I'm back, at least for now. My personal issue was taken care of much, much quicker than I would have dreamed of. I'll take it, the same way the Gators will take their 6th bowl win in their last 7 appearances.

The game was played in Jacksonville, Florida, not Glendale, Arizona.

The game was sponsored by TaxSlayer, not Tostitos.

The coaching matchup was Will Muschamp vs. Luke Fickell, not Urban Meyer vs. Jim Tressel.

The game was a third tier bowl, not a BCS Championship Game.

The results were still the same.

Once again, the Gators' speed was way too much for Ohio State to handle. Once again, the Gators' defense ran all over the Buckeyes. Once again, the offense controlled the ball and killed the clock in the second half to limit Ohio State's possessions and make them start the few possessions they did get deep in their own territory (for the most part).

And once again, Urban Meyer was the mind behind the Gators' win. The special teams that Ohio State is so dearly looking forward to will get to Columbus in due time, but yesterday it was used against them as Meyer's players gave them a preview of what it might look like next year. The problem for OSU is that Meyer's old players still wear the orange and blue, not scarlet and silver.

I'll make the recap quick so I can touch on two very important topics: the Gators' future and John Brantley.

The offense, much like it has all year, was mainly ineffective aside from the opening drive of the game. It did just enough to win the game. There's a good and a bad to that. The good is, it was enough to win. The bad news is, it was BARELY enough to win and going forward, it needs to be changed. But in any case, the offense did kill the clock late in the game, didn't turn it over much and basically didn't lose the game.

The special teams won the game with a blocked punt by Chris Rainey that was returned for a touchdown by Graham Stewart and a kick return TD by Andre Debose. The defense also did its part, keeping Braxton Miller and the Ohio State offense in check all game. The offense didn't do much at all to contribute.

That's OK, though. You don't need an explosive offense to win a national championship. You just need great defense and great special teams. All the offense needs to do is bleed clock, not turn it over and rely on one explosive playmaker.

That's how championships are won these days.

The Gators had the great defense and special teams in 2006, and relied on Percy Harvin to create huge plays. The offense, whether with Chris Leak or Tim Tebow, would keep moving the chains at least once or twice per drive to change field position, Eric Wilber would then boom a punt and pin opponents inside their 20 and Charlie Strong would unleash his nasty defense and dare the opponent to beat them deep. For good measure, Brandon James would throw in a big return every other game or so to give Florida great field position. Oh, and the Gators would also block a kick every once in awhile.

In 2009, Alabama's defense stuffed even the best offenses for 60 minutes, and their special teams always came through in the clutch, whether Leigh Tiffin would boot a long field goal or Terrence Cody would block a game winning kick. The offense, highlighted by bruising tailback Mark Ingram, steamrolled past the best of them, then knocked down Florida for the SEC Championship and then Texas for the national championship. The Gators had the defense, but the special teams was merely good, not dominant, and that isn't enough.

This year, another SEC team will win it all thanks to a bruising defense and great special teams. No, I'm not talking about Alabama. LSU's kicking game is far better. It gave them in the edge in Tuscaloosa and unless Robbie Gould or Neil Rackers makes the Tide's active roster for the BCS Championship Game it should give them the edge in New Orleans.

Of course, it's nice to have an explosive offense. But it's better to have your defense be great and your offense suck rather than the other way around. Remember how that worked for Florida in 2007, and then remember that our special teams, aside from a punt return TD against Tennessee, wasn't especially dominant either. You need your special teams AND your defense to be dominant, and a game managing, chain moving offense.

We have the dominant defense and the dominant special teams. We should return at least 9 starters on our starting defense that finished 8th in the nation in total yards allowed. We will lose Caleb Sturgis, which will hurt. We do have one of the top kickers in the nation, Austin Hardin, coming to town, but whether he can replace Sturgis remains to be seen. Kyle Christy silently emerged as one of the nation's better punters as a freshman, and should only improve as a sophomore in 2012. Andre Debose might have been the best return man in college football over the past two seasons, with 3 kicks taken back for touchdowns and three others of 50+ yards. I see no reason why he wouldn't continue to return kicks unless he becomes the focal point of the offense.

Which is a work in progress.

I'll get to John Brantley's legacy in a bit, but for now, let's just focus on his performance on the field. He simply was one of the most overhyped recruits in Gator football history. It might not have been his fault, but that's just the way it is. He was immobile, he was inaccurate and he just wasn't a good fit for the spread, and no matter how hard Charlie Weis tried to turn him into a pro QB, it didn't quite happen. The other players were recruited to run a spread, so even if Brantley was ready, the speed guys like Demps and Rainey were not.

