A defining characteristic of the great SEC defenses from the last two BCS National Championship games was the dominant play of the defensive line.  While much has been made (and rightfully so, in my opinion) of the maturity of this year’s defense as a whole, I am skeptical about the play of the defensive line.  Certainly, the entire front seven had to figure prominently in the way LSU’s rushing offense was limited (the last time we saw these Gators play).  But I don’t think we have seen anything resembling the dominant pass rush of 2006.

Before the season, due largely to his imposing figure and performance in the Orange and Blue game, Carlos Dunlap was hyped as the next great Florida defensive end.  While his numbers are decent- 3.5 sacks, 4 tackles for loss- from my memory, there haven’t been many times where, in watching the game, you are amazed by his play.  Jermaine Cunningham (4.5 TFL, 3 sacks) and Lawrence Marsh (5.5 TFL, 3 sacks) also haven’t been All-American level.  Indeed, all 3 of these guys have gotten virtually all of their numbers in the Hawaii and Miami games.

I think one of the main reasons is that we have not led by a lot until late in games, which has not forced the other teams to throw that much.  In the LSU game, we got one of our two sacks on a corner blitz.  So maybe the coaches are asking our line to take up space and blockers to stuff the run.  But we should still have talented enough athletes to generate a pass rush without blitzing.  I will certainly be watching for this on Saturday.

James is a guest contributor at gatorsportsnation.com, as well as a founder of gatorsfirst.com.

Would you expect that all of the starting defensive backs on the Gator roster are under classmen? Joe Haden, Ahmad Black, and Major Wright are all sophomores. Along with true freshman cornerback Janoris Jenkins, this superior group of DBs has more than enough promise for the future.

Before the 2008 season started, Dorian Munroe was the projected starter at the strong safety position with Wright at the other safety slot. Unfortunately an ACL tear would keep Munroe out for the season.

This would lead to the emergence of Ahmad Black. At 5-foot-9, 190-pounds, Black was a projected cornerback. But due to the lack of depth at the safety position, Black made the transition from cornerback to safety.

But you won’t hear Black complaining. With two interceptions and 28 tackles so far this season, Black is taking advantage of his first year starting.

The list of young talent doesn’t stop there. Stud recruit Will Hill will make the competition at the safety position brutal. Rated as the top athlete in the 2008 class, Hill has plenty to offer Defensive Backs coach Chuck Heater.

Another top safety recruit coming out of high school was Dee Finley. But due to academic issues, Finley was forced to play at a prep school in New York for the 2008 campaign. He is still currently a verbal commitment to the Gators and will do everything he can to earn some playing time when he arrives in Gainesville.

Don’t forget about Dorian Munroe. I’m sure he has some motivation coming into next season.

Joe Haden has definitely stepped up in 2008. Producing 37 tackles, the most out of all the Gator DBs, it doesn’t look like Haden is easing up. He has evolved into a reliable cornerback. Haden may leave UF as one of the best corners to wear the orange and blue.

A player I’m very excited to watch in the future is freshman phenom Janoris Jenkins. He has had two blowout performances against Tennessee and LSU. In my opinion, he is the best true cornerback Florida has had since Lito Sheppard.

Reggie Lewis, Tremaine Mccollum, and Vernell Brown were all great contributors to Gator football as cornerbacks. But Jenkins size, jamming ability, and instinct separate him from that group of players; Lewis came to Florida as a wide receiver, while Mccollum and Brown both lacked in size.

It’s going to be fun to watch this secondary compete and perform in the upcoming years.

* Gator squad is still a young football team. *

The majority of the Florida football team is still pretty young.

The offensive line for Florida will get better and better as the clock keeps ticking. The Pouncey twins, Marcus Gilbert, Carl Johnson, and James Wilson will all be juniors after the 2008 season. Tight-end Aaron Hernandez will be a junior next year as well.

They will continue to block for the freshman running-back duo of Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps. If you didn’t know, these guys are a pretty good one-two punch. Red-shirt freshman Deonte Thompson also has plenty of time to blossom into an elite receiver.

Emmanuel Moody, 2006 Pac-10 freshman of the year and USC transfer, still has more than two years to show the Gator faithful what he’s all about.

Along with the young secondary, the defensive line is loaded with youth. Carlos Dunlap, Lawrence Marsh, Justin Trattou, Duke Lemmens, and Torrey Davis will be juniors in 2009. Matt Patchan has been a solid contributor at defensive tackle and he’s only a freshman.

