rainey, the defense swarms Rainey, daring somebody else to beat them.

Another note- the Gators simply must use Mike Gillislee. He's a proven threat in the run game, and to only use him in mop up time is a serious error in judgment. He can't inflict any damage with 2 or 3 carries, but he can with 15+. There's no word on Jeff Demps yet, so if he can't go, then Gillislee is 'that guy' in the running game.

My full prediction is coming soon, but with the Georgia defense in flux with the suspensions, it's a tossup. Georgia is good this year, and if Mark Richt will ever beat Florida again, it will be this year.

I've said it before but I'll say it again: I don't think Florida has much of a chance in this game.

Oh, they won't get embarrassed, they won't get sledgehammered like they did the last two weeks, but they won't win.

Not like this.

Face it, Gator fans, Florida is a young, talented but sometimes downright stupid football teams. They're little boys against men in the trenches, and commit the dumbest of penalties at the worst times imaginable. This team has me screaming at the TV even more than last year because the penalties are just so pointless yet so detrimental to the team.

Will they return to the top? Can Muschamp bring them back to glory? Sure. But first, we're going to have to endure another 2010 type season, and this week is Mississippi State. This has an eerily similar feel: two losses to Alabama and LSU and then a major dropoff in talent....

But they haven't lost yet. It hasn't become official yet. So: how can Florida pull the upset?

Avoid penalties

I swear on my love for Tim Tebow, the first stupid penalty the Gators commit and I will turn my back and root for Auburn to mercilessly smash the Gators into sawdust. They would absolutely deserve it. At this rate, it's only a matter of time before a penalty directly costs this team a game, and Muschamp lights into his team for a loss with penalties as the main factor and forces them to get it straightened out. A third straight manhandling could do some good long term and we'll find out how Muschamp handles his favorite problem, adversity as a head coach.

Florida is the worst in the country in the penalties department and with Muschamp coaching as aggressively as he does, expect more for late hits and pass interferences. I don't like those at all, make no mistake. I like procedural penalties even less because they are completely avoidable. If Florida wants any chance whatsoever, they must turn the lights out on the penalties.

Invade Auburn's backfield

Lost in the Gators' blowout in Baton Rouge was the fact that this was actually an improvement over the week before. The Gators did make a few nice stops. The only problem was, they didn't make enough of them. Auburn's offensive line is much weaker than LSU's and Alabama's but Mike Dyer is even better than Spencer Ware and very close to Trent Richardson's level.

Not giving him any room to run is going to hurt his chances of a big gain, and it's what Florida must do to win. At the same time, getting into the backfield also means that Barrett Trotter will not have adequate breathing room to throw. A strip-sack could instantly change the momentum in this game, and maybe even be the difference.

Make open field tackles

This wasn't as glaring of an issue for Florida but it's something they simply must do if they want to win. One broken tackle can be the difference between a 20 yard run and a 75 yard run. Especially with guys like Mike Dyer and Onterio McCalebb that are very slippery.

This can also be translated as simply "make tackles". Don't go for the gigantic hit, just wrap up and bring the ball carrier down and if you have enough help from your buddies then go for the strip. Just bring guys down, however you can. I know that's a foreign concept for this young defense that's used to laying Major Wright type hits on every play but they have to stay focused.

Better blocking up front

I'll be frank. I can't remember ever seeing the Gators do a worse job of blocking in a long time. Not even under Addazio was the offensive line this awful. At least they picked up a blitz here and there. This offense is more explosive since Charlie Weis has a brain and Addazio does not and knows to get his guys open in one on one matchups.

Problem is, if there's no blocking, it doesn't matter how explosive the offense is, it will never get started. This is magnified in importance because we will be starting a true freshman at QB- the o-line better block or the offense will go nowhere. The good news is, this isn't LSU's defense, or Alabama's. It's not even a Nick Fairley led defense. It's a so-so defense.

