2010 NCAA Football Preview: Florida
Few teams have been in the national spotlight quite like Florida has over the last few years. Whether it has been the Gator football team striving for a national title, departing quarterback Tim Tebow winning the Heisman, or coach Urban Meyer stepping down than stepping back up again, the Florida Gators seem to garner national attention whatever they do.
Going into 2010 they will have much of the same expected of them again. They should do well if not dominate in the SEC, possibly taking back the title from Alabama, and will likely be in the chase for a national title yet again. First things first though— Meyer will have to prove himself all over again.
Whenever you lose a player of Tebow’s caliber, as a leader and a player, the task of replacing him is daunting to say the least. The good thing for Meyer and the Gator faithful, is that with a program like theirs they can attract top-notch talent; whoever gets behind center will likely be better than half the quarterbacks starting in the NCAA.
But until Meyer and the Gators put it together against Miami of Ohio to open the season it is all just speculation.
Offence
Like Mack Brown in Texas, Meyer will have his work cut out for him in 2010 replacing one of the best players in college football history. Few have been able to win as well as Tebow did in his time at Florida. Much like Brown in regards to McCoy, there will be no replacing a player like Tim Tebow; they will just have to move on.
John Brantley will have the unenviable task of making the Gator faithful forget about Tebow. He simply has not had much experience in college yet; with Tebow they never needed to put him on the field. So far he has only thrown for 645 yards in two seasons. What Meyer will be hoping for is that the player that both he and the Longhorns had gone after (and the Longhorns had initially won) will show up on the field in 2010; as a high school player Brantley at Trinity Catholic in Ocala, FL, he threw for a state record 99 career touchdowns (breaking Tebow’s record of 98).
What could hurt Brantley’s development will be the possible lack of playmakers around him. Gone are Riley Cooper, Brandon James, and David Nelson. Deonte Thompson comes back, but he only had 24 receptions in all of 2009. The team will hope that Justin Williams, Omarius Hines, and Frankie Hammond can pick up the slack.
Jeffrey Demps returns to run the ball again. When he did get a chance in 2009 he did well; with 99 carries he ran for 745 yards and seven touchdowns. Besides him they have talented backs in Emmanuel Moody and Chris Raines ready to run the ball as well. With four of five offensive linemen returning the running game should be in good shape.
Defence
The Gator defence will look to have a good mixture of veteran leadership and talented youth in 2010. Their strength will be in the secondary that returns three of four starters (Janoris Jenkins, Amhad Black, and Will Hill).
What could end up being the strength of the team could be the front four. Two starters, Omar Hunter and Terron Sanders, return to man the interior of the line . Seniors Justin Trattour and Duke Lemmens are slated to start on the ends. In the wings ready to step in is a talented group of players in Brandon Antwine, Jaye Howard, William Green, and Brandon Hicks.
Where the team could hurt is in the middle at linebacker. They do not have much experience there with only one player returning that has seen significant time, A.J. Jones.
In total the Gators will have to replace five starters on each side of the ball. If anyone will be able to field a national title caliber team, it will be Meyer.
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