Florida extends winning streak to 19 games with victory over Vanderbilt

Tebow, top-ranked Florida blast SEC-rival Georgia

Top-ranked Gators hold off Bulldogs’ upset bid in Starkville

Tebow leads winning drive as FG keeps Florida’s pefect season alive

 Back to the Future
 
It looks like Urban Meyer is channeling old-school SEC football for this season, along with shades of the closer games from 2006.  The staff decided to play it extra safe with Tim Tebow, and rely on a dominant defense that was never really threatened by LSU.  Florida sucked the life out of the Tigers and their fans on the very first offensive drive of the game, and were in control throughout.
 
The Gator OL controlled the LOS from the start, especially on the straight dive play.  That was very important, as the read option was pretty much ruled out to protect Tebow from extra hits, and had to be successful to set up the controlled passing game.  It was obvious that Tebow had missed most of 2 weeks of practice, as his passing accuracy wasn’t as sharp, and he missed some easy throws, including a sure TD pass to Aaron Hernandez on the opening drive of the 3rd quarter.  Hernandez has to be an All-American candidate, as he is a great blocker, can get downfield on passing routes, and receive the inside shovel pass — a complete player.
 
Of course, the real heroes were the offensive linemen.  Those guys knew going in that their performance would dictate the entire game plan, and on top of that Tebow would be limited in what he did.  That’s a lot of pressure to be under, especially on the road in a place like Tiger Stadium, and they performed admirably.  Running so many dive plays against a tough defense is big-boy football, and to have the success they did is a real confidence boost for the entire offense and the coaching staff.
 
It was good to see Jeff Demps and Emmanuel Moody run so hard and effectively.  Maybe Moody has finally earned more carries and confidence from the staff — we’ll see in the coming weeks.
 
The Gator defense completely shut down LSU’s offense all night.  Their one scoring drive was set up by 2 dubious personal foul calls on consecutive plays, and even then they kept the Tigers out of the end zone.  It appeared that the “Joker” package with 3 down linemen, and other rushers/blitzers from alternating positions, confused Jordan Jefferson and their OL all night.  The Florida DL was able to apply pressure off the edges, and the DTs did a nice job of controlling the inside running game of Charles Scott.  Coach Strong did a good job of scheming coverage, because I was concerned about the Tiger WRs having a big night downfield, but they only hit one long crossing route the entire game.
 
This week’s game against Arkansas will be a challenge.  Bobby Petrino has a legitimate QB in Ryan Mallett, and his passing scheme utilizes all of the skill players and the entire field.  This will be the biggest regular-season challenge to the Gator back seven, and they had better be ready to cover one-on-one.  The key will be the Gator DL being able to get pressure on the QB without too much help from the LBs or secondary on blitzes.  Allowing Mallett time to set his feet and throw comfortably will lead to a long day for the defense.  RB Michael Smith is a threat as well, and provides good balance to the Razorback attack.
 
Conversely, the formula that has worked so well so far this season for Florida’s offense is especially important this week.  A successful running game keeps Arkansas’ offense on the sideline and shortens the game.  However, the Gators have surprisingly struggled in the red zone so far, and that has to improve against better offenses, as FGs will get your team beat if the defense has an off-day.  The continued struggles of and/or reluctance to utilize the downfield passing game is becoming a legitimate concern as the season is at the halfway point.  The pass protection has only been so-so to date, and hopefully Tebow being back into the regular practice schedule sharpens up the pass offense starting this week.
 
Arkansas comes in a more confident team, coming off of 2 straight wins, including a big win last week against undefeated Auburn.  Make no mistake — their offense is good enough to win this game.  The Gator defense faces it’s biggest challenge of the year so far.  The Florida offense has to continue to control the LOS, and the Swamp crowd needs to do it’s part to disrupt the Razorback offense.  This game requires another complete team effort.  Fortunately, it’s apparent that the coaching staff has complete confidence in the leadership and professionalism of this team that they will prepare well and execute the game plan.  The usual bugaboo about losing at least once to a SEC West opponent each season still hangs out there.  The 22-point spread seems a little high to me as well.  Great respect for the Gators, but the offensive performance hasn’t backed it up so far.
 
Prediction Florida 31        Arkansas 20

A dominating, gutsy performance, marred by an equally ugly injury to Tim Tebow.

The Gators came out and showed Kentucky, and the country, that they are still the #1 team in the country.  That was a dominating performance.  The first quarter ripped the heart out of the Mildcats just like last season, and the competitive phase was essentially over.  The Florida running game is one of the best in the country right now, and, once again, the passing game was not even needed.  That still may turn out to be the thing that derails the Gators as the season progresses, but so far, so good.

Florida’s defense toyed with Kentucky all game, allowing only one TD with a loss of focus and some shoddy tackling after the 31-0 lead was established.  The D-Line was able to generate some pressure on it’s own, while there were some well-timed corner blitzes to confuse the QB.  Ryan Stamper was all over the field, and may be the defensive MVP to date.  It appears Spikes will have to play through the Achilles’ tendonitis all season.  He looked better than he did against Tennessee, but he’s no where near 100%.

Of course the big happening was the concussion Tebow suffered with a 31-7 lead late in the 3rd quarter.  This has generated a ton of debate across the country.  My take is that I know he wants to play in that situation, and I know the staff wants him in for at least that last possession, but, with a 31-7 lead, inside the 10-yard line, with a FG in hand, there’s no reason to go empty and leave him open for a hit like that.  At least have a RB in the backfield for protection.  That game was already in hand.  My concern is essentially one of the situation.  That formation and play call are normal for a close game or a game in doubt, and I understand that.  But this situation did not call for it.  Now, there is doubt as to whether he may even be allowed to play against L$U, and that’s a shame.  I just hope he comes back only when medically ready, but the season could be jeopardized.  Time to coach up Johnny Brantley for a possible first career start.

I’ll be back with a preview of the L$U showdown next week.