And please correct me if I’m wrong fellow posters (including skigator) but I believe the Gators will only have 1 scholarship TE who can play this year . . . Although they’re a spread team; a lack of TEs could make things difficult for them in goal to go situations. I also believe that their gonna have to replace two offensive lineman and that their OL depth could be an issue.

Secondly, I have to think that those two late TDs the gators scored at the end of the game last year is gonna give them dawgs some added incentive as well, similar to what the TD celebration did for the Gator’s D the following off-season.

Third, it should also be noted that the Gators are breaking in a new Offensive coordinator & QB coach. This new OC (they’re O-Line if I remember correctly) maybe every bit as good as Mullen but then again he could also be their version of Randy Saunders (UT’s OC after Cutcliffe left for Ole Miss). His appitude asside Teabow’s gonna have to get adjusted to a new QB coach. [Although Teabow has proven to be such a coachable player that unless this guy is a total jerk, I wouldn’t think there should be too many problems). But still, when you lose continunity on your staff, power house programs take a step back (see USC after Norm Chow left & FSU after Richt and Chuck Amato left).

Finally it should be noted that this is the SEC we’re talking about. The in-conference competition is second to none and any body can win any given week (especially if you’ve got a bye work before you play them).

That said, the Gators are stacked and if they manage to repeat in the vaunted SEC you won’t hear me whining about it. They’ll have earned it.

While we are extremely thin at TE, the one returning starter is a great one. Aaron Hernandez was amongst the best TEs in the conference last season as a sophomore and his best 3 games last year were the final 3 – against FSU, Bama in the SEC Championship and Oklahoma in the BCS Championship. He is a huge target who creates coverage problems for defenders. That’s the good news for our side – the bad news is you have to squint at the roster to see anything else in the TE department.

Desmond Parks, a true freshman (but who enrolled in January) is the only other pure TE scholly player on the team. He was a 3 star recruit, so who knows if he’ll pan out or not – he’s surely not a top prized recruit that we expect to come in and take over from day one. TJ Pridemore, a ‘08 linebacker/fullback signee, could also see some action at the position. That being said – the Gators didn’t lose much from last year’s team at TE. Redshirt Senior Tate Casey caught 4 balls for 64 yards in 2008. While Cornelious Ingram was projected as a top contributor, he missed the entire season, which helped Hernandez see more action earlier. Our offense does not focus too much on the TEs and Hernandez will be a good one for when it does. As long as he stays healthy, we should be okay there.

The biggest loss on offense is definitely Percy Harvey (sic). He has been the go-to guy whenever we need a big play or a key 3rd down. He is not a guy you can replace man for man, so hopefully 2-3 guys can step up to fill at least a large part of the void he leaves. We also need to replace a couple starters on OL, but we played a lot of younger guys last season due to injury and in blowouts so hopefully we can plug those holes too. The focus of the 2009 team will not be on the offensive side of the ball though. With the top 22 players returning on defense – plus 3 former starters who missed last season with injuries, this defense should be the best to ever suit up for the Gators. Our offense should not need to score 40 points to win games. Our defense allowed 12.9 ppg last season so they should give us more than enough opportunities to win games even if the offense is off.

I also don’t think that Phil Steele’s turnover theory referenced above holds too much water. Typically, championship teams are hugely positive in turnover margin. Typically, championship teams also lose a ton of players to graduation and/or the NFL the following season and must rebuild using younger, mistake prone players. I believe that is the reason for the reversal of turnover margin following a big plus year. However, Florida is fortunate enough to return a 3 year starting senior quarterback who probably has one of the lowest TD to INT ratios in the history of college football. Coupled with all the talent returning on defense, I expect us to post some gaudy positive turnover margin numbers against this year. (That said, I also believe that Steele’s theory will hold true in 2010 after we lose a EVERYBODY).

I do agree with Donkey that the BYE week is a big advantage, as UGA players will have an extra week to get healthy and to prepare a game plan for the Gators. I also think that there is something to Kyle’s 19 year cycle and UGA’s ownership of defending national champions theories. Numbers are numbers and while sometimes hard to explain, we have to at least acknowledge the facts. However, I am equally hopeful that Florida’s unusual situation of returning so much from its championship team will postpone the end of our current era of the cycle and break the Dawg’s streak of dominance over champions one year removed.

I’m not chalking this one up as a win already by any means – injuries can happen, star players do stupid things, and this is now a (re)heated rivalry game.