Game Week: Florida - The Night Before

Game starts in about 9 hours! Here are some articles from Florida media. Sorry to disappoint, but no video compilation from Chawan Cut tonight. He'll be driving from Orlando to Gainesville in a few hours and I don't think he's gone to sleep yet.



Up above, Robbie Andreu and Pat Dooley of the Gainesville Sun have a pretty good game preview, even if they are a little condescending and dismissive of Hawaii. But that's to be expected if you've been reading and hearing some of the commentary this week. Plus, UH is five-touchdown underdogs going into the Swamp, in the heat and humidity, playing the #5 team in the country lead by returning Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow, and on and on. So their dismissiveness is understandable. At least they're not obnoxious...

Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald's "Gator Clause" blog has some info and gameday notes. Some excerpts:

This Saturday is all about witnessing carnage the good ole fashioned way. And by old fashioned we mean Roman Coliseum style. Hawaii at Florida will be the north-central Florida version of Charleston Southern at Miami.

So, as an informed Gators fan, what should you be looking for amid Hawaii's cries for help? Gator Clause is here to help you slosh through the bloodbath.

RANDOM ANNOYANCE
Why does ESPN and others insist on spelling Hawaii like this, Hawai'i? That accent mark between the 'ii' (or whatever it is) is silly and borderline self-righteous, if you ask me.

In the comments, "i_mua" helps him out:

In response to your "Random Annoyance", the mark in Hawai`i is called an `okina (glottal stop). All diacritical marks are very important in the Hawaiian language; therefore, that is the proper spelling. The correct pronunciation is "Havai i"...the "w" is pronounced as a "v". I suggest you do some research before calling this silly and borderline self-righteous. Mahalo!

Posted by: i_mua

:)

NewsHerald.com has an article titled, "UF ready for tuneup"

The Orlando Sentinel has some game notes in an article titled, "Gators could score lots of points today"

Kevin Brockway of the Gainesville Sun highlights Greg McMackin's debut as head coach.

Andreu writes how this game is a test for the UF defense.

“Definitely, this is going to be a very good first test for us when you look at the things they do on offense,” defensive coordinator Charlie Strong said. “Hawaii usually throws a lot of short passes and screens. But I’m sure after looking at our tape from last year, they’re going to take their shots down the field and see what happens.”

Last season, the Gators gave opponents an open invitation to chuck it downfield — usually to open receivers. UF had a deadly combination going: no inside pass rush (and as a result, no outside pass rush), no experience at cornerback and an overall lack of speed at safety. The results were pretty devastating.

David Jones of Florida Today writes about what the Gators did in the offseason to improve their overall defense.

Florida safety Major Wright said he spent all summer, while working out, going over and over in his head the mistakes he made last season as a freshman.

"We watch film, we learned different offenses . . . we have a lot of chemistry back there in the back line," Wright insists. Florida must show that improvement with star linebacker Brandon Spikes hobbled by a foot injury. Likewise on offense, Harvin hasn't come all the way back from offseason heel surgery.

The Gators' defense has a lot to be hopeful about, however. There is much more depth on its defensive front, which could be a major difference by being able to keep fresh players on the field.

"The ability to rotate linemen and pressure the quarterback is going to be a key in this game," Meyer said.

Talal Emalsry writes how Tim Tebow is trying to improve.

UF’s coaches have worked with Tebow on managing Florida’s offense in crunch time.

“He’s getting a lot of reps (in two-minute drills),” Mullen said. “We had a two-minute situation (Wednesday) at the end of practice. “He’s just got to do it over and over and get comfortable. He has to understand exactly what we’re trying to get accomplished and manage the time situations like when to throw it down the field, when to check it down, when to take our timeouts, when to get out of bounds.”

Tebow has also gotten help gaining the sixth sense that alerts quarterbacks of an oncoming pass rush.

“His pocket presence, we’ve worked extremely hard on that,” Meyer said. “Tim’s pocket presence is something we’ll continue to work on.”

The Palm Beach Post focuses on the Florida running backs helping take the pressure off Tebow.

And Antonya English of the St. Petersburg Times has an article about Florida's speed, and includes a few quotes from UH linebacker Adam Leonard.

"Just from what you can see on film, you can definitely tell in the open field they are the most dangerous players we ever played against," said Leonard, a senior from Seattle. "It's just a matter of trying our best to contain that speed, not letting them break loose in the open field and secure the tackle.

"That's where (speed) shows the most. When they get in that open field and they break one tackle and they get the opportunity to go at that speed, they are unstoppable."