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Wednesdays With Dr. Football is a weekly online feature that will continue until the start of football season.
1. I’m not sure when the love/hate relationship began for Florida fans with quarterback Jeff Driskel. Was it the Sugar Bowl when he had three turnovers and the Gators lost to Louisville? Or was it the Miami game when he made three bad throws and threw for 291 yards? Both were debilitating losses for the Gator Nation and there are plenty of you out there who don’t believe in Driskel. I still believe he has a chance to be a great quarterback for UF. Two things have to happen — he has to stay healthy during the summer (remember he has missed time in each of the two preseason camps the last two years) and he has to stay healthy during the season (he has been injured all three seasons). I have no doubt that this offense is going to allow Driskel to show how good he can be. To be honest, last year’s offense was going to be pretty strong until he went down against Tennessee. After that, Florida was limited at the position and it went downhill pretty fast.
2. Chris Andrews, who is a legendary bookmaker in Vegas (or so I’m told), has a website called AgainstTheNumber.com. He has set the over/under for number of wins for the college teams in 2014 and has Florida at 7.5. That sounds about right. I keep getting asked how many games Will Muschamp has to win this year and I can tell you there is no magic number. It will depend on who he beats and how this team plays. Andrews has FSU at 11 wins.
3. When you think Sun Belt, you think Idaho, right? Well, the Vandals are in that conference for the first time after spending last year as an independent and facing a brutal schedule. They went 1-11 and gave up 46.8 points a game and 529.4 yards per game. Second-year coach Paul Petrino signed 16 junior college players to try to fix things. He’ll be bringing them to Gainesville for the opener and you have to think the Gainesville heat will play a factor. Idaho likes to chunk it around. The top two quarterbacks threw 73 passes in the spring game.
4. I had no issues with anybody elected to the College Football Hall of Fame but I sometimes think that too much emphasis is put on how those players did in the NFL, which should have no bearing on whether they get into the College Hall of Fame. That’s why I was happy to see Joe Hamilton of Georgia Tech make it. It’s kind of like Florida’s Ring of Honor, which I have issues with. It’s what you did in college that matters.
5. So here is Dr. Football’s question to you — is all of this talk about eliminating FCS schools from future schedules more about strength of schedule or fannies in the seats? I tend to believe it is the latter. There are too many options for disposable income to bring FCS schools into SEC stadiums and expect those games to be part of the season ticket package, not to mention expecting people to go see these games when there are significant games on television. But it’s like Florida AD Jeremy Foley said in Destin, it’s easier said than done. You pretty much eliminate the Power Five conferences because those teams will want return games. And FCS schools from far away aren’t going to fly to Florida for the guarantees that will be offered. Remember this when you’re pining for a home-and-home with Michigan State — there’s a big difference economically between six and seven home games not only for the athletic departments but for the communities. If you own a restaurant or a hotel or a bar in Gainesville, you’d rather see an FCS school come to town than the Gators leave it.
Source: GatorSports.com - Dooley's Desk
