I admit it. I'm getting optimistic about the Gators.

[UT_Tix79]

They could beat Michigan, but I still think they lose 2-3 games.

Michigan lost all but 4 players from their 2 deep, and almost 50 total players off their team from last year. I don't get the hype about Michigan

 

[Grand Vol]

Some interesting QBing going on at UF.

[twitter]https://twitter.com/nickdelatorregc/status/893588445880254464[/twitter]

 

[hohenfelsvol]

You going? I might. 3:30 in mid-September, though. Oof. Wish the game was at 8.

Was thinking about it. Mom and Dad are coming into town. Mom not that mobile these days so we will more than likely hit a sports bar.

 

[Ericvol2096]

UF will be biggest disappointment in CFB.

Lose to Mich, TN, LSU, UGA and FSU.

McElwain heads West to get off the hot seat.

They probably hire a stud coach though

 

[SGMVols]

9-3 with losses to Michigan, LSU, and FSU.

Butch Jones isn't draining the Swamp and I won't believe Kirby Smart can beat Florida until I see it.

 

[Booker512]

UF will be biggest disappointment in CFB.

Lose to Mich, TN, LSU, UGA and FSU.

McElwain heads West to get off the hot seat.

They probably hire a stud coach though

Yep. Definitely 2017's dud team. The evil spirit that infected rocky top in 2016 will move on down to Gainesville to tan his cheeks this season.

 

[Hairy Vols]

Mich L
North Co W
Tenn L
Kentucky W
Vandy W
LSU L
Texas A & M L
UGA W
Mizz W
USCe W
UAB W
FSU L


7-5

You will get out coached vs Michigan, You won't fare well very the West teams of A&M or LSU. LSU owes you for last year also.

I think this will be the first of a bad few years for ol shark humper.

 

[Hairy Vols]

I hate Florida as much as the next guy, but I'd prefer to see them win against Michigan just because of the ridiculous big 10 bias in the polls right now. Florida can lose when it actually matters as far as we're concerned; in SEC play.

I only root for SEC schools when we are at the top of the SEC. SO currently I root for no team vs OCOs.

 

[BIG BOI 23]

Basically all the tough games are at home it's really a bad ass year to have season tix

If Mac loses 4 or 5 it's probably the beginning of the end for him

This is the year to take a step forward and I think he does

 

[lawgator1]

Basically all the tough games are at home it's really a bad ass year to have season tix

If Mac loses 4 or 5 it's probably the beginning of the end for him

This is the year to take a step forward and I think he does

This

 

[05_never_again]

Everyone has a tough stretch. Its the SEC. But after the deal we made on LSU last year, we get them at home in a row, and this year in particular is about as good as it can get in terms of schedule and location.

Put it this way -- I expect us to be better this year than last as a complete team, and significantly so. Not many teams can say that.

Tennessee doesn't really. We don't have a bunch of loseable games all clustered together like last year. Our tough games are sandwiched by either cupcakes, a game where we should win if we play well, or a bye. There's nothing like last year's Florida - at Georgia - at A&M - Alabama stretch, where honestly I would not have been surprised if we lost all 4 of those games.

 

[ETV]

Where is all of the hype for the Gators coming from? At the end of last year and after spring ball, Franks was average at best and didn't have that great of a performance during spring. Many were concerned with his decision making abilities under pressure and inconsistent throws.

Florida has a favorable schedule this season but going 11-0 to start the year is a bit of a stretch.

 

[05_never_again]

Where is all of the hype for the Gators coming from? At the end of last year and after spring ball, Franks was average at best and didn't have that great of a performance during spring. Many were concerned with his decision making abilities under pressure and inconsistent throws.

Florida has a favorable schedule this season but going 11-0 to start the year is a bit of a stretch.

1. They might actually have a QB
2. Third year of McElwain
3. Somewhat favorable schedule
4. It's Florida. They have national appeal/relevance, and are not far removed from their most recent run of success. When you tell people, especially a national audience, that Florida could be really good it turns more heads than if you say Kansas State or West Virginia might be really good.

 

[lawgator1]

1. They might actually have a QB
2. Third year of McElwain
3. Somewhat favorable schedule
4. It's Florida. They have national appeal/relevance, and are not far removed from their most recent run of success. When you tell people, especially a national audience, that Florida could be really good it turns more heads than if you say Kansas State or West Virginia might be really good.

You have to admit that the Gators have had a D the last 5-7 years that was national c-ship caliber, but that through a combination of bad luck, injuries, players not panning out, poor recruiting, and a few other things, the lack of a QB was THE main reason Florida became just another good, but not great, SEC team.

With Zaire and Franks, even Del Rio available for back up if need be, the common wisdom (for whatever that is worth) is that UF should be dramatically improved at that position, which opens up a lot of possibilities.