Special Teams must be special

Blocked kicks are the most beautiful thing in my world since I work with special teams, but I'm not even talking about that. I'm talking about kickoff and punt coverage and kick/punt return teams. The return game been pedestrian even since Demps got hurt against Alabama. Here's a clue. Use Mike Gillislee more. He nearly took one to the house against Miami Ohio last year, and has not really returned kicks since then.

But what's even more important is to diffuse the big return for Auburn before it even gets started. Use all the speed guys to get down there and drop the return man before he reaches the 25. As for punts, David Lerner isn't doing a bad job, but his rugby kicks are tricky. If the coverage doesn't hightail it downfield, a punt return TD could be in the works.

Get off to a great start

Auburn's composure in tight games is frightening considering this is not the same team from a year ago. They remain eerily calm in the fourth quarter and it actually makes me wonder just how old they are. To put it simply, the Tigers win close games with scary ease. An easy way to avoid a situation like this is to blow the game open early. Come out with the intensity Muschamp is so fond of showing, and score a few big touchdowns.

I am willing to bet, if Florida wins the first half by 20 or more points, they will not lose. Auburn is not equipped to pull off such a huge comeback against a team that employs Chris Rainey, Jeff Demps, Andre Debose and numerous other speedsters. They cannot do much more than trade scores since their defense is not very good (to put it mildly) and cannot hold up their end.

Set up the one on ones

Don't be discouraged by the Gators' inability to get Rainey and Demps in space, that was against Alabama and LSU and the blocking was horrendous against a great front 7 in each case. Auburn's defense is, again, frighteningly inept, and that's just the tonic for Charlie Weis and this once explosive offense. If Rainey and Demps each have a game like they did in their first four games, the Gators will not lose.

Of course, that's easier said than done, but Florida's offense is better than they've shown. Auburn is a team waiting to get a big number hung on them... Florida can be that team if they exploit the holes in their defense.

Overview

Auburn doesn't lose close games at home, simple. And Florida will not blow the Tigers out. I'm disgusted with the Gators, not because they lost their last two games, but because they make so many dumb penalties. I hope this team will grow up and cut them out, and while they're at it, man up in the trenches.

The Florida Gators will be back and eventually contend for the national championship. In 2012. Which is not this year. Just endure another aggravating season, including another 3 game losing streak, and the goods will come.

Auburn 28, Florida 13.

If you didn't read my LSU game recap, then let's just get this on the table right away.

I hate Auburn.

Hate them with a burning passion.

I hate them more than FSU- and I absolutely DESPISE that stupid tomahawk chop.

But Auburn has an incredibly annoying habit that FSU does not- they beat Florida by a field goal EVERY TIME. Doesn't matter who's ranked higher, doesn't matter who has loads more talent, they always win by a field goal. Five of the last six Auburn victories have been by 3 points, and the one that wasn't was because Auburn picked up a fumble on a desperation hook and lateral and took it in for a TD as time expired. Auburn won that one, 27-17.

So we've established that this team has an extremely frustrating knack for escaping with wins over Florida.

Now let's forget the histroy and look to the here and now.

Auburn's offense has put up the points needed to win most of their games. But Charlie Weis has to be salivating for a chance to rebuild his offense's confidence against a truly pathetic Auburn defense. They never were that good last year, but were good enough to ride Nick Fairley (and Cam Newton) to a national championship. Now he and Josh Bynes are gone, and their defense has been exposed for the sieve that it is. The Gators' offense should have a field day.

Now that the killer defenses are out the way, Charlie Weis should have more room to create those one on one mismatches. Auburn does not have the speed defensively to match up with Rainey at all. When Demps is healthy, he's equally dangerous, and having Andre Debose step up as a potential big play guy was the biggest positive I took out of the last two games.

Jacoby Brissett will likely start again this week, according to Muschamp. Then again, he said Driskel would start last week and he did not. Either way, the Gators now have the QB bootleg as an option if there's nobody open, which is also a plus.

