Bleacher Report - Articles by Josh Sawyers

Nu'Keese Richardson Is Lane Kiffin's Pawn

Josh Sawyers — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 11:51:24 -0500

In the game of chess, the pawn is the weakest piece and it is often used metaphorically to indicate something that is unimportant or expendable. In the game of college football, Nu'Keese Richardson has become that pawn for the University of Tennessee football program.

Kiffin first used Richardson back in February at an "energetic breakfast" with some of Tennessee's donors and alumni. Kiffin claimed Urban Meyer broke NCAA rules by calling Richardson while he was at UT on a recruiting visit.

"I'm going to turn Florida in right now in front of you. As Nu'Keese was here on campus, his phone keeps ringing. So one of our coaches who is sitting in a meeting with him says, 'Who's that?' He looks at the phone and says,Urban Meyer."

Kiffin continued "Just so you know, when a recruit is on another campus you can't call him. But I love the fact that Urban had to cheat and still didn't get him."

With Kiffin's blatant lack of knowledge of the rules, he was able to get national headlines after National Signing Day. With their "don't take no for an answer" approach and his promise to turn Richardson into the next Reggie Bush, Kiffin had his trophy to keep his program in the news.

Kiffin said after National Signing day, "We're just getting started. This is just a little bit of a taste. There's already been a message sent and I think there are going to be bigger ones sent soon."

His recruiting coordinator Ed Orgeron saw it fit to take some direct shots at the Gators, "In order to beat the national champ on the field, you have to beat the national champ in recruiting. We beat them twice."

Also Orgeron made it clear the strong arm tactics they used to get Nu'ke out Florida, "A commitment doesn't mean anything nowadays. Just the fax. When you see that name come across the paper, that's what matters."

While Boy Blunder and his League of Super Coaches were planning their next PR move, a unsure Richardson had to live with his rushed decision. "I wanted to move it back," Richardson said. "I wanted to wait. But I felt if I did too much thinking, it would make it harder on me."

Fast forward to November 12th, rumors are swirling about an unhappy Richardson considering a transfer and skipping a practice, but what takes place around 2 AM at the Pilot gas station in Knoxville comes as a shock to us all. I won't get into the details as they have been covered thoroughly.

What I want to focus on is the fact that a kid who was promised to become the next Reggie Bush, sits in a Knoxville jail cell because no one has posted a $19,500 bond for him. So, the pawn that was uprooted from his family and friends in Florida gets sacrificed. In a week where Kiffin boasted about his clean program, he has yet to issue any disciplinary actions or shown any compassion towards his players.

Would things have been any better if Richardson came to Gainesville? That I have no clue, but one thing is for sure; Richardson has been nothing but PR magic for Kiffin. He gave the UT program its only win over Florida and in return he gives the Tennessee football program its biggest black eye too. Maybe going forward, the UT advertising agency will look a little deeper into how these headlines affect the people in them.

UT quotes from - Knoxville News Sentinel

Contact Josh Sawyers at GatorsNow.com and follow at http://Twitter.com/GatorsNow.

Did Lane Kiffin's Shenanigans Work?

Josh Sawyers — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 09:33:14 -0400

Is there anyway this is all part of some well thought out master plan by Boy Blunder and his League of Super Coaches?

If you check out the headlines and stories after the Florida-Tennessee game you can see he pulled a fast one on the media.

Lane Kiffin had every Gator fan circle Sept. 19 on their calendar with his remarks soon after being hired. I'll admit that I wished time would speed up so these two teams could strap on the helmets and play the off the field antics in The Swamp.

As the offseason passed, Kiffin started changing his tune and toned down his actions, saying he was doing what he need to do to get his team back on the College Football map.

Here is where the genius of Kiffin comes into play. In the second week of the season, you have UCLA travel across the country and beat your team in Neyland Stadium. Sure, this would get your fanbase fired up and put some heat on you, but since most Tennessee fans don't know there is a world west of Memphis, this loss would soon be forgotten.

