2013 Florida football's 10 things to know: Brilliantly ugly orange

Confused? Check out the glossary here.

1. Brilliant orange vs. ugly orange

"It is an art in itself to compose a starting team, finding the balance between creative players and those with destructive powers, and between defence, construction and attack -- never forgetting the quality of the opposition and the specific pressures of each match."

-- Rinus Michels

In the 1960s and 1970s, Holland was a revelation on the soccer pitch. With a style created by coach (and former Dutch national team member) Rinus Michels and eventually known as Total Football, the Dutch unveiled a level of tactical flexibility never before seen, with players switching positions and creating new, innovative ways to use the space allotted to them. This new style, when matched with extremely talented players like Johan Cruyff, Rob Rensenbrink, and Ruud Krol, wreaked havoc for both the Dutch national team and the Dutch club Ajax. The squad could never quite reel in a World Cup title -- it was runner-up in both 1974 and 1978 -- but they still had an incredibly successful run of play with this style and these players. (David Winner's Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Soccer, one of my favorite recent sports books, tells this story well.)

The Total Football style and Dutch soccer became synonyms after a while; it almost wasn't enough for the team to play well -- it also had to play beautifully and creatively. When Holland made the World Cup Final in 2010 and damn near won the tournament with a more physical, plodding style that was in no way aesthetically pleasing, it felt ... wrong. "Yeah, sure, they're winning, but ... yuck! I don't want to watch this!"

It was jarring watching those bright orange jerseys, so long associated with beautiful football (in part from a style created by one of their own), playing a version of murderball.

And yes, we're now talking about Florida football. The school of Steve Spurrier and fun 'n' gun and Wuerffel-to-Anthony-and-Hilliard, the school of Urban Meyer and the spread and Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin, once again won big in 2012. After two lackluster seasons that saw the Gators go just 15-11, their worst two-year win percentage since 1987-88, they were back in the national title race. They beat South Carolina by 33 points, came back to win at Texas A&M, and rode late surges to wins over LSU and Florida State. They beat three top-10 teams and went 11-1 in the regular season (their only loss featured some really bad breaks in the turnovers department), and if there were a four-team playoff, as there will be beginning in 2014, they would have probably been in it.

But goodness, did Florida play some ugly football. It was ugly by design, of course; it perfectly matched the intense, aesthetics-eschewing personality of head coach Will Muschamp, who seemed to watch recent Alabama teams and think, "I like what they're doing, but I don't know why they have to be so flashy." Florida leaned on a fast, suffocating defense, brilliant special teams, and an occasional running game -- two parts destructive powers, no parts creative players -- and it worked.

When you've got four- and five-star talent everywhere, you don't have to get too creative tactically. You're bigger, stronger, and faster than your opponent. Just lean on them and punch them in the gut for 60 minutes, and you'll probably end up with more points on the scoreboard.

But Florida took murderball to its conceptual extreme in 2012; what happens now that the Gators have some holes to fill on defense?

2012 Schedule & Results

Record: 11-2 | Adj. Record: 12-1 | Final F/+ Rk: 4
Date	Opponent	Score	W-L	Adj. Score	Adj. W-L
1-Sep	Bowling Green	27-14	W	40.9 - 20.0	W
8-Sep	at Texas A&M	20-17	W	28.4 - 16.0	W
15-Sep	at Tennessee	37-20	W	38.1 - 17.7	W
22-Sep	Kentucky	38-0	W	28.8 - 14.3	W
6-Oct	LSU	14-6	W	23.7 - 10.4	W
13-Oct	at Vanderbilt	31-17	W	46.6 - 23.9	W
20-Oct	South Carolina	44-11	W	15.3 - 8.0	W
27-Oct	vs. Georgia	9-17	L	19.0 - 11.2	W
3-Nov	Missouri	14-7	W	20.9 - 20.4	W
10-Nov	UL-Lafayette	27-20	W	24.1 - 18.4	W
17-Nov	Jacksonville State	23-0	W	21.3 - 25.8	L
24-Nov	at Florida State	37-26	W	51.7 - 16.1	W
2-Jan	vs. Louisville	23-33	L	29.3 - 22.7	W

