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.

So how many times did you get grief  over playing Charleston Southern last week? The guys over at Orange & Blue Hue ask if anyone wants to complain about the schedule now? Simply put Georgia,Virginia Tech, and Oklahoma fans all wished their teams played cupcakes in week one.

Where did Uga's Mojo Go?

Mark Bradley of the AJC after watching the Dawgs for two years sees  something missing at UGA, and it isn’t talent. Maybe that slice of Time-Out Pie that Coach Urban Meyer served them up last year took some of their mojo away. The season is still young, so the Dawgs can’t be wrote off. Reading some of the Bulldog sites a lot of them have already done just that.

After the first game all the buzz was about Riley Cooper showing he was ready to be number one target for Tebow, and also for yaking after catching three passes in a row.

Coach Meyer said after the game, “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.”

Tim Tebow played less than a half, but both Olin Buchanan and the Rivals.com Fan Poll still has him in the lead for the Heisman Trophy. Yes that is a Heisman Trophy poll after the first week of the season.

On to week two, with the Troy Trojans paying a visit to The Swamp. Florida Coach Urban Meyer says not to take this team lightly, and they have more NFL talent than “several” Southeastern Conference teams the Gators will play this season. It may be easy to over look Troy after they got off to a bad start to their season with one of Coach Meyer’s old teams in Bowling Green.

The flu has hit the Gators this week just like many football teams across college football. Urban Meyer is monitoring his players’ flu situation closely. Right now Brandon Hicks and Nick Alajajian have been reported to have the flu.

Jelani Jenkins looks like he will be out due to an ankle sprain. While the defensive line could get a boost as Lawrence Marsh was able to practice Wednesday. Also Carl Johnson after limping off the field in the CSU game will be ready to go against Troy.

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.

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.

CSUsports.com reports - “Who starts the Florida game for us will very much depend on the shape each quarterback reports in,” said Coach Jay Mills. “We have great competition and depth at each position, and that is no different at the quarterback spot. We know they have both worked hard and will continue to do so, so our staff will evaluate them daily. It is our policy never to move anyone down in the depth chart, it will be up to the other guys to step up and take the starting role.”

Does this mean they are going to be a complete push over for the Gators? AP writer Pete Iacobelli got this quote from Running back Antwan Ivey, “We’ve got a notion we can shock the world,” he said. “We’re not going in thinking we’ll lose. I want to win.”

I don’t think we are going to see an Appalachian State performance from CSU. Here is how we should judge the game, and what to look for.

1. Does the Gators first team defense completely dominate CSU offense? While they are on the field the defense that returns all starters should not give up any points and we need to see the Defensive Line own the line of scrimmage. We should also keep an eye on Omar Hunter, Troy Epps, Earl Okine, and William Green to see if they are able keep up where the first team left off.

2. Is John Brantley ready for prime-time? The first time the Gator Nation got to see how Tim Tebow would manage a game was the 2nd half of the Western Carolina, so do the Gators put this game away early in the first half and allow Brantley to get the majority of work in the second half of the game? It would even be nice if Jordan Reed were able to get some game action.

3. Does any Wide Receiver want to be the man? Riley Cooper and Deonte Thompson will get the start at wide out, and they need to show one of them can replace Louis Murphy. The Gators Wide Receivers were a question mark all summer long, but in the last week have added new worries. Freshman WR Andre Debose’s hamstring injury is not going away and may be worse that thought. Also Senior Carl Moore’s career may be in doubt due to a back injury.

4. Keep the Injuries away! In a game like this the main thing you want is all the players to come off the field with out any injuries.

The game will air on Sun Sports in Florida and throughout the SEC region on FOX Sports South and FOX Sports Southwest. The game will also be called on the Gators Radio Network and XM Radio.

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.