2009 — Position — 2010
Avery Barnes — LF — Tyler Thompson
Matt den Dekker — CF — Matt den Dekker
Riley Cooper — RF — Daniel Pigott
Brandon McArthur — 1B — Preston Tucker
Clayton Pisani — 2B — Josh Adams
Mike Mooney — SS — Nolan Fontana
Josh Adams — 3B — Bryson Smith
Buddy Munroe — C — Mike Zunino
Preston Tucker — DH — Austin Maddox

Rounding the bases Friday night, Austin Maddox wasn’t sure if he was going to wake up before he reached home plate.

Moments earlier, Florida’s freshman designated hitter had just belted the second collegiate pitch of his career over the right-center field wall for a two-run home run to give the Gators (1-0) a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first.

His trance ended after he touched home and realized what happened.

“First (at-bat). That doesn’t happen to many people, but it felt really good,” Maddox said.

It felt pretty good for the Gators all night in their season opener against South Florida at McKethan Stadium. Along with Maddox’s debut, junior infielder Josh Adams showed off some power by clearing the left field bleachers twice as the Gators defeated USF 6-2 in front of a crowd of 3,309.

While Maddox felt like his at-bat was a dream, Adams, who has won consecutive All-SEC accolades, said he had goosebumps after his first at-bat when he hit a two-run homer off Randy Fontanez in the first.

He was giddy after the hit, but he wasn’t very nervous coming into the game.

“Honestly, for a lot of us it felt like another scrimmage game because we’ve been scrimmaging so much,” Adams said. “About five minutes until game time everybody started getting that look like, ‘All right, it’s here. We’re ready to go.’ Everybody was ready and it was a good night.”

Besides Florida’s offensive explosion in the first, Friday meant the return of a familiar face. After spending the 2009 season sidelined after shoulder surgery, sophomore right-hander Tommy Toledo made his first appearance on the mound in more than a year.

He started strong as he struck out his first batter, but admitted jitters caught up to him while facing his third batter, Stephen Hunt, who saved the inning with a single to center. After Hunt stole second, Toledo walked Sam Mende off a wild pitch, putting runners at the corners.

Toledo then calmly struck out the next batter on a 3-2 count.

Toledo’s nerves didn’t leave him. His control problems landed him in a bases-loaded situation in the second, but like the inning before, he escaped with a strikeout and the clean sheet.

“It was definitely good to get my feet wet a little bit with the guys on and get those situations out of the way,” Toledo said. “I’m sure its going to be like that for the rest of the season, so I’m glad I got the first one out of the way.”

Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan pulled Toledo after 3 1/3 innings with four strikeouts, two walks and an unearned run off 71 pitches. He was replaced by lefty Alex Panteliodis, who picked up the win after 3 1/3 innings and three strikeouts.

Florida’s bats went silent after Fontanez found his rhythm. He retired six straight after giving up those four runs and went 6 2/3 with five strikeouts in the losing effort.

Adams, who went 3-for-3 on the night, hit his second homer in the fifth and drove in his fourth run with a double in the seventh that scored senior center fielder Matt den Dekker.

The early bat work proved too much for the Bulls, but nerves kept the game from getting out of hand as Florida committed two errors on the night and only five hits after the first inning.

Still, O’Sullivan was pleased with the solid opening.

“There’s nothing like opening day,” he said. “Everybody’s anxious and everybody’s kind of amped up. I could tell our (batting practice) was a little different. It’s always good to get the first one out of the way.”

National Signing Day!…the day silly ass College Football junkies (like myself) are glued to their favorite sites waiting for 17 - 18 year old kids to commit their College choices! For the Florida Gators, the class is pretty much complete; and all before 11am! This is the earliest I can recall this being “over”!…Well, there is a highly regarded OL Chaz Green who they still hope to get, but the rest are Signed sealed and ALL GATORS!. Check out that link, and dot the lines on what will be an amazing Defensive Line.