Category	Offense	Rk	Defense	Rk
Points Per Game	26.5	78	14.5	5
Adj. Points Per Game	29.9	54	17.3	4

2. It got uglier as the season got older

By the time the Gators were scoring a combined 73 points against Georgia, Missouri, UL-Lafayette and Jacksonville State, it was easy to forget that September wasn't nearly as ugly for (by?) the Florida offense. Jeff Driskel damn near looked like a future Heisman contender against Tennessee, completing 14 of 20 passes for 219 yards and rushing eight times for 81 yards; he later rushed for 177 yards and three scores against Vanderbilt, as well. And while there was nothing pretty about the 14-6 win over LSU, running back Mike Gillislee put on a fourth-quarter show and finished with 146 yards and both of Florida's touchdowns.

There were bright moments. But over the last half of the season, from the South Carolina game (don't let the score fool you -- the Gators gained fewer than 200 yards) through the first three quarters of the Florida State game, this was a mostly dreadful offense. With a great defense, this didn't necessarily matter, but still.

Adj. Points Per Game (first 6 games): Florida 34.4, Opponent 17.1 (plus-17.3)
Adj. Points Per Game (next 5 games): Florida 20.1, Opponent 16.8 (plus-3.3)
Adj. Points Per Game (last 2 games): Florida 40.5, Opponent 19.4 (plus-21.1)

Florida exploded for 24 fourth-quarter points in the win at Florida State and averaged a decent 5.5 yards per play versus Louisville during a desperate attempt to come back from an early deficit. But again, the Gators won 11 games and only had an offense for about four of them. That is strangely impressive. It's also a testament to how good they were on defense and special teams.

Offense

Category	Yards/ Game Rk	S&P+ Rk	Success Rt. Rk	PPP+ Rk
OVERALL	104	29	34	27
RUSHING	39	10	30	6
PASSING	118	58	45	71
Standard Downs		39	43	34
Passing Downs		21	35	17
Red Zone		86	72	86

Q1 Rk	76	1st Down Rk	34
Q2 Rk	54	2nd Down Rk	49
Q3 Rk	11	3rd Down Rk	43
Q4 Rk	28

3. Here's where advanced stats come in handy

Florida finished 103rd in total offense last year, leading one to believe that the Gators were rather incompetent on that side of the ball. But that's not necessarily true. They had a plan, and it occasionally worked.

The Gators really could run the ball, especially in the second half of games, and both pace and opponent adjustments do quite a few favors for a Florida offense that ranked a healthy, if less-than-elite, 32nd in Off. F/+. The Gators were intentionally slow to the line of scrimmage and only passed if they had to (and even when they had to pass, they still ran quite a bit); they couldn't pass, but they were good enough at either building leads or staying within striking distance (Sugar Bowl aside) that they were able to take minimal risks and succeed.

It will be interesting to see what changes, if any, offensive coordinator Brent Pease brings to the table in 2013. Pease came to Gainesville from Boise State and confused anybody who still thinks of the Boise State stereotype as one of wide-open play and lots of passing; Pease leaned on Boise concepts of motion, precision and misdirection (there were quite a few reverses, and they worked pretty well), but he did so mostly with a ground game that, ugly or not, matched the needs of the Florida defense. It also worked to wear down tremendous LSU and Florida State defenses and win some big games.

4. Red zone paradox

For all of this team's running strengths -- and no matter how you slice it, 10th in Rushing S&P+ is damn strong -- Florida was strangely awful in the red zone and in short-yardage situations. The Gators ranked 86th in Red Zone S&P+ and 118th in Power Success Rate; they broke a lot of big runs, mostly against gassed defenses, but they were terribly ineffective at throwing in short space, and opponents were able to gang up on the run. Florida attempted 29 field goals, eighth-most in the country, and scored just 39 touchdowns (82nd). In six trips inside the Georgia 40 in their only regular season loss, the Gators kicked three field goals, fumbled, threw a pick, and turned the ball over on downs.

