Move over, Steve Spurrier.
The Fun 'n' Gun is long gone in Gainesville, but you can hardly tell from the box scores anymore.
Gone are the days of Ron Zook's conservative and ultra-predictable play calling.
Gone too are the days of Urban Meyer's defense being his best offense.
Gators fans, I know it has been a long time, but this is what you call style points.
Did the Gators just drop 59 points on Tennessee? I know two touchdowns can be racked up to defense and special teams, and I know Tennessee?s defense was also victimized by Cal two weeks ago in week one.
But the Volunteers are still a quality Southeastern Conference opponent, and UF's offense looked unstoppable at times.
This is what UF coach Urban Meyer had in mind when he brought his spread offense to Gainesville in 2005.
It is also what former Alligator columnist Louis Anastasis envisioned when he dubbed Meyer?s innovative offense the BSpread ?N? ShredC two years ago.
Anastasis gave up on the nickname when the spread turned into something the Gators couldn't beat; the only thing being shredded was UF's offensive line.
But Tim Tebow showed off both his arm and his legs against the Volunteers, Percy Harvin flashed his ability to make deep catches and electrifying runs and the UF offense blasted Tennessee with enough depth at the skill positions to field two teams.
It?s safe to say that the Spread ?n? Shred, or whatever you want to call it, made its long anticipated debut Saturday at The Swamp.
And while it?s hard to imagine Meyer?s offense outscoring the Fun ?n? Gun during its peak years, this Gators offense could prove to be more consistent, because it so multi-dimensional.
There are just so many different options in Meyer?s offense. If the defense commits to defending the deep pass, the Gators eat up chunks of yardage throwing underneath routes and attacking the defense with its versatile running game.
Bring an extra man in the box and Tebow has proven he can zip the ball over the top of the defense for huge pass plays. There aren?t too many corners who can defend UF?s wideouts in one-on-one man coverage.
Eight different players have already scored offensive touchdowns for the Gators, and it won?t be long before at least one more - wide receiver Louis Murphy - gets into the box score.
Whether Tebow and Meyer are willing to acknowledge it or not, Saturday marked the beginning of a Heisman campaign for Tebow, the only player in UF?s offense who will touch the ball enough to win such an award.
Tebow couldn?t be a more perfect fit for the Gators? offense, and it was his insertion in the starting lineup that fueled the offensive revival.
The sophomore already has 13 total touchdowns (eight passing and five rushing) to go along with 1,027 yards of total offense (835 passing and 192 rushing) through three games.
And he doesn?t appear to be slowing down.
Still, nobody will really know for sure how good this offense is until the Gators go on the road to LSU in October.
If the Gators are good enough to put up big numbers in Death Valley, they may be looking at a return trip to the state of Louisiana in January.