5* DE Ronald Powell (#1 overall recruit, per Rivals)

5* DT Sharrif Floyd (#4 overall recruit, per Rivals)

5* DT Dominique Easley (#7 overall recruit, per Rivals)

4* DE Lynden Trail (#123 overall recruit, per Rivals)

Add Safety Matt Elam (5*, overall #25 player, per Rivals) and Cornerback Joshua Shaw (4* overall #28 player, per Rivals) and the Defense might be kinda strong!…AGAIN!

Collectively, 10 of the Rival Top 100 are signed in as Gators…well, Travon Van isn’t “in” yet, but should be (HE’S SIGNED NOW!) (He’s not in the top 100 though). If Chaz Green (#43 overall, per Rival / OL) avoids the UTenn temptations, he could make 11 of the top 100 that are Gators (& 5 of the top 28 !). Not bad for a Coach who nearly had to quit due to health problems, in the middle of recruiting! Just added Adrian Coxson, 6′2″ wr from Maryland. 27 loi’s, one spot left….for Mr Green!?!?!?!

OSU is humming right around the #26 mark, though when OL Seantrell Henderson (#2 overall recruit, per Rivals) commits, that will shoot them back in the top 20 easy! They really didn’t have a whole lot of need this year. Young team, pretty much already set for 2010. Still, got a good class.

UC hasn’t cashed in, they are listed at #56…B-Kelly left no favors when he parted. They’ve lost a few of the touted recruits they had. By late afternoon they could fall into the 60’s in class rank. 

The SEC is, once again, taking the bulk of the talent, by conference. Seven of the top 19 ranked classes are from the SEC. (Florida, Auburn, Alabama, LoSerU, Tennessee, Jawja, and Ole Miss ; SoCarolina fell to #26) Making it once again, the top conference in recruiting. Somehow people STILL doubt they are the best!…As if 4 National Titles in a row, and 5 out of the last 6 didn’t nail it down for them….???

What a silly, silly little man-boy. Lane Kiffin, in an attempt to hide the skeletons in the closets he recently left at his 2.6 million dollar home the good people of UTenn were renting for him, has decided to start up a hoot of a rumor;

ANIMAL HOUSE: Word on the street is that Kiffin and Ed Orgeron are hammering away at Urban Meyer on the recruiting trail. Reportedly, recruits are being told that Urban Meyer already has a plan in place to succeed Lee Corso on ESPN’s College GameDay. Forget, for a moment, how Meyer feels; poor Corso, who battled back from a stroke and is one of the biggest supporters of college football, must feel like he was blindsided. While it’s a cute story those two concocted, me thinks Laney should worry more about what TMZ uncovers regarding his sordid social life in Knoxville during his short stay on Rocky Top. And Coach O(gre), well. … He should just try to make English his first language. After all, that Geico “So easy a Caveman can do it” marketing campaign has got to run out at some point, right?

Yeah, as if the order of his recently let house isn’t enUFf to keep him busy, Lamey has created a story in an attempt to play Urban off as the new Lee Corso! Petty and meaningless?…That’s the Kiffin Klown!! Rock on Kif, you’ll be a star on your (own) merit SOME DAY!!!…..or not. You’ll always be your Daddy’s little man!

Speculation ABOUNDS!…First off, “NO”!…I am not accepting the job if and when Jeremy Foley calls me…and he will. Second, Tebow will NOT become the youngest ever Head Coach of a major College Program as a result of this news. Though that would be kinda cool, it’ll probably not happen, even after I spurn their offer.

Too bad Brian Kelly already has HIS dream job, eh?….How funny would THAT be? Stoops, Kyle Whittingham(Utah) and Dan Mullen (Missy State) appear as common choices. I’d rather Charlie Strong disconnect from L’ville and take it up, though he’s seen by many as too green (no HC experience). I say he’d do just fine, and would maintain a solid commit to the Defense. Bob Stoops is too far removed to have the intended impact, though he’d be a big name,…sadly, he will not be leaving Oklahomo until he’s ready to retire.