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's time to give the media an "ah shucks" and start talking about how great the Gators are.

Everybody is now set up for the blow out 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's Andy 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 allowing Tennessee to avoid their second 30-6 loss.

It's 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.

It seems that the Vols have taken a page from Randy Shannon with the "This will help us more than you will ever know" philosophy.

Legend of Tim Tebow: Why the Florida QB is Greatest Unfinished Story of All-Time

Josh Sawyers — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 09:15:11 -0400

Before I even finish this article, I'm going to go ahead and call it “The Greatest Article Ever Written.” In the world of College Football this is the norm these days. Nothing has to play out on the field to get labeled the greatest or best of all-times these days. I am the biggest Gator fan out there, so this may be shocking.

Tim Tebow is not the greatest college football quarterback or player of all-time. In my book he is not yet the greatest Gators' QB of all-time. There I said it.

At this point in his career, how could I pick Tim over Danny Wuerffel? Danny lead the Gators to two National Championship games and has a Heisman Trophy of his own. While Danny may not have worn his emotions on his sleeve and been the vocal leader Tebow is, he was clearly the leader of those Gators teams from the mid-90's.

What gives Danny, and any other player that is considered an all-time best, and advantage is that judgment about their prowess was saved till after their college career was over.

Sure, none of them won a Heisman their sophomore season, played a pivotal role in winning a National Championship their freshman year, or backed that up with another National Championship as a Junior, but the Tim Tebow story is still unfinished.

So why do we hold Tebow to a higher standard than others? I think the main reason is because the media recognizes Tebow as a polarizing figure and draws readers with every Tim Tebow headline.

Tebow has been the face of College Football for nearly three years now. I remember at the beginning of Tebow's sophomore season, his face was all over DirecTV's college football GamePlan. Since then, the Tebow coverage hasn't stopped. The other day I counted six major sports websites that had Tebow all over their home page.

Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated ranked Vince Young as the all-time greatest quarterback in the last 25 years. Did you hear any talk about Vince Young going into his junior season being an all-time great.

At the start of the season most considered Matt Leinart as the best college QB going into the season, and he wasn't the best player on his team. Reggie Bush was clearly the best player on the offensive side of the ball when USC was on the field.

While the “greatest” debate is great one to have with your buddies, you can't start this debate until you have all the facts. Tebow's legacy is still a working progress, and judging prematurely is just wrong and unfair.

What makes Tebow unique is after just two years as a starter he even gets into this discussion. SEC fans love to throw the names of Bo Jackson, Herschel Walker and Payton Manning, but would you throw those names in there without their last season?

How would Tommy Frasier, Roger Staubach, Earl Campbell, Red Grange, O. J. Simpson and a long list of others rank without their pivotal final season?

As I write this article it is hard not to predict that Tebow will go down as the greatest when Tebow leads the Gators to their third National Championship in four years greatest.

BUT what if the injury bug hits the Gators, what if they can't fill the few spots they lost from last years team and, gasp the Gators don't live up to the hype. How quickly would this debate end?

So let’s not crown Tim Tebow anything yet. I looking forward to watching him finish off his legacy on the field and not in the papers. If the confetti is pouring down on Tebow in the Rose Bowl in January let the debate begin.

Florida Gators Wide Receivers Are Still a Question Mark

Josh Sawyers — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 11:14:33 -0400

When I was looking over the 2009 Florida football 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.

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 five [offensive linemen]. 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's hamstring injury is not healing and is worse than 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.”

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 relieved 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 Moore and 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 this year 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.

Florida Gators Player Profile: Nimrod Tishman

Josh Sawyers — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:26:22 -0400

If you are like me, you never heard of Nimrod Tishman until late July.

