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First Look at the Gators

October 8, 2008   -   © 2008 Tiger Rag
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Taking an initial look at Urban Meyer’s Florida Gators

by Matt Deville
Tiger Rag Senior Editor

(At left) Urban Meyer led the Gators to the 2006 BCS National Title

It will go down as one of the most memorable games in Tiger Stadium history.

With Jacob Hester’s refuse-to-lose attitude, Les Miles’ five, fourth-down gambles and the announcement of the Fall of Troy during the third quarter makes LSU’s 28-24 win over Florida last season one of the best ever.

But after a huge homefield victory like that, especially in the SEC, there is always the return trip.

LSU (4-0, 2-0 SEC) heads to Gainesville on Friday to meet up with those same Gators (4-1, 2-1) in The Swamp. And it’s a pretty safe bet, Tim Tebow and Florida haven’t forgot what happened in baton Rouge last season.

Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. ET Saturday in Gainesville. The game will be broadcast nationally on CBS.

Quick facts:

All-Time Series: Florida leads 28-23-3
First Meeting: 1937, LSU 19, Florida 0
Last Meeting: 2007, LSU 28, Florida 24
Location: Gainesville, Florida
Conference/Division: SEC East
Stadium: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field (88,548)
Head Coach: Urban Meyer, 35-9, 5th year; 74-17, 8 years

2008 at a Glance:
Record: 4-1, 2-1 SEC
Ranking: 11th AP; 12th Coaches
Last game: at Arkansas, W 38-7

2007 In Review:
2007 Record: 9-4, 5-3 SEC (3rd East)
Final ’07 ranking: 13th AP / 16th Coaches
Returning Starters: 16; 7 offense, 8 defense, punter
Last Bowl Appearance: Capital One Bowl – Michigan 41, Florida 35
Last Conference Championship: 2006

2008 Leaders:
Rushing: Chris Rainey – 31-220, 2 TD
Passing: Tim Tebow – 79-128, 1025, 8 TD, 1 INT
Receiving: Percy Harvin – 19-284, 3 TD
Tackles: Brandon Spikes – 41 (20 solo, 21 assists)
Interceptions: Major Wright - 2
Sacks: Carlos Dunlap – 3.5
Tackles for loss: Jermaine Cunningham - 4

2008 Statistical Breakdown:
Total Offense: 390 (3rd SEC / 47th NCAA)
Rushing Offense: 178 (4th SEC / 41st NCAA)
Passing Offense: 211 (6th SEC / 64th NCAA)
Scoring Offense: 36 (1st SEC / 21st NCAA)
Total Defense: 265 (7th SEC / 19th NCAA)
Rushing Defense: 99 (6th SEC / 20th NCAA)
Pass Defense: 165 (6th SEC / 18th NCAA)
Scoring Defense: 11 (3rd SEC / 4th NCAA)
Turnover Margin: +1.6 (2nd SEC / 3rd NCAA)

2008 Schedule:
Date Opponent ’07 Result
Aug. 30 W, 56-10 HAWAII —
Sept. 6 W, 26-3 MIAMI (FLA.) —
Sept. 20 W, 30-6 at Tennessee W, 59-20
Sept. 27 L, 31-30 OLE MISS W, 30-24
Oct. 4 W, 38-7 at Arkansas —
Oct. 11 LSU L, 24-28
Oct. 25 KENTUCKY W, 45-37
Nov. 1 vs. Georgia (Jax) L, 30-42
Nov. 8 at Vanderbilt W, 49-22
Nov. 15 SOUTH CAROLINA W, 51-31
Nov. 22 THE CITADEL —
Nov. 29 at Florida State W, 45-12

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HEAD TO HEAD

Florida QB vs. LSU LB

Tim Tebow vs. Darry Beckwith

LSU senior linebacker Darry Beckwith will be back in the lineup for the Tigers on the big stage in Gainesville on Saturday, just in time to face the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner, Tim Tebow. Beckwith was helped off the field in the Tigers week two contest against North Texas. The knee injury didn’t require surgery and Beckwith said that it was just more fear than actual damage. Three weeks later, Beckwith and the Tiger defense will face off with quarterback that scored a mind-blowing 55 total touchdowns last season. The good news for LSU is that Tebow’s numbers have dropped significantly this season, especially in the running category, as the bruising quarterback has rushed for 157 yards on 61 carries through five games. The bad news is that the Gator is still showing he is a fairly proficient passer, connecting on 79-of-128 passes for 1,025 yards for eight touchdowns, while offering up only one interception. LSU has been exposed in its last two games in the defensive secondary, giving up 425 passing yards. LSU linebackers Kelvin Sheppard and Perry Riley have been spectacular against the run while filling in for the injured Beckwith, but have been criticized for covering the pass. If Beckwith is 100 percent , then speed and veteran coverage skills may make a deciding difference in the outcome at “The Swamp” on Saturday.

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Florida Coach vs. LSU Coach

Urban Meyer vs. Les Miles

Both Meyer and Miles made their SEC debuts in 2005. At that time Meyer had just finished his fourth year as a head coach and skippered Utah to a perfect 12-0 season. Miles was also finishing his fourth year as a head coach, but had just wrapped up a 7-5 season with Oklahoma State. Since taking over as head coach at LSU in January of 2005, Miles has guided the Tigers to the 2007 BCS National Title and to three straight top five rankings, a first at the school. Miles’ claims an astonishing 38-6 record as the head coach at LSU, the best stretch in school history. Florida is 35-9 during the last three seasons. No other SEC Eastern Division school posts a better league mark than Florida’s 19-8 record during that span. Miles currently has the upper hand on Meyer with a 2-1 record against the Gators. Miles would like to come out of Gainesville Saturday with something he has yet to accomplish in his brief time at LSU – a win.

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PLAYER TO WATCH:

Percy Harvin

RB/WR, Junior
5-11, 195
Landstown HS
Virginia Beach, Va.

Since his explosion onto the college football scene in Florida’s championship season in 2006, Percy Harvin has been nothing less of a playmaking machine for the Gators.

The dual threat Gator was considered to be one of the fastest and best ever two-position football players at the prep football level. He was one of the top recruits in the 2006 high school class, a product of Virginia Beach’s Landstown High School. He was ranked the number one overall pick in the country by Rivals.com coming out of Landstown in 2006.

Coming into this season, Harvin had accumulated nearly 1,200 yards rushing and 1,300 yards receiving during his first two seasons in Gainesville. Often compared to former Southern California great and Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush, Harvin put up Reggie-like stats last season as he rushed for 764 yards while picking up another 858 receiving yards on his way to a 10 touchdown season.

Harvin did not participate throughout fall camp and ended up missing the first game of the season due to a foot injury, but has since returned to full form. In four games this season, Harvin has picked up 177 yards rushing on 27 attempts (6.6 ypc) and has 19 catches for 284 yards for five total touchdowns.

The versatile offensive threat has the most career yards rushing by a Florida wide receiver and the most rushing yards in a single season by a UF receiver. He is also the only player in Florida history to have 100 yards rushing and receiving in a game.

- Matt Reynolds contributed to this report

Written by tigerrag · Filed Under Football, Home Page 

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