Columns

Fix defense, or forget it

By GARY SHELTON, Times Columnist
Published January 2, 2008

ORLANDO

There are times when they allow you to dream about the future.

In such moments, when Tim Tebow is pin-balling off of linebackers, it is easy to imagine the Florida Gators in next year's national championship hunt. He is a special player, after all, and to watch him can feel like a preview to special times.

Then there are other moments when they invite you to re-imagine the past.

In those times, when Percy Harvin is darting around a secondary like a sports car moving through traffic, you fool yourself into thinking that except for a play or two in a game or two, this year's Gators might have found a way to this year's title game.

Ah, but then there are the other moments, the ugly, horrible stretches of time that can make a coach wake up screaming in the night.

Other places, there is a word for it. They call it "defense."

From the sound of it, Florida coach Urban Meyer is all for it.

In a long, entertaining Capital One Bowl on Tuesday, the Michigan Wolverines reminded Florida just why it fell short of this year's championship game. Worse, they showed the Gators just how much work they have to do before they can be considered a legitimate contender next season.

The Wolverines shredded the Gators' defense, exposing and exploiting every weakness you can imagine. Against a Michigan team that finished 10th in the Big Ten in offense, the Gators spent the afternoon backpedaling. They did not tackle. They did not cover. They did not rush the passer. Most of all, they did not exactly promise tomorrow to their fans.

Lately, it has become a fashionable notion to talk about the Gators' position in next year's polls. When a team returns Tebow, the best player in college football, and Harvin, who might be better than Tebow, it is natural to wonder if it will be the consensus No. 1 pick in the early polls.

After this game, however, it is obvious that Meyer has some fields to plow before that sounds right. As Meyer talked about "subpar" cornerbacks and "a lack of pressure" and unacceptable tackling, it was obvious he knows it, too.

"I was disappointed with some of our performance," Meyer said. "We had some glaring errors that need to be corrected real fast, personnel wise and coaching wise."

Without question, most of those problems are on the defensive side of the ball. Against Michigan, the Gators looked like a team that needs to get stronger, that needs to get nastier, that needs to make more plays.

How bad was Florida's defense? Consider this: Michigan quarterback Chad Henne passed for 373 yards, receiver Adrian Arrington caught passes for 153 and running back Mike Hart ran for 129. In all, Michigan - the same team that scored three points in its previous game against Ohio State - piled up 524 yards. If not for two fumbles inside of the Gators' 5-yard line, the Wolverines might have blown up the scoreboard.

How bad was Florida's defense? Consider this: The Gators took the lead with 5:49 to play. It lasted all of 97 seconds. The Wolverines went 67 yards in four plays to score.

How bad was Florida's defense? It was so bad that, with 2:42 to play and three timeouts left, Meyer went for it on fourth and 6 rather than punt.

"I didn't think we would get the ball back," Meyer admitted. "We're going to give our players a chance to win the game. Coaching 101, Chapter Three says you don't do that. But the hell with that. We're going to try to win."

For the Gators, the defending national champions, it was a perfectly dreadful way to finish a season.

"Our goal is to be the New England Patriots of college football," Meyer said. "I make that real clear to our players. That's what we want to be. We have the personnel to get that going."

Perhaps. But before that can happen, a lot of players are going to have to get a lot better. And maybe it will happen. The Gators were awfully young this year. Eighteen of the 22 players on their two-deep squad are freshmen or sophomores.

"Maturity," Meyer said when asked what his team needed before next year. "Last year, a bunch of players moved on to the NFL. We kind of felt like we had some answers early on, and it took us a while to figure out we didn't. A bunch of guys we were counting on to play weren't living up to the standards that we expect. We're hoping that changes."

It had better.

Either that, or Tebow and Harvin had better plan to score 60 a game.

[Last modified January 1, 2008, 21:55:09]