Nimrod really broke out in the international hoops scene in the 2009 U18 European Championship. He averaged 18.3 points per game to go with 4 rebounds and 2.3 assists in six games. Nimrod is a 6' 5" point guard that looks a lot like Nick Calathes on tape. Florida just has one true point guard, Erving Walker, on scholarship, and incoming freshman Kenny Boynton planned to handle some point.

N-Rod was a huge addition to the Gators roster by Coach Donovan. The Gators tried to pick up highly touted point guards John Wall, Eric Bledsoe, and Lamont Jones after Nick Calathes left to play for Panathinaikos out of Greece.

The NCAA Clearinghouse is still reviewing his amateur status since Nimrod played on Maccabi Tel-Aviv club team. He has already enrolled in classes and will be wearing Al Horford's old jersey #42.

For more Gators coverage check out GatorsNow.com

Florida Gator Fans: Get to Know Charleston Southern

Josh Sawyers — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 08:29:14 -0400

It is less than one week until the kickoff of the 2009 season. On Saturday, Sept. 5, Charleston Southern University comes into The Swamp to take on the defending BCS National Champions. The Gators are paying $450,000 to get CSU to travel to Gainesville.

So who are the Charleston Southern University Buccaneers?

The Buccaneers are a member of 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 they come to The Swamp. This will be their fourth starting QB in as many years.

“Who starts the Florida game for us will very much depend on the shape each quarterback reports in,” said 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 pushover 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.

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.

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 second half of a game against 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.

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.

Keep the Injuries Away!

In a game like this, the main thing you want is all the players to come off the field without 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.

For more Gators coverage check out GatorsNow.com

Book Review: Historic Photos of University of Florida Football

Josh Sawyers — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:31:15 -0400

From Humble Beginnings To The Top Of The College Football Mountain.

Dr. Kevin McCarthy’s Historic Photos of University of Florida Football takes Gators’ fans on a visual history of the Florida Gators Football program. This book is a must have for any Gators fan and should be displayed proudly on your coffee table. With the success of the Gators Football program in the last few years, there are lots of new fans that may not be aware of Ray Graves, Steve Spurrier the player, and the early years of the program.

Historic Photos of University of Florida Football starts out by taking the reader on a journey back to the program’s modest beginnings. The University of Florida official records have the football program starting in 1906, but Dr. McCarthy was able to dig up photos of the building blocks of Gators football dating back to 1902.

It is refreshing to see those early photos from the turn of the 19th century when the players battled on the fields with little more than a leather helmet and shoulder pads smaller than any woman had on in the 1980’s. Those early teams were not the most dominant of the era, but they did lay the foundation for Gators Football.

The 1930’s ushered in a new era for the Gators when University President John Tigert III set a priority to build Florida Field. Any fan today has the image of “The Swamp” ingrained in his or her mind, but it is shocking to see that home started out as a field the size of most high school stadiums these days.

Also during this time, the Gators took their game on the road to play colleges in the Northeastern part of the US. We take for granted the ease of travel today, but back then each of these road games was an adventure and McCarthy captures some of these early trips.

After World War II, the reader sees the team photos start to grow, both in the number of the players and the size of the players who suited up as Florida Gator. McCarthy does a great job of capturing the accelerated change of the game. These photos of the post WWII era just feel like the players are moving faster. This era also began a time known for its cheesy staged photos. It was very popular to have a Gator on a leash, and one of the best staged photos is on page 120 with Steve Spurrier on the shoulders of Coach Ray Graves and another unnamed coach.

Its safe to say that a book on the Gators reviewed by a Gator fan is going to get rave reviews, but I would love to see some more of the post 1996 Gators in the book. All Gators fans need to have the three years of the Zook regime captured in print. What better way to to keep us humble with this great run of success than to remind us of the tough times in the recent past.

Also, I feel is hard to consider a complete history of the Gators without the shot of Chris Leak holding the Waterford Crystal football in his hands, or any photo of Urban Meyer and Tim Tebow complete.

