Can you believe that games kickoff THIS
WEEK?!?! Including our first big bowl game of the year with Virginia
Tech vs. Alabama. Seriously, we may not get a matchup that good in the
Orange Bowl this year. 

I don’t think any season will be as
strange or captivating as the 2007 season where we had our first
two-loss BCS champion raise the crystal ball above their heads.

As promised (kind of), here are the last five of
the series of 15 Questions facing the 2009 Florida Gators. If you
missed Part I, you can find it here, and Part II here.

Question No. 5: Good or Bad Mood

Will Emmanuel Moody ever be an impact player at Florida?

I once held out high hopes for Moody. At one point
in time, I thought he just needed to get used to the system and learn
the plays. Then I thought, “well, he’s probably like D.Wynn and needs a
fullback and an I-formation."

I eventually settled into, “he’ll be huge against
Tennessee, Georgia, and LSU when we need to be tough between the
tackles”…didn’t happen. As time has progressed, it seems that Coach
Meyer has sent about 100 different messages about how he really feels
about Moody.

In the Orange and Blue pre-season game, Moody
touched the ball the same amount of times as I did. Zero. We actually
may have been wearing the same outfit…shorts and a t-shirt.

He is constantly hurt, but if you read between the
lines of what coaches are saying, it would appear that Moody is either
refusing to practice with small injuries or practicing poorly. Coaches
say things like, “well, he needs to learn to practice and play a little
bit nicked up."

Moody left a crowded USC backfield to come to
Florida, where at the time we had “average” speed backs like DeShawn
Wynn and Kestahn Moore as our primary ball carriers.

Then Demps and Rainey showed up on campus when Harvin was already here, and they all picked up the playbook quicker than Moody.

I hate to say it (any my brother is going to flip
when he sees this), but with freshman stud Mike Gilleslee on deck,
Demps and Rainey each with another year, I have a feeling that Emmanuel
Moody will be leading Furman, Appalachian State, or Delaware to a
National title in 2010.

I hope that he at least enjoyed his education
here. I hope I’m wrong, but he just doesn’t seem like he’s ever going
to get on the field for any significant time.

Question No. 4: Over/Under: 1.5

What’s the over under on the amount of shutouts the Gators will have this year?

I set the number at one-and-a-half, meaning they’d
have to pitch two shutouts to win that bet. In this day and age, it is
a pretty special feat to shut a team out.

Not only does your defense have to be lights out,
but your offense has to get 4-5 first downs every possession as well to
keep the other team out of field goal range.

Just a quick glance at the schedule, there’s a
chance against Charleston Southern (but lots of young guys will play in
that one), Tennessee (you laugh, but they scored 6 points against
Florida last year—at home), Kentucky (I have no idea who their QB is
this year), and Vandy (always a shutout threat).

Word on the street is that Florida’s defensive
players are desperately trying to shed the reputation as a “bend but
don’t break” defense to a shutdown defense. That could mean more
gambles and big plays for the other team, or it could mean trouble for
other teams.

I personally don’t think Florida will get one shutout. College Football just doesn’t work like that anymore.

Speaking of over/under…have you seen the point
spreads being set for Florida games?!?! I’ve heard 73 points vs.
Charleston Southern. I’ve heard anywhere between 30 and 40 for
Tennessee.

I don’t think there’s a number the wise guys won’t
put up there for the Gators this year. I also think they will likely be
1-11 vs. the spread because of the crazy numbers that might be set.

Although, if Florida gets big leads and takes out
their starters…you’ve got John Brantley waiting on deck (Gatorade High
School Player of the Year, 2006), along with Gillislee, Moody if he’s
healthy that week, and an array of guys trying to make their mark.
Gators vs. the number may be more intriguing than some of their games.

Question No. 3: Who is Tebow Throwing to On Third and Seven This Year?

Who will step up as Florida’s No. 1 receiver and who ARE the receivers this year?

It looks as though Deonte Thompson will be looked
to to step into the No. 1 receiver role this year. Urban Meyer has
stated that is his goal for Thompson.

Aaron Hernandez will get a lot of work his way,
but looks like he’ll be the only tight end Florida carries on their
roster this year (Desmond Parks is “not ready to play this year”
according to Coach Meyer).

Then there’s Riley Cooper, who in my opinion, made
the biggest catch of the game by a receiver on third and 12 late in the
game. Cooper has signed a contract with the Texas Rangers to play
baseball once this season is over.

He was drafted in the 25th round by the Rangers
this past Spring. I don’t understand that…I watched about 33 percent of
Cooper’s at-bats in 2009 and he struck out A LOT!

Imagine Pedro Cerrano from the movie Major League…that
was Riley Cooper…“straight ball I hit very good. Curve ball, not so
much." Cooper will provide a good target, however, word on the street
is that he came into training camp with a “baseball body” (read:
scrawny), and Mickey Marotti needed to get his hands on him.

