Florida 2018 Preview: Can Dan Mullen improve Florida?

Trainwreck doesn’t cover just bad Florida’s 2017 season was. There was a bit of a smile when they beat Tennessee on a Hail Mary in one of the plays of the season, but that was it, save for Jim McElwain’s nudist battle with a shark. Dan Mullen arrived to the pomp and circumstance (and some new Jordans), but he’s had to deal with non-stop disciplinary crap – something that must be weighing on Gator Nation. You know, that and the rise and rise of one of their most hated enemies.

OFFENSE

Every time we think about UF’s offense, we get squeamish. The Gators were 110th in total offense, good enough for the second-worst in the SEC behind Tennessee (the third-worst was South Carolina in 109th). Rushing-wise that number improved to 75th, but 102nd in passing. Oh, and being placed 109th in points-per-game was as brutal, too.

The biggest issue for the Gators was that starting QB Luke Del Rio blew out his shoulder early on, and there was no cover. Malik Zaire’s transfer from Notre Dame was a failure and Felipe Franks’ only highlight of a season where he threw 9 TDs and 8 INTs was THAT bomb against Tennessee.

Anyway, enough of 2017.

One key for Florida’s failure was a HORRIBLE offensive line, which one of the worst teams in FBS football (123rd out of 129) for sacks given up (37). That’s some going. And although Martez Ivey is back – and Jawaan Taylor provided some better moments – the injuries sustained as well as a record of, well, not being particularly good doesn’t fill us with confidence. We hope we’re wrong.

QB-wise, it’s a three-way battle between Franks, Kyle Trask and Emory Jones, with no-one clearly standing out. Any of them would have four-star freshman stud Justin Watkins to throw to…. he hadn’t ‘left’ the program after being arrested twice in three months in increasingly sinister situations – which included kidnapping. Van Jefferson, the stud WR who came across from Ole Miss, has just cleared waivers by the SEC, so he could be one hell of a target. Jefferson had nearly 1,000 yards receiving for the Rebels over the last two years.

Running-wise, we’re a little more confident. Lamical Perrine and Malik Davis shared the rushing last year and put up over 1,000 yards between them. That isn’t a bad 1-2 punch. Jordan Scarlett will also provide some fun (he’s back after ‘credit card gate”).

DEFENSE

We can’t understand why College Football Preview gave UF’s defense so much crap for last year. It was 5th in the nation in total yards given up and 4th in FBS), but with THAT offense, they were always going to tire out. And this year,

But in 2018, the Gators are still pretty loaded – especially on defense. Led by Duke Dawson and CJ Henderson (4 INTS each) and Jeawon Taylor at safety had 30 tackles and 1.5 sacks last year, it should be hard to throw on them.

In front of them, LB David Reese’s production of 102 tackles in 2017 will excite a lot of Gators fans. Although CeCe Jefferson’s shoulder surgery could be quite a hole to start the year, the returns of Chauncey Gardiner, Zabari Zuniga and Vosean Joseph will mean that the Gators should be a force. The team will have to be better against the rush (28th nationally).

SCHEDULE

Sept. 1 Charleston Southern
Sept. 8 Kentucky
Sept. 15 Colorado State
Sept. 22 at Tennessee
Sept. 29 at Mississippi State
Oct. 6 LSU
Oct. 13 at Vanderbilt
Oct. 20 OPEN DATE
Oct. 27 vs. Georgia (in Jacksonville)
Nov. 3 Missouri
Nov. 10 South Carolina
Nov. 17 Idaho
Nov. 24 at Florida State

The Gators will start the season at 4-0, which shouldn’t be too surprising bearing in mind they should be favored in all four. Mullen’s return to Mississippi State will be a very nasty atmosphere – especially if it’s at night – and we think they’ll lose, and follow that up by losing to LSU at home in another heartbreaker. They’ll rebound to beat Vanderbilt to get to five wins before losing to Georgia in the Cocktail Party. They’ll beat Missouri at home, lose to South Carolina at home, thrash Idaho but lose to Florida State. The locals won’t be happy, but it’s still a rebuilding phase for Mullen after the Jim McElwain Era.

PREDICTION: 7-5. The locals will be pretty happy after the step-up from the Jim McElwain era.