I was wrong.
Prior to the start of the season, I thought winning more than seven games was simply unrealistic.
I broke the season into blocks.
I was only confident the Gators could win four games: Jacksonville State, Louisiana, Kentucky and Bowling Green.
I saw four toss-ups: Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Missouri.
I penciled in four losses: LSU, FSU, Georgia and South Carolina.
I said the Gators would win three of the four toss-up games.
I thought I was being generous.
Instead, they won all of them.
They also won three of the four games I assumed they would lose.
Florida’s predicted weaknesses turned out to be just that.
But I underestimated Mike Gillislee and the defense.
As I expected, the passing game barely got off the ground.
And, as expected, defenses loaded the box. But, to my surprise, Gillislee remained a force.
Before this season, his best performances were in garbage time or against non-BCS opponents. So why would anybody think he could shoulder the load as a feature back for a whole season in the Southeastern Conference?
Instead of cracking under the pressure, Gillislee rose to the occasion and rushed for more than 1,100 yards and 10 touchdowns.
He didn’t just pad his statistics against the weakest parts of the Gators’ schedule.
He posted 100-yard, two-touchdown performances against LSU and FSU — both top-10 defenses.
I also didn’t think Florida’s defense would compensate for issues on the other side of the ball by improving on its already impressive effort from 2011.
The unit, which returned nine starters, improved from eighth to fifth in the country in total defense.
However, it made other significant strides that the three-spot improvement in total
production doesn’t reflect.
In 2011, the defense ranked 28th in the country with an opposing quarterback rating of 117.81.
This season, Florida leads the NCAA with a 91.50 pass defense rating.
Interceptions have been the biggest difference.
The Gators picked off only eight passes in 2011, good for 93rd in the nation.
This year, Florida has picked off 14 passes. That’s sixth in the country.
UF’s rush defense also improved.
The Gators gave up just 96.6 yards per game on the ground this year, which ranks sixth in the country.
Florida surrendered 132.7 rushing yards per game last season, a figure that ranked 40th in the nation.
Florida was ugly this season, but it got the job done. Will Muschamp’s unsexy plan of running the ball and playing stout defense worked.
I was dead wrong on this team. But if being wrong means a trip to New Orleans to stroll down Bourbon Street and participate in drunk karaoke, this reporter is fine with that.
Contact Josh Jurnovoy at jjurnovoy@alligator.org.
Running back Mike Gillislee dives into the end zone during Florida’s 37-26 win against Florida State on Saturday at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee. Gillislee ran for 140 yards and two scores in the win.
