Florida Gators

Tom Luginbill breaks down what some of the top teams in the country have done this spring in recruiting.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida coach Will Muschamp has decided to go with a special teams coordinator after all.

Muschamp announced the hiring of UTEP defensive coordinator Jeff Choate on Wednesday morning as the Gators’ special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach. He replaces Bryant Young, who resigned last week for personal reasons.

"He is a high-energy coach, an outstanding recruiter and evaluator, and has a reputation as one of the top special-teams coaches in the nation," Muschamp said in a statement. "He sees the big picture and will be a great addition to our staff.

"I got to know Jeff several years ago when I as at Texas and he was at Boise State. He visited Austin and we spent a lot of time talking defensive and special teams schemes. He also visited us in Gainesville last spring, and we are very much on the same page philosophically."

The Gators split up special teams duties in the spring because D.J. Durkin was promoted from linebackers coach/special teams coordinator to defensive coordinator after Dan Quinn resigned to become the defensive coordinator of the Seattle Seahawks. Young’s resignation, however, gave him an opportunity to bring the units under one person’s control.

Choate, who joined the UTEP staff after spending the 2012 season as the linebackers coach at Washington State, has been a special teams coordinator for nine seasons at Utah State (2003-05), Eastern Illinois (2005) and Boise State (2006-2011). Choate also coached running backs, linebackers and nickel backs at Boise State.

"I’m excited about the opportunity to join the Gator staff and have the chance to compete at the highest level," Choate said in a statement. "I’ve gotten to know Coach Muschamp over the past couple of years and have a tremendous amount of respect for him as a coach and a person. I’m looking forward to continuing the great special teams tradition that has been established here and can’t wait to get to work."

Editor's note: Each Friday morning, Jay Bilas will break down the weekend's top game. This week it’s No. 5 Florida (7-0) at No. 8 Arizona (7-0) at 10 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPN.

Gators outlook: The difference for Florida this season is defense. Last season, UF gave up 40 percent shooting from 3-point range and got hurt by being overextended. This season, the Gators are staying home more and packing it in. Instead of playing out in passing lanes and denying, they are playing off more, not playing as far up the line, and showing their chests to the ball and building a wall to protect the lane and the rim. That has meant fewer help rotations and better defensive rebounding, limiting opponents to one challenged shot (outrebounding opponents by 10.7 per game). The results are obvious. Florida has a top-five defense, and has done it with both man-to-man and zone. The Gators still press, speed the game and make you play at a speed you don’t practice. And they have done a great job of not just forcing turnovers, but converting off turnovers. Florida has scored more than twice as many points off turnovers as its opponents (21.3 to 9.9).

On the offensive end, UF is a ball-screen team that can really stretch out a defense, and really attacks and gets to the free throw line. Florida has made more free throws than its opponents have attempted. Four Gators average between 14.4 points and 10.3 points per game. This is a team that scored 74 points against Wisconsin, a team that gave up only 53 points per game last season, and blasted Marquette and Florida State.

Florida has good, experienced guards in Kenny Boynton, Mike Rosario and Scottie Wilbekin, a strong presence in Patric Young (an interior player who, when he keeps it simple, can be really effective), and an elite and versatile defender in Will Yeguete, who can defend multiple spots, get offensive rebounds and affect the game without scoring.

Wildcats outlook: Last season, Arizona was not a great shooting team, but could not compensate for it with second-shot opportunities or post-ups because Sean Miller did not have the personnel. This season, he has the personnel. The Wildcats have great size up front and very good depth. (But don’t listen to those who suggest that having big-guy depth gives you extra fouls to waste, which is silly. You don’t waste fouls, which puts your opponent at the free throw line for common fouls and leads to losses.) With freshmen Kaleb Tarczewski and Grant Jerrett, Miller has two big men who can affect the game. Tarczewski is a traditional low-post banger who seeks out contact and can score around the goal, and is the team's top rebounder. Jerrett is a long-armed big man who can step away and knock in an open 3-point shot.

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The only top-10 matchup of the week takes place in Tucson, Ariz., on Saturday night. Two 7-0 teams look to remain perfect when the eighth-ranked Arizona Wildcats host the fifth-ranked Florida Gators at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Fans at the McKale Center can only hope that this game will be as exciting as last year’s overtime thriller, won by Florida, 78-72.

Solomon Hill hit three free throws with 4 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime, when Erving Walker scored seven of Florida’s 12 points in the extra period to lead his team to the win.

Florida winning with ‘D’
The Gators have been one of the most dominant teams in the country at both ends of the floor during the first month.

Florida is ranked ninth in Division I in offensive efficiency and fourth in defensive efficiency. The only other team in the nation ranked in the top 10 in both of those categories is Indiana.

The Gators were strong offensively last season (sixth in offensive efficiency) but struggled defensively (135th in defensive efficiency). They have transformed themselves in several areas on the defensive end this year.

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Join our ESPN.com college football experts as they preview Week 10.

Contribute your thoughts and questions beginning at noon ET. See you there.

Be sure to send us pictures of your tailgate celebrations @ESPNCFB. The best photos of your food, friends and family can be found in our GameDay Live chat Saturday morning. Here are our previous tailgates.

Join our ESPN.com college football experts as they preview Week 9.

Contribute your thoughts and questions beginning at noon ET.

Don't forget to send us your best tailgate pictures of your food, friends and family all week long @ESPNCFB and we'll publish the best photos in our GameDay Live chat Saturday morning. Here are our previous tailgates.

The BCS got it right. Florida is No. 2.

With all due respect to Kansas State, Oregon and Notre Dame, you just aren't as physical or as relentless as the Gators.

All that moaning and groaning that first erupted on the Left Coast two weeks ago can just stop. You're just not what we are looking for at No. 2.

Oregon, you have that PlayStation speed and your defense is respectable in the Pac-12, but look at your schedule. No team you've beaten is currently ranked in the AP Top 25 or the BCS standings. The combined record of your past opponents is 25-25.

Kansas State, Bill Snyder has been excellent and Collin Klein is a true Heisman candidate. However, your best win is against Oklahoma.

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Join our ESPN.com college football experts as they preview Week 7.

Contribute your thoughts and questions beginning at noon ET.

Don't forget to send us your best tailgate pictures of your food, friends and family all week long @ESPNCFB and get your photos in our GameDay Live chat Saturday morning. Here are our previous tailgates.