travisduncan
Gator Fan
The wait is finally over and the 2011 Florida Gators football season is here. Here is everything to get you ready for Saturday's opener against Florida Atlantic.
GameTime: 7:03 p.m ET
Location: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, Fl
TV: ESPNU play-by-play: Clay Matvick analyst: Brian Griese sideline: Allison Williams
Radio | Gator IMG Sports Network play-by-play: Mick Hubert analyst: Lee McGriff sideline: Brady Ackerman
Series History: Florida leads, 1-0
2007 Florida 59, FAU 20
Opening Game Fact: Florida holds an all-time record of 77-27 on opening day, including a 62-6 mark in Gainesville. In the 1990s and 2000s the Gators did not lose a game on opening day. Prior to the last two decades, the Gators’ best opening day record came in the 1960s, when they went 9-1 to kick off the season
The following is the Gator two-deep depth chart for this Saturday's game.
Offense (starter in italics)
Wr (x) 9 Quinton Dunbar 4 Andre Debose
Wr (Z) 6 Deonte Thompson 85 Frankie Hammond
Tight End 11 Jordan Reed 32 Gerald Christian
F-21 8 Trey Burton 41 Hunter Joyer
F-12 32 Gerald Christian
Z-11 85 Frankie Hammond 4 Andre Debose
HB 1 Chris Rainey or 28 Jeff Demps 23 Mike Gillislee
QB 12 John Brantley 16 Jeff Driskel
LT 73 Xavier Nixon 75 Chaz Green
LG 56 Dan Wenger 64 Kyle Koehne
C 72 Jonotthan Harrison 56 Dan Wenger
RG 67 Jon Halapio 58 Nick Alajajian
RT 71 Matt Patchan 75 Chaz Green
Defense
Buck 7 Ronald Powell 93 Kedric Johnson
DT 2 Dominique Easley 44 Leon Orr
NT 6 Jaye Howard 99 Omar Hunter
DE 73 Sharrif Floyd 96 William Green
Sam 34 Lerentee McCray 49 Darrin Kitchens
Mike 52 Jonathan Bostic 51 Michael Taylor
Will 3 Jelani Jenkins 13 Dee Finley
CB 5 Marcus Roberson or 14 Jaylen Watkins or 8 Jeremy Brown
S 22 Matt Elam 9 Josh Shaw
S 26 De’Ante Saunders 24 Josh Evans
CB 36 Moses Jenkins or 31 Cody Riggs 15 Loucheiz Purifoy
Nickel 26 De’Ante Saunders 31 Cody Riggs
Specialists
P 40 David Lerner 44 Kyle Christy
h 47 John Crofoot 10 Tyler Murphy
K 19 Caleb Sturgis 98 Zack Brust
lS 46 Drew Ferris 54 Christopher Guido
Pr 1 Chris Rainey 11 Jordan Reed or 85 Frankie Hammond
Kr 4 Andre Debose or 83 Solomon Patton or 28 Jeff Demps
Gator Readings
Jordan Reed as you can see above is the team's starting tight end. He tells the Florida Times Union, "I was definitely excited" when he was named the starter.
Reed added. "I’ve just got to go out there and make plays. Hopefully, he’ll try to get me
the ball."
Getting Reed the ball appears to be a major part of offensive coordinator Charlie Weis' game plan. Weis had the follow to say about Reed this week:
“Jordan has very, very, very good ball skills, and I think he’s transitioned very nicely. He’s really done a nice job, and I don’t think it’ll be hard to find him on the field. I think you’ll be able to find him pretty easily.”
As noted by the Times Union, Weis' offenses in the NFL and at Notre Dame featured the tight end prominently so a lot of the Gators ability to move the chains could depend on the ability of Reed and of course the ability of QB John Brantley to get him the ball.
Reed could also see action as a punt return man, he is listed as a punt returner on the depth chart above as a backup at that position.
On Brantley
Weis has pretty much managed to avoid the media for most of the summer, save for a few formal speaking engagements, this week he gave a brief asssement of Brantley.
"A quarterback like John is better suited to a pure, drop back passing game. . . . The more he shows me mentally the more freedom I may give him in getting out of bad plays at the line of scrimmage."
As for Saturdays' game, "Any time you are putting in a new system you want to go and try to play as clean as you can in the first game. There are no preseason games in college."
The Offensive Line
This is a new group and the position group is the Gators' Achilles heel. It's a simple lack of experience at this point.
Xavier Nixon leads the group with 13 career starts and will start Saturday at left tackle. Jon Halapio is next with 7 starts and will start at right guard. and Jon Harrison has one career start (at left guard in the Outback Bowl) and will be the team's starting center. Dan Wenger at left tackle will be making his first Gator start, but had 19 career starts while at Notre Dame. Matt Patchan at right tackle will start for the first time in his career Saturday.