My guess is that Weis will instantly go to the swing pass and run game and see how that works out. If defenders cannot stop Rainey, he will have Brissett go deep in a one on one matchup. The Gators' success in this game will depend on the effectiveness of the small stuff, so it could open up the big stuff.

Auburn, on the other hand, has to be salivating over a chance to unleash Michael Dyer on Florida's stunningly weak front 7. Unless Florida can man up in the trenches, they have exactly zero chance to win the game, as Gene Chizik has absolutely no problem running Dyer 25 times for 200 yards. But their defense has been shaky. They've had good performances, and not so good performances. Mostly they've been awful. They will look to cure that against a freshman QB and an offense with a gigantic question mark.

When the Tigers are on offense, expect a lot of Dyer to start out. I would also look for Kiehl Frazier, the backup freshman QB for a change of pace. If Florida can't stop those two, they're dead. The biggest advantage Florida has is that Auburn's offensive line isn't exactly rock solid.

So Florida's offense and defense each need an ego booster, as does Auburn's defense. However, Auburn's D needs it more since they've been horrendous, while Florida's units have struggled against the two best teams in the country.

Now that those two ugly games are in the rearview mirror, I wouldn't say that we should look too heavily into them. Those teams are both phenomonal, and one of them will almost surely win the BCS Championship. The one thing that concerns me... is the PENALTIES.

That's an easy fix, but then it's not. Muschamp prides himself on having an aggressive team, and penalties come with it. It's a package deal. It's the silly procedural penalties that will ultimately kill this team.

This game will shape both teams' seasons more than any other. It's a game both teams absolutely need to win to finish where they want to. And it will likely come down to a single drive, or play... or mistake.

Kyle Orton is horrible.

Yes, horrible. Not bad, not inadequate, not so-so, not less than average, no, no, no. The guy is horrible.

The first four games of the season confirmed it. He threw 6 interceptions, and 6 touchdowns. Only once did he eclipse 300 yards passing- for 304 against Oakland. Compare that to Drew Brees, who has thrown for over 300 yards all but one time. If you're saying it's unfair to compare Orton to Brees, then wake up, because Brees is the Saints' franchise quarterback, and according to the Broncos and John Fox, Orton is their franchise quarterback. So, they're both franchise QB's, and it's a fair comparison.

But he was just getting going through four games.

In his fifth game, he was simply blunderful, throwing for a fantastic 34 yards on 6 completions in 13 attempts. Yeah, that comes out to be (roughly) an extraordinary 2.5 yards per attempt. His 5 and 2/3 yards per completion was lower than a few other QB's numbers on yards per attempt today. That's how awful he was.

Then Fox throws in the towel, and called on Superman.

And what happened?

He didn't start out to well, but he eventually did get going.

And what happened once he got revved up?

He nearly rescued the lifeless Broncos, bringing them all the way back from a 26-10 4th quarter deficit. Only when the tying two point conversion fell incomplete did the Chargers realize they actually had to start trying.

And even then, victory was no sure thing. Not after a completely idiotic unsportsmanlike conduct penalty allowed the dying San Diego drive to continue. Not after a field goal made it 29-24- with 18 seconds left.

Because Tebow still wasn't done- leading them all the way down to the San Diego 29 before his last second desperation pass fell incomplete- a pass that never would have been thrown had Tebow not broken a trio of tackles, and a pass that sure wouldn't have been attempted by Franchise Quarterback For The Future Kyle Orton. The Chargers would have made an Orton sacklunch on that play, provided he drives them that far, which of course he never would. Not just because he can't, but, well, because he never would have led the Broncos roaring back from such a deficit.

Is Tebow Tom Brady? Is he a top 5 QB in the NFL? Of course not. But nobody starts out as one. They have to work their way up and get there. But frankly, Kyle Orton is not the guy to lead the sick franchise. Tebow is their long-term tonic, but what good is a remedy if you just keep it in your pocket and not swallow it? They have to keep injecting themselves with more Tebow, and in turn, Tebow has to work as hard as he can to improve his mechanics. The experience and NFL football intelligence will come with snaps in meaningful situations. So he must improve his mechanics in order to be better.

