College Football: Florida Gators 2011 Season Preview

The post-Urban Meyer era is over. His six-year tenure with a 65-15 record including two SEC and two BCS National Championships are now a thing of the past.

Last season's 8-5 record was the toughest and most difficult for the coach, but gave Meyer the opportunity to take a breather to improve his health and spend more time with his family—or ESPN.

Taking over will be former Auburn, LSU and Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp. Muschamp was the head coach in waiting for Mack Brown at Texas, but now has a dream job coaching the Gators in Gainesville.

No More Offensive Struggles

He brings in former Irish coach and longtime NFL coordinator Charlie Weis to call the shots of the offense. Defensive coordinator Dan Quinn is another former NFL coordinator who has recently joined the staff.

The Tim Tebow era ended last summer with John Brantley receiving a ton of hype since he was a formidable backup for the legendary quarterback.

However, a miserable 9-10 TD/INT ratio with only 2,061 yards completing 60.8 percent is not the type of season most expected.

Brantley started in all 13 games and entering his senior campaign should not get much competition since future star quarterback Jeff Driskel is just an incoming freshmen.

Tebow’s former number one target was tight end Aaron Hernandez and after his early departure there was a big hole that was surely missed in the 2010 season.

Gators Need More Consistent Threats

Jordan Reed (6’3”, 240 pound sophomore) was highly touted in high school and even had some snaps under center last year. This season he is expected to become the full-time starter at tight end as well as reliable threat downfield. The Gators need him to perform like an All-SEC stud.

The passing offense was abysmal a season ago ranking 88th in America and averaging only 184 yards per game. Amazing how quickly things can change in one season. Brantley never gelled with his receivers and that must change if the Gators want to be a Top 25 team again.

The Gators have highly touted players, but they have not produced much as of late. Chris Rainey is a former running back who made the transition to slot back and will hopefully help the Gators break back into the Top 25. He is a possession receiver that can occasionally hit the home run ball as well.

Stars Missing?

Deonte Thompson, Frankie Hammond, Quinton Dunbar, Andre DeBose and Trey Burton all have exceptional size and speed. They just need to avoid dropping the ball and continue moving the chains on crucial third downs. 

The Gators were only 77th in the nation on third down, succeeding only 37.65 percent of the time. The previous two seasons with Tebow, the Gators ranked seventh back to back years.

No returning Gator had more than three touchdowns for the entire season in 2010. Thompson returns with 38 catches, but only had one TD. That is not leading receiver material and it kills an offense when there is no go-to guy to catch the pass.

The offensive line allowed 24 sacks which is not terrible, but the line needs to get better quick. Xavier Nixon is one of the premier linemen in the SEC, but the rest of the line is very suspect.

Great teams are built from the inside out and that may be the top reason why this offense has fallen a few steps behind. 

Defensive Youngsters No More

The front four is expected to once again be rock solid, possibly even ranking higher in the nation than last year's 31st that gave up only 130 yards per game. Ronald Powell, Sharrif Floyd, Jaye Howard, William Green, Omar Hunter, Chris Martin and Dominique Easley should form together to produce one of the elite defensive lines in the SEC.

Powell and Floyd might just be the best pair of youngsters up front among any team in the entire SEC. However, they will need to play like All-Americans sooner rather than later if UF expects a 10-win season anytime soon.

The linebacker corps will be one of the finer in the nation with Jelani Jenkins and Jon Bostic back for their sophomore and junior campaigns, respectively. They are both future NFL players and should carry this unit despite of the wealth of talent that the Gators have in their two deep. 

This is still the same program that has had one of the better defenses in the entire BCS era and in time the Gators will return to dominating defenses. 

Young Secondary Will Be Just Fine

The secondary lost a few studs in Will Hill and Ahmad Black, as well as Janoris Jenkins who had plenty of off-the-field issues and is now enrolled at North Alabama. They came through in the Outback Bowl without Jenkins picking off Penn State five times thanks in large part to new starting cornerback Cody Riggs. 

Alongside Riggs will be Jeremy Brown (5’10”, 184 pound junior), true freshman Marcus Robinson among many other youngsters. The safety combo of Matt Elam and Josh Evans will be solid in the long run, but out of the gates they will be tested against Alabama, LSU, Auburn and Georgia in the month of October. 

The secondary did a fairly great job as always, though they missed the best corner in college for two straight years in Joe Haden. They ranked 12th allowing only 175 yards per game.  

The secondary may not be as talented as it has been in the past, but thanks to the front four they will be just fine. Remember the Gators were fairly young the past few years and they still went to three BCS Bowls. 

Drama's Forecast

The schedule and a struggling offense is a completely different story. If Brantley struggles in crucial SEC games once again this season, a premier New Year’s Day Bowl will certainly be out of reach. The playmakers have plenty of speed, but they lacked that “it” factor last season. Snapping the ball was also tough to accomplish early on in the season.

Route running and good hands is crucial against the defensive backs you run into the SEC, specifically in the West Division.

Back to back weeks against Alabama and LSU will be gruesome and the following week they go to the Planes to take on “War Eagle” in what could be a third consecutive game as an underdog.

After a well deserved bye week they go to Jacksonville in their annual rivalry battle with Georgia, who is expected to win the SEC East according to some experts.

Predicted Finish: 7-6, 4-4

Predicted Bowl: Gator Bowl 

Predicted order of finish in SEC: Third in East, Seventh Overall