Tyler: The Gators have not proven much yet. Yes, Florida is 4-0 and looked great last week against Kentucky. Florida started 4-0 last year, including a dominating win against Kentucky. Then, they played Alabama. Then, the season spiraled out of control.
Still, Florida’s season does not hinge on Saturday’s game. This year’s team is different from last year’s if, for no other reason, the Gators have a new coaching staff.
After last year’s 31-6 whooping at the hands of Alabama, there was no reason to think Florida could improve. The players knew Urban Meyer’s system. This year, however, the Gators should get better as the season progresses, as they grow more familiar with Will Muschamp’s defense and Charlie Weis’ offense.
If Saturday’s game goes south, don’t throw the towel in just yet.
Matt: While the season may not hinge entirely on Saturday’s game, it’s going to mean a lot more than you think.
Players, fans and even some sports writers are starting to buy in to these Muschamp-led Gators. This is their chance to prove that all the hype and all the work in the offseason meant something. A blowout loss at home to Alabama — which is in play — sinks the ship before it can officially set sail.
This team is full of young, impressionable players who, for as much as they toe the company line in interviews, are an emotional bunch.
Losing at home in The Swamp to Alabama would start the murderous October schedule off on the wrong foot and potentially set the table for four straight losses.
Tyler: Of course this is a young team, but that doesn’t mean one loss will warp their minds. They have all played sports most of their lives. They know how to bounce back from losses.
Falling to Alabama will hurt, but this is a team that should continue to improve as the season goes on. Every year, the Gators’ No. 1 goal is to get to Atlanta. This Saturday’s game won’t make or break their journey.
Don’t be surprised to see Florida drop games against Southeastern Conference West division powerhouses (Alabama, LSU), improve as the year goes on, beat the only other contenders in the East (Georgia, South Carolina) and reach the SEC championship.
Matt: That sounds eerily similar to a season ago, when the Gators went to Tuscaloosa, Ala., fired up and ready to show the world they meant business. Instead, ‘Bama sent them into a hole they could never climb out of.
Three straight losses in October drained most of what positive energy remained around the program, and with the SEC East on the line against South Carolina in November, the Gators laid an egg.
Muschamp has looked exhausted and on the verge of losing his sanity after wins against UAB and FAU; what’s going to happen when he gets that first loss in the books?
Right now, we don’t know if losing could mean this team is a volatile volcano waiting to erupt or a focused group that won’t pin its season on one game.
I’m betting on the former.
Tyler: Florida didn’t play bad last year because it was blown out against Alabama. Florida played bad because Florida was bad.
If the Gators didn’t have the Crimson Tide on their schedule last year, they still would have dropped those October games to the Tigers and the Bulldogs. Prior to the Alabama loss, we had plenty of reasons to think Florida would struggle. Cue the Miami (Ohio) game tape.
Similarly, this season won’t be determined in a 60-minute stretch Saturday. Yes, a victory would provide an emotional lift. And yeah, a loss will be disappointing. Losses always are. But win or lose, Florida will have seven games left on its regular-season schedule.
Matt: Those are facts, yes, but this game has the potential to set a blueprint for stopping Florida in the future.
We have never seen Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps be as effective as they have been this season.
Much of the credit goes to Weis for drawing up plays to get them in space, but that may not matter going forward. Weis said Tuesday he’s going to open up the playbook against Alabama.
What happens when the pages stick together?
What happens when Nick Saban shows Muschamp who’s the boss?
What happens when defenses shut down Demps and Rainey and force John Brantley and his unimpressive corps of receivers to beat them?
Missed snaps aside, the Florida offense looked somewhat impressive coming into last year’s Alabama game — similar to this year. But after the shellacking in Bryant-Denny Stadium, the Gators had three losses in which they failed to score more than 14 points.
While many things are different this time around, the Alabama game very well could be the downfall of a 4-0 Florida team. Again.
Contact Tyler Jett at tjett@alligator.org and Matt Watts at mwatts@alligator.org.