Notre Dame fans have offered Chunky, but Foley didn’t have enUFf Double Bubble grape flavor to cinch up the deal…Speculation of this move, however, that he might end up in G’ville DID boost investing in the local Wendy’s and Burger Kings franchises. Also, Lard-o-Boy Donuts looked into available space close to the Stadium,….thankfully there appear to be 4200 candidates ahead of Big-Butt, so….all that for nothing.

Recruits appear to be locking in on theoir commits, but they have yet to be pressed by some of the sharks that will certain to be circling Urban’s carcass as the season progresses. Its more the nature of the biz than anything disrespectful though. The biggest winner of this happening will be Saban and Mack, as they will be the most likely to qualify for the talent that could be available.

Do the Gators get another Ron Zook?…or do they do a little better this go ’round?….Haters are hoping for the Zookster!….and Lame Kitten is probably still laughing!

UPDATE: AND NOW THIS

No, he sure wont be, here at UC. WHY?…well, probably the biggest reason is he can return to the BIG12. Turner Gill was a fablulous player at Nebraska, of course, and tooled under some impressive Coaches during his post-playing days. He would have been a nice fit here too. His offense is a little different, but I think he’d have been a better fit than Skippy will/would. (Skip Holtz). Anyone who’s father does a spot on ESPN as DUMB as Lispin’ Lou Holtz, will never get an endorsement here!…..He can become the next Urban Meyer, and he’ll still be the dude who’s lispin’ Dad did that dumbass skit on ESPN! To be fair, I should cut ESPN in on 1/2 the blame,…so, I do.

 …..What they tell you you’ll get, and what you ACTUALLY get. See any difference?….

So, Turner Gill is off the list, and Skippy is still available!…(yuh-wah, What a surprise, huh?) Will Kansas be better off at this time next year, than UC will? Probably not!…but my guess suggests that by 2011, Gill has made strides, while Skippy will lead UC back to the middle of the pack in the Big Least. I sure hope UC Skips, on Holtz!…

Think the mighty (Jeff) QUINN, instead!

The “OLD TEN” has watched their once mighty (well, it was in the 40’s - 60’s I hear) conference fall further and further behind everyone else, for years!
Before you think this is a “bash-the-Little-1(1)0″ piece, it really isn’t. The Big10 in trying to stick to its “traditions” has been slow to do most things other conferences have. The most progressive thing they (as a group) did, was UMichy’s hiring of Dick Rod - and unfortunately they are 2 years into that move and looking back on it with raised eyebrows. Think about OSU’s hire of Vesty…that’s NOT a move most other BIG schools would have made. It turned out well for them, but can you see Notre Dame or Oklahoma reaching out to an in-State small townie-Coach like that? You’re gonna have some success anyway, because of that old brand name, but still….low wattage. Paterno wasn’t part of the conf when he was hired,…back in 1921, or when he won Nat Titles; Making Tress the only hire who worked it all out. Though his EPIC failure against Florida in that Title game kinda took a shine off those earlier accomplishments.

The Big-Whatever conference has long been a 2-man race (No disrespect intended towards Wiscony, but really…until PENNIState got there, and got good again - boom, it was just OSU and Michy). Michy is struggling now, so its made PENNIState better. Two National Titles in the last 40 years, a losing record in the Rose Bowl, and 7 teams that dont instill fear in any MAC team, will do that.

Now they are looking like, or at least saying they will fill in another team, round off to 12 teams and get something new in the mix. For 15 years they’ve been waiting for ND to fall in their ranks, they resisted. (Mostly because the NCAA is filled with enUFf ND alum’s to keep the “gifts” coming.)

They missed out on Cincy, which would have been a super pick up (but who knew until a few years ago?)…now they are going to have to reach out to a Central Michigan, or try to pull some other ACC-like heist. Central Michy will need stadium/facility upgrades, but they are regionally a good fit. They also boast the best potential for quality, though they’d never win the Title…..which may be the plan, and it shouldn’t be. Waiting for ND to fall in line just ain’t happenin’!

Alvarez was always a good coach, hopefully he can rally enUFf supporters to get this done quick….A BIG10\11\1? Conference Title Game?….YEE-hah!

Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez says the Big Ten will soon make a more aggressive push toward adding a 12th member.