Historic Photos of University of Florida Football is now on sale and is available on Amazon. If you have a Gator fan on your Christmas list, then you are already finished shopping for him or her.

If you’ve just jumped on the Gators bandwagon after BCS Championship number one or two, then this is a must read to show you the history of Gators football before Tim Tebow. In fact, I’ve been a Gators fan as long as I can remember and still learned a good deal about Gators Football from this book.

Bonus: Can you name the player on the cover of the book?

The inside scoop—I did not pay for this book and was asked to review it by the its publisher. The book was sent to me with no strings attached, and I was free to give my honest opinion of the book.

For more Gators coverage visit GatorsNow.com

Florida Gators Who Transferred: Did They Find Success?

Josh Sawyers — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 10:33:12 -0400

There has been a big deal made out of the recent transfer of John Brown from Florida and then signing to play with Tennessee in 2010.

Some say this is a big PR move by Lane Kiffin, but what is that message?

Is the message that Tennessee is desperate for talent and will take in anyone they get a shot at? Or is it that Tennessee is willing to go the extra mile and work with projects that didn't work out at other schools?

How either one of these affects players that you will be recruiting is beyond me.

First, no player that gets a four or five star rating from any recruiting service is going to think they are a project that needs tweaking.

All it does to Tennessee is take away a scholarship in 2010 to a player that might be able to get on the field in 2010. John Brown was given every chance at UF, and either due to injury or his on lack of performance in the classroom was forced to transfer if he ever wanted to play college football.

This prompted me to think about some of the players who have transferred from Florida in the last few years and the level of success they experienced after leaving Gainesville. The players are in no particular order, but some came from the help of our GatorsNow Twitter followers.

Ingle Martin left and took the starting quarterback spot at Furman University, leading the Paladins to a 21-6 record. In just two years there, he set school records in passing yards (5,761), passing touchdowns (42), and total offense (6,277).

Eric Kresser was at Florida for four years backing up Danny Wuerffel, and after getting a ring with the 1996 Gators he headed off to lead Marshall to a NCAA Division I-AA National Championship.

After one year at Cal, Nyan Boateng put up 439 yards with five touchdowns and is expected to carry a much heavier load in the 2009 season. Nyan was a four star recruit by Rivals and a three star from Scout, but his biggest impact in Gainesville was getting stabbed by his girlfriend.

Another player that injuries sidelined, Mon Williams, left for Eastern Illinois University to join former Gator Chevon Walker. Chevon saw the end zone four times for E. Illinois in 2008 and played in eight games for the Panthers.

Williams never lived up to his four star ranking with the Gators.

Another four star running back, who will take his game to the Iowa State Cyclones, is Bo Williams, who sat out all of last season

Skyler Thornton was harder to find for me. Reports when he left Florida indicated that he was off to Valdosta State, but I could not find any information on him there. Turns out he played the 2008 season with Fort Valley State and averaged 45 yards with three touchdowns at this NCAA Division II school.

Bryan Waggener started all 11 games for the 1-10 Northern Colorado Bears last year. He passed for 14 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.

Josh Portis also saw the writing on the wall with Tim Tebow leading the Gators at QB. Portis left to play for Maryland but never saw the field with them either, so he will be playing next year with the California Vulcans.

Jarred Fayson followed Ron Zook out of town to the Illinois Fighting Illini. He had 143 yards with them and three touchdowns. He, like Boateng, is expected to have a much bigger role with the team this season.

Tight end transfer Trent Pupello is now on the roster with the USF Bulls, where his bio reads: "Mostly used in blocking schemes and to support the run game."

And who could forget the much-hyped Brock Berlin, who never earned the starting job over Rex Grossman. Brock started the 2003 and 2004 season with Miami and led them to a 19-5 record over those two years, including two wins over the Gators.

After the 2008 season the Gators have seen four players transfer out: Cameron Newton, John Brown, John Jones, and Torrey Davis. How many of these are Kiffin and the Big Ten coaches going to come running for?