CB Jeremy Brown, LB Brendan Beal, DT Omar Hunter, DE Earl Okine, DE William Green, WR Omarius Hines, and WR Frankie Hammond Jr. are all receiving red-shirts this year. The list of talent at UF seems endless.

As you can see I’m pretty fired up about the future of Florida football. The best part about it is that the 2008 season is only at the halfway point.

Written By- Sean Crawford

Tim Tebow and the Gators are looking to stay home and rest this week due to their bye. Tebow said that he will only be sitting in his room and focusing on the t.v all weekend. Tebow really isn’t the type of player who could just sit and chill for a whole weekend, but all he wants to do is watch college football. The Gators know it is hard to sit out with a bye but it will come in handy down the long run. Especially with all the injuries Florida are facing, this Saturday really does help and lets Florida get prepared for next weeks homecoming game against the Kentucky Wildcats.

What Florida really needs to do while they sit out this week is “focus”. Florida has a high amount of confidence heading into homecoming after the 51-21 win against the LSU Tigers, and they should be excited and enjoy all the rest they are receiving. The game against Florida and Kentucky will kick off in the Swamp at 12:30 pm and will be held on the Raycom t.v station.

The Florida Gators are just about half way through the 2008 season and they find thereselves in pretty good hands, the top 10 and a spot where they are able to make a run for the SEC and the National Championship. Florida has jumped to NO. 11 to NO. 5, right behind the Sooners in the new top 25 poll rankings. The Gators came off a strong 51-21 win against a very powerful LSU team. This is probably one of the Gators best games played since the National Championship game against the Buckeyes in 2006. Florida still has 4 SEC games remaining and if hey want to head to the SEC championship, they will need to win the rest. They need to come out like that played against the Tigers and they will be just fine. If Tebow throws like he is capable of doing and the Gator defense plays tough, then it will be a smooth ride onto the championship.

The Gators had a total of 475 yards on offense. 265 of them were rushing and the freshman speedster Jeffrey Demps ran for 129 on the ground. Tebow threw for 210 yards and 3 touchdowns which was led by a 70 yard pass to Percy Harvin for a touchdown in the beginning to put Florida on the board first. The Gators will face the Kentucky Wildcats which is also homecoming on October 25th at 12:30pm in the Swamp.

The Florida Gators came to play. All I can say right now due to over excitement. The Gators defeated the Tigers 51-21 in a well played ball game tonight. What a game huh? Tim Tebow played awsome. Not just Tebow, but the whole entire Gator squad. The 90,600 and some fans roared as the Gators ran out of the tunnel and the adrenaline really got to Florida and LSU might have showed some signs of intimidation. What a weekend of college football. With some of the top 10 teams going down, it should move Florida up in the rankings and they should be crawling back up slowly as the season comes along.

Freshman Jeffrey Demps surprised alot of fans tonight. Demps rushed for 129 yards along with his rushing touchdown. He made big plays to stretch the score out further and further and really hurt LSU on defense. Tebow came out really played his tail off. Throwing for 210 yards with 2 TD’s, rushing for 22 yards with one rushing TD. This game was expected to be much closer than it turned out but the Gator fans do not mind at all. If Florida plays like they did tonight, then there is no way any team in the Nation could compete with them. Florida has alot of talent and showed it all off against one of the biggest games of the season against ranked NO. 3 opponent.

On defense, Brandon Spikes came away with 2 interceptions. The Gators defense really impressed everybody. Florida only allowed LSU to 80 rushing yards. They were their to make the tackles when needed and their to break up the passes on 3rd and 4th down conversions. The Loss against Ole Miss had some effect in the win tonight. And what do you think about the quote about taking Tebow out of the game? Do you think that had some affect on the loss on the LSU side? Not much more to say about tonight besides Florida played real ball. That is the way “the Gators play”. Let’s hope Florida can play and finish up with the same intensity for the rest of the season against teams like Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida State. Not to mention the game in Vandy. You cannot play any better, so all I can say is what a great win to add on the W column and a way to make everybody in Gainesville happy. Florida will face the Kentucky Wildcats on homecoming night next week in the Swamp. Some stats may be seen below.

Florida- 51
LSU- 21

* Florida Passing- Tebow 14/221 210 yards 2TD
* LSU Passing- Lee 23/38 209 yards, 2TD, 2INT.— Hatch 2/3 32 yards.

* Florida Rushing- Demps 10 car 129 yards 1TD, Rainey 11 car 66 yards, Moore 4 car 23 yards 1TD, Tebow 12 car 22 yards 1TD, Harvin 2 car 13 yards, James 2 car 12 yards.