Speaking to Wisconsin’s athletic board on Friday, Alvarez, the former longtime Badgers football coach, said the conference already has investigated possibilities for expansion “from all over the country.” And though he places no timetable on the search, Alvarez thinks conference commissioner Jim Delany will respond to a group of athletic directors and coaches who want expansion.

“I have a sense he is going to take this year to really be more aggressive about it,” Alvarez told the board. “I just think everybody feels [expansion] is the direction to go, coaches and administrators.”

Penn State football coach Joe Paterno has been the most vocal advocate of a 12th Big Ten team, and he has support from several of his fellow coaches.

A 12th team would allow the Big Ten to split into divisions and hold a conference championship game. The Big Ten typically ends its football season two weeks before the other BCS conferences, though the addition of a permanent bye week in 2010 will shrink the gap by a week.

“We’re irrelevant for the last three weeks of the football season because we’re not playing,” Alvarez said Friday.

Paterno has stumped for expansion several times, but Delany — who was unavailable for comment — told ESPN.com this spring that the league has no immediate plans to add a 12th team.

“There’s not an obvious move,” Delany said in May. “There might be to some coaches, including Coach Paterno, but it’s not as obvious to the university presidents and to the athletic directors.

“There are a lot [of schools] that could take a lot away, but there aren’t a lot that could bring so much to make the choice an easy one. You have to have a lot to make something go like this, and it’s broader than really a championship game or a basketball tournament.”

The Big Ten most recently expanded with Penn State, which began competing as a league member in football in 1993. The league has made runs at Notre Dame but hasn’t had serious discussions for several years.

Las Vegas has posted opening lines for the five Bowl Championship Series games:

Rose Bowl: Oregon (-2) vs. Ohio State. Over/under: 50. The line has moved to minus-3.5 at the time of this post.

Sugar Bowl: Florida (-10.5) vs. Cincinnati. Over/under: 62.

Fiesta Bowl: Texas Christian (-4) vs. Boise State. Over/under: 54. The line has already moved to minus-8.

Orange Bowl: Georgia Tech (-3.5) vs. Iowa. Over/under: 51. The line has moved to minus-3.

BCS title game: Alabama (-4) vs. Texas. Over/under: 45.

Ohio State, Florida, TCU, Jawja Tech, and Alabama, will win. (Though will ALL cover the spread?)……Who outside of SEC fans REALLY wants to see a 4th straight (and 3rd different) SEC National Champion!??!?!…Yeah, look for the BCS Bashers to rally in high gear over this! No one likes ANY thing that wins like this. Sure, this should be Florida and Cincy in THE BCS game, but that didn’t happen thanks to a poor performance by ‘dem Gators.

 Who bets the TCU talk this year dwarfs that of The Ute talk last year?..Yeah, and it’ll be ALL the same people!

yup!…Tiger (reportedly) banged THIS porn star too….But as she might tell it,…”Who hasn’t?” — Still, bet it was a lot of fun!….for him!

…thus taking a bit of the shine off next weeks game between UCincy and those disappointing Panthers. Pitt QB Bill Stull was a mediocre flop today, and the result is a loss for the Bearcats.

The WVU Mountaineers defeated the Pitt Panthers 19-16 in a game that will send Pitt OUT of the top 10, and tarnish what will be a Bodacious Bearcat Beatdown next weekend. Tony Pike and the boys sunk Zookers Illini as Pike fired 6 TD passes, and probably earned Brian Kelly another bonus tier with the Notre Dame Athletic Director.

All that needs to happen, is either F$U to trip up Tebow and the Gators in Tim’s final home game tomorrow, and/or for Nebraska to play out their asses and dump the 2009 Heisman winner Colt McCoy and his Longsteers on their asses. Sure, long shots, but how jacked up will F$U be to pull of their 1/2 of the formula? Beat Teeb’s in his last home game, last regular season game, and thump his chance of playing out his career in yet another BCS Title game!??!?! The motivation will NOT be in short supply tomorrow in G’ville! (CBS 3:30pm, for those who don’t know)

TCU gets New Mexico, or New Mexico A&M Tech State?; The only chance of an upset there is if The Texans show up in the Lobo’s place…..Everyone who blew Utah’s horn last year is in LOVE with the Horned ones this year, naturally! Anything to deflect! After all, they beat Clemson and Virginia this year!

