. . . all this could change next week (I certainly do not take a game against South Carolina in Columbia for granted), but, right now, Georgia has been hitting on all cylinders, while Florida—-boasting Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow, certified innovator Urban Meyer, and the most prolific offense ever in the whole history of ever (plus Percy Harvin)—-has sputtered.

Hawaii’s defense was bad last year and promises to be worse this year, yet the Warriors held the Gators scoreless for more than a quarter in Gainesville.

Miami’s defense has been a sieve recently—-in their last dozen games, the ’Canes gave up over 40 points each to Oklahoma, Virginia, and Virginia Tech—-yet the Hurricanes managed to limit Florida to seven offensive points through three quarters of play in the Swamp.

Miami’s players played their hearts out? Fine. So did Georgia’s players. Why didn’t Florida’s? You’d think the Gators would have been motivated against a rival they hadn’t beaten since the ‘80s. I’m more concerned with U.F.’s apparent lack of heart (at least based on what we have seen so far); meanwhile, the Bulldogs overcame a history of playing down to the level of their opponent and looked as good as advertised against Central Michigan.

I’m sure the Gators will awaken sooner or later, but, so far, they have failed to impress. That’s all I’m saying.

I’m not handing out trophies. I tried to point out several times that this could all change dramatically. I am by no means counting the South Carolina game as a victory, much less any of the games that follow it, and I am confident the Gators will get better. I’m just going on what we’ve seen so far.

You make a good point that a lot of teams would have beaten Central Michigan soundly, but the Bulldogs brought their “A” game to a couple of contests in which it would have been easy to have taken the weekend off. While the ‘Dawgs don’t have a scalp on a par with Clemson, neither did they post a lackluster victory over Tulane.

The flipside of the point that a lot of teams would have won handily over Georgia Southern or Central Michigan is that a lot of teams would have scored in the first quarter against Hawaii at home or scored more than seven offensive points in the first three quarters against Miami at home. The pieces are there, on the field and on the sidelines, but Florida hasn’t put it together yet . . . emphasis on the “yet.”

Thanks for the compliment. Sorry if I sounded testy.

. . . but you’re missing some important points.

Yes, Georgia Southern “put a couple points on the board”—-21, in fact—-against third- and fourth-stringers after the Eagles were down 38-0 and Mark Richt decided to empty the bench.

Central Michigan’s spread “wasn’t exactly eliminated”? Dan LeFevour had one long run and was pressured constantly with a four-man rush and very little blitzing. Blown coverage assignments accounted for at least one, and arguably both, of the Chippewas’ touchdowns. If not eliminated, that seems fairly well contained to me.

Yes, all four quarters count, but how and when a team scores and allows scoring tells us quite a lot about how well a team performed. If Team A beats Team B 45-21 in a game in which Team A led 28-0 at the break and substituted liberally in the second half and Team C beats Team D 45-21 in a game in which Team C led 24-21 at the break and blanked Team D in the second half while pulling away, reasonable fans may differ over whether early dominance or a late surge is more impressive (which probably depends upon the quality of Teams B and D), but no one can seriously claim that Team A and Team C have performed equally merely because the scores were the same.

The fact that Georgia dominated both of its outmatched opponents early before calling off the dogs tells me that the Bulldogs came to play. The fact that Florida took time to pull away from both of its outmatched opponents tells me that the Gators have out-talented the opposition, but not out-coached or out-played them. Which bodes better for both teams when they find themselves confronting equally talented opposition?

I’m not wearing a “2008 Preseason National Champions” T-shirt; in fact, I dropped Georgia from the top spot after week one because the Bulldogs did not look to me like a No. 1 team. I have written regularly and repeatedly that it is early, that there are many games yet to be played, that things can and will change dramatically, and that I expect Florida to be better than Florida has looked so far. Right now, though, based on the evidence we have before us, the Gators simply aren’t playing as well as the Bulldogs. That’s all I’m saying, because that’s all any of us definitively can say at this point.

If you dispute that, fine. In Jacksonville, let the Gators play the first quarter against Georgia the way they played the first quarter against Hawaii, let the Gators play the second and third quarters against Georgia the way they played the second and third quarters against Miami, and let the Bulldogs play the first three quarters against Florida the way they played the first three quarters against Georgia Southern and Central Michigan. Let’s see how much the fourth quarter counts for then.