* LSU Rushing- Scott 12 car 35 yards, Holliday 2 car 26 yards, Murphy 2 car 19 yards, Hatch 4 car 14 yards 1TD, Williams 2 car 1 yard.

* Florida receiving- Harvin 6 rec 112 yards 2TD, Murphy 1 rec 37 yards, Thompson 2 rec 26 yards, Cooper 2 rec 19 yards, Demps 1 rec 11 yards, Hernandez 2 rec 5 yards.

* LSU Receiving- Byrd 6 rec 73 yards, LaFell 7 rec 59 yards, Dickson 6 rec 36 yards 1TD, Toliver 2 rec 32 yards, Holliday 1 rec 18 yards, Williams 1 rec 9 yards, Scott 1 rec 8 yards, Mitchell 1 rec 6 yards 1TD

1st Quarter:

14:54-  Brandon James returns opening kick to 32 yard line.
13:22- Tebow completes a 70 yard pass to Percy Harvin for a touchdown. 7-0 Gators.
13:14- LSU returns kickoff to own 37
12:16- Jasper punts away to Gator 20 yard line. (no return)
7:01- Phillips kicks a 02 yard field goal- Good- 10-0 Gators.
6:52- Holliday returns to own 32 yard line.
5:19- Brandon James returns a LSU punt for 40 yards to LSU 41.
1:09- Tebow completes a 7 yard touchdown pass to Percy Harvin. 17-0 Gators.
0:25- Brandon Spikes picks off pass- first career interception.
——————————————-

2nd Quarter:

14:02- Henry punts for 30 yards- fair catch called by Chad Jones on LSU 9.
9:46- Fumble recovered by Gators A.J. Jones on Florida 48.
8:08- Henry punts for 29 yards, fair catch called by Chad Jones at LSU 16.
5:27- LSU punts to Florida for a touch back. Ball on Gators 20.
0:49- Phillips attempts 34 yard field goal which is good. 20-0 Gators.
0:05- Jarrett Lee throws to Chris Mitchell for a 6 yard completion for touchdown. 20-7 Gators.
——————————————-

3rd Quarter:

14:52- Holliday returns kick off for 2 yards.
8:41- Hatch rushes for a 4 yard Touch Down. Gators 20-14
—- Tebow rushes for a 2 yard Toouch Down. Gators 27-14
4:16- Kickoff to Keiland Williams for 4 yards at the LSU 24 yard line.
— Jasper punts for 42 yards, returned by Brandon James for a 7 yard return.
1:02- Jeffrey Demps rushes for a 42 yard touchdown. Florida 34-14
0:57- Holliday returns kickoff to LSU 16.
——————————————

4th Quarter:

14:48- Brandon Spikes gets second interception of the game for touchdown! Gators 41-14
12:48- LSU pass incomplete on 4th down. Turnover- ball to Florida.
— Tebow fumbles, LSU recovers.
11:10- Lee’s pass to Richard Dickson for a 6 yard touchdown.
11:10- LSU onside kick fails. Florida takes over.
6:47- Phillips attempts a 25 yard field goal which is good. Florida 44-21
4:48- LSU turns the ball over on 4th down. incomplete pass.
2:03- Kestahn Moore rushed 2 yards for a touchdown. Florida 51-21.
FINAL: Florida defeats LSU 51-21.

The Florida Gators came off a strong win over Arkansas last Saturday and look to come into the Swamp to give the tigers a hand full. Florida dropped from the top 5 after a heart breaking loss to Ole Miss which gave everybody a shock. Florida must improve on the offensive line side in order to get passed LSU and the tougher teams they will come to face. If Tebow comes out throwing the ball well and hits his targets, then we should be fine. Our running game will need to step it up a level against the Tigers. Even with the W next to Miami and Tennessee, this game will be the hardest yet to face. Florida has no depth behind the Pouncey twins and Phil Trautwein. If they were to get hurt or real fatigue, then there is not much left to take their spots.

Florida has not been real great playing night games. This will also be the first time that back to back national champions will face off. This will be one of the must see games, including the Texas and Sooner game. In order for Florida to come out and put the W on the schedule, they must pound the ball. Take the outside and not so much the middle like they did against Ole Miss. With all the speed the Gators have, why are we not running outside as much as we should? Let’s see what we do Saturday.

Prediction: Florida- 24/ LSU- 17

Feel free to leave a comment with your predictions.