Good run games are often associated with the ability to finish drives well, but that was not an accurate association for Florida in 2012, and it cost the Gators a spot in the SEC (and potentially BCS) title game.

Quarterback

Note: players in bold below are 2013 returnees. Players in italics are questionable with injury/suspension.

Player	Ht, Wt	2013 Year	Rivals	Comp	Att	Yards	Comp Rate	TD	INT	Sacks	Sack Rate	Yards/ Att.
Jeff Driskel	6'4, 236	Jr.	**** (6.0)	156	245	1,646	63.7%	12	5	36	12.8%	4.8
Jacoby Brissett				23	35	249	65.7%	1	0	3	7.9%	6.3
Tyler Murphy	6'2, 206	Jr.	** (5.4)
Skyler Mornhinweg	6'2, 208	RSFr.	*** (5.5)

5. Throw the ball away, Jeff

Jeff Driskel is a great runner; he picks his spots well, takes off as soon as the defense turns its collective back, and racks up quite a few big plays on the ground. But there are two different forms of mobility: running with the ball and avoiding sacks. The latter is almost as much about mental agility as physical, and Driskel had none. He was sacked more frequently than almost any quarterback in the country, and for a team that relies on field position and defense, sacks are particularly defeating.

Learning to throw the ball away could save Florida 15 to 20 yards of field position in a given game, and the Gators were already awesome in that regard in 2012.

Jeff Driskel. Mike Ehrmann, Getty.

Running Back

Player	Pos.	Ht, Wt	2013 Year	Rivals	Rushes	Yards	Yards/ Carry	Hlt Yds/ Carry	TD	Adj. POE
Mike Gillislee	RB				244	1,148	4.7	5.1	10	+0.6
Jeff Driskel	QB	6'4, 236	Jr.	**** (6.0)	82	694	8.5	8.3	4	+28.4
Matt Jones	RB	6'2, 226	So.	**** (5.8)	52	275	5.3	4.6	3	+5.1
Trey Burton	WR-F	6'0, 225	Sr.	*** (5.7)	29	190	6.6	9.9	2	+6.4
Mack Brown	RB	5'11, 213	Jr.	**** (5.8)	25	102	4.1	1.5	0	-1.4
Omarius Hines	WR-F				20	159	8.0	8.2	2	+6.9
Solomon Patton	WR	5'9, 171	Sr.	**** (5.8)	14	140	10.0	8.8	0	+7.2
Chris Johnson	RB				5	35	7.0	4.2	0	+0.1
Kelvin Taylor	RB	5'11, 215	Fr.	**** (6.0)

Receiving Corps

Player	Pos.	Ht, Wt	2013 Year	Rivals	Targets	Catches	Yards	Catch Rate	Yds/ Target	Target Rate	%SD	Real Yds/ Target	RYPR
Jordan Reed	TE				62	45	559	72.6%	9.0	22.7%	58.1%	8.9	85.7
Quinton Dunbar	WR-X	6'1, 195	Jr.	**** (5.8)	47	36	383	76.6%	8.1	17.2%	57.4%	8.1	58.7
Frankie Hammond, Jr.	WR-X				47	22	295	46.8%	6.3	17.2%	46.8%	5.8	45.2
Omarius Hines	WR-F				32	23	242	71.9%	7.6	11.7%	62.5%	7.6	37.1
Trey Burton	WR-F	6'0, 225	Sr.	*** (5.7)	26	18	172	69.2%	6.6	9.5%	57.7%	6.6	26.4
Mike Gillislee	RB				20	16	159	80.0%	8.0	7.3%	40.0%	7.2	24.4
Clay Burton	TE	6'4, 253	Jr.	*** (5.7)	7	2	12	28.6%	1.7	2.6%	71.4%	1.5	1.8
Kent Taylor	TE	6'5, 224	So.	**** (6.0)	6	2	5	33.3%	0.8	2.2%	83.3%	2.0	0.8
Hunter Joyer	FB	5'10, 235	Jr.	*** (5.7)	5	4	17	80.0%	3.4	1.8%	80.0%	3.8	2.6
Andre Debose	WR-Z	5'11, 189	Sr.	***** (6.1)	4	2	9	50.0%	2.3	1.5%	75.0%	1.8	1.4
Mack Brown	RB	5'11, 213	Jr.	**** (5.8)	4	3	0	75.0%	0.0	1.5%	50.0%	0.2	0.0
Solomon Patton	WR-Z	5'9, 171	Sr.	**** (5.8)	3	1	17	33.3%	5.7	1.1%	33.3%	10.3	2.6
Colin Thompson	TE	6'3, 252	RSFr.	**** (5.8)
Demarcus Robinson	WR-X	6'2, 201	Fr.	**** (6.0)
Alvin Bailey	WR	5'11, 170	Fr.	**** (6.0)
Ahmad Fulwood	WR	6'4, 189	Fr.	**** (5.8)

