Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida may have the day off, but there are still plenty of things happening today that can impact the Gators throughout the rest of the Southeastern Conference season.

Four future SEC opponents are in action, including next week’s foe LSU. Here’s a breakdown of what the Gators and their fans should pay attention to in each game:

Tennessee (3-1, 0-1 SEC) at Georgia (4-0, 2-0), 3:30 p.m.

It appears the Bulldogs will be at full strength on defense for the first time this season because all indications are that All-American S Bacarri Rambo and starting LB Alec Ogletree will make their season debuts. The two had been suspended for the first four games of the season for violating team and university rules.

Georgia has looked pretty good defensively without those two anyway, ranking eighth in the SEC in total defense (343.2 yards per game), eighth in rush defense (135.5 ypg) and sixth in pass defense (207.8 ypg). But adding Ogletree to a linebacking corps that includes Jarvis Jones (4.5 sacks) gives the Bulldogs more big-play potential.

Rambo’s return means Sanders Commings, who along with LB Chase Vasser was suspended for the first two games, can go back to his cornerback spot. Those guys will have several games to get up to speed before the Florida-Georgia game on Oct. 27.

(Read full post)

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Trey Burton gets all the publicity for playing multiple positions on offense, but he’s not the only Florida player who can do that.

Kyle Koehne can play all five positions along the offensive line. He has mainly worked inside at guard since he came to Florida in 2009 but has started at right tackle in the Gators’ past two games because of Chaz Green’s ankle injury.

"My mindset is just if I can play, put me in wherever," Koehne said. "Learning each position has been a good opportunity and has helped me understand the offense as a whole and I think it’s only benefited me.

Koehne saw limited snaps at tackle and guard as a redshirt freshman in 2010. He played in every game last season and made his first career start against Furman at left guard. He has taken reps at one time or another at every spot along the line.

In the 6-foot-5, 311-pound Koehne’s two starts this season, the Gators have given up only three sacks and have run for 536 yards. He’s still not completely at ease at tackle, though.

(Read full post)

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida coach Will Muschamp isn’t particularly happy with what he’s getting out of his kickoff and punt return units, so he made sure the Gators worked on the return game on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The biggest issue is that No. 11-ranked Florida (4-0, 3-0 SEC) isn’t blocking very well on punt or kickoff returns and that’s why the Gators aren’t making big plays on either unit.

"We need to get more production out of our punt return group," Muschamp said. "We've got some explosive guys. We need to settle on a guy and get a guy back there that's No. 1 going to field the ball, but No. 2, can get the ball north and south. Stick your foot in the ground and get north and south.

"And then more production out of our kickoff return unit. Again we've got some guys that got some ability, some explosive ability. We've got to do a better job of blocking, staying on blocks."

Florida ranks 13^th in the 14-team SEC on kickoff returns (19.5 yards per return). UF has only eight returns, but Auburn leads the league at 31.5 yards per game on eight returns. The Gators are sixth in the SEC in punt returns (9.6 yards per return), but there have been opportunities for more yards and bigger plays if the punt returners were more confident in fielding the ball.

Andre Debose and Marcus Roberson have let several punts drop and roll that should have been fielded. Even if those kicks were fair caught and there was no return, that still would have saved the Gators yardage.

"We need to field the ball," Muschamp said. "We’re losing precious yards there as far as the ball rolling and bleeding out on us. It’s about field position and securing the football."

Debose ranks sixth in the SEC in punt returns (9.6 per return) and had a 32-yard return against Bowling Green. He’s eighth in kickoff returns (24.2 yards per return). Though he has been inconsistent in practice on offense and did not field any kicks in the first half of last week’s game against Kentucky and fumbled and recovered a punt in the second half, Muschamp said Debose hasn’t lost his job as the Gators’ main kick and punt returner.

"He’s got to field the ball a little bit better on punts, but other than that he’d be fine," Muschamp said. "If we were going to play tomorrow he’d be back there catching punts."

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- It looks like Florida linebacker Jelani Jenkins could be back on the field for the Gators’ game against LSU on Oct. 6.

UF coach Will Muschamp said Wednesday that Jenkins will see a specialist on Friday and have the surgical pin removed from his fractured right thumb. If Jenkins is cleared, then he could play against the Tigers with a cast on his hand.

"That goes back to pain level and comfort level of playing with a cast," Muschamp said. "Right now we feel like he should be able to go, but again you never know until the guy looks at it, so I don’t want to sit there and say he’s going right now. I’m not ready to say that."

Jenkins fractured his thumb against Texas A&M on Sept. 8 and hasn’t played since. Muschamp said Jenkins was cleared last week to resume weight-lifting and running.

(Read full post)