My prototypical Florida QB for the future: A pro style, drop back QB who has confidence, an accurate arm and intelligence who CAN run for first downs and CAN escape from a broken pocket but who will ONLY do it as a LAST RESORT. Jeff Driskel and Jacoby Brissett and both athletic enough to fit that description, and they both have the arm. It's the confidence and intelligence that need to be developed. By intelligence I mean somebody who will take the sack or throw it out of bounds rather than try to force one into triple coverage, and well, by confidence I mean a level at the inverse of Brantley's.

Speaking of Brantley.

The last 3 Florida QB's were worlds better than him, and the next three might be too. Aside from Tim Tebow, I can't really think of anybody as loyal and as tough as Brantley.

I don't play football due to early arm injuries and my parents freaking out too much to ever let me, but I wanted to remain close to the game and the coach hired me as an offensive assistant so I'm as close to the action as anybody not actually playing. I see guys get nicked up in practice every day. There's always a player or two that needs a tape job from our trainer before every practice and at least five or six before every game.

I'm not praising the players for playing through cuts and bruises, but I have seen guys play with partially torn ligaments, partially broken bones and other semi serious injuries. During timeouts, I'll relay in a play-call and I can see when a player is hurting. I see things fans don't see, such as guys playing through bad cramps, stingers, etc. They never complain, and while I'm not exactly complimenting for that because that's the required toughness of football, that required toughness is not found in everybody and I do respect that.

This is at the high school level, and while my high school program is one of the better ones in New Jersey, it's nowhere near the levels of Don Bosco or some of the perennial Florida and Texas powerhouses. Everybody gets hurt at some point in football. But at higher stages comes higher pressure. Combine playing through pressure with playing through injuries. Think about how hard that is to do. It's only for the elite group of tough kids.

Now combine the pressure of playing at the University of Florida, one of the most prestigious programs in the nation, in the best conference in the nation with the beating Brantley took in 2010. The lack of an offensive line ultimately meant Brantley got sacked and sometimes took a stinger. The boos got louder, and Brantley took almost as heavy a beating from the fans as he did from opposing defenses- maybe even heavier than Addazio at times.

In 2011, the pressure slightly loosened with an offense that somewhat fit his style- kind of a hybrid spread/pro offense- but the beatings got worse. Against Alabama, Brantley was brilliant for a half, but late in the second quarter, he got nailed and his ankle turned in quite an ugly fashion. This was after being lit up by Kentucky the week before.

Now, I'm not in Florida's training room every day. I don't know for sure how much time he put into his rehab. I can only base my guess off of what I see in my high school training room. Obviously, UF's facilities are worlds ahead of my high school's, but I can understand the amount of time and effort put into the rehab. Let's just say that it wasn't easy. I've seen some of my players- my friends, really- grunting out stretch sessions, and I felt really horrible, thinking about how much it really took out of them.

Brantley must have gone through some of the same workouts that I've witnessed in order to play against Georgia. He took another solid beating, though, and I refuse to believe he didn't endure another difficult week in the training room to get back for Vandy. Another week, same deal for South Carolina, then for Furman and then for FSU. All Brantley wanted after all this grueling training was to win his last game in the Swamp- but it didn't happen. He got knocked out after throwing a bad pick, and his career in the Swamp was over.

Why did he endure all this misery? Why did he work so damn hard just to get back on the field? It's bad for his health, football critics say, and they're right. Football is a violent game, almost like war. If you aren't willing to kill somebody, or get killed to win for your side, then go home. That's just the way it is, the same way that Ohio State bows to the SEC (0-11 now. It's really a bad time to be a Buckeye fan with any SEC fan in your zip code).

Brantley exemplified a true soldier the whole time. Maybe he leaves a legacy of the most overhyped recruit in UF history, but he also leaves a legacy as a Gator with undying loyalty. He went all the way to hell and back in the training room, in the weight room, and on the practice field just to fight for his team.

It's easy to quit. Really easy. Garrett Gilbert did it without a second thought. And that's why Texas fans think of him as... um... let's just say a cat. That's a much nicer synonym for another word that Longhorn fans use on internet boards and on the streets.

It's much harder to never give up no matter what. I can't say Brantley is the toughest and most loyal Gator ever, because it's hard to put him behind Tim Tebow, who played with a broken hand in the Capital One Bowl and came back from a concussion to beat LSU when his coaches and doctors thought he should sit it out.

Brantley never wanted to be Tebow, but he always wanted to be mentioned in the same category as Tebow.

So John, you got your wish. You are in an elite class of true Gators to the very end. You always wanted to play for Florida, and you did. Even though you didn't have the success you dreamed of, you stuck it out to the end and that's respectable for even the most impatient Gator fan. And you were rewarded with a winning record as a Florida starter, something lots of other QB's cannot claim.

