1 » Whether you call it sacrifice or making the right decision, former Florida Gators center Maurkice Pouncey’s decision to enter the 2010 NFL Draft had an impact on his brother. Now alone on the line for the first time without Maurkice, junior guard Mike Pouncey looks to move to his sibling’s old position next season – and it is for the best. “I think what really was impressive about [Maurkice] was when he was making his decision to come out, he wanted his brother to be able to play center,” Pouncey’s trainer Tom Shaw told FanHouse. “It was a big sacrifice because they’ve played everything together their whole life. That was one of their plans, he could come out and that will give Mike a chance to move up in the draft. It’s the ultimate sacrifice — he loves his brother and wants to spent time with him.”

2 » Junior defensive end Justin Trattou is ready for his captainship, and he realizes part of that comes with showing the youngsters the ropes. “It’s always [hard to adjust] when you come in as a freshman, especially when you come in midway in January,” Trattou said, according to The Gainesville Sun. “It’s always going to be tough because no matter what you did in high school, it’s not going to be the same intensity as it is here, between all the strength coaches and all the guys who have been here for a couple years.” Trattou’s toughness is not to be questioned, especially considering he played with a torn left bicep last season. “The one I had is ripped off,” Trattou said per the Orlando Sentinel. “Now it’s basically just scarred over. The key was giving it time to get stronger. […] Any time you can fight through injuries, it always gets respect from guys.”

Two more BITS on RB Jeff Demps and LB coach D.J. Durkin…after the break!
Continue Reading » FOUR BITS: Pouncey, Trattou, Demps, Durkin

Tags: Bowling Green Falcons, Charlie Strong, D.J. Durkin, Draft, field, Jeff Demps, Justin Trattou, Loren Seagrave, Louisville Cardinals, Maurkice Pouncey, Mike Pouncey, NFL, Tom Shaw, track, Urban Meyer, Velocity Sports Performance

1 » Florida Gators football will have new captains for the 2010 season, and they are seniors defensive end Justin Trattou and guard/center Mike Pouncey. Two of only eight true seniors on the team, Trattou and Pouncey may have some company before all is said and done. Their value will likely be unmatched both from a leadership and playing standpoint in 2010, so it is nice to see them receive early recognition.

2 » Mike may be concentrating on the Gators but his brother, center Maurkice Pouncey, is currently in Indianapolis, IN, for the 2010 NFL Scouting Combine. A first-team All-American, first-team All-SEC and Rimington Trophy (top center in the nation) winner, Pouncey is projected as a first-round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft in April. “I’m going to do everything,” Pouncey said of workouts at the combine. “I’ll do it now and have pro day to fall back.” Surprisingly, he never thought about playing center until Florida needed one two years ago. “I wanted to do whatever the [Gators] needed, and the team needed a center,” he told The Ledger. “It has worked out for the best.”

Check out two BITS on Florida Gators basketball after the break!
Continue Reading » FOUR BITS: Caps, Pounceys, Donovan, Macklin

Tags: Billy Donova, combine, Draft, Justin Trattou, Maurkice Pouncey, Mike Pouncey, NFL, Rimington Trophy, Urban Meyer, Vernon Macklin

Each week following a Florida Gators game, ONLY GATORS Get Out Alive grades the team position-by-position based on each unit’s performance. This week, we look at how the Gators fared against the Cincinnati Bearcats in the final game of their season, the 2010 Sugar Bowl at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, LA.

QUARTERBACKS: A+
When the best player in school history plays the best game of his career in the final game of his career, it is tough not to give him an “A+” grade. And that is exactly what senior quarterback Tim Tebow has earned – not just for his outstanding performance Friday evening but for his career in the Orange and Blue. Pick your poison: was it the Lowe’s Senior CLASS award he was given before the game, the Sugar Bowl record 12 consecutive completions, the career-long 80-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Riley Cooper, the Sugar Bowl and BCS bowl game record 533 yards of total offense, the Sugar Bowl/BCS record 482 passing yards, the 31 completions which set a new Sugar Bowl record, the Sugar Bowl high four touchdowns or the 88.6 completion percentage that set a BCS record? The answer, of course, is “all of the above.”