There is hope, but its fading unless a few things happen. I for one, was very impressed (again!) with the UCats today, and Mr Pike’s great home finale! If they don’t get to play for the Nat Title, then I hope they get Jawja Tech or those (now) beloved Horned Frogs/Boise State Broncos. I also hope Kelly has the decency to divert attention away from his job status to NOT let it interfere with the prep work going into Bowl season. Can you imagine if Urban and Kelly both decline the job? Then its a race for J Hairball and Gary Patterson. THEN!,..man, if THEY turn it down as well?….Big Butt might just get to keep his job, to help ND save face!…..but, naaahhh, one of those guys will up and take it…..just hope its Hairy or G-Pat.

This’ll tick off some locals!….and maybe it should. I can’t get over USC being allowed to lose to HORRIBLE teams year after year, and still getting the highest ranking a one loss team can get! Washington?….Losing to Washington should discount them down to a 2 loss team. SURE,..the National Championship game in IN the Rose Bowl this year, and ooooh how nice that would be???….but WASHINGTON?….whew! The also (only) beat Oregon State by 6 points!?!?….UC thumped ‘em!

 BCS Standings

Then there’s the IOWA love…which to a degree is valid, but a 4th and goal TD pass with no time left to beat Michy State?..If Florida or Alabama had done that, they’d have been blasted…..yet for Iowa?…They’re treated like Royalty for a BUNCH of really ugly wins, and one strong win at PSU. LOOK . They beat Northern Iowa by one?,..and beat Arky State by 3?……Florida beat REGULAR Arky by three and were beat down for it! I understand the love, to a point, but the hate for some teams and the global love for “anyone else” is a bit over the top. Particularly when you use a double standard like that.

Alabama \ Tennessee….THAT was a finish there!….UCLA beat those Kiffin’s? Hhhmm, maybe they were a little too pre-occupied with their next game to give UCLA the respect they should have given them???? Does that mean Meyer is responsible for 2 of Kif’s losses this year?

1. Florida:  Pros; Undefeated, beat a top 5 team on the road Defense very strong.  Cons; Winning close games against teams they should beat by more. Offense not playing well, horrible turnovers.

2. Alabama: Pros; Beat Virginia Tech (neutral site), great D and POWERFUL RB in Ingram. Cons; have been close at times, including 2pt home win against Kiffin’s Vols 10.24.09.

3. Texas: Pros; Big win against Mizzu, strong D and Spl teams. Cons; horrible schedule, barely beat Okly in a game Okly lost 4 of 5 lineman and their QB. The BIG12 has no team in the North, the Title game will get ugly. conference is down.

4. UCincinnati: Pros; Explosive offense, beat Oregon State (away game) by MORE than USC did playing the game in LA! Cons; Haven’t hit a top team yet, big games are UWV and Pitt.

5. Iowa: Pros; Undefeated, beat PSU in Happy Valley. Cons; all wins are ugly/lucky. This is a negative when other teams do it, so it is here too. Also tOSU will beat them in Columbus.

6. TCU: Pros; undefeated, beat BYU like a drum on the road. Cons: barely beat Clemson (but it was on the road), weak schedule, any of the teams above them would also be undefeated here.

7. Boise State: Pros; Undefeated, took out Oregon -though Oregon was lost on opening day. Oregon wasn’t going to beat ANY team on that day, so a win, but more based on super timing.

8. Oregon: Pros; super offense, beat Utah, great looking uni’s and defense is playing well. Cons; lost on the road at BSU, RB sucker-punched a player on live TV, have won big, but not against a biggie (yet)….Cal was a phony!-but they did destroy them!

9. LSU: PRO’s; Beat Washington on the road (same team that beat USC) great defense, maturing offense. CONS: lost home game, but that was to #1 Florida. Still has to show up against Alabama.

