Gators Open
It was a big celebration in Gainesville on opening day with the return of the 1996 National Championship team and its coach Steve Spurrier. The air was full of anticipation as the Gators are ranked in the top 10 and thoughts of and SEC title and a run for the National Championship are on the minds of the Gator Nation.
And then they started the game.
Southern Mississippi always has some good athletes, just not enough of them to compete against the elite conference teams. But the Golden Eagles got to work right away, picking off an early Chris Leak pass and taking a 7-0 lead.
Not good.
Florida’s first half was a little tentative and not sharp, but eventually they wore down Southern Miss for a 34-7 win. Even Tim Tebow got in the game and scored a touchdown. But the team seemed tight and stilted, not able to fully display how much talent they have.
It could be that it’s just early in the year or it could be a reflection of the coach. Urban Meyer is a very buttoned up guy, sometimes so buttoned up that it seems he can’t move. And that carries over to his team.
Meyer is confident in his ideas and convictions, sure that what he thinks is right and how much of his “spread” offense will work in the SEC. I still think it looks like a square peg in a round hole when the Gator offense takes the field. Maybe that’ll change over time with different personnel and a different style of quarterback. But Chris Leak is a very solid player and a very coachable guy. If Meyer isn’t willing to take advantage of that, there’s a flaw in his thinking, not in how the players can play.
He did make some adjustments last year, hopefully he’ll have time to do the same this season. Deshawn Wynn’s injury doesn’t help much and even though they’re a heavy favorite, I wouldn’t bet the ranch on the Gators this week. Plus after seeing what Tennessee did to a previously ranked top-10 team, I wouldn’t be looking too far ahead either.
Florida’s got their work cut out for them this year. It’ll also reveal what kind of coach, and guy he is before too long.
