WSG's Corner.

This game will be a blow out. I know that is not a revolutionary statement but nonetheless, it needs to be said. We are playing a weak Division I-AA team here. Somewhat embarrassing that we even scheduled this game but it is what it is. At least it should provide significant playing time for a lot of our back-ups and freshman. I don’t expect many of the starters to be there beyond the midway point of the third quarter at the latest. The real suspense in this game will be whether this team scores on us, I think we shut them out.

Four burning questions to watch out for during the game:

· Who starts in the offensive line? I am predicting the Pouncey Twins, Carl Johnson, Marcus Gilbert and Matt Patchan. But look for James Wilson to get significant playing time. For those less learned amongst us, Patchan is the big white guy with long hair. He played on the D-line last year due to depth issues but was a 5 star O-line prospect coming out of High School. He is a bit of a lunatic, the type of guy who will surely draw some personal foul penalties for late hits after the whistle. And James Wilson was also a 5 star recruit who played high school ball with Tebow at Nease High in Jacksonville (he de-committed from USC last minute and came over to the good guys). By all accounts, both of those guys have all the talent in the world, with Patchan being really athletic and fast for a lineman while still somewhat undersized and Wilson being more of a big mauler with the brute strength of a Ford F-150. Also, I really want to see Xavier Nixon get some valuable playing time and expect that he will. This kid is a true freshman and was ranked among the best Offensive Tackle prospects by many of the recruiting services last year. He certainly passes the eyeball test at about 6-6 305 lbs. Oh yea and he is barely 18 years old.

· Who starts at Safety? Both of our safeties this year, the hammer that is Major Wright and playmaker they call Ahmad Black are on the Jim Thorpe watch list (an award that goes to the best defensive back in the country). And it is likely that one of them (rumored to be Black) will not start for us. Will “the Thrill” Hill the #1 rated Athlete coming out of high school two years ago has been lighting it up by all accounts…so much so that Joe Haden said that he was speaking with Spikes and that the Thrill looks like the best player on the Defense, period. Yes you heard me right, the same defense that likely has three first round picks in next year’s NFL Draft (Dunlap, Spikes and Haden). Hold on to your seats, this will be interesting to watch. I don’t know how the hell you take Ahmad Black out of the lineup after he led the SEC in interceptions last year, most notably with that pick he ghetto-ripped out of Iglesias’s hands last year in the National Championship game, which could go down as one of the greatest plays in Gator history in my opinion. This is a very positive signal for recruiting purposes though, it says to all the high school ballers out there, “Come to Florida and if you’re good enough you will start, no matter who is ahead of you when you get here.” We truly have an embarrassment of riches in the secondary.

· How many sacks do we get? Seriously, I don’t know how this glorified High School team we are playing will block Dunlap and Cunningham coming off the edge. This could be a good chance for them to pad their stats and get out in front of the SEC sacks race for the year. Dunlap led the SEC in sacks last year and he wasn’t even listed as a starter for us. He actually co-led with Eric Norwood from South Carolina who looked like a man beast last night against NC State by the way. I also want to see Willie Green get in the mix as well as Omar Hunter. Enough of the hype, get out there and bust somebody in the mouth for god’s sake…I just want to see blood dripping (not too much, but a little bit).

· Which WR not named Hernandez will finally step up? We all know Hernandez is and will be even more of a Puerto Rican man-beast this year. But who is the next great Gator WR? Most people say Deonte Thompson…he will certainly get his shot. He is on the track team and claims to be one of the fastest guys on the team but I frankly haven’t seen it. Sure it seems like he has good straight line speed but not much as far as lateral agility and ability to break tackles after the catch. I hope I am wrong and honestly haven’t seen enough of him to truly make an accurate assessment. We will soon find out. Also, I want to see Riley Cooper finally burst out and I am curious to see Brandon James in the slot. Brandon James could have a little Wes Welker in him, he is shifty and good after the catch, let’s hope he gets it done. I am predicting a big game from Frankie Hammond Jr. (the redshirt freshman standout who is next in line to crack the starting rotation). I think he and Brantley will rack up the yards in the second half. On a side note, I am excited to see Brantley sling it around…his arm strength and general passing ability have been discussed ad nauseum – I want to see it.

Lastly, lets chat about injuries. Looks like Carl Moore is out for the year with a back issue as is likely Jeremy Brown with another back issue. Andre Debose could go under the knife with a bad hammy and this talented freshman will not see the field any time soon. Too bad because if you go to the CoachUrbanMeyer website and look at the practice clips, he looks like the most elusive player on the team, like a slippery little jelly fish, hard to tackle. His lateral agility and ability to cut on a dime are very Percy-esque if I do say so myself. It might do him some good to get stronger and learn the playbook though, so if he sits out the year it’s not the end of the world. Also out for this game is Dustin Doe (suspended for repeated traffic related violations) and we just heard that Janoris may not start (probably due to his off-season fight/legal issues, but Urban might just want to get Markhise Anderson a start since it’s his senior year). Brendan Beal, the great white hope at linebacker has a neck issue and is listed as doubtful. Other than that most of the guys are good to go. Unlike last year, we came out of pre-season without any disastrous injuries (see Cornelius Ingram 2008). Let’s hope that trend continues and as far I am concerned, the most important thing we need to accomplish in this game is to come out of it injury free.

Go Gators – Final Score prediction UF over Charleston Southern by a score of 66 – 0.