But what exactly are his problems?

Before I get to that, though, let's first remember what he was at the University of Florida.

He was our quarterback, our fullback, our short yardage specialist, our head cheerleader, and, honestly, our fairy. He ran around the SEC like Cosmo and Wanda from Fairly OddParents, making big plays magically appear when he seemed to be running out of real estate. Whether that was by unloading a 25 yard strike off balance to a receiver that, to quote Nick Saban, "just wasn't freakin OPEN" or by demonstrating his atomic stiff-arm bomb that would impress Bruce Lee, big plays would happen out of absolutely nowhere.

Of course, the SEC is by far the best conference in college football (that's a debate for another day, but I am willing to take on all challengers in that argument), but the NFL is a whole different level. Tebow has to tone down his aggressiveness. Not cut it out, because changing who you are is a bad idea in the NFL, but do it in moderation. Attempting to run over Ray Lewis on a head to head collision would likely not end well for Tebow.

So what does he have to do?

Sorry to keep quoting TV shows, but it's like that episode in Family Guy where Peter gets hammered out of his mind and crashes his car into a tree. Death (the character) appears and shows him two scenarios of his potential future: continuing to drink at the alarming rate that he does, (where he burns his wife and children with his cigar) and cutting out his drinking altogether (where he lines up his family and offers them a choice of high fives, handshakes, and hugs... in a very creepy manner). In both cases, Peter is appalled at the character he sees, and Death then solves his dilemma for him: moderation, Peter.

Moderation, Tim.

You see clear skies ahead of you on third and four? Take off. You're running down the sidelines and the weakside linebacker readies himself to bodyslam you? Step out of bounds. You have a full head of steam and nearing the goal line and somebody's trying to bring you down at the 2 yard line? Knock him unconscious with one of your bodyshots straight out of Street Fighter. You're scrambling in the backfield with blocking breaking down and nobody open? Get as many positive yards going forward as you can, and take the sack instead of throwing the injured duck that gets converted into the pick 6.

He hasn't really gone overboard yet, but I'm thinking that as his role, stats and national attention as an NFL QB increase, so will his confidence in himself, and he'll start to think that he can do anything. Which can lead to a bad decision. That's happened to plenty of QB's before.

For example, on his hail mary prayer at the end of tonight's game? He danced around in the backfield for how long? That's fine. What if he kept dancing around? What if, instead of letting the ball go, he tried to get away from the guy bearing down on him from behind as well? He might have gotten a better throw. He also might have gotten smashed, picked off, or worse. He has to limit the open field hits he exposes himself to.

And then there are the mechanical issues.

On his second two point conversion attempt, he kind of awkwardly turned and threw an off balance pass in the corner of the end zone. That worked for him at Florida. It backfired here. He had enough time to set his feet, square his shoulders and throw a harder, crisper ball a little more accurately. And even if he didn't, he should use that mobility to either buy some time or take off on a line plunge.

He doesn't have a lot of issues running the ball, but then that comes behind throwing the ball. The issues need to be worked on.

But a little news flash? Kyle Orton is almost 29 years old, and has many of the same problems.

Tebow is 6 years younger with the same issues, plus uncoachable intensity, plus above average mobility (let's hold off on the superlatives here for now), plus the ability to find ways to win... plus the ability to work at something until it's fixed.

Maybe John Fox has indeed wised up. Let's hope so, because making this switch permanently will have fans flooding the gates for games and the stadium sold out, except for haters, Jerry Jones and bimbos, and there are a few.

Haters, tell me this... what positive attribute have your possibly seen that Kyle Orton can bring to this team that Tebow does not?

Florida Head Coach Will Muschamp can’t be thrilled with the way things are going with his offense and quarterback situation or the way the defense gave up 181 rushing yards to Trent Richardson.

But the Alabama game is behind the Gators and they have a new opponent to worry about.