If you can't pull in the talent, maybe you can live off the Gators' leftovers.

Find more Gators coverage at GatorsNow.com

Lane Kiffin's Twitter Account Gets Tennessee In Trouble

Josh Sawyers — Wed, 20 May 2009 12:35:16 -0400

For the—wow I’ve lost count—time, the new super staff at Tennessee is going to have to self report their program for breaking the rules. This time because Head Coach Lane Kiffin’s Twitter account mentioned by name an unsigned recruit:

“It’s a beautiful day in Knoxville, Tennessee today. I was so exited to hear that J.C. Copeland committed to play for the Vols today!”

They use again the standard “new” employees in the office. I don't think I would let a new employee have access to my Twitter account.

“It was one of Lane’s personal assistants, and it was his first day on the job,” Hamilton explained. “He posted the message on Lane’s Twitter account without asking compliance. It was an inadvertent error, but it’s still a violation and one of those things where you’ve got to know what the deal is. We’ll report it.”

This super staff doesn't seem to learn from its mistakes either. This is the second time they have reported themselves for mentioning an unsigned recruit by name. While on the radio in February, Kiffin talked about Bryce Brown on the air.

Coaches you may want to look at this. If you have a Twitter account just post it yourself. If you don’t have time to write 140 characters in a day, then you don’t need to have an account for some entry level office assistant to post about the weather and what color of shirt you are wearing.

This coming off a day when Kiffin buckled and called Pahokee High School and made a public apologized for insulting the whole community.

This is great theater and I love watching old tried and true Vols fans try to justify the Kiffman and his crazy shenanigans.

Stay tuned till next week when we see Boy Blunder and his League of Super Coaches mess up on the simplest things before they even coach a SEC game.

Quote by Athletic director Mike Hamilton was first reported by the Knoxville News Sentinel.

Who Will Fill Percy Harvin's Shoes at Florida?

Josh Sawyers — Tue, 05 May 2009 03:21:33 -0400

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 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 hardest thing to replace will be 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 in 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 than 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 wideouts 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...

The 10 Best Performances by Athletes Passed Their Prime

Josh Sawyers — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 13:34:24 -0400

It seems that we are seeing more professionals wow us with great performances when they are past their prime. Watching these amazing performances gives us all hope as we age that may be able to turn back the hands of father time and give that peak performance, if just for a day. It was hard to limit these performances to just ten, but here is my top ten sports performances from athletes past their prime: Number 10 -- Sam "Slammin Sammy" Snead If you look up the term “Golf Swing” you'll find a picture of Sam Snead. With 82 career PGA Tour wins, he is one of the top 5 golfers of all time. It may not be fair to place Sam in here since he never seemed to pass his prime. He is the oldest golfer to win a tour event at the age of 52. In 1974, at age 62, he shot (-1) 279 to come in third (three strokes behind winner Lee Trevino) at the PGA Championship at Tanglewood. Then Snead, at age 67, posted rounds of 67 and 66 at the Quad Cities Open, and at age 71, he shot 60 on his home course, The Homestead.

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The Gator Nation Says Thanks, Janoris Jenkins

Josh Sawyers — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 03:05:56 -0400

39 tackles, three interceptions, and 12 pass deflections...these statistics don't begin to tell the story of what Janoris brought to the Gators in the 2008 season. After giving up a ton of yards to Michigan in the Capital One Bowl, it was clear the Gators' defense needed a couple of stoppers.

Charlie Strong loves to have an aggressive defense that he can use to bring pressure and shut-down corner backs that he can trust in man to man coverage. Joe Haden had shown that he could be a shut down corner, but who was going to be that other guy?

Wondy Pierre-Louis had the talent to be that guy, but his late start in football showed. After the first game of the season; however, a bold freshman was ready to be that guy, and he was letting his teammates know.

