For the second year in a row, UF's secondary is the team's most dangerous unit.
Only this season, that doesn't carry a negative connotation.
Defending the pass - a major weakness for the 2007 squad - has suddenly become a strength for the Gators, who are turning their opponents' passes into game-changing plays.
UF has racked up 13 interceptions through eight games - already more than last season's team that had 11 - but it's the plays after the catch that have made the biggest difference.
The Gators have returned those picks for a total of 391 yards and four touchdowns, providing a spark not even the much-hyped 2006 defense could. That squad tallied 21 interceptions for 150 yards and one touchdown.
No. 4 UF is used to seeing its high-powered offense put up big numbers, but not even Tim Tebow & Co. can match the productivity of the Gators' pass defense, which averages 30.1 yards per interception return.
That outranks the per-touch average of every other phase of the team, and coach Urban Meyer attributes the spike in numbers to a different scheme that allows for more ball-hawking.
"Last year, we played so much bump-and-run coverage that you had your back to the quarterback so much," Meyer said. "We're playing some off-man and some zone, and guys are able to react to the ball a little bit."
Safety Ahmad Black has led the way with four interceptions for 184 yards and two scores, more yards than all but two of the Gators' receivers - Percy Harvin and Louis Murphy - have amassed this season.
That's a huge contribution from a player who was not likely to see much playing time before projected starter Dorian Monroe suffered a preseason ACL tear.
"Ahmad Black was a guy that was in the recruiting-mistake column a year ago," Meyer said. "We really felt like we had a little problem here. But he's a high-character guy that is really playing well - probably playing as good of football as he has ever played in his life."
Free safety Major Wright and linebacker Brandon Spikes have also run back picks for touchdowns, and cornerback Joe Haden almost joined that club on Saturday against Georgia, when he was tackled at the 1-yard line after an 88-yard return.
The 49-10 win against the Bulldogs was especially redemptive, when the Gators' defense avenged last year's loss by forcing four turnovers that led to 21 points.
UF's three interceptions marked the first time in nearly two years that Georgia quarterback Matt Stafford was picked off three times in a game.
"It feels good to finally, after all this hard work at practice, to come out here and do as well as we did," Haden said after the game. "We practice as hard as any team in the country. Especially after the Ole Miss game, our practices have been like games."
Meyer said he has seen a complete attitude adjustment from the group, and he added that the secondary players were planning to watch film together on Monday, their day off.
"That just tells you the maturity level and the professionalism of that group," he said. "I've been very impressed."