Led by the nation’s best defense, the top-ranked Tigers look to frustrate the 17th-ranked Gators, who are expected to start freshman Jeff Driskel at quarterback for the injured senior John Brantley on Saturday in Baton Rouge.

LSU is 5-0 and is on top of the poll for a second straight week after easily beating Kentucky 35-7 last Saturday. Incumbent QB Jordan Jefferson made his season debut after being suspended for the first four games following an arrest on a felony battery charge in connection with an Aug. 19 bar fight.

A grand jury reduced the charge to a misdemeanor last Wednesday, leading Miles to reinstate Jefferson as a backup to Jarrett Lee.

Jefferson scored on his first play back, diving over the goal line on an early fourth-and-goal to put the Tigers up 7-0.

Miles has yet to give Jefferson his starting job back but envisions his return adding a new wrinkle to the offense. He passed for 1,411 yards with seven touchdowns while running for 450 and seven scores last season.

“We will use Jefferson in a variety of ways,” Miles said. “At different times in the season, we will need every skill and every collective attribute of our team.

“We are excited about this season right now.”

The Gators who are 4-1, are likely not quite as optimistic after the way things played out last weekend.

Brantley injured his right leg on a sack late in the first half of last Saturday’s 38-10 loss to then-No. 3 Alabama, Florida’s worst home defeat since falling 36-7 to LSU in 2002. He was helped to the locker room and did not return, and Muschamp said Monday the injury won’t require surgery but will keep the senior sidelined at least a week.

Brantley, who has thrown for 942 yards with five touchdowns and three interceptions, had started 18 consecutive games. His injury opens the door for Driskel, but the highly touted freshman looked shaky last week.

Driskel completed 2 of 6 passes for 14 yards, fumbled a snap and was sacked twice as the Gators gained just two first downs with him under center.

“I’ve got a lot of faith in him,” running back Chris Rainey said. “He’ll be ready to go, ready to take that challenge.”

It would certainly help Driskel if the running game can get on track, but that could be difficult.

The Gators entered last week’s game leading the SEC in rushing at 259.0 yards per game but finished with 15. The Crimson Tide lead the FBS in rush defense with an average of 39.6 yards allowed, and LSU is almost just as stingy, ranking third at 60.4.

“Again, we’ve got our work cut out for us,” said Muschamp, who served as LSU’s defensive coordinator from 2002-04. “You got to get that taste out of your mouth. There’s no better opportunity than going to Baton Rouge and playing LSU.”

The Tigers have won 13 straight home games since losing 13-3 to Florida in 2009. The Gators were the top-ranked team at the time while LSU was No. 4.

This is the fifth time in six meetings one of the teams is ranked in the top 5, with No. 12 LSU defeating No. 14 Florida 33-29 last October being the lone exception.

Like the Gators, the Tigers also rely heavily on the ground game that could see a boost if Jefferson is inserted to run the option. LSU is averaging 172.6 yards a game and is second in the SEC with 14 rushing touchdowns.

LSU’s top tailbacks, Spencer Ware and Michael Ford, had subpar performances last week, but Miles was encouraged with what he saw from his backups.

Sophomore Alfred Blue had a career-best 72 yards on 16 attempts, while freshman Terrence Magee accounted for 38 yards on 12 rushes. Ware, who has a team-best 323 rushing yards, had four carries for five yards before leaving the game with a hamstring injury.

Miles is hopeful that Ware will be healthy enough to return to the running back rotation.

“We’ll have the opportunity to run the ball again with a number of guys,” Miles said.

LSU’s depth at running back could pose problems for Florida, which allowed Alabama to rush for 226 yards - the same number it allowed in its first four games combined.

This will be the toughest road test the Gators will face all year. Question is; can they answer the bell?

Now that we're 5 weeks into the season, I'm going to start something new, called the Chase to Atlanta. It's very self explanatory. It will go into detail about what has to happen for the Gators to win the SEC East and make the trip to Atlanta for the SEC Title Game.

