ESPN's SEC Preview

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3257660

They have info on all teams, but heres what they said about the Gators...


Florida Gators

Spring practice starts: March 19
Spring game: April 12
What to watch:
• The Gators need to find a running game outside of Heisman Trophy quarterback Tim Tebow. They hope Emmanuel Moody, a transfer from USC, can fill that void. Moody was the Trojans' second-leading rusher in 2006 before deciding to transfer. He has three years of eligibility remaining after sitting out last season.• Look for the Gators to spread the ball around even more this season on offense. You want speed? How about Percy Harvin and Chris Rainey lining up at several different positions? Carl Moore, one of the nation's top junior college receivers, is also on campus and will go through spring practice.
• The struggles in Florida's secondary last season were well-documented, and it's also well-documented that the Gators were trying to get by with freshmen. How much have Major Wright and Joe Haden grown up back there?

Also:

Georgia's beef at the end of the 2007 season was that it didn't even get a chance to play for the national championship.

Of course, the irony there is that the Bulldogs' undoing among the pollsters was that they didn't even play in their own conference championship game.

Chances are Georgia will start the 2008 season as the team to beat in the SEC and one of the teams to beat nationally. The Bulldogs have all of the key pieces returning both offensively and defensively and are still irked about not being a part of the BCS national championship party last season.

Here's their chance to do something about it. But beware Bulldog Nation. The schedule doesn't have what you would call a championship feel to it.

Georgia plays at South Carolina on Sept. 13 and at Arizona State on Sept. 20 before returning home to face Alabama and Tennessee. Before the season finale against Georgia Tech, the Bulldogs play four straight SEC road games: at LSU on Oct. 25, the annual game against Florida in Jacksonville on Nov. 1, at Kentucky on Nov. 8 and at Auburn on Nov. 15.


1. Georgia Bulldogs

What we know: The Bulldogs have fewer question marks than anyone else in the conference.
What we don't know: How will Georgia navigate a schedule that might be the SEC's toughest?
How the Bulldogs can get to Atlanta: By riding the coattails of No. 24, Knowshon Moreno.


2. Florida Gators

What we know: Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow is a one-man wrecking machine on offense.
What we don't know: Can the Gators stop anybody capable of throwing the football?
How the Gators can get to Atlanta: Keep Tebow in one piece and find a pass defense.


3. LSU Tigers

What we know: The Tigers will be plenty formidable in their front seven again.
What we don't know: Will Ryan Perrilloux survive this latest suspension?
How the Tigers can get to Atlanta: With or without Perrilloux, finding some leadership at quarterback.


4. Tennessee Volunteers

What we know: Safety Eric Berry is part of a sophomore class that has star potential.
What we don't know: How will new offensive coordinator Dave Clawson impact the Vols?
How the Volunteers can get to Atlanta: Making it out of September, which includes games against Florida and Auburn, alive.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3257667

Who would like to see Florida and Georgia to be both undefeated by the time of the Game? At least with one loss each.

If our defense can get stout, it should end up UF & LSU in Atlanta. Either way, the SEC should be very strong at the top.

Florida-Georgia 2008 will no doubt be a marquee game if we can be undefeated heading into that one, and I really hope we are. That game is the one I'm worried about; I don't think LSU will be that much of a factor as they were this past season and who knows how their situation with Ryan Perriloux will pan out.

If we win the WLOCP given what I've mentioned above, we'll be back in Atlanta come December. It's hard to say who will be there from the SEC West; if I were to take a wild guess I'd say LSU. Alabama's rebuilding; based on what I've heard on ESPN they may not be that strong this fall but that's hearsay - plus, they're bringing in the top-ranked recruiting class and some of those freshmen could make an impact right away.

I'm excited about our new coaches coming on board, and I'll be interested to hear the reports coming out of spring practice as far as what their position players will be showing.

Florida has a tougher schedule than last year with Hawai'i and Miami right off the bat, then our SEC slate afterwards with the only "cupcake" being The Citadel. The games against Tennessee and the School Out West are on the road this year - same as 2006.

