The End of the Road

Well, Gators, that sure was a great way to end an unbelievable year. Clearly, I would have preferred to cap the 2009 campaign with a victory Thursday night in Pasadena. But rolling over Cincinnati and playing our best game of the year in the Sugar Bowl was a fantastic consolation prize. I knew we were going to win when Mrs. Report and I landed Thursday to find a bright orange full moon over the blue twilight sky in New Orleans. I only wish more of us were there to see it. I hate to tell you, but I think you'll regret not making the trip. I remember back to the 1996 season where I left the Georgia Dome thinking Spurrier could easily win several more consecutive SEC crowns, only to have to wait 4 more years before he won his next (and last). I'll talk a little more about early thoughts for next year at the end, but I'm not 100% sold that Urban will ever have a team like this one again, both in terms of his ability to commit to the effort and the overall makeup. I think it will be a very long time before we see another player like #15, if we ever do.

In addition to the great game, Mrs. Report and I had a huge time in the Big Easy in spite of never stepping foot on Bourbon Street. The Bearcat Faithful had the Gators outnumbered by about 8:1. They weren't as mouthy as their Buckeye cousins, nor did 90% of their fans clad themselves in jerseys like The Ohio State University, but their cheer was fairly obnoxious and they weren't afraid to belt it out (Ohhhh, Ohhhh, Ohhhh, U C!). Special thanks to all of our friends who joined us for the pregame party at the Grand Isles behind Harrah's. The bar opened up into a courtyard where a band called Bag of Donuts played for 3 hours prior to kickoff. Think Kiss meets The Beastie Boys. They were awesome although I suspect my recollection of their talents was skewed as a result of their stage's proximity to the bar. The tailgate was strong enough to require your author to watch the replay when we got home Saturday night in order to fill in some details of the game. The fact that the Superdome vendors were selling both beer and liquor drinks helped dull my memory further, but I know we had a good time. At least that's what Mrs. Report says.

I thought Tebow was awesome but he was helped out by some outstanding receiver play. Cooper was unreal as was Hernandez, but the good news for next year was that Deonte had a great game as did Rainey. I'd like to think their improved play was partly due to the new receivers coach. I didn't see two receivers running identical routes on the same play once, but I'm glad you have that to look forward to LSU fans! I thought Cincy helped us out by A) pulling a Georgia and changing uniforms just before kickoff (note to college coaches: This is a poor strategy when playing Florida); and B) by talking enough trash on defense to keep our guys interested in sincerely beating them down. I don't care about their coaching change, they could have had Brian Kelly, Joe Paterno or Tony Dungy on the sideline, on the field it was pure men versus boys. I'd love it if we could end every season by facing an undefeated team from Ohio. The matchup always works out for the good guys.

And you just can't overstate the importance of a solid win in this game. Coaches were leaving (a special thanks to Coach Bedford for announcing his departure the night before the game, great timing, Coach), recruits were defecting (I take back all those nice things about Matt Elam, he clearly lacks basic intelligence), and the national media was in a feeding frenzy over Urban's health problems. But the big win goes a long way in cleaning all that up and we should end up with a great recruiting class and good momentum going into next year. If you think it wasn't that big of a deal for our team and coaches to produce this kind of performance, see Alabama's effort in the same game last year vs. Utah, and that was without any of the distractions that Florida had to contend with.

With that said, next year will be incredibly interesting. First and foremost, we have no idea how things will play out with Urban. I know what he says, but I saw the long hug with Addazio and the way Mrs. Meyer was crying on the podium. I'd put his return to the sideline for next September as a BIG maybe. In the next week or so we have to find a defensive coordinator and a new secondary coach to help us shore up this recruiting class. If our running backs coach leaves with Charlie Strong we'll need an additional offensive coach as well. Haden announced Sunday he was gone. I have to assume Hernandez and Dunlap will quickly follow as will at least one, if not both, of the Pounceys. I expect Major Wright to return but if he doesn't we're loaded at safety and will be fine for 2010. On that note, we'll have plenty of talent going into 2010 to make a good run at the SEC East. I don't see us running the table as the schedule gets much harder with a road trip to Tuscaloosa replacing Arkansas and adding a very talented USF team in lieu of a patsy. Offensively we'll need to rebuild an offensive line and find a way to replace the running game that consisted mainly of Tebow for 2009. I would think that the skill players would be thrilled about the prospect of a less mobile quarterback who is a significantly better passer than #15. It will mean more carries for Demps, Rainey, Moody and Gillislee. The loss of Cooper, Nelson and Hernandez will open a huge door for Thompson, Hines, Hammond, Debose and our other young receivers. The question is whether any of them can step through that door.

On defense, we'll have a solid group of linebackers but will have to replace the leadership of Stamper and Spikes, no small task. The secondary will remain the best back 4 in the country and we won't lose any D-tackles. But we'll need to find some kind of pass rush out of our remaining defensive ends. I think William Green and Justin Trattou are going to be very good, but you can't expect them to be Cunningham and Dunlap.

On special teams we keep the best punter nobody's ever heard of and hopefully Sturgis can continue to improve. Brandon James will be very tough to replace but I like that Rainey will get more chances in space assuming he can stay healthy and keep his head on straight.

As I said before, I think it will be a long time before we field a team like the one we had this year, and the schedule won't get any easier than it was in 2009. Tennessee will improve and we've got to play them in Knoxville, Georgia returns a ton of guys, as does South Carolina and LSU. FSU will be better now that Bowden is gone. Bama loses almost their entire defense but keeps almost all of their offensive starters. Assuming Urban returns "full speed ahead" I think we still win the East next year, but two losses would be my guess going into the year. While, in my estimation, we won't have the horses to make a run like we did this year, I am looking forward to being back in the position of the hunter rather than enduring the scrutiny and pressure that comes with being #1. Having some unknowns again should make 2010 really fun.

Looking back on 2009 I want to again thank Mrs. Report for allowing me to see every game with my own eyes. I was really happy she made several roadies with me, but I know the times she didn't meant she was playing a matchup zone against Little Percy and Timmy, and that's no fun. It was a helluva year to do it but not something I plan on doing on a regular basis. I'd rank my top 5 favorite tailgates as follows-

1. LSU- The 8 hour ramp up to game time and postgame outside Tiger Stadium was what college football is all about. TigahBait!

2. Sugar Bowl- Cajun food, plenty of drinks and a great band.

3. SEC Championship- Tailgating while a Christmas parade goes by was awesome as was the after party at The Glenn. Had we won this one would have been ahead of New Orleans.

4. Miss State- The Boys Trip always features a good time, tailgating in the heart of the campus was no exception.

5 (tie). Georgia- Jacksonville on Halloween Day. Tough to beat the 50/50 split of the crowd.

5 (tie). Tennessee- The Bus on the biggest gameday of the year in Gainesville.

My top 5 low moments of the year were-

1. Watching Tebow laying motionless for 3 minutes at Kentucky;

2. Urban quitting;

3. Bama rolling us in Atlanta;

4. Not beating Kiffie by 100;

5. Again realizing that I look forward to football season for 8 months only to see it end in what feels like 8 minutes.

All in all, it was a tremendous year for the Gators and I really appreciate all of you who regularly read The Gator Report as well as all of your comments (except those received from The Pride of the Sunshine at 1am). I may or may not post after the national championship game where I'll begrudgingly be rooting for the Tide to roll. If I don't, I hope you all have a great first 8 months of 2010 and I'll be back next season looking forward to another great season.

Go Gators!

BS