SEC Football Q&A: Will Florida Be Able to Run the Ball in 2012?

Every Thursday on The SEC Blog, we will feature questions from the B/R inbox, Twitter and email. Do you have a question for next week's Q&A? Send it to SEC lead blogger Barrett Sallee via the B/R inbox, on Twitter @BarrettSallee or at [e-mail].

From Barret White (@BarretWhite) via Twitter: Will Florida be able to run the ball in 2012?

The last time Florida had a between-the-tackles running threat was when that threat was quarterback Tim Tebow.

The Gators think that they found their guy this spring with senior running back Mike Gillislee. He's been hanging around Gainesville for a while, rushing for 920 yards and 10 touchdowns during his first three years with the Gators.

But he's been banged up throughout his career, so durability is a concern. But if he's healthy, he's certainly capable of carrying the load.

Offensive coordinator Brent Pease is a tremendous upgrade from Charlie Weis, and he will find a guy to run between the tackles. If it's not Gillislee, it'll be Mack Brown, Omarius Hines or somebody else. He described having a "pounding running game" as the first of his five foundations of the Florida offense.

From Walt Gates (@WaltGates) via Twitter: What will it take for Arkansas to win the National Championship this year? How bad did Petrino's departure hurt them?

Petrino's absence won't hurt the Razorbacks all that much. John L. Smith was brought in to be a CEO and give good soundbites during press conferences. As long as he can stay out of they way and let the coordinators coordinate, Arkansas will be fine.

The reason there won't be much of a drop-off is because Tyler Wilson has emerged as a leader this offseason. Wilson and offensive coordinator Paul Petrino have been virtually inseparable according to Chris Bahn of ArkansasSports360.com, and that familiarity with the offense will pay huge dividends when toe meets leather this fall.

Detractors will say that Arkansas lost all of its weapons. Not true.

Wide receiver Cobi Hamilton and tight end Chris Gragg each had more than 500 yards receiving, and the return of running back Knile Davis should negate the loss of three receivers and take some of the pressure off of Wilson.

So, long story short, yes, Arkansas is very much a legitimate national title contender.

From Bleacher Report's College Football Twitter Feed (@BR_CFB): Will the 2012 Heisman winner come from SEC?

Yes, I think so.

Technically, the Heisman Trophy is supposed to go to the most outstanding player in college football. But typically, it goes to the best offensive player on one of the nation's top teams.

There are exceptions, of course. Most notably last year when Robert Griffin III won even though Baylor wasn't in title contention.

But because teams typically have to be in title contention, the door is wide open for players like Zach Mettenberger, Tyrann Mathieu, A.J. McCarron, Tyler Wilson, Knile Davis, Aaron Murray and Marcus Lattimore to shoot up Heisman boards throughout the season.

It's not presumptuous to assume that an SEC team will play for the national title. After all, seven of them have done so over the last six seasons. It's because of the combination of team success and established stars that the SEC will win its third Heisman Trophy in the last four years.

If you twisted my arm and made me pick one particular player right now: Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson. There's plenty of room on the Wilson Wagon for more people to hop on board.

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