This is it. The 2006 campaign for a national title starts today as Urban Meyer begins his second season in Gainesville steering the Gators ship. Due to the past history of Urban Meyer's success in his second seasons of coaching tenures, I think that the fans in Gainesville have a lot to be excited for. Combining this past history with the talent the Gators will be putting on the field could make the 2006 season a memorable one...or perhaps provide us with another feeling of "let-down" that have been commonplace over the past several seasons.
Today the Southern Miss Golden Eagles, a bowl team last year and one of the better squads in C-USA, will invade Gainesville and try to pull an upset. Coming off a 7-5 season and a win in the New Orleans Bowl, the Golden Eagles will be ready to take the Gators to the limit in the opening game.
Being that this is the first game of the season, I feel that there are many questions that could arise today regarding the Gators, with much focusing on the changes to the gameplan as compared to last season by Urban Meyer. Here are what I feel the major questions will be today:
- Who will emerge as the top tailback in the system, if any?
- Will Chris Leak throw the ball to his two (and probably more) very good downfield targets with consistency?
- Will a relatively all-new group on the offensive line protect well within Meyer's pretty complex scheme?
- Will the fairly inexperienced secondary cover well and make strides towards becoming a pretty good group?
It's good to have college football back. Gainesville is glowing right now. I can't wait to walk down University Avenue today and check out all the scenes. It's going to be a madhouse.
And for my final prediction: 35-13 Gators.
By the way, feel free to discuss any other college games going today - Ohio State vs NIU, Ga Tech vs Notre Dame, Cal vs Tennessee, etc.