Like many other college football teams across the country, the
Florida Gators prefer to keep their season goals to themselves. But it
doesn’t take locker room access (or insider information) to know what
goes to the top of the Gators’ to-do list every fall.
Win the SEC East and a trip to Atlanta on the first Saturday in December.
Some
years, the goal is more realistic than others. In coach Will Muschamp’s
first season, for instance, winning the division seemed possible, but
certainly not plausible. Two years later, the goal seems realistic for a
team that came close to reaching Atlanta last season.
In Muschamp’s third season, are the Gators good enough to get to Atlanta to play for the SEC title?
“I
think so,” quarterback Jeff Driskel said, without flinching. “I think
we have a really good team. We’re a close-knit bunch of guys. We were so
close last year, we could taste it.
“We really want to get there this year. I think we have a good chance to get there.”
The
Gators were almost ready to pack their bags a year ago before a perfect
season crashed in Jacksonville in a six-turnover loss to Georgia. They
fell one win short of getting a shot at Alabama in the SEC Championship
Game.
This year, the
Gators enter the season as a consensus top 10 team, a team that’s being
viewed as a serious contender in the SEC and possibly in the BCS
national title chase.
“We
want to make it to Atlanta and win a championship,” sophomore defensive
end Dante Fowler Jr. said. “We’ve got the talent to do that.”
Other players have expressed the same opinion during preseason camp.
“Talk
is cheap,” Muschamp warns. “You’ve got to do it on the field. I’m glad
that our guys have confidence that (getting to Atlanta) is going to
happen.
“Anytime you want to talk about a run to Atlanta, you’ve got to have things fall your way.”
Here are some things the Gators probably need to happen to reach Atlanta:
Quarterback
Jeff Driskel has to show significant improvement in the passing game in
his second year as the starter, and the offense needs to find a better
balance between the pass and the run.
Some playmakers need to emerge at wide receiver.
UF
must shore up the middle of its defense. That middle was gutted by the
NFL Draft. Tackle Sharrif Floyd and safety Matt Elam went in the first
round and middle linebacker Jon Bostic in the second.
The Gators need to find some depth at linebacker and establish two new starters at safety.
Driskel and other key players, including Ronald Powell, need to stay healthy.
A capable replacement for place-kicker Caleb Sturgis must emerge.
If that all falls into place, Atlanta might just be a realistic December destination for Florida.
“I
think this football team, we need to be more balanced on offense. We
need to be more efficient throwing the football,” Muschamp said. “ We
need to be able to create more explosives. We need to score more
touchdowns in the red zone. I think we have a lot of question marks
defensively at the middle of our defense.
“I
think we have a good enough mixture of guys up front that have played
well and can play well for us to be fine. I’m concerned about the depth
and the quality experience at the linebacker position, and obviously the
safety position.
“But we
need to be more balanced offensively. If you had to benchmark No. 1,
that is No. 1. Then No. 3, we need to shore up the inside of our defense
from linebacker to safety, and then the kicking situation. If we’re
able to come through with those and have productive players, then
certainly I think we’ll be in contention to get to Atlanta, and we
should be anyways.”
Of course, also at the top of the priority list is this: take care of the football.
The Gators didn’t do that in the loss to Georgia, turning the ball over six times, and it cost them a chance to go to Atlanta.
“I
mean, obviously, we’ve had some turnover issues in Jacksonville in the
last two years and that’s really cost us the football game,” Muschamp
said. “You go back to two years ago and you turn it over inside your 20
twice and it results in 14 points, huge momentum swing in the game.
“When
you turn it over six times and you still have an opportunity to drive
down the field and score and possibly go for two to tie the ballgame, it
tells you how you played defensively, and it tells you what you did in
special teams. You just didn’t take care of the football.”
It also tells you how close the Gators came to Atlanta a year ago.
