Photo by: UPI/Mark Wallheiser

After the Georgia game,  Riley Cooper was on ESPN’s First Take to talk about the unbelievable one-handed catch he had for a touchdown. In the interview,  he was asked about his baseball career and signing with the Texas Rangers. As he was telling about the the signing process, Cooper said the three weeks he had to wait to hear that he could play this year were the longest 3 weeks of his life.

As soon as those words came out of his mouth,  I became a much bigger Texas Rangers fan. If Cooper’s contract  had not allowed him to come back and play, the Gators’ passing game would be  exclusively Aaron Hernandez. After the Vandy game the Cooper/Hernandez combo has accounted for 54% of all Gator receptions. Cooper has 38% off all catches by Gators Wide Receivers this year (counting Brandon James as a WR).

I’ve heard from fans this year that there is always a Gator waiting to step up and fill a role as it opens up, and most of the time I would agree. However if there were no Riley Cooper this year,  I don’t see anyone ready to set up. There is still plenty of room for another wide out to step-up to replace the production lost by Murphy and Harvin.

At the beginning of the season,  I did not see Riley Cooper having this type of year. As a matter of fact,  I had all but given up on Cooper and felt Deonte Thompson would be the go-to wide out for Tebow.  I’ll eat my crow, and say thank you Mr. Cooper for proving me wrong. Even Coach Meyer has come right out and said, “Riley Cooper is our guy right now.”

Cooper has shown that he is not just a one dimensional receiver that runs a go route. He has made the flashy plays this year, but he has also come up with some huge drive-extending 3rd down receptions. There also could be a highlight reel of Cooper’s blocks this season. Cooper takes pride in his blocking.

Stephen Kerkhof spoke with Cooper on his blocking, “Having the receivers block well is very important to the offense,” Cooper said. “We have great running backs who can create big plays every time they touch the ball. So having that perimeter blocking covered, that’s real big for our scheme this year.”

In a year that the Gators’ offense has been less explosive that in years past, it is hard to fathom where they would be if Cooper had not came back to finish his senior season. Teams have been loading the box to stop the rushing attack, and Cooper has been the only consistent deep threat Florida has been able to run out on the field.

So this summer when the college football news is hard to find, turn on a Rangers game and cheer for them a little. Who knows, but they may have saved the season for the Gators, and of couse Verne Lundquist now gets to tell us week after week that CBS has a Gators game that Riley Cooper and Tim Tebow are roommates.

The night in Baton Rouge has not been friendly to many visiting teams, but the Gators were able to escape the night with a 13 to 3 victory over LSU. Tim Tebow was also able to return to the field after his concussion versus Kentucky. With the uncertainty around Tebow’s health, Coach Urban Meyer and Steve Addazio called a very conservative offensive game play against the Tigers.

There seem to be two problems with the Gators’ offense right now. First of all,  the big O-Linemen that are great for the nation’s top rushing attack are not as quick setting up for pass blocking, and Tebow is under a lot of pressure when he drops back to pass. Also,  outside Riley Cooper and Aaron Hernandez, nobody seems to be getting open.

Tebow got the honor of the next SI cover this week after the LSU game. Over on ESPN’s Heisman Experts’ Poll Tebow took 13 of the 14 first place votes.

Tebow wasn’t the only Gator to take home honors this week. Brandon Spikes was name SEC defensive player of the week.

CBS will air this week’s game agaist the Arkansas Razorbacks. The game starts at 3:30 PM EST, so let the Swine Flu jokes roll in. For full broadcast information check out Gatorzone.com.

By showing you couldn’t beat a mid-level Pac-10 team, you got Vegas to put up a 30-point spread (which no SEC team should ever have).

It is time to give the media an “aw shucks” and start talking about how great the Gators are. Everybody is now set up for the blowout and only a 50-point win will satisfy most of the Gators fan base and media.

• ESPN.com’s Pat Forde—Florida looks vulnerable in win, Tennessee looks tough in loss

• New York Times—A Letdown, but Not a Loss, for Florida.

• Mike Strange—Loss but not lost

• Orlando Sentinel Mike Bianchi—Gators win but Kiffin’s still laughing

• Palm Beach Post Ben Volin—Tennessee frustrates Florida

• SI.com’ndy Staples—Florida scored more points, but this felt like a victory for Tennessee

So how do you keep from getting blown out by the Gators? First you clearly go into the game with no plans to throw the ball over five yards deep and hope your ground game can eat up clock.

