The State of the Florida Gators.......

utfantilidie · 08-23-2006, 01:22 PM

Voice your honest opinion on how you view the program of the Florida Gators football team post Steve Spurrier Era.

My opinion is they are no where near where they were and if they fail to win at least 9 games this year with a veteran qb, I think they could be on the downslide in the SEC.Possibly even back to the Charlie Pell and Galen Hall (glory days, well glory for us).Any (unbiased) thoughts?

phatphil · 08-23-2006, 01:27 PM

They'll win more than nine games because there will be some shaking up behind center. I think the frosh is better than Leak.

sjt18 · 08-23-2006, 01:32 PM

I think firemeyer.com is a more likely end to this season than a championship.

The program keeps drawing great athletes but that won't continue if Meyer's O doesn't work and look good doing it. Everyone recruits Florida and everyone has a vested interest in UF's failure.

Despite denials, a QB controversy is brewing and may explode if their wafer thin o-line can't protect Leak.

Many have pointed to Meyer's 2nd year magic but I personally expect him to get another strong dose of the reality that MWC and MAC defenses don't compare to those of the SEC elite.

**VolinArizona** · 08-23-2006, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phatphil

They'll win more than nine games because there will be some shaking up behind center. I think the frosh is better than Leak.

I think UF wins at most 9 games, unless they get tons of breaks.

**lawgator1** · 08-23-2006, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by utfantilidie

Voice your honest opinion on how you view the program of the Florida Gators football team post Steve Spurrier Era.

My opinion is they are no where near where they were and if they fail to win at least 9 games this year with a veteran qb, I think they could be on the downslide in the SEC.Possibly even back to the Charlie Pell and Galen Hall (glory days, well glory for us).Any (unbiased) thoughts?

8-4 is realistic, but if the O-line has the problems everyone forecasts then 7-5 is not out of the question. With a lot of luck, 9-3 is possible.

Most UF fans I talk to recognize that the team has great talent at reciever, QB, and defense but that the team could go either way depending on how quickly the incoming linemen respond and whether the running game can start showing signs of life.

If the Gators go 7-5, then I think you will see some criticism of Meyer, but again I think most fans are savy enough to know that the cupboard was fairly bare in some of the above respects. There already is a firemeyer site -- its a gimmick to sell coffee mugs and what not. UF is going to give Meyer a real shot to get the program back to national competitiveness, of this I am convinced.

Overall, sense down here is program is headed back in the right direction. With the talent we have coming in, I don't think it likely that Florida ends up in other than the #1 or #2 spot in the SECE any time soon.

The real question in my mind is whether it will be Georgia or UT that steps up to be Florida's competition in the SECE for the next five years. SC has Spurrier, but jury is still out for me as to whether he can turn that program around. The rest are, well, the rest.

Face it, with the recruiting edge we have begun to see, Florida is going to be a stalwart in the East for the foreseeable future. Will it be UT or UGA that joins us at the top?

sjt18 · 08-23-2006, 01:47 PM

I agree with you VA.

I think they lose in K'ville and J'ville plus at least one of the two consecutive games against Auburn and LSU. They could easily be 4-4 or even 3-5 going into the Vandy game.

They play @UT, UK, Bama, LSU, @Auburn, and Georgia in consecutive weeks. Even UK isn't a break. They historically show up against UF. I just don't see them escaping that run with less than 3 losses.

LetMeStay · 08-23-2006, 01:47 PM

offense will struggle again

hitandrun · 08-23-2006, 01:48 PM

one might argue that they weren't even all that "up" when spurrier was there... 1 national championship in a year where they still had a loss (no perfect record).

i'm wouldn't necessarily push that argument, but i would present it for debate.

on the other hand, there's no denying the downturn when he left. however, his leaving in and of itself likely had an impact on whether marquee players decided to go elsewhere after initiall planning on going to florida. additionally, visor admits to leaving the cupboard a little "bare" at his exit.

nonetheless, since visor's been gone, uf hasn't really done all that poorly. i don't recall too many instances of them getting the crap kicked out of them, or being surprised by someone like Vandy (granted, last year was a good game). they've had tennessee's and georgia's number for the most part since visor's been gone. i personally think that once they divorce themselves of the leak family factor, they'll be moving up in the SEC and elsewhere.

sjt18 · 08-23-2006, 01:48 PM

How do you say that UF will go at best 9-3 and realistically 8-4 but still finish in the top two of the east?

**VolinArizona** · 08-23-2006, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sjt18

I agree with you VA.

I think they lose in K'ville and J'ville plus at least one of the two consecutive games against Auburn and LSU. They could easily be 4-4 or even 3-5 going into the Vandy game.

They play @UT, UK, Bama, LSU, @Auburn, and Georgia in consecutive weeks. Even UK isn't a break. They historically show up against UF. I just don't see them escaping that run with less than 3 losses.

UF has won 7 of the last 8 at the Cocktail party, so I think they'll win again, especially with Tereshinski at QB.

utchatt · 08-23-2006, 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by utfantilidie

Voice your honest opinion on how you view the program of the Florida Gators football team post Steve Spurrier Era.

My opinion is they are no where near where they were and if they fail to win at least 9 games this year with a veteran qb, I think they could be on the downslide in the SEC.Possibly even back to the Charlie Pell and Galen Hall (glory days, well glory for us).Any (unbiased) thoughts?

They are not the gators of spurrers teams. Overall I think they have been a disappointment since he quit.

bigdaddy · 08-23-2006, 01:57 PM

Actually, Florida scares me a little. I have read the preseason mags and that is about all I know about them. They have some wicked bad talent and have a great set of WRs. It sounds like UM has tweaked his system to fit Leak better. With thier WR and defense, the SEC E is going to be a bloodbath between the top 3 (UF, UGA, UT). If we hold up and actually show up on offense this year this could be the most competitive year in the SEC E and W in some time. But, since we beat the crap out of each other I dont see a NC coming from the SEC. My prediction on UF goes 9-3 with loses to UT, AUB, FSU.

**lawgator1** · 08-23-2006, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sjt18

How do you say that UF will go at best 9-3 and realistically 8-4 but still finish in the top two of the east?

I am assuming that one of the losses is to FSU (at FSU) and that the other SEC losses are (primarily) to SEC West teams. I do think the West (and particularly LSU and Auburn -- with sleeper Arkansas) is a bit better than the East this year. So, if Florida loses 2 or 3 SEC games but with only, say, one SECE loss, then they figure to end up in the 1 or 2 spot. If they lose just two SEC games, I think they have a real shot at winning the SECE, particularly on tiebreaker if the losses are to West teams.

It is entirely possible that, in the East, Florida, UT, and Georgia will knock each other off, or that SC could spoil someone's season, and how the teams end up will depend on how they do versus the West.

The game on 9/16 is critical, as always, but in the last few years it seems like the SECE comes down to games at the end of the season. Someone is always out there, not controlling their own fate. Parity, some might say.

VolBeef88 · 08-23-2006, 02:03 PM

I think UF loses to UT very convincingly and the crumbling starts. The media will do stories on how at least 1 SEC team always seems to crumble. They will use UT and AU as examples.

tmodaniel · 08-23-2006, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phatphil

They'll win more than nine games because there will be some shaking up behind center. I think the frosh is better than Leak.

I could not have said it better myself, Leak is over rated.