The Gators' new no-huddle offense could win them the national championship.
You see, offenses are like relationships. Each can run on chemistry for a while, but if you go too long without spicing things up, a stale feeling will creep in. We all know how that ends.
Coach Urban Meyer talked all about Oklahoma's no-huddle offense since the Gators started preparing for the Sooners in the BCS National Championship.
I didn't really believe him.
There has been plenty of Meyer's "ideas" that haven't ever panned out - probably because the coaches thought about it before deciding it wouldn't really help the Gators.
This new "Banzai" package - filled with up-tempo, no-huddle formations - seems to be for real, and it's one of the best moves Florida could have made.
New wrinkles to the UF offense have paid plenty of dividends in the past.
In 2006, there was Tim Tebow garnering Superman fame by converting every short-yardage situation.
In 2008, there was the explosion of the freshmen running back duo Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey.
Notice any year missing? Yeah, 2007 - a 9-4 record for a team that had a bad defense and a lack of running backs.
It's all about matchups and creating mismatches.
We'll never know, but the idea of Florida running two tight end sets with Aaron Hernandez and Cornelius Ingram should've scared defensive coordinators everywhere.
So when Ingram went down with an injury, the Gators didn't have much new offensively heading into the 2008 season - and struggled until Demps and Rainey burst onto the scene in the fourth quarter of the Arkansas game last year.
This year, I was unsure where Florida's mismatch would come from. Sure, Hernandez is still there but without Percy Harvin, I see plenty of defenses keying on Hernandez and not letting him be the difference maker.
And yes, Demps and Rainey ran all over Charleston Southern, but again the loss of Harvin will make a bigger impact than people expect come conference play. I'm not sold on Moody staying healthy.
So this year's mismatch will not be wearing a jersey, it will be a scheme instead - one that Florida defensive coordinator Charlie Strong called the hardest he's ever prepared for.
From someone who has been around the game for more than 25 years, and the Gators' defensive coordinator for the last six, that means something.
One play, Charleston Southern had 13 defenders on the field - two were near the sideline jogging off because Tim Tebow snapped the ball earlier than the Bucs expected.
UF linebacker Ryan Stamper wasn't surprising, considering the Gators had similar struggles against the Sooners in the title game.
"You get the calls in late, the personnel in late," Stamper said. "They can call hike, and they're five wide and we have our base (defense) on the field."
A five-wide offense against a base defense - that's a mismatch.
Offensive coordinator Steve Addazio was coy about how much UF intends to run the no-huddle, but Meyer said Wednesday the Gators wouldn't ever run it for an entire game.
And why should they? Its biggest advantage right now is the element of surprise.
"It's great, we like it," Addazio said. "We choose when we want to change the pace of the game."
Look for it when the Gators need some spice.
