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
It is less than one week until the kickoff of the 2009 season. On Saturday, September 5, Charleston Southern University comes into The Swamp to take on the defending BCS National Champs. The Gators are paying $450,000 to get CSU to travel to Gainesville. So who are the Charleston Southern University Buccaneers?
Gators vs Bucs
The Buccaneers are a member The Big South Conference, and have been picked to finish fifth from The Big South media. Head coach Jay Mills, now in his seventh year at CSU, holds a 34-33 record with the Bucs. They are going to have a new starting quarterback when the come in to The Swamp. This with be their fourth starting QBs in as many years.
With only 23 days till the home opener the Gators have now put on the pads and are ready to get down to business. It should be a great fall practice as guys try to crack the starting line-up. On defense there is going to be competition at every position. Defensive Coordinator Charlie Strong summed it up like this at the Gators Media Day:
After the SEC Media Days, we found out one thing about the 2009 College Football Season: it is going to be All Tebow, All the Time. Blogger Dan Sanoff is going to spend all season just covering Tim Tebow on his blog TimTeblog.com. He won’t have any trouble finding content with the crazy media coverage Tim has got so far this year. Who will be the first media outlet to break the news when Tebow shaves his beard?
Future of Gators Football
I’m back from vacation refreshed and ready for the start of the 2009 College Football season. The Gators are set to start practice Thursday August 6th. The first two practices will be open to the public.
Freshman WR Andre Debose is showing he is going to be the replacement for Percy Harvin. He has taken a page out of Percy’s playbook already, with the report that Andre Debose is nursing a hamstring injury. This all-too-familiar situation reminds many Gator fans of the times when Percy was injured and unable to show his abilities to their fullest extent in practice.
Check out the Gator Nation at the 2009 ESPN’s ESPY Award Show. Around the 1:00 minute mark Dara Torres takes home the Best Comeback Athlete and Tim Tebow gets his 2nd Best Male College Athlete award. Also at the 8:00 minute mark Andre Debose takes an ESPY for his 91 TD in the Under Armor Game.
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.
Andre Debose 4th ranked WR in Nation coming to The Swamp in 2009!
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:
The best of the best coming down to Florida. Going to bring home another championship in 2010! Andre Debose, Xavier Nixon, Jon Bostic, Nick Alajajian, Jonotthan Harrison, Nu’Keese Richardson, Gary Brown, Marsalis Teague, Dee Finley & Mike Gillislee gave verbal commits.