RUNNING BACKS: A-
Tebow was once again the leading ball carrier for the Gators with 14 touches for 51 yards and a touchdown, but both redshirt junior Emmanuel Moody and redshirt sophomore Chris Rainey came up big throughout the game. Moody rushed eight times for only 14 yards but scored two touchdowns on the ground (he also had four receptions for 19 yards) while Rainey caught four passes for 71 yards and ran four times for 27 yards and a touchdown. Freshman Mike Gillislee cleaned up at the end of the fourth quarter and took a ball 52 yards for a final line of five carries for 78 yards. Sophomore Jeff Demps, the true starter, left the game after he dislocated his elbow on his third rush of the game. Though the attempts and yards were not there, three rushing touchdowns brought this unit up a half-grade.

Read the rest of Florida’s grades from the Sugar Bowl after the jump…
Continue Reading » Grading the Florida vs. Cincinnati game

Tags: Aaron Hernandez, Ahmad Black, BCS, Brandon Hicks, Brandon James, Brandon Spikes, Caleb Sturgis, Carlos Dunlap, Charlie Strong, Chas Henry, Chris Rainey, Cincinnati Bearcats, David Nelson, Deonte Thompson, Dustin Doe, Emmanuel Moody, Janoris Jenkins, Jeff Demps, Joe Haden, Justin Trattou, Louisiana Superdome, Major Wright, Mardy Gilyard, Mike Gillislee, NFL, Riley Cooper, Ryan Stamper, Scot Loeffler, SEC, Sugar Bowl, Tim Tebow, Tony Pike, Urban Meyer, Vance Bedford

Location: Georgia Dome – Atlanta, GA [Capacity: 71,228]
Time: 4:00 p.m. (EST)
Weather Forecast: N/A

TV: CBS / CBSHD
Online: CBSSports.com
Sirius: 123; XM: 144

Odds: Florida -5.5, O/U 41
Head-to-Head Stats: Gainesville Sun

KEEP AN EYE ON…
- Florida’s 2009 senior class…the winningest group in Southeastern Conference history with a 47-6 overall record. The seniors will be playing in their third SEC Championship game in the Georgia Dome in four years.
– Senior quarterback Tim Tebow and Alabama running back Mark Ingram…who will both be making their respective cases for the 2009 Heisman Trophy. Considered two of the main competitors for the award, Tebow and Ingram each have a chance, through their play, to make an argument that they should win the trophy.
- Junior defensive end Justin Trattou…who along with redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Jaye Howard will be filling in for suspended junior starting DE Carlos Dunlap.
- Junior cornerback Joe Haden and wide receiver Julio Jones…who will face off in what could potentially be the match-up of the game between one of the best CBs and one of the best WRs in the nation.
- Head coach Urban Meyer…who is 2-0 in the SEC Championship and a combined 5-1 with Florida in championship or bowl games.
- Kick returners Brandon James and Javier Arenas…who each have a chance to make a difference in the game on special teams. James will be going up against one of the worst coverage units in college football while Arenas, one of the best returners in 2009, will be going up against the best punt coverage in the nation (13 total yards allowed). In 11 of 12 games, Florida have allowed zero punt return yards.
- Experienced players…the Gators feature 19 starters and 44 players who saw action in the 2008 SEC Championship, while the Crimson Tide return 10 starters and 36 players of their own from the game.

STREAKS:
- The Gators are in the middle of the longest winning streak in school history with 22 consecutive victories. They also hold the longest active winning streak in the NCAA and the best in the nation in the last 15 years. 21 of Florida’s 22 wins have been by a double digit margin. The team is also 12-0 for the second time in school history, the first time solely in the regular season.
- Florida and Alabama meet in the SEC Championship for the second year in a row and seventh time since the game was instituted in 1992. The Gators are 4-2 in these games and 6-4 overall in the last 10 meetings. Alabama leads the all-time series 20-14.
- For the first time in SEC Championship history, both division leaders are undefeated.
- Florida has the most SEC Championship game wins and appearances by any team.
- The Gators lead the SEC in total offense (451.3), rushing offense (236.7) and third-down efficiency (.500). They also come in No. 2 in scoring offense (36.5). Florida’s offense is the only unit in the nation that has posted at least 2,800 rushing yards and 2,575 passing yards on the season.
- On defense, the Gators have only surrendered 11 touchdowns (nine from scrimmage) all season (both totals fewest in the nation). The unit has only allowed 14 field goals for a total of 118 points (9.8 per game) – tops in the nation. The defense is also No. 1 in total defense (233.1 yards per game) and pass defense (143.2 yards per game).
- The Gators have not thrown an interception in over a month (Oct. 24); however, the defense has recorded 13 interceptions over the past six weeks – most in the nation.
- Florida’s defense has held nine of its 12 opponents under 100 yards rushing. The secondary has held four opponents under 100 yards passing and forced six to complete fewer than 50 percent of their pass attempts.