6. Will the passing game improve?

Of course, receivers getting open could also help Driskel to avoid holding the ball too long. And hey, at any point, the former four- and five-star recruits in the Florida receiving corps could start acting like four- and five-star players. There is a ton of them, from the go-routes-only Andre Debose to Solomon Patton, who was much more running back than receiver from the WR-Z position (14 carries, three targets).

But unless you double down on potential, it's hard to rationalize Florida's passing game getting better, considering three of last year's top four targets are gone, and only one returnee averaged better than even a poor 6.6 yards per target last year. Tight ends Clay Burton and Kent Taylor and fullback Hunter Joyer combined to average 1.9 yards per target in 2012; five average passes to these three still wouldn't have gained a first down. I don't even understand how your average can be that low unless you're doing it intentionally. The passing game definitely isn't going to get worse, but yeah, throw the ball away, Jeff.

Despite passing game issues, the combination of Driskel rollouts, delays, draws, and screens to the running back, and camp-out-at-the-first-down-line passes to tight end Jordan Reed gave Florida better passing-downs success than one might have expected. If someone can replace Reed as ace in the hole, Florida could still figure out ways to move the chains once it falls behind schedule.

And a solid (from a run perspective) line should once again ensure that, by the third or fourth quarter, the Florida run game is getting more and more effective, even without Mike Gillislee.

Offensive Line

Category	Adj. Line Yds	Std. Downs LY/carry	Pass. Downs LY/carry	Opp. Rate	Power Success Rate	Stuff Rate	Adj. Sack Rate	Std. Downs Sack Rt.	Pass. Downs Sack Rt.
Team	117.2	3.02	3.65	40.2%	53.2%	20.0%	51.6	9.5%	15.9%
Rank	9	57	23	50	118	82	122	119	123

Player	Pos.	Ht, Wt	2013 Year	Rivals	Career Starts/Honors/Notes
Xavier Nixon	LT				33 career starts
Jon Halapio	RG	6'3, 315	Sr.	*** (5.6)	33 career starts
Jonotthan Harrison	C	6'3, 302	Sr.	**** (5.8)	27 career starts
Chaz Green	RT	6'5, 304	Jr.	**** (6.0)	19 career starts
James Wilson	LG				15 career starts
Kyle Koehne	C	6'5, 315	Sr.	*** (5.6)	4 career starts
D.J. Humphries	LT	6'5, 280	So.	***** (6.1)	2 career starts
Ian Silberman	LG	6'5, 291	Jr.	**** (5.9)	2 career starts
Sam Robey	LG
Max Garcia (Maryland)	LG	6'4, 307	Jr.	*** (5.6)
Tyler Moore (Nebraska)	RT	6'6, 312	So.	**** (5.9)
Trip Thurman	RG	6'5, 313	So.	**** (5.8)
Trenton Brown	LT	6'8, 363	Jr.	*** (5.6)

Defense

Category	Yards/ Game Rk	S&P+ Rk	Success Rt. Rk	PPP+ Rk
OVERALL	5	3	6	2
RUSHING	4	3	9	2
PASSING	16	5	7	6
Standard Downs		3	5	3
Passing Downs		4	16	4
Red Zone		4	7	5

Q1 Rk	17	1st Down Rk	3
Q2 Rk	5	2nd Down Rk	5
Q3 Rk	3	3rd Down Rk	3
Q4 Rk	3

7. Passing was your only shot

Florida didn't even have the decency to put a flashy, fun defense on the field. The Gators went with the Alabama-esque, submission-holds-instead-of-flying-elbow-drops style of defense. With a great push from the middle of the line and fast linebackers and safeties in pursuit, Florida leaned on its athleticism and adaptability in 2012, and the results were impressive.

