1 » Both the Florida Gators and Alabama Crimson Tide have two games to play before their inevitable showdown in the Southeastern Conference Championship game in December. While head coaches Urban Meyer and Nick Saban both emphatically claim that they are worried about their upcoming opponents (FIU and Chattanooga this week, respectively) and are not looking ahead, Chris Low of ESPN.com thinks otherwise. “Who genuinely believes that Alabama and Florida are doing any extensive planning for their opponents this week?” he ponders.

2 » Senior quarterback Tim Tebow continues to pile up the award nominations. On Wednesday, he was named one of five finalists for the 2009 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. Given to the top senior college quarterback in the nation, the Golden Arm Award has never been able to be awarded to Tebow, who has won a Heisman Trophy and two Maxwell Awards while Sam Bradford (Oklahoma) took home the other Heisman in the same time span. Tebow also remains in contention as one of 15 finalists for the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award.

3 » OGGOA has been singing the praises of juniors defensive end Carlos Dunlap and cornerback Joe Haden as well as senior middle linebacker Brandon Spikes in regard to their 2010 NFL Draft status. Jeremy Fowler of the Orlando Sentinel points out that the Gators could lose a plethora juniors in addition to their senior class, should some of them choose to declare. Prominent names on that list (aside from Dunlap and Haden) are tight end Aaron Hernandez, offensive linemen Maurkice and Mike Pouncey, Marcus Gilbert and Carl Johnson, safety Major Wright, defensive lineman Justin Trattou and running backs Chris Rainey and Emmanuel Moody. The majority of the aforementioned players will most likely not declare, in our opinion.

4 » Florida basketball (1-0) returns to the court Wednesday night at 7 p.m. against the Georgia Southern Eagles (1-1) at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. The game will air live on FOX Sports Florida – check your local listings for availability. All game and broadcast information is always available on OGGOA‘s Basketball page.

Tags: Aaron Hernandez, Alabama Crimson Tide, Brandon Spikes, Carl Johnson, Carlos Dunlap, Chris Rainey, Draft, Emmanuel Moody, Golden Arm Award, Heisman Trophy, Joe Haden, Justin Trattou, Lawrence Marsh, Major Wright, Marcus Gilbert, Maurkice Pouncey, Maxwell Award, Mike Pouncey, NFL, Nick Saban, Sam Bradford, SEC Championship, Tim Tebow, Urban Meyer, Walter Camp Player of the Year Award

Each week following a Florida Gators game, ONLY GATORS Get Out Alive will grade the team position-by-position based on each unit’s performance. This week, we look at how the Gators fared against the South Carolina Gamecocks Saturday afternoon on the road in Columbia, SC.

QUARTERBACK: B
Grading Tim Tebow week-in and week-out has proven to be a difficult task. He was good for 199 yards passing and two touchdowns, including a deep bomb to wide receiver Riley Cooper and a record-breaking run. Tebow had Cooper open in the end zone on two other occasions; once he slightly overthrew the ball, but the second one have been caught by the receiver. On the ground, he averaged only 1.6 yards on 16 carries, the second consecutive game he has totaled less than two yards per carry on average. That is worrisome. I originally had Tebow graded a little lower but gave him a little boost for what could should have been. He still needs to get the ball out sooner, especially with the offensive line struggling in protection (two more sacks).

RUNNING BACKS: B-
Why does Emmanuel Moody continue to get single-digit carries each week? This game he received three which were turned into 35 yards and a touchdown on an 11.7 average. Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey were less impressive, averaging 3.6 and 4.6 yards respectively while gaining a combined 85 yards. Running backs need to get into a rhythm. Short dive plays (which are easily being schemed against) and limited attempts impede that from happening. Moody is adoubtful this week with an ankle injury.

Read the rest of Florida’s grades from the South Carolina game after the jump…
Continue Reading » Grading the Florida at South Carolina game

Tags: Aaron Hernandez, Brandon James, Brandon Spikes, Caleb Sturgis, Carl Johnson, Charlie Strong, Chas Henry, Chris Rainey, Deonte Thompson, Emmanuel Moody, Janoris Jenkins, Jaye Howard, Jeff Demps, Jermaine Cunningham, Joe Haden, Justin Trattou, Mike Pouncey, Omarius Hines, Riley Cooper, Ryan Stamper, Tim Tebow, Urban Meyer, Will Hill, Xavier Nixon

1 » One reason for senior quarterback Tim Tebow’s struggles? A porous Florida Gators offensive line. Tebow has taken 21 sacks on the season, eight more than he did in 2007 and six more than 2008…and he still has five games left to play. Some of that can be blamed on Tebow holding on to the ball too long, but the majority of the fault falls on the men supposed to be protecting the Heisman Trophy winner. “We don’t take pride in giving up sacks,” redshirt junior left tackle Carl Johnson said. “We try our best to protect him, try our best to make sure he has time in the pocket. Teams are just blitzing a lot – sometimes they bring more than we actually can protect.” Could offensive line coach and new offensive coordinator Steve Addazio be in over his head? It is a common theme going around, even if players and coaches don’t admit it.

