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No. 1 Priority

Nine teams have started with the AP's preseason top ranking and finished there. The Gators would like to be the 10th.

By ANTONYA ENGLISH

© St. Petersburg Times,
published August 30, 2001

[Photo: AP] Florida coach Steve Spurrier is pointing his team in the right direction by telling the Gators not to believe the hype.

GAINESVILLE -- The consensus No. 1 football team resides in Gainesville, but as many teams over the years have discovered, that preseason top ranking doesn't always translate into a national championship.

In the 51-year history of the Associated Press poll, only nine teams voted No. 1 in the preseason have finished there. Only Florida State has gone wire to wire as No. 1 and won the national championship.

So the question for coach Steve Spurrier and the Florida team is: What do the Gators have to do to win it all?

Spurrier said it starts with keeping the players from believing the hype, which is fueled by 18 starters returning, including eight from an offense that averaged 418.7 yards, second in the conference.

Florida leads the SEC in preseason all-conference selections with 10, including five first-team. Among them are senior defensive end Alex Brown, junior offensive tackle Mike Pearson, and sophomore receiver Jabar Gaffney, the SEC Freshman of the Year. Defensive back Lito Sheppard, a first-team All-American, also returns.

Despite a roster filled with talented veterans, Florida needs several things to fall into place to achieve that perfect season.

For starters, the Gators need stability at quarterback -- at least a little. The last time Florida had a quarterback start and play all season was in 1996 when Danny Wuerffel won the Heisman Trophy and led the Gators to a national championship.

Whether it is sophomore Brock Berlin or sophomore Rex Grossman who starts the season isn't as important, the players say, as having consistency amid the interchanging.

"When you've got two quarterbacks of that caliber you can put either one out there and they'll get the job done," Gaffney said. "Most of our stuff is timing stuff anyway. They're going to deliver the ball to a spot, I've just got to get there every time, no matter who's out there."

Whichever quarterback is in, his success may depend on whether the Gators can find a third and fourth receiver as an option. Gaffney and teammate Reche Caldwell, a junior, were among the top receivers in the SEC, which means they will be the focal point of opponents cornerbacks. Junior Taylor Jacobs, senior Brian Haugabrook and several others are vying to fill the role of an extra go-to receiver.

"It feels good (to have the option of four receivers)," Jacobs said. "I know that Jabar feels a lot of stress off him from having to go out there and make plays. If you always have a solid passing game, it opens the running game up. If all of us are playing our top game, I don't think we can be stopped."

The Gators also face questions at punter. Freshmen Matt Leach and Matt Piotrowicz and sophomore Sean Morton are battling for the job, but none had been consistent enough to become a front-runner as two-a-day practices ended.

With the loss of Kenyatta Walker, the first-round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Bucs, the Gators need sophomore tackle Max Starks to step up immediately at right tackle. He was named the squad's most improved offensive lineman in the spring.

Starks lost 15 pounds over the summer, putting him at his lowest weight (352) since arriving at Florida, he said. And practicing against some of the top defensive players in the league has been beneficial.

The Gators also need sixth-year senior center Zac Zedalis to get healthy. Zedalis has played one game the past two seasons because of knee injuries and badly sprained his ankle during a scrimmage Aug. 15. His cast has been removed and he is expected to start the season-opener against Marshall. UF also is thin at left tackle, with little experience behind Pearson.

Defensively, Florida has concerns at tackle. The Gators lost three top players, including Gerard Warren, a first-round pick of the Cleveland Browns.

Ian Scott, a sophomore from Gainesville, could be a big part of the solution, along with junior Tron LeFavor. Both should be good against the run, but experience is a factor. They have started one game between them.

Spurrier said the Gators also want to improve the running game, which struggled at times last season. Junior Earnest Graham will start. With redshirt freshman Willie Green out 6-8 weeks after arthroscopic surgery on his left knee, senior Robert Gillespie and redshirt sophomore Ran Carthon could see time.

"It makes you a better back, it means more competition, the better you are," Graham said. "It's like a whole pool of talent in the backfield. You pick up things from each other and incorporate them into your game. I may not get as much work and a different back may play at different times, but we'll all be better backs."

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