Official Prediction: Gators 35, Owls 14
This is a Gator win. It could be close if the Gators offense can't get into sync. We'll have more after the game Saturday and Sunday.
GameTime: 7:03 p.m ET
Location: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, Fl
TV: ESPNU play-by-play: Clay Matvick analyst: Brian Griese sideline: Allison Williams
Radio | Gator IMG Sports Network play-by-play: Mick Hubert analyst: Lee McGriff sideline: Brady Ackerman
Series History: Florida leads, 1-0
2007 Florida 59, FAU 20
Opening Game Fact: Florida holds an all-time record of 77-27 on opening day, including a 62-6 mark in Gainesville. In the 1990s and 2000s the Gators did not lose a game on opening day. Prior to the last two decades, the Gators’ best opening day record came in the 1960s, when they went 9-1 to kick off the season
The following is the Gator two-deep depth chart for this Saturday's game.
Offense (starter in italics)
Wr (x) 9 Quinton Dunbar 4 Andre Debose
Wr (Z) 6 Deonte Thompson 85 Frankie Hammond
Tight End 11 Jordan Reed 32 Gerald Christian
F-21 8 Trey Burton 41 Hunter Joyer
F-12 32 Gerald Christian
Z-11 85 Frankie Hammond 4 Andre Debose
HB 1 Chris Rainey or 28 Jeff Demps 23 Mike Gillislee
QB 12 John Brantley 16 Jeff Driskel
LT 73 Xavier Nixon 75 Chaz Green
LG 56 Dan Wenger 64 Kyle Koehne
C 72 Jonotthan Harrison 56 Dan Wenger
RG 67 Jon Halapio 58 Nick Alajajian
RT 71 Matt Patchan 75 Chaz Green
Defense
Buck 7 Ronald Powell 93 Kedric Johnson
DT 2 Dominique Easley 44 Leon Orr
NT 6 Jaye Howard 99 Omar Hunter
DE 73 Sharrif Floyd 96 William Green
Sam 34 Lerentee McCray 49 Darrin Kitchens
Mike 52 Jonathan Bostic 51 Michael Taylor
Will 3 Jelani Jenkins 13 Dee Finley
CB 5 Marcus Roberson or 14 Jaylen Watkins or 8 Jeremy Brown
S 22 Matt Elam 9 Josh Shaw
S 26 De’Ante Saunders 24 Josh Evans
CB 36 Moses Jenkins or 31 Cody Riggs 15 Loucheiz Purifoy
Nickel 26 De’Ante Saunders 31 Cody Riggs
Specialists
P 40 David Lerner 44 Kyle Christy
h 47 John Crofoot 10 Tyler Murphy
K 19 Caleb Sturgis 98 Zack Brust
lS 46 Drew Ferris 54 Christopher Guido
Pr 1 Chris Rainey 11 Jordan Reed or 85 Frankie Hammond
Kr 4 Andre Debose or 83 Solomon Patton or 28 Jeff Demps
Gator Readings
Jordan Reed as you can see above is the team's starting tight end. He tells the Florida Times Union, "I was definitely excited" when he was named the starter.
Reed added. "I’ve just got to go out there and make plays. Hopefully, he’ll try to get me
the ball."
Getting Reed the ball appears to be a major part of offensive coordinator Charlie Weis' game plan. Weis had the follow to say about Reed this week:
“Jordan has very, very, very good ball skills, and I think he’s transitioned very nicely. He’s really done a nice job, and I don’t think it’ll be hard to find him on the field. I think you’ll be able to find him pretty easily.”
As noted by the Times Union, Weis' offenses in the NFL and at Notre Dame featured the tight end prominently so a lot of the Gators ability to move the chains could depend on the ability of Reed and of course the ability of QB John Brantley to get him the ball.
Reed could also see action as a punt return man, he is listed as a punt returner on the depth chart above as a backup at that position.
On Brantley
Weis has pretty much managed to avoid the media for most of the summer, save for a few formal speaking engagements, this week he gave a brief asssement of Brantley.
"A quarterback like John is better suited to a pure, drop back passing game. . . . The more he shows me mentally the more freedom I may give him in getting out of bad plays at the line of scrimmage."
As for Saturdays' game, "Any time you are putting in a new system you want to go and try to play as clean as you can in the first game. There are no preseason games in college."
The Offensive Line
This is a new group and the position group is the Gators' Achilles heel. It's a simple lack of experience at this point.
Xavier Nixon leads the group with 13 career starts and will start Saturday at left tackle. Jon Halapio is next with 7 starts and will start at right guard. and Jon Harrison has one career start (at left guard in the Outback Bowl) and will be the team's starting center. Dan Wenger at left tackle will be making his first Gator start, but had 19 career starts while at Notre Dame. Matt Patchan at right tackle will start for the first time in his career Saturday.
Official Prediction: Gators 35, Owls 14
This is a Gator win. It could be close if the Gators offense can't get into sync. We'll have more after the game Saturday and Sunday.