Overall, if our kids can show a lot more maturity than last year, achieve the same team unity we had in 2006, improve on defense, show good execution and good form on both sides of the ball, keep the penalties down, stay focused and stay out of trouble they can get back to Atlanta and maybe even a BCS bowl - who knows, maybe we can get another shot at the National Championship. The onus is on them to make things happen.

GO GATORS!!!!!!

Great post O-town!

I am really looking forward to next season!

For the love of God, please develop a true TB running game. Relying on Tim this year will not work out as well. It's the SEC folks and these D-coordinators aren't about to blow the Tebow schemes this year. That's not to say superman won't have his moments, but the Gators need to get that 'we can run it down your throat anytime, anyplace' mentality. Let's face it, there's almost nothing sweeter than seeing your TB glide through the tackle slot and watch a LB search for his jock and a DB dumb his load....... know what I mean. Solidify that part of the offense, then go for your spread smoke and mirrors stuff. Tighten up the D with an improved pass rush and press pass coverage (which looks to be there now with new line recruits and Bedford). Oh boy watch out...... Gators #1.

GatorStud said:

For the love of God, please develop a true TB running game. Relying on Tim this year will not work out as well. It's the SEC folks and these D-coordinators aren't about to blow the Tebow schemes this year. That's not to say superman won't have his moments, but the Gators need to get that 'we can run it down your throat anytime, anyplace' mentality. Let's face it, there's almost nothing sweeter than seeing your TB glide through the tackle slot and watch a LB search for his jock and a DB dumb his load....... know what I mean. Solidify that part of the offense, then go for your spread smoke and mirrors stuff. Tighten up the D with an improved pass rush and press pass coverage (which looks to be there now with new line recruits and Bedford). Oh boy watch out...... Gators #1.

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Meyer has said that Tebow will be running less this year, if thats true then our offense... along with a solid RB (c'mon Moody!), is perfect... absolutely 100% Perfect

and im pretty confident that our secondary will do fairly good compared to last year
fairly good is probably all we need to be championship contenders

Cali_Gator said:

Meyer has said that Tebow will be running less this year, if thats true then our offense... along with a solid RB (c'mon Moody!), is perfect... absolutely 100% Perfect

and im pretty confident that our secondary will do fairly good compared to last year
fairly good is probably all we need to be championship contenders

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I'm anxious to see how Kenny Carter (our new RB coach) works with our setbacks and if he can get more productivity out of them than Stan Drayton could - plus, we need to get some of the pressure off Tebow (even though we're going back to a two-QB system this coming season).

Emmanuel Moody is likely to get the starting nod, but I'd like to see Kestahn Moore make a big improvement over his last three years. He's valuable on special teams as a blocker opening the lane for Brandon James and on offensive plays as well as rushing and as a receiver on short passes, but he needs to build up some more power to be able to break tacklers and truck defenders, and he needs to gain a little weight. Much has been made of his fumbling; even though he only turned the ball over 2 times and hasn't had that many over his career, many others have ripped him apart over the times that he did. Those two times from last season, as I see it, were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that's why such a big deal was made out of it. If Carter can work with Moore on better ball protection it'll be to his advantage - hey, if Tiki Barber could overcome his tendency to fumble so can Kestahn Moore.

Moore has graded out as a Champion many times last season and is an asset to our offense - he has the skills, now he needs to be coached up - and, being a senior Coach Meyer will expect him to be a strong leader on this team.

I still see James as our return man on special teams because of his speed; also, his small size makes him adept at eluding tacklers. Mon Williams is coming back to the lineup after missing most of last season with an injury, and I'm sure Chris Rainey will also be worked into the rotation.

Going into 2008 we have very good depth on offense, and we should be even more potent and powerful than we were last year.

For the love of God, please develop a true TB running game. Relying on Tim this year will not work out as well. It's the SEC folks and these D-coordinators aren't about to blow the Tebow schemes this year.

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Good point; we need to me more multi-faceted as far as mixing up our offensive plays and less predictable than we were last year; it can't be the "Tebow and Harvin Show" anymore or else we'll be shut down. SEC defensive coaches carefully scout us, and if we're too one-dimensional it'll wind up being a detriment to us.Tebow has one full season's experience down as a starting QB, and this fall I expect to see more heads-up decisions from him and his being able to spread the ball around a little more.