It's time to spice things up a bit.
Coach Urban Meyer called his playcalling for the Charleston Southern game "painfully vanilla," but is opening up the Gators' arsenal this week.
UF ran just three offensive formations last week, according to Meyer, and defensive coordinator Charlie Strong said he only called three different defenses against the Buccaneers.
Expect that to change Saturday when No. 1 Florida (1-0) gets its final tune-up at 12:21 p.m. against Troy (0-1) with next week's Southeastern Conference opener against Tennessee looming.
The Trojans were the preseason media pick to win the Sun Belt Conference, although they did lose 31-14 at Bowling Green last week.
"You're facing a better team. You're facing better personnel," Meyer said. "You're facing an offense that's very explosive and a real talented defense. Last week, we went into the game with just a couple defenses. You'll see the whole defensive package. Offensively, you saw very minimal option [last week]
"You're going to see a lot of that this week. We're kind of letting it go this week."
Meyer also used Troy's near-upset of LSU in Baton Rouge, La., last season to keep UF focused. The Trojans led 31-3 in the third quarter before the Tigers rallied for a 40-31 win.
"I think the best thing that happened to us is when they should've beat LSU and outplayed LSU last year," Meyer said.
Now, UF will seek to replicate last week's offensive onslaught. The Gators rushed for 369 yards - Florida's second-highest total in Meyer's four-plus years - and five touchdowns behind the three-headed attack of sophomores Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey and junior Emmanuel Moody.
As for the defense that returned all 11 starters from 2008, it feels like there is plenty to improve upon - namely the three points scored by Charleston Southern, a Football Championship Subdivision team.
"I personally felt like it was too much," redshirt senior Ryan Stamper said. "Especially with all the guys we had coming back and the defense we have. Even with our twos [backups] in there, I still feel like a team like that shouldn't score."
Strong added: "It's great that he felt like that. … Sometimes the expectations are a little different with the competition you have to play."
Strong expects an up-tempo, quick passing attack from Troy similar to Charleston Southern. Florida's ability to pass rush has caused opponents to incorporate more one-, two- and three-step drops. The Gators allowed 228 yards passing against the Buccaneers.
Above all, though, the mission for this week remains the same. One more victory will tie the school record for longest winning streak. The 1995 team won 12 games in a row before falling 62-24 to Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl.
"I know it sounds cliché, but we're just trying to win the game," receiver David Nelson said. "We're just trying to go out there this weekend and beat Troy. We know they have some phenomenal players and some great individual talent. We'll throw whatever we need to win the game. Tennessee's next week. We'll worry about them after this week. Right now, we're worried about Troy."
