To most, Florida looks like a Gator Bowl bid waiting to happen.
The Gators have two unproven quarterbacks, and neither has been named the starter. Even with 10 first-stringers returning from the eighth-ranked defense, UF is expected to struggle.
Perhaps the Gainesville heat has clouded my judgment, but this UF team will prove the naysayers wrong this year. UF will finish 9-3. Surprising, I know.
It took until the January bowl game before the Gators bought into second-year coach Will Muschamp, junior defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd said.
The Gator Bowl victory jumpstarted the offseason program, and the players realized a turnaround from their dreadful season wasn’t going to happen by accident.
“Last year ,whatever we did during the summer didn’t work,” junior receiver Andre Debose said. “It got us to 7-6. If you want change you have to change yourself.”
Change is a common theme for UF since last season ended. A power rushing game replaces the inefficient outside running by Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey.
A motion-based offense from Brent Pease replaces the vanilla system from former offensive coordinator Charlie Weis.
Teams wore down the “soft” Gators in 2011. While running back Mike Gillislee may not reach his unrealistic preseason goals, he will drain the clock with his inside running.
“This is a line of scrimmage league,” Muschamp said. “Generally, your season is predicated on the quarterback position and both lines of scrimmage.”
The trenches will improve because of better quarterback play. An offense that moves the chains will keep the defense on the sidelines. Coupled with the Gillislee Express, Jacoby Brissett and Jeff Driskel will do just that.
Excluding blowout losses to Alabama and LSU, UF’s SEC defeats were by an average of five points.
The Gators started a true freshman quarterback against SEC opponents. Brissett opened against LSU and Auburn.
“Going out there, we probably didn’t figure things out like the first seven series,” Brissett said. “You’ve just got to play the next play, and that’s what I learned.”
Comfort was an issue in the locker room and on the field for UF in 2011.
“I’m going to be much more confident just by knowing what to expect for [the defense] to throw at us and knowing what we’re going to give to them,” sophomore quarterback Jeff Driskel said.
The 2012 roster may look like a jumbled batch of unproven and underachieving talent, but the real mess is behind UF.
Contact Adam Pincus at apincus@alligator.org.
