Tim Tebow's reign is over.
For the past two seasons, UF's quarterback and his dynamic offense have ruled Gainesville, but with linebacker Brandon Spikes' announcement that he'll return to the Gators for his senior season and receiver Percy Harvin's decision to enter the NFL Draft, the 2009 UF football team will be a defense-first outfit.
The defense will bring back its entire two-deep roster - every starter and backup - and even the backups to the backups will stick around.
It's a scary thought, but the unit that allowed fewer than 13 points per game and held the highest-scoring team in college football history to just two touchdowns is about to get even better.
Meanwhile, the offense will keep Tebow, tight end Aaron Hernandez, a few unproven receivers and running backs Chris Rainey, Jeff Demps and Emmanuel Moody while losing top receivers Harvin and Louis Murphy, and Harvin's absence alone will make the group a bit less dangerous.
Make no mistake about it: Harvin was every bit as important to UF's offense as Tebow.
Not only was he a threat to break a big run or make a huge catch at any time, but Harvin made everyone else on the field better. His fellow receivers had an easier time getting open, the backs had more running room and the pressure wasn't always on Tebow to make the big play.
Now, coach Urban Meyer will have to rework the offense without Harvin, and he'll have to do it without his right-hand man, as offensive coordinator Dan Mullen skipped town to take the Mississippi State head coaching job.
Surely, with all the talent in place and the hotshot recruits who will wind up at UF, the Gators will still be a solid offensive team, but defense will be their new calling card.
Here comes the payoff for the defense's imitation of swiss cheese during the 2007 campaign.
The defensive line, probably the team's weakest unit in 2008, will have two top-flight pass rushers in Carlos Dunlap and Jermaine Cunningham, and if defensive tackle Torrey Davis can fulfill the potential he showed on critical goal line stops against Oklahoma, he could become a real beast in the interior.
Most importantly, Dan McCarney, the first-year defensive line coach who restored the group to relevancy, resisted jobs elsewhere and should have them playing even better.
The linebackers will be the defense's engine, especially with Spikes still in the middle, but the secondary will be the sparkplugs.
This season, just a year removed from being the nation's No. 98 pass defense, the Gators tied with Boston College for the most interceptions in college football with 26, and they'll add a few more playmakers to the group that accomplished that.
Safety Dorian Munroe, a projected starter for 2007, will return from the knee injury that kept him sidelined, freshman cornerback Jeremy Brown will be unleashed after a redshirt year, and heralded safety Dee Finley will arrive from prep school.
But if corners Joe Haden and Janoris Jenkins, safeties Ahmad Black and Major Wright and nickelback Will Hill keep playing the way they did this season, those other players won't leave the bench.
That's the kind of competition that built UF's offense up in recent years, and with the high number of freshmen and sophomores clogging the depth chart, expect the Gators' defense to stay on top for a couple more seasons.
