KNOXVILLE, Tenn - Man, you're such a frigging stud. You've got the prettiest gal in school walking arm in arm with you almost 24/7. You drive up every day in a sleek Mercedes. Your Abercrombie and Hollister shirts are always neatly pressed. You've got Division-I coaches texting you every day, saying how you're their final piece in a national championship run.
Except nobody knows it. You keep your best attributes hidden and play it safe.
Doesn't make sense? Don't worry, I don't get it either.
That's exactly why UF's offense was so perplexing Saturday. Yes, the Gators embarrassed one of their biggest rivals and probably cost Phil Fulmer his job. And yes, they should've scored at least three more touchdowns than they did.
Nothing personal, Timmy Tebow, but you don't need to be running up the middle 12 times like you did against Tennessee. Not when you've got Chris Rainey, Emmanuel Moody, Percy Harvin and Jeff Demps.
What you should be doing instead, Tim, is actually reeling back and using your cannon arm to throw the ball downfield. Can we please get a chance to see this speed and explosiveness that's been talked about since the spring? Let's actually see if Carl Moore can be a threat downfield rather than labeling him a bust - like some have already done. How about actually using the wide receivers' athleticism to stretch the field so defenses don't just line up in the box waiting for Tebow to come bowling through the offensive line?
The only good thing that came from Saturday's play calling was that Kestahn Moore didn't get a carry. Moore deserves every accolade he receives for what he does off the field, but what he does on the field can be replicated - and bettered - by every other running back on UF's roster.
Last week, Urban Meyer told Percy Harvin he was going to "let him loose." Two catches and six carries doesn't qualify as letting perhaps the best athlete in the nation "loose." It does, however, make you wonder why UF hasn't actually "let it loose" yet this season.
It's understandable to have a conservative offense when you have Chris Leak under center, and DeShawn Wynn plodding along behind him. It's not understandable when you have the only sophomore to ever win the Heisman Trophy and more than a handful of guys who run faster than a 4.3, 40-yard dash.
Why putt along in a Volvo when you have a Porsche? Why eat at McDonald's when you can be served filet mignon? Why be the church choir director if you've got the pipes of Aretha Franklin?
Bottom line: Why play it safe?
There's one thing very clear so far in UF's football season: This team has national championship potential. The defense has actually won games for this team, and that's after a year where they lost games and played like they were still at their high school proms. Georgia has shown it's a team that can be defeated, and Southern Cal still has a decent Pacific-10 Conference to go through. Not to mention either Missouri and Oklahoma will have to come from the Big 12 Conference.
Wouldn't you have a sick feeling in your stomach if, at the end of the year, the Gators could've made it farther if they had opened up their playbook just a tad more?