So I say with all my heart: Thank you, John. You stuck with UF til the very end. I appreciate all your efforts.

Now, though, it's time to move forward.

Here's a quick prediction for next year.

We should have the dominant defense and special teams, but whether that playmaker and that chain moving offense can emerge will be the question. With our schedule, I say 10-3 with an Outback Bowl win is realistic. We'll lose to LSU, we'll lose to either South Carolina or Georgia and then we'll lose one more game we shouldn't, though predicting a letdown game is impossible.

I just hope that our players all take the lesson of loyalty from John Brantley.

This article is certainly a little late, but it's something I've been meaning to share, and with the impending Gator Bowl matchup on the way I'm sure this will once again be an ongoing news story as January 2nd approaches.

A lot of Gators feel betrayed by Urban, and feel that they were lied to.  This quote gets brought up often...

"But what I didn't want to have happen, and I made this clear to Jeremy [Foley], if I am able to go coach, I want to coach at one place, the University of Florida. It would be a travesty, it would be ridiculous to all of a sudden come back and get the feeling back, get the health back, feel good again and then all of a sudden go throw some other colors on my shirt and go coach. I don't want to do that. I have too much love for this University and these players and for what we've built."

-Urban Meyer, upon retiring from Florida.

How often?  In order to find the exact quote, I simply googled "Urban Meyer quote gators" and it was the first two results to come up.

It is a pretty damning quote, I will readily admit that.  From an outside perspective (which is all any of us have), we basically have a guy who says "uh, yeah I'm sick and want to spend some time with my family, but I'm a Gator and I always want to be a Gator and never want to wear any other colors" who then comes back a year later donning those ugly ass silver and red colors.

Both Urban and his wife Shelley claim that when he left he really had the intention to stay away for good, but the itch was just too much.  She recollects the walk they had together where he told her that he was thinking about coming back, and how much being away from the game was tearing him up.  Most Gator fans don't believe them.  I do, and here's why...

To explain this, I'm going to use an anecdotal experience from my own life.  Most of you are going to scoff at the idea of me comparing something so little to something as grand as the billion dollar college football industry, but I'm going to do it anyway so get your jokes in now.

Throughout my time at UF I was able to partake in eight glorious years of intramural football (4 years as an undergrad and 4 years as a spouse during my wife's grad-school run).  We had a pretty good run, with five final four appearances and two championships.  Yes, I'm about to compare something that happened in intramural football to something that happened in real football, but bare with me.  Besides, those of you that went to UF recently know how seriously and competitively that inner circle takes it.

After we won our first championship and continued doing well in the years that followed I began to feel that pressure to do well, both within that inner crowd that followed intramural football and with new teammates that I'd convinced to join the team.  I wanted to show them that we weren't a fluke, weren't lucky, and really knew what we were doing.  Like both Spurrier and Meyer alluded to in their roles, a win became nothing more than a relief and a loss was a disaster.  Again, keep in mind that this was intramural football.  There weren't millions of dollars on the line.  My livelihood and ability to provide for my family wasn't on the line.  There wasn't gobs of media attention watching everything we did (ok, so *shameless plug*, maybe there was some media attention).  If I felt that weight in a simple intramural game which had no consequences outside of pride, then I can't even imagine the amount of pressure that college coaches feel when all of that real stuff is on the line.

Nonetheless, I did feel a weight, and it led me to walk away with one semester of eligibility left.  After we won the championship in the fall of my last year, I was looking at an almost completely new group of guys in the spring.  I didn't want to go through the headaches of proving to everyone that I knew what I was doing.  I didn't want that weight of feeling like a loss would leave them of the opinion that "maybe this guy just lucked into it before".  So I passed up my last spring of eligibility and walked away with my last game being a championship blowout in the Swamp.

When next spring rolled around I could not possibly have regretted it more.  All I wanted to do was be back out there, "weight" and work be damned.  I thought watching some games would quench my thirst, but it only made it 10 times worse.  The corner is squatting on everything, a corner route out of the slot will each them up you idiots, just run that play!  I could do this so much better, just let me back out there!

When Urban left the Gators he did the worst thing he could possibly have done.  He joined ESPN.  I have no doubt that he got the thirst as soon as the 2011 season rolled around, but then to make matters worse the job he took had him analyzing those same games that he could no longer be a part of.  I can't imagine that Urban ever watched a game without thinking about how he would have done things differently, or what he could have done with those players.  Every time a coach punted on 4th and short from midfield it must have eaten him up.  Every time a coach kept his cool and didn't go on tilt and fake a punt from inside his own 20 when the offense was struggling he must have reminisced.  Every time a coach hoisted a trophy and hugged his players he must have teared up.

