Five Musts for the Gators in 2010

1 - LEADERSHIP - When it comes to nut crack'n time, when the going gets tough, the tough get going. When Urban Meyer first came to Florida he worked on team toughness, he talked about how important team leadership is.

One of the greatest leaders of all time, Tim Tebow, moves on as does his counter part on defense Brandon Spikes. Who will fill their shoes?

Florida's football staff will work diligently on this look for players like Mike Pouncey and Ahmad Black to step forward and new ones like John Brantley and Brandon Hicks.

2. Win the Turnover Margin - In 2009 the Gators gathered in 20 INTs, but only 3 fumbles. They were a plus .50 in the turnover margin. In 2008 the Gators were 1.57 with 26 INTs and 9 fumble recoveries. The other championship season in 2006 was unremarkable. The Gators had a good year jumping on eight fumbles and 21 INTs, but they gave it up 24 times that season for a .37 margin, they went conservative on offense, made holding onto a ball an issue and relied on a great defense to win.

Below is a graph of the Gators turnover margin for the past four years, added 2010 as a projection year of what this man thinks will be the mark of a successful season. Note that Tim Tebow kept his INTs way down, I'm giving Brantley a few extra on batted passes and whatnot. Hope for a few more INTs if we score the way I think we will on offense our defense should have that opportunity this season. A +1 turnover margin would be a huge season.

Year	06	07	08	09	10	Comment
Games	14	13	14	14	14	14 means SECC
Fumbles Gained	8	9	9	3	8	around 8 or so is good
INTs Gained	21	11	26	20	22	20 or more is great
Total Gained	29	20	35	23	30	only above 30 once
Fumbles Lost	10	9	8	11	7	some bad games '09
INTs Lost	14	6	5	5	8	Tebow was awesome
Total Lost	24	15	13	16	15	15-16 very good
Margin	5	5	22	7	15	10 or over very good
Margin Gained	0.36	0.38	1.57	0.50	1.07	Plus 1 is awesome!!!!

3 - Production in Passing Game - This centers on the wide receivers and their development. Deonte Thompson, Chris Rainey, Andre Debose, Carl Moore and Jordan Reed are on top of the list of players the Gators will depend on to make this a complete offense. John Brantley has proved he can get the ball there on time.

Rainey and Debose need to get and stay healthy, if not Robert Clark could get his chance he's an outstanding WR/Corner prospect.

Thompson needs to have others step up to help free him up, if that happens he should have a great season. Look for TE Reed to have a big season and be one of the guys to help take the pressure off of Thompson.

Other guys who could make things happen this fall are Chris Dunkley and Adrian Coxson. Dunkley is a polished extremely talented receiver with tremendous feet and balance to go along with a Tebow like will to succeed. Coxson is a bruiser with speed, he played QB in high school and will need a lot of coaching up, but this is one of those big shake and bake guys who you can throw the ball out too and he can end up taking it 50 yards for the touch, he has that talent.

With the passing game clicking Florida should have a monster offense this fall. If coach Meyer gives the offense their reins some teams could be forced into a game plan that might better suit the Gator defense. That's 'the keep the ball away from the other team' type offense.

4. Sound Play at Defensive End - Can Justin Trattou stand the physical riggers of being a first stringer the entire season? Will William Green step up and deliver at the SEC level, he's blessed with the quickness? Does all-world Ronald Powell live up to his billing and kick butt this fall?

Florida has so many options, they have eight scholarship DEs this fall, some converted LBs, with the new DC Teryl Austin the Gators could play some 3-4. Austin has spent the last seven years in the NFL and 10 years before that in College.

5 - Find another corner...