Athletic offenses could occasionally find room to work (Texas A&M and Louisville in the first half, to name two), but if you didn't have enough speed or depth, you would quickly find yourself in passing downs, and you would likely find yourself getting picked off soon thereafter.

The only chance offenses had came through the air, and opponents knew it. Florida's pass rush was a bit passive, so quarterbacks usually had time to get passes off; that was better than the running back getting gang-tackled two yards downfield (or getting lit up by tackle Sharrif Floyd behind the line of scrimmage). The problem with passing was that opposing quarterbacks were throwing into spaces with a lot of fast defenders nearby, and the Gators were frequently able to break passes up or intercept them.

(Actually, they were a bit lucky in the number of interceptions they pulled in. They picked off 29 percent of their defensed passes; the national average is 21 percent, so they nabbed about 5.5 more INTs than they probably should have.)

The names are changing, but the defensive identity probably won't. The run stuffs will still be there -- Floyd and Omar Hunter are gone, but Dominique Easley and Leon Orr made 14 of their 32.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage -- and there is help at tackle coming from junior college transfer Darious Cummings. And sophomore ends Dante Fowler, Jr., and Jonathan Bullard should only get better after showing well in their debut seasons. Florida should once again get a hell of a push up front, which will do a green back seven quite a few favors.

Defensive Line

Category	Adj. Line Yds	Std. Downs LY/carry	Pass. Downs LY/carry	Opp. Rate	Power Success Rate	Stuff Rate	Adj. Sack Rate	Std. Downs Sack Rt.	Pass. Downs Sack Rt.
Team	121.7	2.35	2.88	33.4%	67.9%	25.6%	114.4	5.7%	7.5%
Rank	7	7	32	12	61	6	40	29	49

Name	Pos	Ht, Wt	2013 Year	Rivals	GP	Tackles	% of Team	TFL	Sacks	Int	PBU	FF	FR
Sharrif Floyd	DT				13	37.5	6.0%	13	3	0	0	1	0
Omar Hunter	NT				13	30.0	4.8%	4	0	0	4	0	0
Dante Fowler, Jr.	BUCK	6'3, 263	So.	***** (6.1)	13	21.5	3.5%	8	2.5	0	0	0	0
Dominique Easley	DT	6'2, 283	Sr.	***** (6.1)	11	21.0	3.4%	8.5	4	0	1	0	1
Jonathan Bullard	DE	6'3, 265	So.	***** (6.1)	13	20.5	3.3%	5	1.5	0	1	0	0
Lerentee McCray	BUCK				12	19.5	3.1%	4.5	3	1	1	1	1
Leon Orr	NT	6'5, 310	Jr.	**** (5.9)	9	11.5	1.8%	5.5	1	0	0	0	0
Earl Okine	DE				13	9.0	1.4%	0.5	0	0	0	0	0
Damien Jacobs	NT	6'3, 286	Sr.	**** (5.8)	12	8.0	1.3%	2.5	2.5	0	0	0	0
Bryan Cox, Jr.	DE	6'3, 260	RSFr.	*** (5.7)
Darious Cummings	DT	6'1, 309	Jr.	**** (5.8)
Caleb Brantley	DT	6'3, 304	Fr.	**** (5.9)
Jaynard Bostwick	DT	6'4, 291	Fr.	**** (5.8)
Jordan Sherit	DE	6'5, 234	Fr.	**** (5.8)
Joey Ivie	DE	6'4, 270	Fr.	**** (5.8)