In Urban's final two seasons at UF he felt nothing but stress and the weight of expectations that he couldn't wait to get rid of.  Once he left, he realized how small of a price those things were to get back what he had.  Urban's ties to UF were always weak, but if the opportunity to come back a Gator were there, I think he'd take it, and I think he regrets leaving in the first place.  But right now, when the itch is too much to bear, the UF job isn't available.

The Gator Nation expected a lot of fireworks this season offensively, and, well, it didn't quite happen that way. Now, there are fireworks going off in Kansas- from the local Krispy Kreme and McDonald's. Too bad we didn't get to experience any offensive improvement this year, and it's even more devastating to not have an offensive coordinator on staff for a huge bowl game against the team that we crushed five years ago for the BCS Title, Olieo State.

That's a huge concern, but the bigget concern of all is the mindset of this team.

Don't laugh.

I'd love to crush Ohio State and give Urban a bad memory to try to erase for recruits that are now on the fence about joining Meyer's elite army.

But I'm not sure the Gators all feel the same way.

The bowl game letdown can happen to any team, and for any number of reasons. The players might not want to be at that particular game, their opponent accomplishes a lot more in the extra practice than they do and unveil a huge bag of tricks, it's hard to get back in game day mode after being out of it for 5 weeks, etc.

Oklahoma and FSU are the worst of them all when it comes to big bowl games. Before last year, the Sooners lost 5 straight BCS bowl games/national championship games. FSU is even worse. They've played in seven BCS bowl games/championships since 1998. They've lost six of them. That's terrible (even for a girls' school).

But this isn't meant to make fun of FSU (well, maybe a little). This bowl game flop doesn't just apply to championship contending teams. It also happens to teams that believe they are too good for the bowl game they are in. See the embarrassing Sugar Bowl only three years ago where Alabama just fell flat on their faces as Utah cruised for a 31-17 shocker. This was partly due to Tim Tebow rolling the Tide in the SEC Championship Game, but whatever Alabama wants to say about it, they just didn't care. They didn't show up. SEC teams don't lose to midmajors, even good ones. Or do they?

Ask Georgia that. They've surely put the ugly memory of a 10-6 loss to our toddler cousin Central Florida in the Libery Bowl away for good, as they prepare for a much better bowl game this year, a rematch against Michigan State. But I haven't and I'm sure that Georgia Tech fans and Florida fans haven't either. UGA just didn't care. Let's face it. Georgia was good in 2010. They were much better than 6-6. They easily could have beaten Florida, easily could have beaten Mississippi State, easily could have beaten Colorado, and they easily could have beaten Arkansas. Auburn was a tough game but they played the Tigers well to the end, and they were never out of the South Carolina game. They just didn't care for an admittedly inferior opponent from a weak conference in a bowl nobody cares about.

Was that the most humiliated a team has felt in the past few years after a bowl game? Or was it when Texas Tech got upended by Ole Miss? The Red Raiders felt they had been raided of a BCS Bowl berth. They went up 14-0 on Ole Miss in the Cotton Bowl- and then sat back and watched as Ole Miss went on a 47-13 rampage. As the Raiders scored one more meaningless touchdown, the Rebels were ecstatic on the sideline, jumping around, writing things on poster boards and showing them to the fans, etc.

The point is, the bowl malaise can hit any team for any reason. I'd much appreciate it if it didn't hit Florida, as recruiting is still going on and there could be some guys that might jump from Florida to Ohio State. A Gator Bowl win over OSU would at least make them think twice.

I'll get all my bowl picks out soon, but I'm not feeling too good about this game. We're just not a good team, plain and simple. Our one saving grace is that Ohio State sucks just as much as we do, so we could very well see a replay of the Florida-FSU mess instead of an LSU type blowout.

Please, offensive line, just please block for Brantley for just one game....

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

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

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

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

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

10) Florida Atlantic

Next Meeting: 2011 @Gainesville

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

9) Miami(FL)

Next Meeting: 2013 @Miami

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

8) Alabama

Next Meeting: 2011 @Gainesville

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

7) Ohio State

Next Meeting: ???

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

6) FSU

Next Meeting: 2011 @Gainesville

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

5)Auburn

Next Meeting: 2011 @Auburn

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

4)Georgia

Next Meeting: 2011 @Jacksonville, FL

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

3)Southern Cal

Next Meeting: ???

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

2)South Carolina

Next Meeting: 2011, @Columbia

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

1)Ole Miss

Next Meeting: 2012 @Oxford

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

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

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

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

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

And it's almost here....