We continue our countdown of the top 10 teams headed into the 2010 season with the No. 7 team in the alligatorSports’ preseason poll: the Florida Gators.
The Gators are coming off a season in which they went 13-1, ending with a 51-24 victory over Cincinnati in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.
Despite its second consecutive 13-win season, and second consecutive BCS bowl victory, many viewed last season as a relative disappointment because Florida failed to win the Southeastern Conference title and earn a trip to Pasadena, Calif., for the BCS title game.
This year’s team, however, will have a very different look to it, both on the field and the sidelines.
Let’s start with the loss of Tim Tebow, who was arguably the face of college football for the last three years.
In Tebow, the Gators lose a dual-threat quarterback who accumulated 9,285 yards through the air and nearly 3,000 on the ground in his four years at Florida. But beyond his statistics, the Gators also lose a vocal, emotional leader in the three-time Heisman finalist.
Replacing Tebow at quarterback is redshirt junior John Brantley, a more traditional dropback passer who has been learning the Florida offense for three years.
Losing Tebow is huge for Florida, but Brantley should be regarded as a more than serviceable heir to the offense, so the quarterback position shouldn’t be much of a concern.
Instead, on offense, the biggest question mark should be the unproven receiving corps. The Gators lost their top three receiving targets (in terms of number of receptions) from last season’s team in tight end Aaron Hernandez (68 receptions for 850 yards and five touchdowns), wide receiver Riley Cooper (51/961/9) and David Nelson (25/291/2). Hernandez was drafted in the fourth round by the New England Patriots, Cooper in the fifth by the Philadelphia Eagles and Nelson went undrafted but signed with the Buffalo Bills.
The Gators will rely on redshirt junior Deonte Thompson – who was the fourth-leading receiver on last season’s team – to step up into one of the voids left behind. Redshirt senior Carl Moore and redshirt freshman Andre Debose, who have battled back from back and hamstring injuries, respectively, as well as redshirt sophomore Omarius Hines, will also need be looked upon to produce.
Florida is also moving running back Chris Rainey, who had 161 receiving yards and 575 rushing yards last season, to the “Percy position,” meaning he will line up as a slot receiver and as a running back.
As for the offensive line, Florida returns four of five starters, with Maurkice Pouncey (18th overall pick) being the only one not coming back for 2010.
On the other side of the ball, the Gators also lost several key pieces to the NFL Draft, most notably cornerback Joe Haden, who led the team with four interceptions and 10 passes broken up.
Aside from Haden, Florida lost safety Major Wright, linebackers Brandon Spikes and Ryan Stamper (undrafted), and defensive ends Carlos Dunlap and Jermaine Cunningham.
While those are all key losses on defense, the Gators do return safeties Ahmad Black and Will Hill and cornerback Janoris Jenkins in the defensive backfield. They also get A.J. Jones back at linebacker, where he will be joined by the likes of Jelani Jenkins and Jonathan Bostic.
On the defensive front, Florida will have a rotation of Omar Hunter, Jaye Howard, Lawrence Marsh and Terron Sanders at the tackle position, and Justin Trattou and true freshman Ronald Powell likely on the ends.
Arguably the biggest loss on defense for the Gators will be that of defensive coordinator Charlie Strong, who took the head coaching job at Louisville before the Sugar Bowl. Strong helped turn Florida into a top-10 defense in four of the last five seasons.
With the exception of the quarterback position, Florida has depth at seemingly every spot, and it’s supplemented by a plethora of young talent that Urban Meyer and his coaching staff (with new additions of defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, running backs coach Stan Drayton, linebackers/special teams coach D.J. Durkin and wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni) brought in with the No. 2 recruiting class in the nation, according to Rivals.com. Other outlets had the class ranked first.
Whether or not Meyer can coach Florida to a third straight BCS berth remains to be seen, but the young team certainly has the talent to do so.
It will just be a matter of whether or not that talent in practice produces in games.