Read OGGOA’s Florida Gators vs. Alabama Crimson Tide preview after the jump!
Continue Reading » 2009 SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME – (Atlanta, GA) – No. 1 Florida Gators v. No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide

Tags: A.J. Jones, Alabama Crimson Tide, Brandon Antwine, Brandon James, Carlos Dunlap, Cory Reamer, Emmanuel Moody, Georgia Dome, Heisman Trophy, Janoris Jenkins, Javier Arenas, Jaye Howard, Jermaine Cunningham, Joe Haden, Julio Jones, Justin Trattou, Mark Ingram, Nick Saban, SEC Championship, Terron Sanders, Terry Grant, Tim Tebow, Urban Meyer

1 » In the latest Sports Illustrated, S.L. Price profiled Florida Gators head coach Urban Meyer. His article is a must-read for any Gators fan. “The Florida coach is alternately a hard-ass and a softy, cocky and calculating, smug and sentimental. But there’s no inconsistency in his football program, which is, as usual, on track for a national title.”

2 » As has been previously reported by OGGOA junior defensive end Justin Trattou will start in place of suspended junior DE Carlos Dunlap on Saturday. Helping Trattou will be redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Jaye Howard, a former DE who gained 60 pounds in the offseason to move inside. “For [Trattou], it’s an easy transition because he’s been there before,” defensive line coach Dan McCarney said. “He’s always taken reps. I rotate 12, 11 guys every game, so when a guy is out because of injury or discipline or whatever it is, it’s not like I’m going to throw a guy out there in the championship game that hasn’t played and played a lot.” Howard is especially effective against the run and will have a chance to make an impact when Alabama Crimson Tide running back Mark Ingram runs right at him. Assisting the Gators coaches in this move is redshirt junior DT Brandon Antwine, who is active for Saturday’s game after sitting out the last six weeks with a bad shoulder.

Check out four more very informative Florida-Alabama BITS after the jump…
Continue Reading » SIX BITS: Meyer profiled by SI, replacing Dunlap, Saban on UF, stopping Ingram, Stoops’ influence?

Tags: Alabama Crimson Tide, Auburn Tigers, BCS, Bob Stoops, Brandon Antwine, Carlos Dunlap, Dan McCarney, Jaye Howard, Justin Trattou, Mark Ingram, National Championship, Nick Saban, Oklahoma Sooners, Roy Upchurch, SEC Championship, University of Florida, Urban Meyer

Florida Gators head coach Urban Meyer has decided to suspend junior defensive end Carlos Dunlap for the 2009 SEC Championship game after he was arrested Tuesday morning by Gainesville Police on charges of driving under the influence. Dunlap was found slumped over sleeping behind the wheel of his red Chrystler at a traffic light. Dunlap faces one second degree misdemeanor DUI charge and was released on his own recognizance without bond by Judge Mary Day Coker.

“Carlos obviously made a very poor decision,” Meyer said. “He’s not going to play, and I want to visit with him and his family first, and then go from there. Stunning is probably a good word [to describe how I felt when I found out]. Young guys make decisions all the time. This one’s a serious one.”

One of the Gators’ top defensive players, Dunlap was named the 2009 BCS National Championship game MVP and has been a powerful, athletic force on the defensive line in 2009. He is expected to leave school after this season and be the top Florida player taken in the 2010 NFL Draft.

“You think you’re in control and the next thing you know you’re in trouble,” Carlos Dunlap, Sr. said about his son’s arrest. “I am dumbfounded right now. He’s always been so anti-drug, anti-drinking. But it’s not what you do, it’s how you respond to what you do.”

Meyer said junior DE Justin Trattou will start in place of Dunlap while senior DE Jermaine Cunningham will stay on the field for more snaps than usual. Redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Jaye Howard will get playing time at end while redshirt junior DTs Lawrence Marsh and Terron Sanders hold down the inside of the line. “The good thing is we have a little bit of depth,” Meyer said.

Tags: BCS, Carlos Dunlap, Jaye Howard, Jermaine Cunningham, Justin Trattou, Lawrence Marsh, National Championship, SEC Championship, Terron Sanders, Urban Meyer

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