Somehow you knew you would catch a break with Deonte Thompson out due to a hamstring injury and Jeff Demps, Aaron Hernandez, and Jermaine Cunningham all battling the flu.

Kiffin told Matt Hayes of SportingNews “I started slowing down getting the plays to take time off the clock. I didn’t want to tell our players what the plan was.”

Coach Urban Meyer said that Tennessee’s apparent lack of interest in actually winning the game, as opposed to keeping it close, meshed perfectly with Florida playing conservatively.

“It was unbelievable,” he said of Tennessee’s ambivalent offense. “They were taking their time snapping the ball when they could go win the game. There was no two-minute drill.”

The conservative game calling was just as catching as the flu with Steve Addazio also unwilling to take any chances down field. Tim Tebow carried the bulk of the load with 24 rushing attempts, but it was an uncharacteristic Tebow fumble deep in Vol’s territory allow Tennessee to avoid their second 30-6 loss.

It is great to see the Vols Nation happy being mentioned as one of the best 1-2 teams in the nation. All is great since you didn’t get embarrassed in Kiffin’s first SEC game.

What seems to be missed is the program has reached a level that a loss is considered a win in anyone’s book.

Seems that the Vols have taken a page from Randy Shannon with the “This will help us more than you will ever know” philosophy.

GatorsNow is spanning the internet to see what the reactions were after the Charleston Southern game. The Gators were able to kick their 2009 season off and try and answer some of the questions facing the team.

A lot of them were answered in a short period of time. First the running game is legit, the Gators were able to rush for 369 yard with a lot of big plays from Rainey, Demps, and Moody. The Gators did show some of their quick strike offense after a 68 yard pass to Cooper then a quick snap for a 9 yard TD by Jeff Demps.

Cooper looked great hauling in 5 passes for 105 yards, and at one point catching 3 in a row. Deonte Thompson and Brandon James did drop what would have been 2 TD passes by Tebow. The Gators need the WR to step up and show they are SEC ready.

The Gators defense played a lot of base D and didn’t show a lot of blitzs. At times CSU was able to move the ball with quick passes, and hit a couple deep balls over Wondy Pierre-Louis who was filling in for Janoris Jenkins. Jenkins was sitting from his summer fight and run in with the law. Also Jermaine Cunningham did not play. Coach Meyer would only say, “He wasn’t ready to play.”

ESPN/AP reported:

Although Florida opened its most anticipated season in school history with a near-perfect performance, it came against an overmatched team from the Football Championship Subdivision.

“It’s hard to evaluate that game,” coach Urban Meyer said.

Florida, an overwhelming favorite to repeat as national champs, accomplished everything it wanted to in the opener, though. The Gators unveiled some new wrinkles, won the game in convincing fashion and avoided any major injuries.

Andrea Adelson of the Orlando Sentinel had these nuggets from the game:

On Riley Cooper, who had five catches for 105 yards, “Riley played like he practiced. He’s playing as good as he’s ever played. I know it’s been one game, but the way he practiced, I knew he was ready for a breakout game.”

John Brantley had a solid outing, going 8-of-12 for 67 yards with 2 TDs. He also ran six times for 44 yards. “It was fun watching him and being able to encourage him,” Tebow said.

LG Carl Johnson injured his knee, but Meyer said he was hoping it was just a bruise and listed the player as probable for next week.

Pat Dooley Grades the Gators:

OVERALL: A-

Not much opposition but the usual stars showed their stuff in the blowout victory for the Gators.

Read more for the full box score of the game.

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When I was looking over the 2009 squad in May, the Wide Receiver position was an area of concern. I was looking forward to the summer practices to see which wide-outs would step up. After everything that has transpired leading up to the start of the season, I just don’t see any way that this Wide Receiver group is going to be any where as good as last year’s.