Linebackers

Name	Pos	Ht, Wt	2013 Year	Rivals	GP	Tackles	% of Team	TFL	Sacks	Int	PBU	FF	FR
Jon Bostic	MIKE				13	56.5	9.1%	6.5	3	2	2	1	1
Antonio Morrison	MIKE	6'1, 229	So.	**** (5.8)	13	30.5	4.9%	2	1	0	0	1	0
Ronald Powell (2011)	SLB	6'4, 234	Jr.	***** (6.1)	12	26.0	3.7%	9	6	0	0	1	0
Michael Taylor	WILL	6'0, 231	Jr.	**** (5.8)	13	25.0	4.0%	1.5	1	1	1	0	0
Jelani Jenkins	SLB				9	24.0	3.9%	5	2	1	0	0	0
Darrin Kitchens	WILL	6'2, 230	Sr.	*** (5.6)	13	12.0	1.9%	1	0	0	0	1	0
Neiron Ball	SLB	6'2, 235	Jr.	**** (5.8)	11	7.5	1.2%	0.5	0	1	1	0	2
Jeremi Powell	LB	6'1, 205	RSFr.	**** (5.8)
Daniel McMillian	MIKE	6'1, 227	Fr.	**** (5.9)
Alex Anzalone	LB	6'3, 229	Fr.	***** (6.1)
Matt Rolin	LB	6'4, 209	Fr.	**** (5.8)

8. Blinded by star ratings

Recruiting rankings matter. They do. But we still go overboard about them sometimes. A four- or five-star rating is no guarantee of success (just ask Andre Debose), but it is very difficult to look at the recruiting rankings of Florida's youngsters in the linebacking corps and secondary and not assume the Gators will be just fine in 2013 despite some key losses.

Safeties Matt Elam and Josh Evans (combined: 15.5 TFLs, 15 passes defensed) and middle linebacker Jon Bostic were so steady (and violent) that Florida didn't have to take many risks to make stops. They were also consistent enough that, with help from the slow-paced offense, the Gators were able to get away with playing with minimal depth last year. Their absence could potentially be troubling, but their replacements are all former star recruits.

Plus, there is still some decent experience here (especially with the return of part-SLB, part-DE Ronald Powell), and there are some serious blue-chip freshmen entering the mix, like linebacker Alex Anzalone and corner Vernon Hargreaves. Relying on a single star recruit to produce immediately is problematic, but when you only need a couple out of about 10 to thrive, odds are on your side.

Still, Elam, Bostic, and Evans were really, really good. Assuming elite defensive play without them could make you (and me) feel pretty foolish by mid-season.

Secondary

Name	Pos	Ht, Wt	2013 Year	Rivals	GP	Tackles	% of Team	TFL	Sacks	Int	PBU	FF	FR
Matt Elam	S				13	67.0	10.8%	11	2	4	5	1	0
Josh Evans	S				13	66.0	10.6%	4.5	2.5	3	3	0	0
Loucheiz Purifoy	CB	6'1, 185	Jr.	**** (5.8)	13	44.5	7.1%	1	0	0	5	3	0
Jaylen Watkins	S	6'0, 181	Sr.	**** (6.0)	13	32.5	5.2%	1	0	3	8	0	0
Marcus Roberson	CB	6'0, 195	Jr.	**** (6.0)	13	20.5	3.3%	1	1	2	12	1	0
De'Ante Saunders	DB				8	15.0	2.4%	0.5	0	1	4	0	1
Cody Riggs	CB	5'9, 184	Jr.	**** (5.9)	2	6.0	1.0%	0	0	0	1	1	0
Jeremy Brown	CB	5'10, 185	Sr.	**** (5.8)	11	4.0	0.6%	0	0	0	0	0	0
Brian Poole	CB	5'10, 203	So.	**** (5.9)	12	3.0	0.5%	0	0	0	0	0	0
Valdez Showers	S	5'11, 190	So.	*** (5.7)	11	2.0	0.3%	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jabari Gorman	S	5'10, 186	Jr.	**** (5.8)	12	2.0	0.3%	0	0	1	0	0	1
Marcus Maye	S	6'0, 200	RSFr.	**** (5.9)
Vernon Hargreaves III	CB	5'11, 185	Fr.	***** (6.1)
Marcell Harris	DB	6'1, 207	Fr.	**** (6.0)
Keanu Neal	DB	6'1, 203	Fr.	**** (6.0)
Nick Washington	DB	6'0, 183	Fr.	**** (5.8)

