State of the Florida Union: The Past Midseason Edition

Right now? I'd say Florida's in a good spot as a program; the Gators are in the driver's seat in the SEC East, and are just one game away from earning a spot to Atlanta to take on (presumably) Alabama in the SEC championship game. The Gators have come a long way from the underachieving days on the Ron Zook era, winning a national title in Urban Meyer's second season as head coach. In Meyer's tenure, Florida has gone:

- 37-9 overall, for a .804 winning percentage
- 9-6 (.600 winning percentage) against teams ranked in the Coaches' Top 25 at the end of the season
- 10-1 (.909 winning percentage) against Florida's three main rivals (Georgia, Tennessee, and Florida State)
- 23-2 (.920 winning percentage) at home
- 22-8 (.733 winning percentage) in conference games
- 2-1 in bowl games
- 1 SEC championship
- 1 BCS national championship

Pretty impressive overall. Now, let's examine the year by year progress throughout his time at UF.

2005:
Meyer's first year at Florida. New players trying to learn a new offense, and lots of adjustments to be made. Meyer didn't even implement the spread option throughout the year; before the Georgia game, Florida switched to a more conservative double tight end set to provide more protection for quarterback Chris Leak. That year, Florida went:

- 9-3 overall, and 5-3 in conference play
- 2-2 against top 25 ranked teams
- 3-0 against Florida's three main rivals
- Finished 56th in the nation in rush offense, 51st in pass offense, 61st in total offense, and 49th in scoring offense
- Finished 10th in the nation in rushing defense, 38th in passing defense, 9th in total defense, and 18th in scoring defense

From this you can see that Florida's offense didn't do much in Meyer's first year; there were some moments of brilliance (Florida scoring 49 points against Kentucky, and putting up 31 against Iowa), but the offense was largely mediocre. The Gators leaned on a solid defense for much of the year. Next year, when Florida would win the national title, they finished:

- 12-1 overall, and 7-1 in conference play
- 4-1 against top 25 ranked teams
- 3-0 against Florida's three main rivals
- 38th in the nation in rushing offense, 28th in passing offense, 19th in total offense, and 23rd in scoring offense
- 5th in the nation in rushing defense, 33rd in passing defense, 6th in total defense, and 6th in scoring defense

Here, Florida improved both offensively and defensively. Offensively, the additions of Percy Harvin and Tim Tebow added a spark, and the emergence of Cornelius Ingram helped to provide the team with a tight end who could create matchup problems by splitting out to wide receiver. Defensively, the Gators' strength may have been in their defensive line, but they had playmakers all over. On the front four, Jarvis Moss, Ray McDonald, and Derek Harvey were stars; at linebacker, Brandon Siler and Earl Everett were the standouts. Finally, the Gators had Ryan Smith, who finished second in the nation in interceptions with 8, and Thorpe Award Finalist Reggie Nelson. With these guys, Florida was able to stop a lot of teams, and could put up enough points to win games. However, 2007 saw many of these defensive guys leave, as all but two (Harvey and Tony Joiner) either graduated or left for the NFL. That year, Florida finished:

- 9-4 overall, and 5-3 in conference play
- 1-4 against top 25 ranked teams
- 2-1 against Florida's three main rivals
- 23rd in rushing offense, 38th in passing offense, 14 in total offense, and 3rd in scoring offense
- 10th in rushing defense, 98th in passing defense, 41st in total defense, and 46th in scoring defense

Here, Florida's offense hit a crescendo, as Meyer's vision of the spread was finally realized; Tim Tebow had the season of a lifetime en route to becoming the first underclassman to win the Heisman, passing for 3900 yards and rushing for another 800. However, the lack of defense and a true running game hurt the Gators in 2007; the lack of good defensive tackles allowed Georgia, LSU, Michigan, and Auburn to keep the ball away from a potent Florida offense, and bad defense meant that teams could pass as well. Florida surrendered 30 points or more 5 times in 2007, as compared with only twice in the previous two years (the most points scored against the 2006 defense was 28 points to Arkansas). Because of this, Florida suffered as a team. Finally, compare this to how Florida is doing now, as they are:

- 7-1 overall, with a 5-1 conference record
- 2-0 against current top 25 ranked teams
- 2-0 against Tennessee and Georgia, with the game against Florida State still undecided
- 24th in rushing offense, 63rd in passing offense, 31st in total offense, and 7th in scoring offense
- 13th in rushing defense, 32nd in passing defense, 16th in total defense, and 5th in scoring defense

Here, the offensive numbers aren't as gaudy, but the offense has become more efficient with more playmakers stepping up. Last year, Tebow and Harvin carried the way, while this year, they're smaller pieces to the puzzle. Chris Rainey, Jeffrey Demps, and Louis Murphy have all gotten touches on offense and played well this year. Additionally, Florida is 6th in the nation in passing efficiency (Tebow is 10th), and Tebow has become a better quarterback; he avoids big hits, and has learned to better read opposing defenses. He's thrown 14 touchdowns, but only 2 interceptions so far this year. He's also completing 64% of his passes. Defensively, Florida has improved in every aspect; defensive tackles Lawrence Marsh and Terron Sanders have played extremely well, and have been key players in Florida's improvement in rushing defense. They've only allowed one player to gain at least 100 yards rushing so far this year, while this happened three times last year. The secondary has been solid this year, and has been helped by the additions of Ahmad Black and Janoris Jenkins, as well as the improved play of Joe Haden and Major Wright. Black has 4 interceptions so far this year, good for second best in the conference and 10th in the nation; Jenkins has quickly asserted himself as one of the best players on defense, as he's broken up 5 passes so far this year. Haden is second on the team in tackles with 50, has two interceptions, and also has 6 pass breakups, while Wright has 40 tackles, two interceptions, and 5 pass breakups. These contributions have led to Florida's being the nation's leader in turnover margin at +14.

The most important stat for this team, though. Florida is currently first in redzone defense. In the 22 drives that the defense has allowed to reach the redzone, Florida has given up only 13 scores. Of those 13 scores, 9 are touchdowns. Additionally, Florida is 13th in 4th down conversion defense, as teams are only 4-14 against the Gators on fourth down this year. Last year, teams were 14-24 against Florida, which placed them 91st in the nation in this category. In short, Florida's defense is keeping teams out of the endzone and stopping them from staying on the field. The defense is much improved, and the offense is more efficient; Florida has become a much better team for it.