Florida hasn’t done anything this season.
Well, to be fair, the Gators did what they were supposed to do.
During the first four weeks, Florida defeated a Mid-Atlantic Conference team, a squad in its season opener and first-ever Southeastern Conference game, and two SEC teams against which the Gators hold extended winning streaks.
Florida may have been the underdog against Texas A&M and Tennessee, but Vegas misjudged UF’s talent advantage.
No. 11 Florida’s next game is against a top-five conference opponent at home during the first week of October.
Sound familiar?
Florida faced the same situation in 2011, playing No. 3 Alabama at home on Oct. 1. But this team is different than last year’s squad, which dropped four straight in October. Players and coaches have said it themselves, and I am a Will Muschamp believer.
Here’s the catch.
The Gators play a murderers’ row of opponents in October with No. 3 LSU, No. 6 South Carolina and No. 5 Georgia. No, I’m not counting the game against Vanderbilt.
Only UF’s matchup against Georgia is away from Gainesville, but Florida easily could lose all three.
In the span of a month, the Gators moved from a fringe top-25 team without any playmakers to a legitimate top-15 team. Florida has scored three touchdowns of 50 yards or more in the past four weeks.
Florida’s defense, which ranked No. 8 nationally in total defense last season, has started slow every week.
UF managed to come back in the second half against two conference opponents on the road. No other team in the SEC has done that this season, but this isn’t necessarily a distinction to boast about.
Do the Gators sound too good to be true? They may be, but LSU represents the first chance for Florida to back up the hype.
Win or lose, the Gators have to show they can contend with the SEC elite. Up to this point, Florida hasn’t done that.
Muschamp and UF went 0-3 against LSU, South Carolina and Georgia last season.
The 2009 recruiting class, headlined by seniors Josh Evans, Jon Bostic and Mike Gillislee, has gone 4-5 against those three teams, including a 1-2 mark in 2010.
If this group was ever going to bring the Gators back, this would be the year.
With the added experience in the starting lineup — 18 starters are either juniors or seniors — Florida is better prepared to deal with the adversity that comes with playing top-10 opponents.
The Gators are tired of hearing about getting outscored 72-22 in the fourth quarter of SEC games last season.
“It stuck in our heads,” wide receiver Frankie Hammond Jr. said last week.
“We don’t want to have that score. It needs to be flipped around at the end of this season. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
Florida players and coaches are saying the right things. The message surrounding the football program has been one of added maturity.
There isn’t any more bickering in the locker room. Players actually have to practice now. They’ve shown an ability to not let sluggish starts affect them.
“You’re able to rationalize a lot better with guys that are a little bit more mature,” Muschamp said. “You’re able to sit down, talk, understand why we’ve improved, why we are where we are and what we need to do to get better.”
Where Florida is will be determined in the next month. The Gators are better than a 6-6 regular season, but a four-loss campaign isn’t out of the question for 2012.
Granted, Florida’s first four wins were a step in the right direction, but they’re by no means an indication this team has fixed what was broken.
Let’s talk again on Nov. 1.
Contact Adam Pincus at apincus@alligator.org.
Gators coach Will Muschamp looks over a chart against Kentucky on Saturday at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. No. 11 Florida has the week off before taking on No. 3 LSU at 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 6.