Safety Ahmad Black heard it as soon as he step on campus, "He told us he was going to be real good. We were like, "Whatever," and then he went out there and showed us."

Jenkins was able to lock up man for man in major SEC contests with freshmen A.J. Green and Julio Jones, which allowed the Gators to use an extra man to keep pressure on Matthew Stafford and John Parker Wilson the whole game.

In the second half of the conference championship game ,you could see the Julio Jones' frustration at the tight coverage Janoris maintained (Bama fans—he did give up a big play early in the game).

"Not too many freshmen come in and play on the Florida defense," Gators defensive leader Brandon Spikes stated. "But he's done all the right things, made a lot of big plays, never let guys catch the ball on him."

So I'd like to just take the time to say thanks Janoris Jenkins, you are a big reason the Gators were able to claim their third National Championship.

The Window Closed Quickly for The Georgia Bulldogs

Josh Sawyers — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 23:17:37 -0400

The season started out with a lot of hope and promise for the Bulldogs with a pre-season No. 1 ranking, but did not result in the outcome most Georgia fans wanted. This is not to bash Georgia. As a team they had to deal with a tough schedule and a lot of key injuries.

After a win in a 24-12 win over Michigan State in the Capital One Bowl, three key players are leaving Athens. Matthew Stafford, Knowshon Moreno, and Asher Allen all announced they are headed to the NFL.

Then factor in the departure of senior Mohamed Massaquoi, you end up with A.J. Green and a lot of unproven players around him. The only QB returning with any offensive stats is Joe Cox, and he played in all of three games.

Georgia coach Mark Richt still thinks they can compete. On the same day Stafford and Moreno announced their departures: “There are a lot of things we can improve on as a football team,” he said, “that can give us an opportunity to win the East.”

Richt said that with Cox under center and a new group of runners in the backfield, this season’s offense will have a different look, but not necessarily a less successful or more conservative approach.

In fact, even without two of the biggest stars to call Georgia home during Richt’s tenure with the Bulldogs, Cox said he doesn’t expect much to change at all.

“We still have the same type of guys,” Cox said.

“It always hurts when you lose two superstars like Matthew and Knowshon and another in Mohamed, but the good thing about football is, once somebody leaves, somebody’s got to step up, and we’ve got plenty of guys to do that at every position.”

My outlook is another 10-win season would be a huge goal to shot for the 2009 season, but I look the returning roster and see a big drop in talent and experience. They should be in a dawg fight for second in the SEC East.

For the Florida Gators, Wide Receiver Is a Possible Area of Concern

Josh Sawyers — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 09:23:40 -0400

Heading into the 2009 season, there is a good chance that the 2009 Gators will open as the preseason No. 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 over the 2008 team.

The defense is going to be two deep at every position, Tim 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 WR Recruits: Andre Debose

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 résumé. A bunch of these guys had key catches in the 2008 campaign, 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 five 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 to push this group a lot harder than last year to get them ready for life in the SEC.

So who's ready to step up for 2009?

Top 5 Gator Recruits That Got Away

Josh Sawyers — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 05:29:20 -0500

We all have stories about the one that got away. Talk to any fisherman and he/she will be able to talk for hours about the ones that got away.

Since 2005 when Urban Meyer was hired a head football coach of the University of Florida, there are some fish tales about those recruits that have gotten away.

Since coming on board in 2005, Coach Meyer has landed some of the top-ranked recruiting classes in the nation, but each year there has been that one big fish that got away.

So time to sit back and daydream about these top five talents that the Gators had on the line but got away.

5. Jamie Harper, RB - Class of 2007

Jamie is a rare breed of speed, size, explosiveness, and power. He would have been a great running back to have in the spread since he is a dual threat back with soft hands and great field vision.

The Gators were in the running with him to the very end, but he was the second back the Gators lost to Clemson. Harper sat behind CJ Spiller and James Davis in the 2008 season and only managed 34 carries for 133 yards.