We need to see more of this from Deonte Thompson

Gators’ fans knew there was no replacing Percy Harvin with one player, but there hasn’t been anyone step up to show they could be the next Louis Murphy. It is also uncertain who is going to fill the slot position this year

In his Monday press conference, Coach Meyer hit on this point, “Our number one concern on offense is depth at wide receiver and tight-end; that and finalizing our Top-5 [offensive-line]. I will feel better as soon I know who we have and which way we’re going. It’s critical. Carl Moore is still not healthy. Riley Cooper almost didn’t come back, has been practicing every day and is playing the best football of his career right now. In the last week, Deonte [Thompson] took that step to become one of our core receivers. We don’t have a third-string anywhere.”

Carl Moore was a huge talent coming out of JUCO, but there is a good chance he won’t be able to take another snap as a Gator due to a back injury. Then news came out this weekend that Andre Debose hamstring injury is not healing and is worse that previously thought. Debose and his family will be meeting with doctors on Tuesday to weigh the options, but all signs are pointing to a redshirt season for the “next Percy.”

Coach Meyer addressed it by saying, “It’s been difficult; I’ll meet with Dr. Pete (Indelicato) today. It’s a very unique injury. There is an issue with one of the tendons that leads into the bone. It’s certainly not career-ending is what they’ve told me. It’s just do you fix it or give it time. He’s already had a lot of time so that decision will be made within the next 24 hours. I talked to Andre this morning and his attitude is great. It’s almost like he’s relived because a hamstring pull should be healed by now. It’s comparable to the young man DeMarco Murray at Oklahoma last year, who missed our game. I don’t think many guys have had what he has.”

The Gators have the following returning players – David Nelson, Carl Moore, Brandon James, Justin Williams, T.J. Lawrence, Frankie Hammond, Riley Cooper, Deonte Thompson, Paul Wilson, and Omarius Hines.

You can add Paul Wilson to the injured list along with Carl Moore and Andre Debose. So that leaves the Gators with 59 receptions returning from healthy Wide Receivers. To put that in perspective UGA returns A.J. Green with 56 grabs from last year, and Bams’a Julio Jones had 58 receptions.

Heading into the 2006 season the Gators were in this same boat at the Running Back position. Urban was able to work his magic and got the most out of DeShawn Wynn, Tim Tebow, and Percy Harvin to give the Gators a legitimate ground game.

Production from the offense is going to have to come from the running game. This will be a run first team that uses the ground game to open up the passing game. This is not all gloom and doom for the Gators. Aaron Hernandez will still be there to offer huge match up troubles, and with the speed of Cooper and Thompson on the outside it will be hard for defensive coordinators to load up the box and try to shut down the running game.

David Nelson, T. J. Lawrence, Frankie Hammond– please prove me wrong and be that extra weapon that puts this offense on another level.

Gator fans–it is only one more week till the 2009 Gators Football season kicks off. During the past week the Gators have dominated the college football news. It all started with the Gators making AP poll history. The Gators were able to get 58 out of the 60 votes and received the most first-place votes ever. Lou Holtz also shocked everyone when he said that Notre Dame would meet Florida in the BCS National Championship this season. I’ve heard everything from rumors that Lou has completely fallen off his rocker to rumors that he is putting pressure on Charlie Weis because he would like to see his son Skip Holtz take the Notre Dame job. Either way one of the teams he picked was right.

What more can Tebow do?

The NY Daily News says Florida Gators QB Tim Tebow is living life of superhero in city of Gainesville. This superhero has not gone with out his battle wounds. Tebow had never missed a start after taking over from Chris Leak, but all that physical play has taken its toll. The Orlando Sentinel took a look at Tim Tebow’s medical history. Tim right shoulder has taken at lot of the brunt from plowing over opponents.

SI’s Stewart Mandel has Tebow well positioned to become all-time best. Mandel looks back over the last 25 years and ranks some of college football’s best QB. If the Gators, led by Tim Tebow,  are able to win another National Championship, it would be hard not to have Tebow at the top of that list.

One of Tebow’s top targets this season will be Aaron Hernandez. Hard Knox Sports says Aaron Hernandez is Not The Best SEC Tight End. Hernandez is a pre-season All SEC 2nd team selection behind D.J. Williams of  Arkansas. Both of the players are great talents, but I think that we are going to see Aaron used in a ton of different ways this year for the Gators. He’ll have plenty of opportunities to build on his stats and will have a great shot at the end of the year to claim the title of Best TE in the SEC.