Hey, its all potential now. That's true of everyone. But when you look at what Florida's GLARING problem has been for about a decade and you know its going to get better, then there is some rationality to expecting things to improve.

Last, I'm not sure about the above comments that he looked bad in the spring game. Remember, he's a redshirt freshman, he was 8/14 with a TD and over 119 yards in limited action.

If I had to guess, I'd say that Zaire gets the start, just due to experience. But I do think Franks will see plenty of time, too.

 

[05_never_again]

You have to admit that the Gators have had a D the last 5-7 years that was national c-ship caliber, but that through a combination of bad luck, injuries, players not panning out, poor recruiting, and a few other things, the lack of a QB was THE main reason Florida became just another good, but not great, SEC team.

Very true. The problem now is that your defense might still be good but perhaps not national championship caliber. The jury is still out on that but McElwain has not recruited as well as Muschamp did on that side of the ball.

 

[lawgator1]

Very true. The problem now is that your defense might still be good but perhaps not national championship caliber. The jury is still out on that but McElwain has not recruited as well as Muschamp did on that side of the ball.

I don't know that anyone could, outside of maybe Saban.

 

[v011s]

I assume that teams that have good defenses and are able to overcome a 7pt deficit are ranked in the teens.

 

[05_never_again]

I don't know that anyone could, outside of maybe Saban.

I guess I understated his recruiting on the defensive side of the ball. He has recruited much worse than Muschamp, but as you said that's a very high standard.

Saying that his recruiting defensively has pretty notably underachieved given Florida's resources is a better way to say it. Actually his recruiting generally has underachieved given what Florida should be able to do and the kind of talent they've pulled in the past.

 

[lawgator1]

I guess I understated his recruiting on the defensive side of the ball. He has recruited much worse than Muschamp, but as you said that's a very high standard.

Saying that his recruiting defensively has pretty notably underachieved given Florida's resources is a better way to say it. Actually his recruiting generally has underachieved given what Florida should be able to do and the kind of talent they've pulled in the past.

I am willing to give him some time on that. He's up against FSU, Miami, and Clemson and LSU. Even USF now has Charlie Strong, who can also recruit Miami strongly.

For UF to get to where it should ne, it needs about 2 years of sustained offensive success, to show top talent that it can be a step to the NFL. Particularly for offensive linemen.

We've been so inept on that side of the ball for so long that its no surprise we are still gearing up there. This year and next I am hopeful we will make some big strides on scoring. The rest will take care of itself.

 

[volfanhill]

Florida will have a good season this year

 

[buckfama]

This is from fla 247sports about today's practice:[/B]

"The offense's start was less than encouraging
If you were hoping for a rather immediate and sudden turnaround for Florida on offense, the start to Monday's practice probably wasn't all that reassuring.

The offense was out of sync completely in the fastball 11-on-11 portion of practice.

The second- and third-string units led off the session simultaneously, and it took just one play for things to turn south. Working with the backups, tight end Moral Stephens dropped a simple out route from Feleipe Franks.

Moments later, Jordan Smith manhandled the third-team offensive line for an easy sack on Luke Del Rio. Luke Ancrum and CeCe Jefferson followed that up with a routine sack on Franks.

Finally, Feleipe Franks tried to force in a throw to Dre Massey that never had a chance. Walk-on linebacker Cristian Garcia should have picked it off, but it bounced off his chest and narrowly fell incomplete between two defenders.

Malik Zaire, working with the first-team offense for the first time in any of the open sessions the media has seen, didn't fare much better.

Jordan Scarlett was stoned at the line of scrimmage on the first play for very little gain. Then Zaire and receiver Joshua Hammond were on the wrong page on a deep route. Zaire threw a corner and Hammond appeared to be running a fly, never getting his head around at all to see the ball.

On the last play of fastball, Zaire scrambled to his left and threw on the run to Brandon Powell. The pass went into the dirt a good five feet before it ever reached Powell.

Though the quarterbacks cleaned things up throwing the routes-on-air drill, the start of Monday's practice made it clear there's still plenty of work to be done on offense. Communication and execution still need major improvement.


😀😀😀

 

[ETV]

1. They might actually have a QB
2. Third year of McElwain
3. Somewhat favorable schedule
4. It's Florida. They have national appeal/relevance, and are not far removed from their most recent run of success. When you tell people, especially a national audience, that Florida could be really good it turns more heads than if you say Kansas State or West Virginia might be really good.

That's a big "maybe" on the QB. Not having a returning starter under center all but guarantees the team will probably stumble along the way at one point during the season...unless your Alabama the last 4 years.

Florida is no closer to being similar to Bama than Tennessee is.

 

[ChattaTNVol]

That's a big "maybe" on the QB. Not having a returning starter under center all but guarantees the team will probably stumble along the way at one point during the season...unless your Alabama the last 4 years.

Florida is no closer to being similar to Bama than Tennessee is.

