Transfer News: Matt Patchan and De’Ante Saunders To Leave Florida Gators

By The Bull Gator | December 27, 2012 - 8:14 am | Florida Gators Football

We’re back from the holidays, but two (now former) Florida Gators won’t be. Redshirt junior offensive lineman Matt Patchan and sophomore safety De’Ante “Pop” Saunders are leaving the program.

Patchan came to the Gators out of Tampa, FL (Armwood) in 2008. After being one of the nation’s most sought after recruits, he saw immediate playing time as a freshman. After spending time on the defensive line as a freshman, he moved to the offensive side of the ball. The future looked promising for Patchan, but then injuries took their toll. In 2009, he appeared in only four games and then missed the entire 2010 season. Patchan was able to appear in 12 games in 2011, but wasn’t healthy enough to play in 2012. He recently graduated and will look to move to a graduate program elsewhere so he can play immediately. Likely destinations are Boston College–where former Florida offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Steve Addazio is now the head coach–or Ohio State–where Urban Meyer will begin his second season as head coach in 2013.

Saunders was a bit of a fly-under-the-radar recruit coming out of Deland (Deland, FL). He was only considered a three-star recruit, but there was plenty of talk of his potential to become a big-time player. Saunders came on strong out of the gate as a true freshman, showing vast improvement over the course of his first season with the Gators. He played in 12 games in 2011 and started eight. Saunders was expected to be an important part of the Gators’ defense in 2012, but he only appeared in eight games after missing the first two and last two. There was talk of injury problems, but discipline also came into the discussions. Saunders has now been released from his scholarship. He has already mentioned Louisville as a possible destination.

Florida head coach Will Muschamp has yet to comment on either player’s departure.

Preview: Florida Gators Vs. South Carolina Gamecocks; SEC East Control Up For Grabs

By The Bull Gator | October 20, 2012 - 8:00 am | Florida Gators Football

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The Florida Gators host the South Carolina Gamecocks today in what could amount to a battle for control of the SEC East. I’ll keep this short because the die-hards among you have already joined the tailgate of champions. The weather is pretty close to perfect and Fall is here. That makes for a great day of football, not only in Gainesville, but across the SEC.

As you await kickoff and another matchup between two great programs, build your anticipation for this one accordingly. Yes, I used the word great for the Gamecocks as well. Our once head coach has led them to heights never before experienced in Columbia and good for them. Rivalries are a great part of the sport and this one may never have reached this level without an injection of Steve Spurrier.

There are those among us that still love Spurrier–I’m one of them. There are also those that don’t feel anything positive toward the man. My guess is that second group has calmed its stance slightly after the Urban Meyer situation. Hopefully they realize what Spurrier did for the mighty Florida Gators. Without him, mighty may not be the right descriptor. But today, he’s the enemy. We can praise his accomplishments as a player and a coach at the University of Florida and we can thank him for what he did. One day, I’ll tell my son about the man that propelled the orange and blue to greatness. Not today.

Today, Spurrier is just that man leading the other team. He is Derek Dooley, Les Miles, Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher. There is no connection today. Today he must be beat. The winner controls the SEC East. Both teams control their own destiny; all they have to do is keep winning to punch their ticket to Atlanta. It’s about who wants it more. We know which side we’re on and we’re ready to see those mighty Florida Gators take care of business once more.

Enjoy the weather. Enjoy the fall. Enjoy another college football Saturday. And, as always, Go Gators!

Week 5 BlogPoll: Where 5 SEC Teams In The Top 10 Is Not Only Encouraged, It’s Justified

By The Bull Gator | October 2, 2012 - 8:00 am | College Football

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For a number of reasons, or just for two, I waited until October to join the BlogPoll fun this season. Reason number one has to do with time being precious and all those sorts of things. Reason number two is because long ago I planted my feet in the No Polls Until October camp and although I’ve broken that belief many, many, many times, I’m sticking with it for 2012. So without any additional rambling, here’s my first BlogPoll ballot of the 2012 college football season…just in time for week five.