10. Southern California: Pros; Great fan support, beat Ohio State on the road, beat over-rated Notre Dame on the road. CONS; Lost to 3-5 Washington!..should be -’nUFf said! Any loss to a team that bad, should disqualify this team. They lost to Washington after LSU beat them in the same building! No excuse can cover up this loss. They beat Oregon State by less than UC did IN Corvallis. They should need a LOT of help to make the BCS Game, even though its in their media market this year!

Mix in to the next five : Georgia Tech, Oklahoma State, PENNiState, Miami(U), and  Pitt…. Not sure how ANYone can rate USC higher than UC at this point. They lost a game, and it was against a nobody. UC played a common opponent and destroyed them (OSUw).

Tim Tebow will NOT be an NFL QB!…Its been said, and said and, to a large degree, ENJOYED by millions of fans who hate either the Gators, or the kid himself. Like pigs rolling in sh.t, I’ve heard and been told directly that many “In the Know” Football “people” had/have discounted the Florida QB’s chances of turning Pro, AND being a Quarterback (in the NFL).

 Double “T” has lived with this kind of press for about 4 years now, and has done pretty well anyway. He’ll never, of course, do enUFf for ALL those ”kind” of fans, but!; He was a decent part of the ‘06 Champions team, won a Heisman in ‘07, then directed/led his team to a 2nd Natty Title (in 3 years) as a Junior ‘08(a true Junior, at that!). Each year he was met with great media hype, but also great media gripe too! He’s marked by some outstanding defensive player, in nearly every game he’s played since 2007-usually for nothing more than “who” he is. He’s never disrespected another player, or talked up the smack. He’s never been arrested, or suspected of cheating in the classroom, or even gotten a parking ticket. He gives more of his time in a month, than anyone discrediting him will in 10 years (on average) STILL, he’s hated and marked for death (so to speak)….Yet until one of his own Line-mans knee went crashing into the back of his head (in the UK game) he generally made it out OK in every game (He did break his hand against F$U in 2007, but played out thru the Bowl game anyway). Each year Tebow has done,…OK, for himself, despite the Hate Nation!

NOW, following the unlikely loss by the Terrelle Pryor led Buckeyes, to lowly Purdue!….Mr Pryor is finally facing some critics of his own. Coach Vesty Tressy is too, it seems. Pryors High School Coach, Ray Reitz has taken a few passing shots at Columbus and Mr Vest recently, going as far as to say Pryor would be doing better had he gone to Michigan!…..Can you almost HEAR Richie Rodsmiling from here? Now, Pryor and OSU are far from dead, and I still bet he has a lot of good days ahead of him….BUT, the chatter now among the “experts” is that Pryor projects as a WR, not an NFL QB…..Funny to see how the Tebow haters, and Pryor lovers are going to sound off about this, latest twist of irony. y’all cursed him!

Bucknutts shouldn’t take this as a blast on them, Pryor OR Tressy!…No,…more like this is the same GOING, as it was COMING!..There’s no sense of “happy” over here, only pointing out what’s topical these days!

Lane Kiffin is a Bozo!???…. Add this to the tally of pregame banter before the CBS game of the week 3:30 PM Eastern in Gainesville Florida 9-19-2009. In an interview, with the Gainesville Sun,  Gators player Matt Patchan was asked what he would do if he passed Lane Kiffin on the street. He said:

“I probably wouldn’t say anything to him. I’ve got nothing to say to that guy. He’s a bozo.”

This is a little different than Lane Kiffin saying “I’m really looking forward to embracing some of the great traditions at the University of Tennessee, for instance the Vol Walk, running through the T, singing Rocky Top all night long after we beat Florida next year, it will be a blast”

It is different because I don’t see the Vols putting “Lane Kiffin is a Bozo” on the bulletin board. Call me crazy. On top of that, what else do Vols fans/players expect? Their coach has had calamity after calamity since the day he stepped on to campus. They are used to Kiffin being made fun of by the national media, who cares what one random player from Florida says?

