UF faces one of its biggest rivals Saturday, and it will have to do so without one of its starting wide receivers - Andre Caldwell, who hurt his knee against Troy.
This sounds like a big problem, but you know what?
You might not even notice.
The Gators offense will be just fine without Caldwell.
Without a doubt, losing its most complete receiver is not good news, but with plenty of talented athletes below Caldwell on the depth chart, the offense should adjust and keep the momentum from its first two games rolling.
Caldwell has been used on short slants, deep routes and out of the backfield - three skills that the collective group of healthy receivers has nailed down.
Riley Cooper proved a viable deep threat against Western Kentucky when he hauled in four passes for 122 yards and two scores.
Percy Harvin has established himself as an all-around threat, and any direct snaps, end-arounds or reverses will be in great hands with him.
Saturday, Cornelius Ingram got to show off his talent, racking up a career-high 105 yards and a touchdown on seven catches. He did most of his damage on crossing routes, where his size and speed are a deadly mismatch for opponents.
Louis Murphy may be the least heralded, but he poses a balanced threat as well and may be the fastest of the group in terms of straight-ahead speed.
Those players are a dangerous quartet already as it is, and there are several more waiting for the chance to shine.
Jarred Fayson and David Nelson haven't been very involved in the first two games, and freshmen speedsters Deonte Thompson and Chris Rainey have yet to see the field on offense.
Another wideout who could see the field is redshirt freshman Justin Williams, who won coaches over with his work ethic.
Since these players can fill Caldwell's shoes together, the play calling won?t have to change much, and it may actually be easier on Urban Meyer and Dan Mullen, who will have one less person to keep happy.
With all of these playmakers available, there is no receiver who can't be replaced in the Gators' offense.
Losing Harvin would certainly be difficult, but others could pick up the slack.
When a key player on a team is injured, the search begins to find a single replacement, but UF can just smooth over the hole with three or four other athletes.
"To be honest, it doesn?t have to be just one guy to try and fill Bubba?s shoes,C Ingram said. BWhenever you lose a guy like Bubba it?s definitely big, but with the guys we have at receiver, most of the time when guys go out we really don?t miss a beat."
The loss of Caldwell could hold a few blessings in disguise.
Is it really a bad thing that Harvin will get more touches?
Players like Cooper, Nelson and Fayson will get a chance to produce in a big-time game, which will come in handy later in the season.
Caldwell?s most important asset is his leadership, which his young teammates need desperately.
Meyer said Monday that Caldwell will still travel to the hotel with the team, and he will still be able to motivate and advise in the locker room and on the sideline.
Obviously, Caldwell's injury is not a positive for the Gators, but it is not a crushing blow, either. That?s the beauty of Meyer?s system.
With the structure, talent and depth of UF?s offense, the only devastating loss would be Tebow, the conductor of the Meyer Symphony. If the quarterback takes on one too many linebackers and suffers a serious injury, it would cause a major problem.
Barring that, there aren't too many other players who could slow down the Gators? steady production.
So unless that happens, don't freak out.