The Bull Gator Ballot – Week 5

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Alabama Crimson Tide	–
2	Oregon Ducks	–
3	Florida St. Seminoles	–
4	West Virginia Mountaineers	–
5	Georgia Bulldogs	–
6	LSU Tigers	–
7	South Carolina Gamecocks	–
8	Kansas St. Wildcats	–
9	Texas Longhorns	–
10	Florida Gators	–
11	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	–
12	Ohio St. Buckeyes	–
13	Oregon St. Beavers	–
14	Clemson Tigers	–
15	Oklahoma Sooners	–
16	USC Trojans	–
17	Rutgers Scarlet Knights	–
18	Louisville Cardinals	–
19	TCU Horned Frogs	–
20	Mississippi St. Bulldogs	–
21	UCLA Bruins	–
22	Washington Huskies	–
23	Nebraska Cornhuskers	–
24	Stanford Cardinal	–
25	Northwestern Wildcats	–

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings »

A few points:

• Putting five SEC teams in the top 10 is acceptable, reasonable, and right. The SEC is that good. I know it. You know it. We all know it.

• Having to play three of those plus Florida State over the remainder of the Florida Gators’ regular season schedule is not acceptable reasonable, or right. But it’s what makes college football, and especially the SEC, great.

• I value unblemished records. Winning all of yours games is a good thing, but less-than-impressive wins over teams you should have beaten soundly is not. Take care of business appropriately and you will be rewarded.

• West Virginia at No. 4 is high considering they don’t play anything resembling defense. Still, someone has to outscore them to win and I’m not quite sure they don’t have more 70-point games in their future.

• The Urban Meyer-led Ohio State Buckeyes may very well be the Big Ten’s best team. That still means there are five SEC teams better than them. BOOM!

Florida Gators Video Of The Day: Danny Wuerffel Tribute

By Evandagator | June 19, 2012 - 10:30 am | Florida Gators Football

1 Comment

The Gators Video of the Day (GVOD) features, you guessed it, videos relating to the Florida Gators. They could be Gators athletes or homemade videos made by fans like ourselves. If you have any suggestions for GVOD, email me at evandagator@gmail.com or TBG at onegameback@gmail.com. We will try our best to live up to the “of the day” part of the title.

Many of you miss “Danny” as you call him. You watched Danny Wuerffel lead the Florida Gators to a National Championship, and you also saw him win a Heisman. Some of your best memories come from his duelings with Peyton Manning and Tennessee. The Wuerffel era was one of the best sports times of your life.

But for me and many others who where born in the 1990s and were simply too young to efficiently follow the Gators at the time, we missed the era. Instead, we grew up in the Tim Tebow and Urban Meyer era. As I wrote this post up, I couldn’t even spell “Wuerffel” correctly. I’d like to blame this mistake on the generation gap.

Of course, it is always great to look back at the players who made it great to watch and somewhat built up Gators sports. One of those players was Danny Wuerffel. Even though I didn’t grow up watching him, through a quick highlight tape or by watching one of his games, I can tell that he was great.

Wuerffel was truly one of the greatest Gators ever. What were some of your best “Danny” memories? Other 90s memories? What made him so special as a player?

Florida Gators Video Of The Day: Percy Harvin Tribute

By Evandagator | June 11, 2012 - 10:00 am | Florida Gators Football

1 Comment

After two-straight merely mediocre seasons, it’s safe to say the Gators could use a few key players from the Urban Meyer era. One of those players, Percy Harvin, was likely a once-in-a-generation athlete. Because we will likely never see another player in orange and blue resembling Harvin’s blazing speed, pure athleticism, constant motor and incredible versatility, let’s enjoy some memories of Percy’s great career.

Harvin, who was ranked as the top player in the 2006 recruiting cycle, lived up to his No. 1 status well. He left the team for the NFL Draft after a stellar junior season in which Harvin and the other Gators completed the second of their two national championships during the span (2006-2008).

What’s your best Percy Harvin memory? What should he be remembered for? If any, which recent Gators players resemble him the most?

The Great Trey Burton Debate

By The Bull Gator | May 8, 2012 - 4:15 pm | Florida Gators Football

5 Comments

An interesting thing happened when One Eyed Willy and I were drafting the Florida Gators last week to form two starting lineups to battle each other head-to-head in the imaginary stadium that exists only in our heads: neither of us seriously considered adding Trey Burton to our rosters.

The entire situation was interesting because of the figure Burton has become over his two years at Florida. He came in as an athlete we thought would be a quarterback and quickly became a utility man of sorts. During his freshman season in 2010, he ran the ball only six times and caught half as many passes in the Gators first three games. And then that magical night happened.