No shaving eyebrows in the locker room

This week the Zooker took some heat from Coach Meyer about the hijinks under the previous coaching staff. Meyer told Jeremy Fowler:

“When we first got here five years ago they had freshmen in a separate locker room and it was a bunch of tin lockers over there and they weren’t allowed to walk [into the regular locker room],” Meyer told reporters Friday. “Think about this for a minute: this is a big-time college football program and we had some fights because they treat their freshman like they were non-people.

“‘Don’t walk through here, we’ll kick your tail, we’ll shave your eyebrows.’ It took us awhile to break that great culture we had here. That was tremendous. You don’t win many games, but you beat up freshman and shave eyebrows. Absolutely unbelievable.”

Zook issued the following statement Friday night in response to Meyer’s comments.

“I was surprised to see that, once again, five years later, we’re blamed for something else at Florida. But by now I guess I shouldn’t be. This one was most disappointing because it implies we didn’t look out for our players. From someone who wasn’t there at the time. I can assure you I’ve never, ever been accused of that. I thought I was too much of a players’ coach.

“The implication is incorrect — there is no place for hazing in college football and we’ve put a stop to that if we’ve ever seen it. I applaud Florida for fostering what they say is a wonderful family atmosphere. I
would invite anyone to talk to any of our players here at Illinois and, although we don’t look for media opportunities to brag about it, it is a wonderful family atmosphere.”

Meyer claims he didn’t intend to criticize Zook. “I made a comment about the previous locker room arrangement and how that can lead to issues such as separating freshmen. There was no intent to criticize the previous staff or coach Zook. Obviously the locker room arrangement was that way for a while.”

After all that, the teams just need to put on some pads and play it out on the field.

The Gators and recruit Victor Hampton have parted ways. Word came out that Hampton is no longer on the Gators’ commitment list for the class of 2010. Victor was kicked off his Independence High football team, and after Friday Night Lights,  the Gators backed off him. Cody Riggs is the name that is popping up as the replacement in this class for Hampton. Riggs is 5′ 8″, 160-pound and runs a 4.3 40-yard dash. He is also being recruited by FSU and Tennessee.

He told NoleInsider.com: “I would say Florida is my leader right now because I’ve been there more recent so I have a better feeling for Florida. I also went there twice this summer.”

Players in circle drills..#51 (LB) Brandon Spikes vs. #81(TE) Aaron Hernandez..#99 (DT) Omar Hunter vs. #58 (OL) Nick Alajajian..#8 (DE) Carlos Dunlap vs. #72 (OL) Jonotthan Harrison..#35 (S) Ahmad Black vs. #6 (WR) Deonte Thompson..#97 (DT) Edwin Herbert vs. #73 (OL) Byran Jones..#34 (LB) Lerentee McCray vs. #48 (FB) Rick Burgess
#98 (DT) Troy Epps vs. #57 (OL) Carl Johnson..#27 (CB) Adrian Bushell vs. #35 (S) Ahmad Black..#6 (DE) Jaye Howard vs. #76 (OL) Marcus Gilbert..#91 (DE) Earl Okine vs. #50 (OL) Sam Robey..#96 (DE) William Green vs. #71 (OL) Matt Patchan

Every since Percy announced he was going pro on January 15, the buzz surrounding the Gators has been about who is going to replace Harvin.

I’ve read many different opinions on how to replace Percy, but I would like to put all that to rest. The Gators will not replace Percy Harvin next year, and we may never see an athlete like him lace up the Nikes for the Gators again.

Percy Harvin Will Be Missed

Percy was a one of a kind athlete that is seldom seen in any program. During his career, he averaged more than a first down every time he touched the ball and had 32 touchdowns over three years.

The biggest thing that will be hard to replace is his big play threat. Harvin had 24 receptions of 10 yards or more and 10 catches of 20 yards or more.

Don’t get me wrong—the Gators have a bunch of guys with blazing speed, but there is not that one player who can line up both in the backfield or out at wideout and strike the same fear in defensive coordinators.

What we have to see from the Gators is a playbook change to remove the “Percy position” and divide the plays up to showcase the talent on the roster. We saw in the Alabama game that there is not a single player that can be plugged to replace Percy.

Brandon James has been the player that the Gators have gone to when Harvin was out with injury, but James needs more open space that Harvin did and he is not going to be able to take the ball between the tackles. The offense has to evolve this year to showcase the weapons we do have.