Otherwise, there is a lot of unproven talent lying
out there. Carl Moore made two huge catches last year, but would be
classified as less than dependable. He played big in the SEC title
game, but then didn’t play against Oklahoma.

Andre DeBose was the source of much excitement
early on; however, the latest news is that DeBose may need surgery on
his hamstring. He’d been nursing it for some time, but now it appears
that it may be a torn tendon and not just a tight or strained hammy.
Maybe the Percy Harvin comparisons are right on point…

The receiving corp. will be different, but
remember this Florida team and offense is a physical, run first
offense. Don’t let the phrase “spread offense” fool you into thinking
“finesse” offense.

They’ll throw it around a bit, but Florida’s best
games are when Tebow throws about 14-20 passes and has 7-9 carries.
They beat No. 1 Alabama last year and Cooper, Moore, and David Nelson
all caught TD passes.

They’ll be fine, but it will be interesting to see
who Tebow goes to on third and seven or more situations. They may take
a Florida Basketball philosophy to that scenario.

If you ask Billy Donovan, or any of his players
from the 2006 and 2007 title teams, who gets to take the last shot with
the clock ticking down and you need a basket, to a man, they would all
say, “the open man”, or “whoever has the best shot dictated by what the
defense is doing." Now that’s a team.

Question No. 2: Who’s Calling the Plays?

Will the departure of Dan Mullen cause the UF offense to slow down at all?

I think any time you transition to a
new coach of any sort there will be a learning curve of some sort,
however, Steve Addazio has been with Coach Meyer for some time and
worked as offensive line coach under Meyer and Mullen since their
arrival in Florida.

Mullen and Tebow probably knew what the other was
thinking before they could speak after three years together. How
quickly with Addazio and Tebow get on the same page? There’s no telling.

I don’t think it will be a completely seamless
transition (more timeouts with play clock running down, more on-field
personnel/package issues early in the season), but again, with
Florida’s schedule this year, they can work around some of that at
certain times. Just don’t call audibles at LSU. Case closed.

Question No. 1: Can You Be Perfect?

Can the 2009 Florida Gators go undefeated and win a National Championship?

As I’ve said, I’m worried about whether Florida
can get back into the top two in the BCS ranking if they lose a game.
Here’s the thing…they’ll be favored in every game…but so is every team
in the top five and top 10 (unless they’re playing another higher
ranked team), and yet going undefeated is a rarity in today’s college
football landscape.

Someone always jumps up and gets you…Iowa got Penn
State last year. Ole Miss got Florida (can this PLEASE be the last time
we mention this…?). Oregon State got USC.

They will have huge targets on their backs this
year and on any Saturday, someone can jump up and steal one from you.
It’s almost an unfair expectation, but one that Florida, and more
specifically, Tim Tebow kind of put out there (after the game we will
no longer speak of) as a goal.

I think this team is supremely talented and has
EVERYTHING it needs to win all their games this year. I fear facing an
angry Texas team in the BCS championship game (they got snubbed last
year).

What I fear most for the Gators season dawned on
me as I was writing this article though. I’m finishing this on a Monday
afternoon/evening. I had promised this to be done by Sunday.

I’m a full day late because my Saturday and Sunday
were completely absorbed by getting my home and tailgating equipment
ready and set to go for the season. I attended a UF soccer game,
shopped, cleaned, began un-off seasoning grills, chairs, tables,
etc…and then some things came up for work that I needed to take care of.

Then the wife came home from a weekend away and
wanted to share how her weekend went. I had a meeting, then my brother
came over for dinner with us. Before I knew it, it was 11:00. I missed
Mad Men, hadn’t written my article, and was exhausted. Deadline missed.

My point is…“things” happen. They happen all the
time, to all of us. You forget your Lowe’s coupon at home and have to
circle back. You can’t find a parking spot near the mall. You forget to
switch clothes from the washer to dryer.

You cause a fumble that the other team ends up
picking up and scoring with. You hit the goal post and it goes wide.
They hit the goal post and it goes in. You run out of toilet paper.
Your headset stops working. You didn’t plan on stopping for gas. Your
QB’s nose won’t stop bleeding and he can’t go into the game.

“Things” happen and sometimes for no good reason.
They happen and you must adjust your game plan or scrap it altogether.
The promises and commitments you make become subject to the alignment
of the stars, traffic, and where the ball bounces.

This Florida team is no different. How will they
react when they are faced with the real life, “no way in hell game”
(those of you who read Bill Simmons or have played any version of
Madden or NCAA football…you know what I’m talking about)? 

We tend to think that Tim Tebow and
the Gators are impervious to that game…but they’re not. They had four
of those games in 2007 and one last year.

Can Florida be “perfect” this year? I think so.
The only guaranteed thing that I can promise you is this: you will
never see…a team play as hard as this team. You will never see…a player
push his team as hard as…well, you know the rest.