Florida Football: 7 Things Holding the Gators Back from a BCS Bid

The Florida Gators made a habit of not only getting invited to the BCS party, but winning when they got there. With Tim Tebow on campus, the Gators went to two BCS national championships and a Sugar Bowl, winning all three games.

Since the departure of Tebow, the Gators have struggled and not been invited back to the BCS party. 

What is holding them back? Could it really be that just one player can make that much of a difference? Would Auburn fans have the same response one year after Cam Newton took his talents to the NFL?

Nick Saban and Les Miles have not had quarterbacks the caliber of Tebow or Newton, and those coaches have won four BCS national championships between them. 

Without a once-in-a-generation-type player to make up for other deficiencies on the team, let's take a look at what is holding the Gators back from getting back to a BCS bowl game. 

Lack of Stability

Being as successful as the Gators were can often be a double-edged sword. 

The exposure of winning on the biggest stage can put your school in the spotlight and help with recruiting. It also gets your coordinators noticed. The Gators were no exception. 

With the hiring of Brent Pease, the Gators now have their fourth offensive coordinator in five seasons. Defensive coordinator Dan Quinn is the third different coach to hold that title at Florida in the past five seasons. Not to mention the two-year saga of "who will be our head coach?", as Urban Meyer retired, took a leave of absence, then returned, only to "retire" once again. 

With so much turnover on the coaching staff, it is hard to build continuity in a scheme or familiarity with your players. 

The Gators think they have found their man in Pease, and they have definitely found their man in Quinn, who reportedly turned down a gig in the NFL to remain in Gainesville. If the Gators can keep a coaching staff for more than a season, the familiarity it would bring would undoubtedly bring success along with it.

Youth at Quarterback

Now that the John Brantley tenure is over in Gainesville, the Gators are left with only young players at arguably the most important position on the football field. 

The Gators will have four quarterbacks on scholarship next season: junior Tyler Murphy, sophomores Jacoby Brissett and Jeff Driskel, along with incoming freshman Skyler Mornhinweg. Murphy is not an SEC-caliber quarterback and could transfer before the season begins. That would leave the Gators with two unproven sophomores and a true freshman as their only options for signal-caller in 2012. 

Brissett and Driskel will compete for the starting job all offseason, and Gator fans should not expect to know who their starter will be until right before the first game. 

The Gators will not have Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps to lean on this season and will have to rely on a young quarterback to lead them back to Atlanta and the SEC championship game. 

If Florida has any hope of improving on a very disappointing 2011 season, they will need one of these two players to do a lot of growing up in the offseason and be ready to lead this team come September. 

Depth Along Both Lines

Will Muschamp called his football team soft and said it begins with both lines of scrimmage. 

The Gators were left with small offensive linemen recruited to run a spread-option offense and a lack of able bodies along the defensive line. The lack of depth forced Sharrif Floyd to play out of position all year long, and his production took a hit. 

This recruiting class is a testament to the statement Muschamp made about needing to bolster the lines of scrimmage. Ten of Florida's 23 commitments play on either the offensive or defensive line. The added depth on both lines of scrimmage should show an immediate impact. 

An Effective Power-Running Game

With Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey in the backfield, the Gators struggled to get the tough yards between the tackles to really give their running game any kind of bite. 

The lack of a power-running game became a major point of frustration for first-time head coach Will Muschamp, and he may have found a solution in recruiting. 

While the Gators missed out on two big tailback prospects in Keith Marshall and Mike Davis, they did land a 6'3'', 225 lb. back from Seffner Armwood.

Being the only tailback to sign in the class of 2012 will almost assuredly guarantee Matt Jones playing time early and often. The bruising back can not only handle running the ball in between the tackles, but possesses a good burst and an ability to get outside if need be. 

A Threat at Wide Receiver

With Charlie Weis determined to run the ball and throw the ball to the running backs in the flats, teams began to play seven and eight men in the box against the Gators. The Gator receivers were faced with man coverage all season long and still couldn't seem to make a meaningful impact on the offense. 

Andre Debose will return as the leading wide receiver from a season ago, and the Gators will look to two freshmen to step up and become reliable options for two young quarterbacks. 

Redshirt freshman Ja'Juan Story and true freshman Latroy Pittman will be called upon to give the Gators another receiving option other than Debose. 

Create Turnovers on Defense

While the Gators defense would end the season ranked in the top 10, they could only force 14 turnovers all season long. The 14 turnovers were the lowest total mark for a Gator defense in over five seasons. 

With 10 starters coming back from a solid 2011 defense, the Gators 2012 defense will look to make the move from good to great, and they will need to create more turnovers to do so. 

Not only will creating turnovers cement the Gators at the top of the nation defensively, it will be imperative to help out a Gator defense that is sure to get off to a slow start with a young quarterback and new offensive coordinator. 

The beginning of the season will be a feeling-out period on offense, and the defense will need to carry the load until the offense starts clicking. 

Winning the SEC East

In what should be the most obvious thing holding the Gators back from a BCS bid is that they haven't been to Atlanta in two seasons. If the Gators cannot make it to their conference championship game, they certainly cannot play in a BCS bowl game. 

The SEC is a BCS automatic qualifier and sends one team to the Sugar Bowl. The SEC owns the last six national championships, so getting to Atlanta, win or lose, almost guarantees both teams a BCS berth. 

A one-loss or undefeated team from the SEC will make it to the national championship game until a team from another conference can knock them off. What this means is that if the Gators make it to Atlanta and play a one-loss or undefeated SEC West team, they will almost assuredly be BCS bowling.