Gabe's breakdown of the season

i don't always like the stuff Gabe does, but really that's pretty good. Agree with most of it, and he basically just handed Fla the win even though he thinks we are better.

I have to think it may be the 3rd toughest game, depending on A&M, but it does seem like a game we can win, not because their defense is bad, but because our offense should be so much better than theirs is.

The Aggie game might wind up being the big shoot out we expected last year, and those games usually go in the "either team" or "last team to score" category.

At this point I think our biggest X factor might be how much Henson can improve on being the OC guru. People often forget about him being a factor in last seasons turn around, and he can be a factor again this year in proving the skeptics wrong.

Looking like a fun season that will come down to Mizzou, UGA and USC for the east.

And a bad Mizzou team kept the game close two years ago in Gainesville. If not for a couple late Interceptions thrown by Franklin we would have won.

quote:

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At this point I think our biggest X factor might be how much Henson can improve on being the OC guru.

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If you think about it, they did a pretty damn incredible job under a brand new OC. I'm sure some things stayed similar, but I'm sure some things changed too. Even something as simple as language. Look for him to be better and better as the years go by.

That's teh same as my prediction. 9-3, 8-4 at worst.

@SC - Thompson doesn't scare me one bit. Shah had our number, but Thompson didn't do squat last year and doesn't scare me. They'll have a solid running game still. Defensively, I think their most suspect in the backfield. They'll just reload up front. MU comes off of UCF and Indy beforehand. SC has UGA and @Vandy. Hope for a blood bath in the UGA game. I think Mizzou will get that monkey off their back and pull out an early season upset in this one. Just refuse to believe SC beats us 3 years in a row.

UGA - Gurley scares me. Not sure our ends are built to stop the run. Not sure we have the LB's to stop him. Our DB's may be asked to stop him and that's not a good thing. Not worried about their passing game. It won't be better than last years. MU coming off of a bye in between SC and UGA. UGA coming off UT and Vandy. At home, very winnable game.

@UF - Schedule wise, might be our hardest 2 weeks. No rest after UGA and have to hit the road. Driskel doesn't impress whatsoever either. UF will always have tons of athletes though and always be dangerous. Schedule does UF even less favors though coming off of @UT and LSU. Those 2 weeks leading to this game may give MU the advantage in this one.

Vandy - 2012 should NEVER happen again.

UK - 1968 should never happen again.

@A&M - Hard to say what to expect from A&M. Manziel was a once in a decade or more type player in college. A&M was fortunate to have him with the move to the SEC. What will they be without him? I have no clue. Game certainly would seem winnable. A&M does play Auburn the week before while MU comes off of a bye. Enough of an advantage?

@UT - Second to the UF game, might be the second most difficult 2 game stretch. UT has the schedule advantage, going bye, UK, MU. Just don't think UT is quite there yet.

Arky - Never going to be the "hate" rivalry, but I think it will be a "fun" rivalry game. I think our neighbors to the south are getting things turned around, but just aren't quite there yet. Both have a tough 2 games leading into, Arky with LSU and OM. Being at home gives MU advantage.

At the end of the day, much like Gabe, I see 7 games (4 OOC, Vandy, UK, Arky) that I will go full blown melt if we lose. The other 5, to varying degrees are toss ups. @SC may be the toughest on paper but I still put it in the toss up category. Go 3-2 in those games and you're at 10-2. Because I'm a believer in not upsetting the mojo gods before the games are played, I'll go with 9-3 if we can stay healthy but wouldn't be surprised with better.

Agree, glad we get UGA at home, that may be the East Championship game.

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