This was the first practice of the fall, and was only for returning players from the 2008 squad. The freshmen were set to practice on Thursday evening. The turnout was great from Gator Nation as many estimate that the number of fans peaked around 600 just to take a peek at the defending National Champions.

"It was just like Christmas to come out with the Gator Nation out here watching," said MLB Brandon Spikes.

Although the Gators didn't put on pads for the first practice of the fall, there was no lack of intensity from most of the players. Deonte Thompson seemed to be a primary target for Tebow and Brantley as he seemed to catch a majority of the passes in the 7-on-7 drills. He also burned Janoris Jenkins for the offensive play of the day on a deep fly route that made some offensive coaches smile.

Another WR that showed off his ability was Riley Cooper. He showed no lack of chemistry with the team despite being out of town and missing spring practice for baseball. Cooper also surprised many sports analysts by still being in shape after missing all the spring and off-season workouts. Baseball, not being the most physically demanding sport around, has been known to allow dual-sport athletes to pack on pounds in the off-season. This has clearly not happened to Cooper who has not seemed to lose an ounce of speed or chemistry with his teammates.

Speaking of gaining weight, another notable side story is Brandon Spikes putting on an extra 10 or 20 pounds in the offseason as an experiment. He wanted to see if it would help his pass rush, but he has decided he doesn't like playing with the extra weight. He weighed in 18 pounds above what he weighed in for the season last year, but plans to drop the weight before Charleston Southern visits the Swamp.

Notable players that missed the Thursday morning’s practice were Ahmad Black, Emmanuel Moody, Carl Moore, and Brandon Hicks. Moody and Moore were nursing injuries, but worked out in "The Pit" during practice.

The Thursday evening practice was scheduled for true and redshirt freshman along with a few handpicked veterans to lead the future of Florida Football.

One of the most notable freshmen to hit Gainesville since Tim Tebow, true freshman Andre DeBose did practice despite the rumors of a hamstring injury possibly putting him in "The Pit," but was unimpressive. He showed great athletic ability, but dropped a couple passes and didn't seem to have chemistry. Obviously, this was his first practice though and settling in takes time.

Johnny Brantley certainly has a potential short yardage quarterback for 2010 much the same way Chris Leak did in 2006, if Jordan Reed plays the way he practiced Thursday evening. The kid is huge and looks like he could put a hit on some defensive players had they been playing full contact.

Mike Gillislee is a running back that is cut in the same mold as Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey. He has the speed and cutting ability, but lacks the size needed to play in the SEC. He looks like he will probably join the breakfast club that Chris Rainey went through with the Strength and Conditioning staff to add weight.

Dee Finley, a well known recruit from 2008 who had to go to prep school and came back for 2009 looks like he is ready to shine at the Safety position. Although Florida is stacked in the Secondary after the 2007 debacle in which they brought a ton of new talent in, Dee Finley has the tools to make an immediate impact if needed. He has great size compared to most Safeties, but has the speed of a Cornerback.

Although the practice started off extremely muggy and hot, it cooled off halfway through with a light shower. The freshman really showed off a lot of talent and athleticism and will practice with the rest of the team on Friday morning.

Friday morning's practice notes will be posted as soon as I can collaborate all of the points. Keep checking back or join one of our social networking groups to be alerted of the new update.