I say all of that to point out the Vols sad state of affairs. A player from one of your biggest rival can call your coach a Bozo and it is not a big deal. That’s close to rock bottom, but if the Vols start winning, it will all be coming up roses. All of this preseason gibberish and trash talk will be a funny distant memory if the Vols start 3-0…..yeah, “if”!

Florida’s Offense 2009

Quarterback – Tim Tebow (SR)
Running Back – Jeffery Demps (SO), Chris Rainey (RSO)
Wide Receiver – Riley Cooper (SR), Andre Debose (FR)
Wide Receiver – David Nelson (SR), Carl Moore (SR)
Wide Receiver – Deonte Thompson (RSO)
Tight End – Aaron Hernandez (JR)
Left Tackle – Carl Johnson (RJR), Matt Patchan (SO)
Left Guard – James Wilson (RSO), Maurkice Pouncey (JR)
Center – Maurkice Pouncey (JR), Sam Robey (RFR)
Right Guard – Mike Pouncey (JR)
Right Tackle – Marcus Gilbert (RJR)

A few items of note when it comes to the offense…I assumed that more often than not, the Gators will line up with three receivers and one player in the backfield. Call the player in the backfield or the slot whatever you like, but I’ll default to Demps getting that role with Debose earning more time in it as the season progresses. However, we can’t forget about Rainey’s contributions to the offense. Whether lined up in the backfield or motioning out, #3 will get plenty of chances to shine.I’d also like to point out that while I want Debose to be a star as much as the next fan, I don’t expect him to be Percy Harvin right away. Or maybe ever. I do believe Debose will be a great player, but I also believe the offense will be more dangerous with multiple players filling Harvin’s role. And just remember, Debose was a very high-rated recruit, but Harvin was a truly rare talent.As for the offensive line, I like all of the Robey talk and hope he has the talent the make a name for himself as a Gator. But why rush him? Unless someone like Wilson struggles and Florida needs improved play at the left guard position, I don’t see the point in moving Maurkice out of the center spot just yet. Let Robey get some time late in games first, before throwing him into the fire.I also believe Patchan has the talent to play in the SEC. I’m just not sure if he has the size. According to the Florida roster, Big Carl outweighs him by 82 pounds. 82 POUNDS!!! Patchan weighs in at 260, which is way too light for a tackle in this conference. Add that to the fact that Johnson has played in 25 games on the offensive line compared to Patchan’s zero, and I can’t see Patchan beating him out right away.

 Florida Defense - 2009

Defensive End – Jermaine Cunningham (SR)
Defensive End – Carlos Dunlap (JR), Justin Trattou (JR)
Defensive Tackle – Lawrence Marsh (RJR)
Defensive Tackle – Terron Sanders (RJR), Omar Hunter (RFR)
Middle Linebacker – Brandon Spikes (SR)
Outside Linebacker – Brandon Hicks (JR), A.J. Jones (RJR)
Outside Linebacker – Ryan Stamper (RSR), Dustin Doe (SR)
Cornerback – Joe Haden (JR)
Cornerback – Janoris Jenkins (SO)
Safety – Ahmad Black (JR)
Safety – Major Wright (JR)
Nickel Back – Will Hill (SO)

Some notes on the defense…Trattou actually started 13 games at defensive end during the 2008 season and could be on the field for the first snap during a number of games again in 2009. But the two most talented ends are Cunningham and Dunlap and overall, they should see the most time on the field.Marsh and Sanders did their jobs last season, but coaches are looking for the interior linemen to make more of an impact. Those two should be the starters again when the season begins, but look for Hunter to push them. And we may even see Gary Brown get some important time as a true freshman.A number of outside linebackers could see action this year and the Gators wouldn’t miss a beat. Doe, Hicks, Jones, and Stamper all have experience starting. Look for a number of others to also get time in 2009.Although Hill is a monster talent, Black and Wright (especially as the season progressed) played too well to be unseated easily. However, coaches will figure out a way to get Hill on the field as much as possible. He will be a star of the special teams again and should be the primary nickel back.