“So let me start out by saying I have not seen any secret practices nor
do I have a crystal ball! These are my guesses as to the year that will be
Florida Football year 1 under Coach McElwain. I predict that the Gators will go
8-4 on the season and will finish unfortunately third or fourth in the SEC
east. Now if things go perfectly and they have a better offensive year than
most expect, they could go 11-1. If they turn the ball over and bad things
happen in a couple of close games they could end up 5-7. How’s that for
covering all the bases. Here’s how they get there.”
That’s how I began last year’s blog about the Gator Football
season. They went 10-2 in the regular season and lost the SEC championship game
and the bowl game. My reasoning was solid and they did have a better year than
I expected. Now let’s turn the focus on this year’s season and try it again.
UMass comes into the swamp for the first game and while it
may not be a repeat of last year’s opener, the results will be the same. The
Gators will win easily and Luke Del Rio will be hailed as a potential Heisman
winner by some Orange and Blue maniacs. The only thing that could derail the
victory would be another late night thunderstorm!
The schedule changes this year and Kentucky comes a calling
earlier than usual. Stoops has things headed in the right direction in
Lexington, but this game ain’t in the bluegrass state. It won’t be as close as
last year and the Gators move onto week three undefeated again. Just like the
Vols schedule is easier in the month of November, the Gator’s is always easiest
in September.
Week three features the match with the Mean Green from North
Texas. It won’t be close and the Gators will be getting some good national
attention about now. A night game in the Swamp in late September is as good as
it gets. That is unless you are on the visiting sidelines. Gator fans should
get to see the backup QB in this one.
The real key game again is with the Vols. This time it’s up
in Knoxville. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Creamsicle clad bunch
celebrating the end of the streak. I mean it can’t last forever can it? But
until they actually win one, I’m still calling this one a victory for the guys
from Gainesville. It will also mark the beginning of the end for Butch Jones if
they don’t beat the Gators, so it’s a double win for the orange and blue! But
remember, I am hedging my bets here because the Vols will be better, just hope
the Gators are better too!
So at worst the Gators head to Tennessee in back to back
weeks, thanks SEC schedule makers, for a road game with Vandy. It’s possible
that the Gators will be either looking back at what should have been or looking
ahead to LSU and make a real mess of this game. They shouldn’t but it seems
that the Gators struggle in the Music City. This could be an upset that would
all but end the dreams of another trip to Atlanta, but I think Coach Mac will
have them ready to play regardless of what happened on Rocky Top. Gators win
but we all breathe freely only after the game ends.
So a 4-1 or maybe 5-0 Gator team comes home to face the Mad
Hatter and the LSU Tigers. This game should feature two top 15 at worst and
maybe top 10 teams at that point and be the featured game of the day. If LSU
can keep the RB healthy and playing hard, the Gator defense will have their
hands full all day. The real question is can the Gator offense come around fast
enough to take the pressure off the defense. The crowd can be a factor but only
if the Gators can keep it close enough to force Miles to try another trick
play. This time it won’t work and the Gators win another close game in the
Swamp. That will be one big party on University Avenue if they win this one!
Another group of Tigers roll into town the next week but the
claws aren’t as sharp in this bunch this year. Missouri will present a tough
test but I don’t think they will spoil the homecoming festivities this year.
The Gators head into the bye week with a 7-0 or 6-1 record.
I think that this year the celebrating in Jacksonville will
be done by the dogs. This will be a hard fought defense led football game. The
kind that Keith Jackson would call an old fashioned slobber knocker. I think
that the run game of Georgia will be just a little better than the Gators if
they stay healthy and I don’t think Coach Smart will play the waterboy again at
QB. It could be changed by a turnover for the Gators and the fact that Georgia
tends to play tight when they cross the St. John’s River.
Having to travel to Pig country after an emotional game will
be tough for the Gators and could cause them to lose back to back games and
demolish any chance of being in Atlanta. I think the biggest factor in this
game will be the weather on the first week of November in Arkansas. If it’s a
cold and windy day, the Hogs would have the advantage. If it’s a crisp but
sunny day, I think the Gators will be able to throw on the Piglets. So without
being able to call the weatherman this far in advance, I’ll go with the Gators
to win it in their first trip to Giant Walmart Stadium in a long time.
Coach Muschump will return to the swamp the next week. He’ll
be all hyped and bloody from smashing his face into a locker or something, but
it won’t really matter. He’s not going to have enough offensive talent to do
much against a great defense. Heck, if he had offensive talent, he’d move them
to the defensive side. So as long as the Gators can field punts, they should be
able to win this one. So the winner of the TN-UF game should be the winner of
the East unless GA beats TN and that could happen, in which case we have a real
mess.
Let’s face it, the seniors on the even years get the best of
the Senior Day games. They can almost always count on a win, oh unless Chump
comes back to coach the offense against Ga. Southern. But since the Gators are
playing a Denominational school, they should win this one easily. All of the
Seniors should see some playing time in their final home game, even the ones
where this would be the first time they have seen real game action.
So a 9-2 Gator team heads out west to face the clowns.
Unfortunately I think the clowns will have the last laugh again this year. The
one possible problem could be if the Heisman hopeful at RB goes down for the
Noles. In that case, I think it would be a coin toss. No great kicker, no great
runner, and no great QB could mean a closer game than most would expect. That’s
a lot of ifs for the Gators, so I don’t think those of us who love the Gators
will want to talk to our Nole Friends over Christmas Break.
So there you go, that’s my picks for the year. A 9-3 season
that may be good enough to get the Gators back to Atlanta or it may only be
good enough for third in the east. Let’s hope we can keep our starters away
from GNC this year and perhaps we will have an even better ending to the season
than the beginning. I’m sure some of you will disagree with what I wrote and
that’s okay. Just put your comments down for the reckoning that happens in
January. By then we’ll all know which teams stayed healthy, which ones
overachieved, and which ones were bitter disappointments again to their fans!
Between now and then, we all get to have a great fall watching college football
and talking smack! Let’s keep it classy and friendly because we all know it’s
just a game, a very important one, but still just a game!
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