I agree there is a gulf talent-wise between Bama and Florida/Tennessee. According to rivals Bama is a legitimate 5 star (6.1) team. (Average recruiting points per year for last 3 years/20 top recruits each year. The math works the same for a 4 year analysis). Your statement, from a talent perspective that Florida is no closer to being similar to Alabama than Tennessee is spot on as shown below.

When I was much younger, back in the days of Johnny Majors, the coach, not the player, I had a eureka moment one day. After Jeff Francis and then Darryl Dickey, it seemed obvious to me that anyone could play quarterback at Tennessee because our offensive lines were impenetrable when we were passing and imposing when we were running.

Both Tennessee and Florida have in recent years struggled with offensive line issues in particular. This year, both Coach Butch Jones and Coach Jim McElwain have indicated that the strength of the respective teams is the offensive line.

At our respective talent levels, when you don’t have an offensive line you need a Josh Dobbs. If you have an elite offensive line, some decent skill players on offense, and an above average defense, you could have almost anyone at quarterback and probably coast to an 8-4 type season or better.

The media and some analysts assume that Florida, while perceptively losing a ton of production on defense, will not take much of a step back on that side of the ball and that with the maturation of their offensive line, the offense is poised to take off.

According to Bill Connelly, Florida returns 81% of its offensive production from last year. We return 42% of our offensive production. Also according to Connelly, Florida returns 53% of its defensive production from last year; we return 61%. On offense Florida ranks #21 nationally, we rank #106. On defense, Florida ranks #103, we rank #78. By comparison, Georgia ranks #35 on offense and #5 on defense. Tennessee is ranked dead last overall in the SEC East and Florida is the next team above us. Everyone else is well above us.

According to rivals, talent-wise, Georgia is a mid-4 star (5.9) team; Florida and Tennessee are both low-4 star (5.8) teams. South Carolina is a high 3-star (5.7) team, Kentucky and Missouri are mid-3 star (5.6) teams, and Vanderbilt is a low 3-star (5.5) team. According to Coach Doug Matthews on his most recent “Big Orange Sunday” show, talent trumps experience so that is why even though Kentucky, South Carolina, and Vanderbilt are ranked nationally as #7, #8, and #10 respectively for overall returning production, the talent disadvantage is their Achilles heel. Missouri is ranked #31 for overall returning production. Georgia is ranked #9 for overall returning production, Florida is ranked #50, and Tennessee is ranked #109.

If you rank the teams, first by talent and then by returning production, you get an idea about how the media sees the SEC East playing out this year. Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, and South Carolina, in that order, and maybe one of the less talented more experienced teams snatching an upset or two along the way. In my opinion, that’s probably the simplified basis of this year’s narrative.

https://www.seccountry.com/sec/returning-production-2017-sec-east

 

[lawgator1]

This is from fla 247sports about today's practice:[/B]

"The offense's start was less than encouraging
If you were hoping for a rather immediate and sudden turnaround for Florida on offense, the start to Monday's practice probably wasn't all that reassuring.

The offense was out of sync completely in the fastball 11-on-11 portion of practice.

The second- and third-string units led off the session simultaneously, and it took just one play for things to turn south. Working with the backups, tight end Moral Stephens dropped a simple out route from Feleipe Franks.

Moments later, Jordan Smith manhandled the third-team offensive line for an easy sack on Luke Del Rio. Luke Ancrum and CeCe Jefferson followed that up with a routine sack on Franks.

Finally, Feleipe Franks tried to force in a throw to Dre Massey that never had a chance. Walk-on linebacker Cristian Garcia should have picked it off, but it bounced off his chest and narrowly fell incomplete between two defenders.

Malik Zaire, working with the first-team offense for the first time in any of the open sessions the media has seen, didn't fare much better.

Jordan Scarlett was stoned at the line of scrimmage on the first play for very little gain. Then Zaire and receiver Joshua Hammond were on the wrong page on a deep route. Zaire threw a corner and Hammond appeared to be running a fly, never getting his head around at all to see the ball.

On the last play of fastball, Zaire scrambled to his left and threw on the run to Brandon Powell. The pass went into the dirt a good five feet before it ever reached Powell.

Though the quarterbacks cleaned things up throwing the routes-on-air drill, the start of Monday's practice made it clear there's still plenty of work to be done on offense. Communication and execution still need major improvement.


😀😀😀

Well, the pessimist in me says same old same old on offense, the optimist high fives everyone that the defense has not lost anything, lol.

We've got 25 days to get our act together. Oline needs to step it up.

 

[05_never_again]

That's a big "maybe" on the QB. Not having a returning starter under center all but guarantees the team will probably stumble along the way at one point during the season...unless your Alabama the last 4 years.

Florida is no closer to being similar to Bama than Tennessee is.

No team in the SEC is close to being Alabama. The only teams who can hope to being similar to them are all located outside the SEC