Due to injuries, I don’t think we were able to get a true indication of what the Gators’ offense will look like in 2009.

We have to get the three biggest weapons we have on the field at the same time to keep the other teams guessing where the Gators are going to strike from.

Jeff Demps, Chris Rainey, and Aaron Hernandez must have packages where they are on the field at the same time. With Hernandez creating matchup nightmares in the middle of the field and the threat of a quick swing pass to Demps or Rainey in the open field, this offense could even rack up bigger numbers than last year if there is a clean No. 1 receiver.

I’ve written about it before, but that one X factor needed for the Gators offense to be elite is going to hinge on a wide receiver stepping up. This spring there were flashes from Deonte Thompson and Frankie Hammond, Jr., but none of the wide-outs were consistent day in and day out.

The Gator Nation has been blessed to have Percy Harvin for three years, and we will always dream about seeing another playing in The Swamp with as quick of a first step as Percy.

We’ll be doing this just the same way that USC hopes for another Reggie Bush, Notre Dame tries to figure out how they got Rocket Ismail in the first place, UGA wants to make every back the next Herschel Walker, and Auburn—you can exhale, there will never be another Bo Jackson.

Oh wait there is this kid Andre Debose…

Orson Charles says the Gators don't feel right

Orson Charles took the Gators off his list of schools he is still considering. This leaves USC, Georgia , and Tennessee still in the running. Now the question I ask is why? He has stated that he will make his official announcement on March 6^th, so why take the Gators off the list with 10 days to go? I tried to look at the facts on this one, and why would a hybrid TE like Charles not want to play for the Gators?

Of the three schools that he has left which one of them has shown that they use a TE that can line up as a WR like the Gators have? These schools have had some great TE’s come through there program, but they have all been the big traditional tight ends which right now Orson isn’t. All he had to do is walk on campus and he was 2^nd on the depth chart.

This one will hurt the depth chart, but we still have a great one in Aaron Hernandez and the Gators did pick up Desmond Parks a fast TE that can cause match up problems for opposing linebackers. Also the Gators are working the class of 2010 hard for a TE, and have Xavier Grimble, Gerald Christian, and Charles Fashaw targeted.

This is just one that I will not understand. The only thing I can think of is Urban and company did not make Orson feel special, because he would have been a perfect fit for the Gators spread offense.

With Harvin Gone Who Steps Up?

Heading into the 2009 there is a good chance that 2009 Gators will open as the preseason # 1. The debate will begin with the worthiness of this team to open this high and how Texas, USC, and Oklahoma should be ranked in the useless preseason top spot. If you really consider the situation carefully, this team is going to be improved in just about every way. The defense is going to be two deep in every position, Tebow is back, and the running game is more secure than in the past. However, the one spot that is going to have to improve is the Gators Wide Receiver Position. Right now the roster looks like this:

2009 WRs - David Nelson, Carl Moore, Brandon James, Justin Williams, T.J. Lawrence, Frankie Hammond, Riley Cooper, Deonte Thompson, Paul Wilson, Omarius Hines

2009 WRs Recruits - Andre Debose, Nu’Keese Richardson

Just looking at this list on paper, you see a lot of four and five star recruits with tons of raw talent, but when you start to look at  results from actual game situations, this group lacks an impressive resume. A bunch of these guys had key catches in the 2008, but it would be a stretch to say any of them had a great game. The top returning pass catcher from last year is not even a WR. Aaron Hernandez hauled in 34 receptions last year with 5 TDs. From there the stats drop to 18 receptions from Riley Cooper and Deonte Thompson. David Nelson has shown signs he could be the replacement for Louis Murphy, but I would put Murphy further along coming into his Senior season.

I’m pretty sure no one in Gator Nation thinks any of these guys are going to be a replacement for Percy Harvin. His unreal first step and home run threat each time he touched the ball are going to be missed a lot more as the 2009 season continues. So is it all gloom and doom for the Gators next year, No! I just see Billy Gonzales having push this group a lot harder that last year to get them ready for life in the SEC. So who’s ready to step up for 2009?

Other Gator stuff:

• GatorCountry found this great article by Smart Football on the The Florida Gator/Urban Meyer Offense.

• Just how good is Nick Calathes.