Special Teams

Punter	Ht, Wt	2013 Year	Punts	Avg	TB	FC	I20	FC/I20 Ratio
Kyle Christy	6'3, 193	Jr.	66	45.8	6	22	27	74.2%

Kicker	Ht, Wt	2013 Year	Kickoffs	Avg	TB	TB%
Caleb Sturgis			69	63	31	44.9%
Brad Phillips	5'10, 191	Sr.	3	62.7	2	66.7%

Place-Kicker	Ht, Wt	2013 Year	PAT	FG (0-39)	Pct	FG (40+)	Pct
Caleb Sturgis			34-35	16-19	84.2%	8-9	88.9%
Brad Phillips	5'10, 191	Sr.	2-2	0-1	0.0%	0-0	N/A

Returner	Pos.	Ht, Wt	2013 Year	Returns	Avg.	TD
Andre Debose	KR	5'11, 189	Sr.	18	28.3	1
Loucheiz Purifoy	KR	6'1, 185	Jr.	7	23.9	0
Andre Debose	PR	5'11, 189	Sr.	10	9.3	0
De'Ante Saunders	PR			5	7.8	0

Category	Rk
Special Teams F/+	3
Net Punting	9
Net Kickoffs	14
Touchback Pct	29
Field Goal Pct	16
Kick Returns Avg	37
Punt Returns Avg	12

9. Florida's best offensive player returns

Jeff Driskel had his moments, and Mike Gillislee was nice and steady, but punter Kyle Christy was by far the best weapon Florida had for flipping the field. His steady punting added about an extra first down or so to Florida's yardage in a given series and consistently gave opponents long fields. He's back, and that's very good news for the Gators.

2013 Schedule & Projection Factors

2013 Schedule
Date	Opponent	Proj. Rk
31-Aug	Toledo	62
7-Sep	at Miami	28
21-Sep	Tennessee	44
28-Sep	at Kentucky	90
5-Oct	Arkansas	37
12-Oct	at LSU	3
19-Oct	at Missouri	39
2-Nov	vs. Georgia	9
9-Nov	Vanderbilt	49
16-Nov	at South Carolina	19
23-Nov	Georgia Southern	NR
30-Nov	Florida State	15

Five-Year F/+ Rk	4
Two-Year Recruiting Rk	3
TO Margin/Adj. TO Margin*	+15 / +8.4
TO Luck/Game	2.5
Approx. Ret. Starters (Off. / Def.)	11 (6, 5)
Yds/Pt Margin**	-7.2

10. A top-five team goes 11-1 against this schedule ...

... and a Top 25 team goes about 7-5. Florida intentionally played with little margin for error last year -- the style that kept it close enough to strike against Florida State and LSU also kept it uncomfortably close to Jacksonville State and UL-Lafayette -- and the schedule does much the same for the Gators this time around.

If they are once again a top-five team (and yes, despite the lack of aesthetics and the awful first-half showing against Louisville, they were just that), then barring a potential upset, this schedule could boil down to two games: the trip to LSU and the Cocktail Party rivalry game versus Georgia. Win one of those two, and you're probably in the SEC title game, one step away from the national title game. But if the lack of pass offense is more problematic, if the young defense allows for a few more early deficits, and Florida only puts a good product on the field instead of a great one, then suddenly it's going to be a battle just to reach eight wins.

The eyeballs and the win column disagreed sharply when watching Florida play last year. That this ugly, physical, and quite effective team was wearing the same jerseys as Tebow, Wuerffel, Harvin, etc., made the whole experience even more jarring. There's no reason to think 2013 will be any different in the aesthetics department; can we say the same about the results?

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