--- On Mon, 5/24/10, Woody <[email protected]> wrote: "We have so many weapons on offense" DejaVu. If I recall correctly.. we seemed to have said that very same thing last year... and where were they? so the question is... were they really not that good.. or was Tebow - like you said - hogging the ball? If you look at the UK game before Tebow's injury, and the Sugar Bowl, you'll see the offense we all wanted to see last year.
What happened? Among other things; The aforementioned Tebow injury, and the post recovery game planning that took a staple of our offense (as run with Tebow at the helm), out in order to protect him (look at how he wasn't allowed to run the option outside of the tackles after he came back from the concussion). Our talented O-line took a hit with the injury to Pachan, causing us to play a very good guard, Carl Johnson, at the left tackle position. Once we inserted Xavier Nixon into that slot, and he got some experience there, we were much better. Brandon James never panned out in the slot, aka the "Percy position". Couple that with Tebow's reluctance to pass to anyone not named Cooper or Hernandez, and opposing defensive coordinators were getting a lot more sleep the week before they played us than they had been. Our WR coach, pissed because he didn't think he was getting the respect he deserved, basically mailed in the season. Look how much improved all of the receivers looked after just a few weeks under Azzinni leading up to the Sugar Bowl. Our head coach is a very conservative man by nature. Knowing that he had a defense that was very good, he made the decision to play very conservative on offense. Everyone likes to blame Addazio for this, but the final call comes from Meyer. Yes, we have a boatload of weapons this year. We may or may not see a commensurate increase in production, but I'm optimistic that we will. Here's why; O - line looks solid, and has good depth with some game experience. Rainey looks like he was born to play the slot in this offense. Debose (injured last year) and newcomer Robert Clark provide electric relief here. Brantley will never be the short yardage (almost) guarantee that Tim was, but he's no stiff running the ball either. But he's light years ahead of knowing where to go with the ball, and getting it there. He probably won't be as careful with the ball, so we'll see more interceptions, but they should be offset by more big plays from the passing game. We have a stable of quality running backs. Everyone has doubted Demps from day one, but he's still a home run threat. Moody may or may not finally have the type of year we've been expecting, but if he can't/doesn't, Gilleslee will not be a drop off - as a matter of fact, Moody may end up looking up at him on the depth chart. If Mack Brown is anything close to as advertised, we could have a wealth of riches (and fresh legs!) at the RB position. And we have a couple of fullbacks that the coaches like, so we can show some traditional I formation looks and plays as well. The proof, of course, will have to wait. But I'm excited and looking forward to seeing this group. -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
