Lets start with the good news

With the return of Tebow and the probable return of Spikes we are looking very good for another run at the title next year.....with the return of Harvin, it's almost a lock.Even with out Harvin, i beleive that we have a very realistic chance of getting there. I say this with the complete confidence that Urban is the coach that we all think he is, keeps the team in line and makes them realize that nothing is guaranteed or given in college football. Its something that is earned, you know all the cliche slogans that have come to define a "Championship Team." The Defense is going to be pretty much the same except I personally would love to see Will Hill step into a bigger role on the defense. The Offensive line has some big gaps to fill, however with the depth and solid recruting that we have shown in the past, i think the Gators will recover nicely. Tebow is really the center piece though, he is just irreplaceable.....dare I say 3 National Titles, 3 SEC Titles, and 2 Heismens, he should already have 2 in my opinion. We could only be so lucky!!!!!

Now the Bad News

Say the stars align and the Gators run through the SEC and hit ATL with an undefeated record and meet (for arguments sake) the Tide once again. Coming out of that game with a win we sit and await our opponent. It's USC, finally we have a chance to beat those who beleive they cant be beaten, even though they always seem to lose to the Oregon States and Stanfords. Only problem is.....you guessed it, next year the National Championship game is at the ROSE BOWL. This as we all know is basically a home game for the Trojans. I think after one more year of conditioning and experience, not to mention the fact that these kids now know how to win the closest of the close games in the biggest of the big senarios we have the ability to get it done. However i predict that the National Media will have no confidence in the Gators and this might be the biggest key to winning that game, remember Ohio State anyone? However that logic of "Picking on the little guy" didn't seem to work for Oklahoma even though I don't see how the highest scoring offense in history could be considered the "little guy"

I know im counting the chickens before the eggs hatch and there is a lot of questions to be answered, recruiting to be done, and games to win. Im new to the website and just wanted to have any other opinions than mine to think about for the next 8months of the dreaded off season. GO GATORS!!! The future is bright for '09

TenGATOR

I agree about Will Hill, but who do you really bench? Ahmad Black seems to be the most likely, but... to put it like Christopher Walken in the famous SNL sketch...

'Ahmad Black puts on his pants one leg at a time like everyone else. Except once he has his pants on, he makes big plays'

Like the 'play of the game' for the BCS title. So yeah, I like Will Hill, too, and having the depth helps, but how much PT can we possibly have to go around? With Wondy's leaving early for the NFL (if you believe it), I guess there's more time for all DBs...

I also think, next season, you'll see a clear 'second team' take over the second half of many of the games. Considering our OOC is so weak, and the way we blew out some SEC teams this year, a lot of guys are going to see the field.

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As far as USC, don't worry about it. Yeah, for the 'its way too early'. But also because they will lose to someone inferior. And they won't be the top-ranked one-loss team, because of the weakness of the Pac-10

If you're projecting out an opponent, you have to think about Texas.

But, it's about a year too early to be worried about it. I hope the lesson of the Ole Miss game sticks with these guys through next season, and we can capture the elusive undefeated season (so close in 95, until the greatest team ever came along).

enjoy this title, they only seem to come around frequently, indeed they are quite rare, and its conceivable we never win another. enjoy it!

excellent point....but don't forget about Dorian Munroe, he was the projected starter at the begining of the season until he tore his ACL. The depth of the defense is going to be unreal. I personally would love to see some more push come form the defensive line next year. If I had to compare the '06 defense to the '08 i would have to give '06 the edge only because the entire defensive line went pro, other than that its close. Also we are a little thin at TE going in....small problems that can be cured with the right recruiting class.

I'm also with you on the D-Line. link I don't set out to make all my replies like this, but it's uncanny the point you're hitting today are so in-line with how I feel.

The TE situation... think Cam Newton can solve it? Aaron Hernandez is awesome, and hopsfully stays healthy, but someone is going to need to step up to at least play the Tate Casey role this season.

If not, our coaching staff 'fits the system to the personnel', right? but lacking that ability to stick the extra blocker in there could be a problem.

goose wrote:

QUOTE:
The TE situation... think Cam Newton can solve it? Aaron Hernandez is awesome, and hopsfully stays healthy, but someone is going to need to step up to at least play the Tate Casey role this season.

Tate Casey role? You mean underachieving for 5 years and having an assigned seat on the bench? Hell I could do that!

'Tate Casey role' was meant to be the 'extra blocker'. If we stuck you out there, you might slow down someone from getting in the backfield, but probably only once before a career-ending hit. At least that's what would happen to me.

Cam Newton is Transfering to a Junior college according to my sources and is out for next year this means we are going to have to recruit someone else to come in and be a blocker and hopefully another matchup problem if they are big enough....i still can't imagine what it would have been like to have Aaron Hernandez and Cornelius Ingram on the field at the same time, that would have been the mismatch from hell for other teams

Basically I feel that it comes down to recruiting, seeing that the coaching changes are a good fit (Charlie Strong isn't going to be around much longer) and then of course the players will to step up and produce the results

i am also receiving word that Percys Scholarship has been removed form the list....this might be a major indication that he will not be returning next season

Yeah, I heard that on another message board. It would be more of a surprised if he STAYED, not left. Also, I was watching College Football Spotlight on ESPN and Joe Schad was reporting that Spikes is 50/50 on his decision.

Spikes I think will decide to stay. I have heard that Charlie Strong and Aaron Hernandez have both said that they think he is coming back. Percy, we will never see another Percy Harvin. This Andre Debose sounds like he is the same type player that Percy is. Hopefully his leaving (still holding on to a small hope he will return) can be absorbed by picking up a couple of faster players.....in the end Harvins departure will only allow other stars to shine in Gainsville.

i hope that we hear a decision on Percy and Spikes fairly early today.....i am so tired of waiting and wondering!!!

well 2 out of 3 isn't bad

The Defense is going to remain solid in 09, The offense has a little tweaking to do. the question now becomes who fills the void with Percy gone?

ESPN is reporting that Percy is leaving and Spikes is staying, although not "officially" yet

For the most part, Percy will be 'replaced' by committee. But he truly is a unique talent, and so can't be exactly 'replaced'.

It was incredible how if our offense stalled we could depend on either: Tebow to get it 'unstuck' by running over 12 defenders or just getting the ball to Percy and seeing what would happen (usually a big play to get us going).

Not that it might swing back the other way but Percy still hasn't offically said he is going to the NFL.....by my sources he is torn after meeting with Meyer and Gonzo this afternoon. As of now its only a family member of Percy saying that he is intending to go pro. I really have little hope that he will stay, but it's not a done deal as of now

Yeah, why hasn't the decision be made yet? I hope he goes up to the podium and says, out of nowhere, that he's staying. That would be sweet

Sweet it sure would have been!! its now official that he has declared for the draft officially according to ESPN and several other News sources....Good Luck Percy, Make the Gator Nation Proud!!