After a successful debut, The Mailbag is back for the opening week of football season, and judging by the questions we received, you guys are fiending for some pigskin. That being said, let’s kick it off.
@l_davis15: What are realistic expectations for Mack Brown and Mike Gillislee?
Right now, Brown and Gillislee are not prominent members of the offense. Charlie Weis has made it clear that Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey are the top backs, and honestly, who could blame him? The strength of the offense in 2011 (if there is one) will be the combination of Demps and Rainey.
Who knows if John Brantley is looking like the “Heisman candidate” Jaye Howard made him out to be, and who knows what the Gators rag-tag group of receivers can do? That actually may be good news for Brown and Gillislee, as Demps and Rainey haven’t shown they can remain on the field for an entire season. But, barring injury, don’t expect much from either this season.
@Rizzmiggizz: How much more is 31 than 7?
The difference between them is about seven inches — the space between Steve Addazio’s ears. FSU fans should send him some love.
@fcardillo: Reports say that Will Muschamp possesses a certain inability to smile, is this true?
False. This nasty rumor obviously comes from the now-infamous Gators preseason poster featuring Coach Boom scowling with his arms folded. But Coach Boom has a soft side. Go ahead. Pick up the new Florida pocket schedule, if you can find it. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.
@RickyRegs: Aside from the obvious, do you see anyone giving the #gators trouble outside of the conference?
Disregarding the obviously challenging Florida State, Florida’s out-of-conference schedule consists of FAU, UAB and Furman. Since nobody can tell us where Furman is or what their mascot looks like, and we’re too lazy to look it up, we’re going to disregard them as a legitimate threat to UF.
Howard Schnellenberger is sure to give it his all in his last go-round with FAU, but the Owls are nothing more than a middle-of-the-road Sun Belt team with marginal talent and a brand new quarterback. Running back Alfred Morris is legitimately good, but Florida’s strength is the defensive front seven, so that won’t matter.
The game to watch is UAB. We know they’re probably in Furman’s neighborhood, in the sense that most don’t know a damn thing about them, and the three sane alligatorSports columnists expect this to be another walkover. But one brave soul sees things differently. The Blazers (yeah, we know the mascot) lost extremely close games on the road last season to Tennessee and Mississippi State, and they return most of their top talent. They have an experienced quarterback, a talented receiving corps and a new defense that Florida can’t prepare for because nobody’s ever seen it. Don’t be shocked to see an upset pick out of our staff next week.
@edrexler: How long will it take the Gators to get back to the oh-so-distant glory days of 2006 and 2008?
Well, that all depends on a number of factors, the first being whether or not anyone on the team knows how to find a flux capacitor for our DeLorean. Next, we think your best bet would be to ask linebacker Jelani Jenkins; he seems like a smart fellow who might understand the intricacies of the space-time continuum.
But if that doesn’t work out (and we would be shocked if it did), it should take until at least 2013. Florida has the talent on the team now — just look at the recruiting job Urban Meyer did the last two years — and Muschamp is putting together a nice class of his own in his first full year. Florida’s 2012 class is currently ranked No. 4 by Rivals.com, and it only stands to get better with some of the biggest recruits still in play.
If these classes pan out, and the young talent on the team continues to mature, the Gators should be back in the hunt for BCS bowl games in Coach Boom’s third season.
@bourbonmeyer: With Demps and Rainey both averaging 7.2 yards a carry, who do you think finishes the season with more yards?
Man, a math question? Our math may be questionable at best, but we aren’t about to be stumped by this submission. Basically what this question should say is: “Who will get more touches, Demps or Rainey?”
If you listened to offensive coordinator Charlie Weis on Tuesday night, he had plenty of praise for the dynamic running back duo, even calling them the fastest players he has coached — at any level.
Weis also said the two will see the field quite often, meaning there’s always going to be a threat of them touching the ball, and let’s be real, those two are the Gators’ most proven (and most explosive) weapons on offense.
At the end of the day, though, we think Rainey will finish with more yards from scrimmage. He hasn’t missed a beat since the new offense was installed, while Demps missed spring and summer due to his budding track career. They’ll both finish with similar rushing numbers, but we believe Rainey will get more touches as a receiver. After all, he did lead the team in touchdown receptions last season.