4. Ramon Buchanan, LB - Class of 2008

Coming out of high school, Ramon was a 6 foot, 181 pound safety, but had 4.59 forty speed. He just needed to pack on some weight.

Ramon decommitted from Miami to go with the Gators, then on signing day he flipped back to Miami. Last year, Buchanan played in nine games and recorded six tackles.

3. Trent Richardson, RB - Class of 2009

Richardson would be that big back that could take some of the load off Tim Tebow. This year we had to watch on Signing Day as he put on the Bear Bryant houndstooth hat.

Richardson piled up 2,090 yards in 10 games with 25 TD in his senior season at Escambia High School.

2. Terrence Toliver, WR - Class of 2007

Terrence was the No. 1-rated receiver on Scout and the No. 2-rated receiver on Rivals coming out of high school. At 6'4, 195 and 4.5 forty speed, he had all to the tools to be a great Gator wide-out.

In the end, this one came down to the Gators and LSU. Terrence has yet to break out for the Tigers. In 2008 he didn't have a game over 60 yards receiving or one with more than 5 receptions.

1. C.J. Spiller, RB - Class of 2006

Simply put Spiller should have been the first great back of the Urban Meyer era. Instead, Spiller has been left splitting carries with James Davis and has not been able to put his talents on a prime-time level.

Fact is, Tebow had more carries, yards, and TDs than Spiller did last year.

Honorable mentions: Ricky Barnum '08, Jevan Snead '06, Jarvis Jones '09, Greg Reid '09, Nu'keese Richardson '09, Marsalis Teague '09

Volunteers-Gators: Are You Ready for Sep. 19?

Josh Sawyers — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 23:30:00 -0500

Who really had Sep. 19 marked down as a big game for the Gators?

Yes, it is Tennessee, and there would have been some interest in this game. But after a 30-6 win in Knoxville last year and a 59-20 thumping in 2007, the Vols really weren't a must-see game.

Enter Lane "Boy Blunder" Kiffin and this game is of high interest for college football fans outside the Vol and Gator Nations. How does such intrigue emerge from a coach that has not won an SEC game, college game, or even held his first practice?

On Dec. 1, Kiffin started filling the Gators' bulletin board with statements like:

"Singing Rocky Top all night long after we beat Florida next year, it's going to be a blast."

"That line was Mike's idea, by the way. All right, Urban?"

"Just so you know, when a recruit's on another campus, you can't call a recruit on another campus."

"I love the fact that Urban had to cheat and still didn't get him."

"At an energetic breakfast with some of our donors and alumni I made a statement that was solely meant to excite the crowd," Kiffin said in his statement (everybody had a statement that day).

"If I offended anyone at the University of Florida, including Mr. Foley and Urban Meyer, I sincerely apologize. That was not my intention."

But the move that I think really is going to come back to bite Lane is trying to hire Billy Gonzales while the Gators were getting ready for the BCS National Championship game.

So get out that highlighter and circle September 19th a couple of times on your calander. Synce your iPhone, Blackberry, and you may even want to plan to take that Friday off from work. This is going to be war, and I guess Kiffin was too busy last year avoiding Al Davis to see what Coach Meyer did to them Dawgs last year.

Florida Gators: Tight End Charles Says No

Josh Sawyers — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 17:04:21 -0500

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 Mar. 6, 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 can use a tight end that can line up as a receiver like the Gators have?

These schools have had some great tight ends come through their respective programs, 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 second on the depth chart. This one will hurt the depth chart, but we still have a great one in Aaron Hernandez.

The Gators did pick up Desmond Parks as a fast tight end that can cause matchup problems for opposing linebackers, but Charles would have been a solid addition.

Also the Gators are working the class of 2010 hard for a TE, and have Xavier Grimble, Gerald Christian, and Charles Fashaw targeted. But this is just a decision that I cannot 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.