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Key Matchup to watch when they have the ball: Teams have had some success spying Tebow. You almost have to. I don’t know that we’ll do so, but I think it’s safe to say that given the number of times he’ll run the ball and how well he runs through tackles, we’ll have to have improved play from our LBs. Watch our whole LB corps. UF puts some tremendous pressure on LBs (an area we haven’t exactly excelled) with Tebow and all the end-arounds they run with their WRs, not to mention their regular running plays. If we use a spy, Ellerbe seems perfectly suited for that role.

UF Defense

The Gator defense is a young one and it has its flaws. They’ve struggled this season (albeit against some pretty good offensive teams) giving up both yards and points. They’re a little banged up as well now. They always seem to play us particularly well though, so you can pretty much toss the book out when this matchup rolls around. In recent years, these have been relatively low-scoring affairs on both sides of the ball.

The UF DL returned only one starter this year, but he’s a good one. Many expected DE Derrick Harvey to declare early for the NFL after last year’s Fiesta Bowl where the Jr put on an absolute show on a national stage. At 6-4, he carries his 260+ pounds very well and looks skinny. His 6.5 sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss lead the team in both categories. He has 18.5 career sacks. Opposite him at the other DE spot is GA native Jermaine Cunningham. Like Harvey, Cunningham is a lanky DE that is more of a speed rusher than a run stopper. He’s very slight for an SEC DE at 6-3, 229. His 8 TFLs including 4.5 sacks on the season are indicative of his talents. At DT, Javier Estopinan provides the leadership of the unit, with 9 years of experience between the two of them. They are both nearly identically sized at 6-1, 280-ish. Clint McMillan had been the other starting DT but got injured in the UK game and might be out (at least limited) this week. Look for super recruit Torrey Davis to get playing time in his place, as he played well last weekend against UK. He’s a future stud but he’s also a true frosh that’s learning the position.

The Gator LB corps was completely decimated last year, losing all 3 starters. In their place have risen some pretty good players who are young and have had to learn on the fly. MLB Brandon Spikes was recruited by everyone in the country and has lived up to his billing, leading the team in tackles. At 6-3, 243, the sophomore has the size, speed and attitude you want in the middle. His 7 TFLs are 3rd on the team behind the 2 DEs. Dustin Doe is another sophomore starting at the WLB spot and he’s playing well enough to be #2 on the team in tackles. The SLB spot is manned by RFr A.J. Jones. Jones is a smallish LB at 6-1, 210 and has yet to do anything to really distinguish himself.

The UF secondary has struggled this year after losing ¾ of the starting unit last year (sound familiar?). The lone returner is FS Tony Joiner. The senior played alongside The Eraser (Reggie Nelson) last year and has experienced a decent season, although he’s gained more notice off the field than on, where he came into focus for the infamous Tebow kiss on the sidelines during the UT game and again after getting arrested trying to remove a car from a tow lot. Joiner is one of the few experienced players on this whole unit, much less the secondary. He has 4 career INTs. Opposite him is the litte Eraser, Major Wright. If you’ve seen UF play this season, Wright is the one flying around like a missile knocking people all over the place. He’s not the biggest safety in the league at 6-1, 204 (he looks smaller than that) but he hits like it. Unfortunately for him, he’s got a broken thumb that required surgery and if he plays (doubtful) he’ll be wearing a club. His hard hitting has already forced 2 fumbles on the year to lead the team along with 39 tackles (good for 5th on the team) despite the fact he’s only started the last 3 games. Senior Kyle Jackson has some starting experience and will likely get the nod but he’s fallen out of favor with the current staff and hasn’t been a regular. At CB, the Gators sport more youth, where a true soph and true frosh get the nod at each spot. Wondy Pierre-Louis is a lanky sophomore at 6-1 and less than 180 pounds and he’s banged up as well. He has yet to record an INT. True frosh Joe Haden has been a godsend for this team, playing physically and being more than willing to stick his nose in there; He’s 3rd on the team in tackles and leads the team in pass breakups.

Bottom Line: This is a banged up defense. They were young to begin with and the injuries have robbed them of some of their depth. The injuries won’t make them any younger necessarily but there’s a reason those other guys were starting. When you take several guys off a struggling defense, you can’t expect them to play better. The UF QB pressure is a strange bird. They didn’t record a sack against LSU or UT and recorded only one against Troy yet they somehow managed 6 against UK and 4 against AU. They are susceptible to the pass, marking a mere 95th in the country in pass defense. That coupled with their 15th national ranking against the run probably has as much to do with their ability to score in bunches forcing teams to come from behind. AU had some success running right at the UF front line, and that was before they got back Lester and before UF sustained all those injuries on their interior. I’d look for us to run at them some but work the pass in a good bit more than we’d expect due to our injury situation at RB.

Key matchup to watch when we have the ball: This weekend it’ll be imperative to see some solid play from our OTs. The strength of the UF D is their DEs, especially getting after the QB, and given our young OL, specifically LT Trinton Sturdivant, we’ll have to keep them off of Stafford if we expect offensive success.