Of course, SEC East teams will all play each other and therefore have losses, but this is forgetting that until that actually happens.

So here is the first edition:

What Florida Has To Do

In order to completely control their own destiny, the Gators must at least win one out of their next two games. Doing so will leave them with no more than two losses, and since everybody else in the East has at least one, a Gator sweep of the three remaining SEC teams would guarantee a spot in Atlanta. Everybody would then have at least two SEC losses, and the Gators would get the nod because of the head to head wins.

What Florida Can Afford

As of right now, the Gators can afford one loss in their next two games, since Auburn and LSU are both in the West. Mathematically, there will eventually be a little more breathing room as other teams knock each other out of the race, but until that happens, Florida can only afford one loss.

What Must Happen Around the SEC

This weekend, we Gator fans are the biggest Tennessee and Kentucky fans alive. They even wear orange and blue! They play Georgia and South Carolina respectively. I'm assuming Florida will lose to LSU, because, come on, it's the top ranked team in the nation, and in their house, though strange things have happened there so don't completely give up on the thought of an upset.

If both our teams win, the Gators can afford two additional losses, to LSU this Saturday and Auburn next Saturday and win the rest and wind up in the ATL.

Under this scenario, the Gators have three losses, as does South Carolina since the Gators will have beaten them under this scenario. The Gators get the head to head tiebreaker there.

Tennessee, though they would only have one loss after this week, will not be staying there- not with South Carolina, Arkansas, LSU and Alabama still looming. They need to lose at least two games (no problem with this gauntlet) to have three losses, and then Florida would own the tiebreaker.

Georgia would have three losses, and Florida would own that tiebreaker, too.

Kentucky (0-2) and Vanderbilt (1-1), until they prove otherwise, are not worthy of consideration since I believe they will both lose to each of the four teams in contention. Just for insurance, I'd like Alabama to beat Vanderbilt. Can you come through Mr. Saban?

Best/Worst Case Scenario For Week 6

Best: Florida wins, Georgia loses, South Carolina loses.

Worst: Florida loses, Georgia wins, South Carolina wins.

Likely Scenario

LSU is favored by 14 points, but it could be so much worse. A true freshman QB in his first start is never a good thing in Death Valley, and combine that with losing the battles in the trenches and Florida's got slim chances. Remember though, they had slim chances in 2003 and won that game.

Georgia has to go to Knoxville, where Tyler Bray and a potent offense will be waiting. Even without Justin Hunter they are explosive, and what will result is a high scoring shootout. This game could go either way.

South Carolina lost to Kentucky a year ago, and it could easily happen again this year. True, it is in Columbia, but the whole QB mess is a gigantic distraction at best and will result in a dysfunctional offense at worst. Luckily for SC, the Cats are pathetic on both sides of the ball.

Looking ahead

Everybody's been saying how easy Georgia's schedule is. Yet I look at their schedule and I can see as many as five SEC losses. They already lost to South Carolina. They should lose to both Florida and Auburn, and then, being Georgia, they could lose a game or two they're not supposed to- typical of Mark Richt teams. But they do have the easiest road to Atlanta- so root against them in any competition whatsoever. Not just because they're Georgia, but also because they could be a real factor.

Root for Tennessee against any SEC East team. The trio of SEC West teams on their schedule (@Alabama, LSU and @Arkansas) will tear them to shreds. They won't be an issue. They can start by beating Georgia on Saturday. That would help a lot.

South Carolina is in the same boat as Florida- QB issues, 2-1 in the SEC and that loss was to an SEC West team, so they can win out and win the SEC East. But they'll have just as hard of a road as Florida- Arkansas and Tennessee on the road and Florida at home. Rooting against them would be advised.

As for Florida?

They can do this- with no help at all, they can lose to either LSU or Auburn and win all the other games and win the East.

But the good news is, they're probably going to get help. Look at the schedules of the other SEC East teams. They'll beat each other and then lose to SEC West teams.

It's very possible that Florida makes it to Atlanta...

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.