On September 25, 2010, Burton went from a freshman with the potential to become a weapon at a variety of positions to a legend. You surely remember it vividly: Burton carried the ball five times and ended each run in the end zone. He would also add five receptions with another touchdown. When the dust settled, Burton had finished with a fairly average 10 touches on offense for 77 total yards. A good yards per touch average sure, but nothing spectacular. But then there were the touchdowns – six in all. Burton solidified his place in Florida football history in just one night and suddenly expectations were sky-high.

The rest of Burton’s freshman season showed he could be used in a variety of ways. He wasn’t exceptional, but he was solid. There was a flash – a 51-yard run against Georgia – but most of all there was effort. Fans fell in love with the way he played and the way he interacted. Burton took heavily to Twitter, communicating with fans on a regular basis. He was a star in the making…then Urban Meyer resigned for good (well, we now know what “for good” means).

With Will Muschamp coming on as head coach and hiring Charlie Weis as his offensive coordinator, no one knew what to expect of Burton. He had enough talent to find a place on offense, but what place would that be? There were even whispers that he could be given a look on defense – anything to give him a chance to get on the field. When the 2011 season came to an end, Burton’s carries were cut in half (75 in 2010, 37 in 2011), his receptions dropped (31 in 2010, 19 in 2011), and his touchdowns trailed off (12 in 2010, 4 in 2011). He was banged up in the season opener against FAU, but overall his position was far from defined and his chances were limited.

(more…)

Will Muschamp, The 2012 Football Season, And A Broken Program

By The Bull Gator | April 17, 2012 - 12:00 pm | Florida Gators Football

As If You Need More Reasons To Dislike Former Florida Gators Head Coach Urban Meyer

By The Bull Gator | April 10, 2012 - 12:30 pm | Florida Gators Football

14 Comments

Yesterday brought us this – an article by Matt Hayes of the Sporting News exposing the real Florida Gators under former head coach Urban Meyer. For some, it was shocking. For most, it was on par with many of the rumors we’ve heard over the last few years. For all, it put another item (or two, or three) under “Cons” on the list of our thoughts about Meyer.

I’m not a Meyer supporter – although some would paint me as such – I just choose to remember certain things. That selective memory is because of a desire to be happy for certain things that occurred while not wasting the time to be upset about other things that can’t be changed. If the article by Hayes is true and former Florida defensive back Bryan Thomas is telling us what really happened under Meyer, so be it. It doesn’t make me proud as a fan by any means, but I’m also much more interested in discussing Will Muschamp and season two under the man we currently refer to as the head coach.

What I do choose to remember and bask in when it comes to Meyer are the two national championships and the athletes we had a chance to witness – Tim Tebow, Percy Harvin and Brandon Spikes to name a few. I don’t know if there was preferential treatment for those three and the other Gators stars during Meyer’s tenure, but it wouldn’t surprise me if there was. That’s not an admission that I believe it’s right, it’s just a statement that, again, those rumors have been present well before Monday when the article was posted.

What the article does provide is justification – justification to those Florida fans that no longer consider Meyer a friend. Gators fans are a passionate bunch and among that passion will be certain feelings for not only Meyer, but also Steve Spurrier and any other coach or player that ever spent a day in The Swamp. What they choose to celebrate or condemn is their choice and they should be proud of whatever stance they take. My stance just happens to be one of the now and not the past.

That doesn’t mean I believe the arrests are justified in any way and it doesn’t mean I will go home today and dust off my Urban Meyer shrine. It simply means I don’t treat Monday as a groundbreaking day in the history of the Florida Gators football program. It keeps my feelings right about where they were when Meyer was named the head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes, which is somewhere between “meh” and “sigh.”

Meyer’s tenure will be discussed at length for years to come. It will probably even be summed up by many just as Thomas did when asked to comment for the article:

“As far as coaching, there’s no one else like (Meyer); he’s a great coach. He gets players to do things you never thought you could do. But he’s a bad person.” – Bryan Thomas, Former Florida Gators Defensive Back

That may be accurate and, if you believe the article and the rumors you’ve surely heard, you probably don’t doubt it. I don’t either, but I am continuing to look forward more than I’m looking back. For your own sanity, I recommend you try to do the same.

For more Florida Gators coverage, like the TBG Facebook page and follow TBG on Twitter.

Saturday Blitz Podcast: Florida Gators, Recruiting, Tim Tebow, And More

By The Bull Gator | February 10, 2012 - 12:15 pm | Florida Gators Football

Billy Donovan Doesn’t Try To Flip Commitments He Says

By The Bull Gator | February 8, 2012 - 12:00 pm | Basketball Recruiting

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