2 » While everyone is going seemingly off the deep end about Florida’s offensive struggles, I took a minute and checked out the nine wins so far this season. Here are the margins of victory: 59, 50, 10, 34, 10, 3, 10, 34, 24. Now look at the numbers through the first nine games in 2006: 27, 42, 1, 19, 15, 13, -10, 7, 6. Not counting the preseason non-conference games, the Gators are averaging a 17.4-point margin of victory in 2009 compared to 7.3 in 2006. Now obviously one team is coming off a National Championship season while another was trying to find its footing for much of the year. But in comparing the two teams, which has been done defensively all season, you see a group that has won by double digits in every game they have played except for the squeaker against the Arkansas Razorbacks. Not bad.

3 » No. 9/11 Florida volleyball (20-3, 14-2 SEC) continues to roll in Southeastern Conference play, sweeping the Auburn Tigers (14-12, 6-9 SEC) 3-0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-13) on Sunday in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. Sophomore outside hitters Kristy Jaeckel and Colleen Ward combined for 22 kills and 15 digs as the Gators went on to score their 20th win of the season. It has swept eight straight SEC opponents and next faces the LSU Tigers on Friday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. The match will air on Sun Sports.

4 » Gators tennis had a busy weekend, but nobody played better than junior Alexandre Lacroix, who won the singles consolation final at the ITA National Indoor Championships on Sunday. Lacroix, the No. 23 player in the nation, defeated No. 46 Ed Corrie of the Texas Longhorns in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1. Now that the fall season is complete, tennis will next play in mid-January at the SEC Indoors.

Tags: Alexandre Lacroix, Arkansas Razorbacks, Auburn Tigers, Carl Johnson, Colleen Ward, Ed Corrie, ITA National Indoor CHampionships, Kristy Jaeckel, LSU Tigers, O'Connell Center, SEC, SEC Indoors, Steve Addazio, tennis, Texas Longhorns, Tim Tebow, volleyball

Speaking to the press Tuesday, Florida Gators head coach Urban Meyer said five-star freshman offensive tackle Xavier Nixon could start (or at least see significant playing time) Saturday afternoon against the Georgia Bulldogs.

“He’s going to be a really good player,” Meyer said of Nixon. “After watching today’s practice, he went against [defensive end] Carlos Dunlap on a few plays, he had his best practice.”

The promotion of Nixon has a lot to do with the play of left guard James Wilson and current left tackle Carl Johnson, who is better suited to play inside. The coaching staff seems to believe moving Johnson back to his more natural position and ousting Wilson from the starting unit could solve some of Florida’s blocking woes that have sprouted up in recent weeks.

Sophomore Matt Patchan, who was expected to compete with Johnson for the left tackle spot and probably would have won it by now, is out for the season with a torn ACL. While playing Nixon could be a fix, does the coaching staff have that much confidence in the freshman to have the first major game of his career come against Georgia?

Tags: Carl Johnson, Carlos Dunlap, Georgia Bulldogs, James Wilson, Matt Patchan, Xavier Nixon

1 » In his weekly Monday afternoon press conference, Florida Gators head coach Urban Meyer named his Champions Club for the Arkansas Razorbacks game. On offense, linemen Mike and Maurkice Pouncey, Carl Johnson, Marcus Gilbert were honored, as was quarterback Tim Tebow, running back Jeff Demps and wide receiver Deonte Thompson. Defense received less accolades, with linemen Omar Hunter and Terron Sanders and safety Major Wright getting praise. WR Riley Cooper was named offensive player of the game while CB Joe Haden brought home the defensive player of the game honors.

Continue Reading » SIX BITS: Champions Club; Meyer & Mullen; Penalty mistake; SEC awards; Basketball news

Tags: Arkansas Razorbacks, Billy Donovan, Carl Johnson, Dan Mullen, Deonte Thompson, Erik Murphy, Jeff Demps, Joe Haden, Kelly Murphy, Kenny Boynton, Kentucky Wildcats, Major Wright, Malcom Sheppard, Marcus Gilbert, Maurkice Pouncey, Mike Pouncey, Mississippi State Bulldogs, Omar Hunter, Riley Cooper, SEC, soccer, Tahnai Annis, Terron Sanders, Tim Tebow, University of Florida, Urban Meyer, volleyball

Florida Gators left tackle Matt Patchan has been ruled out for the remainder of the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, according to head coach Urban Meyer. He tore his ACL during non-contract drills on Tuesday.

Patchan, who played in 11 games as a true freshman filling in at defensive tackle for the eventual National Champions, was sidelined for the final three games of the 2008 season with a leg injury. While rehabbing in the spring, Patchan hurt his knee in an unfortunate scooter accident. He finally bounced back and earned a job backing up starting LT Carl Johnson.

Meyer said Patchan would apply for a medical redshirt, allowing him to maintain three years of eligibility should it be approved. “That’s a tough deal, especially for Matt,” Meyer said. “He’s been coming into his own a little bit — playing, starting, getting a lot of action.”

Offensive coordinator Steve Addazio mentioned that either Mike or Maurkice Pouncey could replace Patchan backing up Johnson if necessary.

Tags: Carl Johnson, Matt Patchan, Maurkice Pouncey, Mike Pouncey, Steve Addazio, Urban Meyer