FOUR BITS: Tennessee, Burton, violation, Haslem

By Adam Silverstein
September 17, 2010

1 » In a piece published by ESPN Insider on Wednesday, KC Joyner notes that the Tennessee Volunteers are primed to upset the Florida Gators, even though the talent gap between the two teams is wide. Joyner’s 10 reasons why Florida may fall victim to Tennessee include: 1 – Passing game numbers (5.1 yards per attempt for redshirt junior quarterback John Brantley), 2 – Vertical passing game (7.8 yards per attempt), 3 – Fumbles (10, three lost), 4 – Near interceptions (five, plus 10 fumbles = 15 possible turnovers), 5 – Penalties (14 for 107 yards), 6 – Junior kicker Caleb Sturgis (1/3 on field goals with a sore back), 7 – Redshirt junior wide receiver Chris Rainey (not playing), 8 – Brantley’s first road start, 9 – Tennessee’s pass defense (top 25), 10 – Close game in 2009. How can the Gators win, according to Joyner? “Florida may finally start hitting on more of its cylinders offensive, and if that happens, the talent difference between these two squads is probably too great for the Vols to overcome.”

2 » Gators head coach Urban Meyer is enamored with freshman QB Trey Burton. Where have we heard that before? Don’t jump on the Tim Tebow comparisons too soon because, as the Palm Beach Post’s Jason Lieser points out, Burton is his own man. “Rare – mater of fact, does not exist,” Meyer said when asked about Burton’s versatility. “Somehow we just hit a home run on that one.” Burton, who has played a handful of positions already in Florida’s first two games, is all about “letting your game speak for you,” something he did in order to achieve his dream – earning a scholarship to UF. “he’s a huge asset,” running backs coach Stan Drayton pointed out. “We’re going to keep piling on his plate until he says enough’s enough. He hasn’t shown us enough’s enough yet, so we’re going to keep giving it to him.”

3 » The NCAA is currently taking an extremely close look at the Volunteers’ football and basketball programs for a number of potential violations mostly stemming around recruiting top student-athletes. According to the Knoxville News-Sentinel, the NCAA believes that former QB coach David Reaves knew that Tennessee hostesses had improper contact with recruits and knowingly decided not to alert the school, a major violation. You can read more about the issue here.

4 » As OGGOA reported via Twitter early on Thursday, Florida state prosecutors have dropped all marijuana possession charges against Miami Heat power forward Udonis Haslem. Cited for possession of more than 20 grams of marijuana on Aug. 16, Haslem was originally pulled over for speeding and having window tints darker than the legally allowed level. The case against him was dismissed because prosecutors could not prove his knowledge or possession of the cannabis beyond a reasonable doubt; however, the police did have probable cause to cite him in the first place. “I am really looking forward to getting back to basketball and focusing on the upcoming season,” Haslem said in an official team statement.

Extra BIT » Senior safety Ahmad Black speaking to CBS about the Gators’ first two games, the “ugly orange” sported by Tennessee and how “Rocky Top” makes him sick.

Photo Credit: Associated Press

6 Comments

  1. CCG8TR says:

    I can’t believe you linked to that story on ESPN. That guy is on something.

  2. El Meester says:

    Haha, pretty funny holding in that picture.

    Trey Burton is awesome. Keep putting the ball in his hands somehow. He is a true Gator who was instrumental in keeping our incoming class of 2010 intact after the Meyer retirement fiasco. He deserves a ton of credit for that.

  3. Gatorbuc15 says:

    LOL! Joyner give us 10 reasons why we’re in trouble, then in the end he basically says the Gators will win with relative ease. What a nimrod.
    On another note, I must agree with Ahmad their. Every time I hear “Good Old Rocky Top”, I wanna hurl my lungs out.

  4. caligator says:

    ROCKY FLOP!

  5. Basshole says:

    Count me as the minority that is a little concerned about this game. I want to beat UT more than anybody else on our schedule, but I get worried when I hear about the team talking shit about the Vols and just giving them bulletin board material.

  6. John Shanks says:

    Good ole floppy …

    Can’t wait to visit those “drunk old people”. Come on Urban make it six in a row!

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