In Gainesville, The Gators came in expecting a easy W in the win column. But if you were watching the game…Florida failed the test. Ole Miss scored early in the first putting them up 7-0 while Florida answered back with a field goal. Late in the game, Florida scored a touchdown with 3:28 to go and could have tied it up 31-31 but failed to due to a blocked extra point from the Rebels. There was some decisions in the game that Urban Meyer could have prevented. One, I know 4th and 3 is not that far to go for the first, but why go for it? Not try for the field goal? Let’s try not to be negative but you have to give your opponent some respect which look what happened in the run. Florida turned the ball over on 3 fumbles and it just absolutely hurt them. It seemed like Rebels quarterback never touched the ball. Snead lined up as a receiver while Ole Miss running back Eason and receiver Derek McCluster would be sent in motion to run the ball up the middle or around the end. That is about all what the Rebels did and Florida just never came prepared to stop it throughout the game. A HUGE play for Ole Miss was the 86 yard touchdown pass to shay Hodge on 3rd down. That really opened a gap in the 4th quarter.

A huge problem on the Gators side is the offensive lines blocking. Tebow did pass for 319 yards but could not be protected very much. Some few dropped passes from Riley Cooper and Aaron Hernandez could have turned into some big plays for Florida but could not of been made. Emmanuel Moody sprained his ankle and was taken out late in the game and the Gators could have used him on the 4th and shorts. Florida will drop from the NO. 4 spot and put them 1-1 in the SEC and 3-1 overall, but it is still early. Meyer kept mentioning some other things they could have prevented. Example he gave was fake punt that Ole Miss attempted and became successful from. Their are thousands of unhappy Gator fans after the loss today, but it’s only the 4th game. Coach Meyer said all he can do is watch some film and figure out what happened and what he can do to prevent this from happening again. Meyer and the Gators will have practice tomorrow and regroup for next Saturday. Florida will travel to Arkansas on October 10th at 12:30pm. Stats from todays game can be seen below.

PASSING: Gators- Tebow- 24/38 319 yards 1 TD
Ole Miss- Snead- 9/20 185 yards 2 TD 1 INT.

RUSHING: Gators- Harvin 10 car 82 yards, Moody 3 car 16 yards, Rainey 3 car 9 yards, James 1 car 9 yards, Tebow 15 car 7 yards, Moore 1 car 2 yards.

Ole Miss- McCluster 11 car 60 yards, Bolden 13 car 55 yards, Breaux 1 car 15 yards, Eason 6 car 13 yards, Davis 2 car 1 yard.

Receiving: Gators: Harvin 13 rec 186 yards, Hernandez 4 rec 52 yards, Murphy 4 rec 41 yards, Cooper 2 rec 28 yards, Moore 1 rec 12 yards.

Ole Miss: Hodge 3 rec 133 yards, Eason 2 rec 28 yards, McCluster 2 rec 28 yards, Cook 1 rec 4 yards, Wallace 1 rec 3 yards.

The Florida Gators are set to face off with the Ole Miss Rebels tomorrow at 12:30 pm. The Gators are looking to improve their record to 4-0 and move to 2-0 in the SEC. Florida lifted an exciting 30-6 win over the Vols last Saturday. The Gators are predicted to win and should result in a win but you can not be absolutely sure just yet. The 2-2 Rebels do show some sign of strength, but just do not have enough to bang with the Gators. They do have a decent Sophomore quarterback Jevan Snead, but he does not have as much experience as Heisman winner Tim Tebow. Snead had a total of 4 interceptions against the lost against Vanderbilt and showed some kinds of weaknesses.

The Gators need to lock down Cordera Eason on the ground and limit the amount of carries and yards. Eason rushed for 88 yards against the Commodores. One other key player for the Rebels is the Junior receiver out of Largo, Florida Dexter McCluster. McCluster added 7 receptions for 132 yards which was the only player the Rebels could complete passes to against Vanderbilt. Other than McCluster and Eason, the Gators should come out with a W in the win column. If Spikes and the Gators defense put tons of pressure on Snead, he will choke and you will see a couple interceptions or fumble recoveries on the Gators stats sheet.

As long as Tebow starts the game running and passing the ball well, then we might see some Cameron Newton in the game and a lot of Chris Rainey tomorrow. I believe this will be one of the games where Tebow may come out of the middle of the third quarter or possibly early 4th. But it is still to early to under estimate the Rebels. Look what happened to the rank NO. 1 USC Trojans against Oregon State. Prediction for the Game tomorrow at the Swamp.

Gators- 45
Rebels- 10