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The Back Nine comes at you after a weekend that was way too decadent if you consider it decadent to watch a ton of baseball, football and golf and not get anything done except hang one framed Gainesville Sun front page on the wall.
10. Obviously, nobody was surprised to see Graham Mertz named the starter at quarterback for the first game. Florida did not bring him in here to be a backup and the level of experience he brings is his greatest strength. I know Billy Napier is looking for a game manager after a year of having a quarterback who was either great or awful and there was nothing in between. If Napier is looking for Mertz to be Stetson Bennett, you have to remember he doesn’t have the players around him (especially on defense) to make that work. But it’s not like they have a choice.
11. I saw a story on ESPN where Adam Rittenberg talked to 20 coaches to get evaluations on the top returning quarterbacks. Mertz was not one of the 47 quarterbacks. That’s where this is starting, the grand experiment. I want this to work because I certainly don’t want any quarterback to feel the wrath of the scorned Gator fans. It’s not pleasant.
12. This is still going to be a team that is only as good as its defense, which is pretty much what it was the last two years. You would hope a historically bad defense would be better this year and I think it will. Losing Justus Boone for the entire season does not help. The question is whether Florida can make a 10-percent jump, which might mean one more win, or a 50-percent leap and have a 9-win season. The first game will be a good indication of what is going on, because in opening games with a new coordinator, you can throw a lot at the opponent.
13. One of the great mysteries of last season was how South Carolina looked like a JV team against Florida and then scored 63 to knock Tennessee out of the playoffs the following week. And then beat Clemson a week after that. My buddy David Cloninger, who works the Gamecock beat, did a deep dive and here’s what he said of the key ingredient South Carolina used to snap out of it – nothing, really. The players and coaches just got tired of losing and being embarrassed. Sometimes, it’s just that simple.
14. Now that Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh will not be suspended for the first four games by the NCAA because it will go back to the Committee on Infractions, it feels like this has to be his last year in college. Right? Why else would he not accept a suspension this year against four softies and perhaps receive a longer suspension next year? Maybe he’s just that stubborn and doesn’t think the rules apply to him. I guess all of the above could be true.
15. Stunning news from the Associated Press poll released today – Florida actually received votes. The Gators received four points, which is four more than they got in the coaches’ poll. The AP poll was also more validation of how difficult the Florida schedule is with four opponents ranked in the top 14 in the country.
16. Don’t read too much into anything anybody did during the first preseason weekend. I watched a bunch and it was mostly twos and threes against twos and threes. These coaches get the real work done during those scrimmages between teams during the week (Jacksonville, for example, is having two at Detroit before playing the Lions Saturday).
17. Still, just seeing Damar Hamlin on the field made my whole weekend. So inspiring.
18. OK, I need a good playlist for the long drive to Destin where I am speaking to the Emerald Coast Gator Club on Wednesday. I’ll start with these:
* Skeye’s cover of the great Radiohead Song “Karma Police”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtFdPN0MGZM
* “Heart In Hand” by Vertical Horizon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY7nJYi6z2w
* And for an old one, “New Blue Moon” by the Traveling Wilburys.
