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Gators In A Hurry To Make Fixes

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By ANDY STAPLES, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 3, 2008

Updated: 01/03/2008 12:45 am

GAINESVILLE - Urban Meyer sounded Tuesday as if his University of Florida football team needed to fix its flaws in time for a game next week.

"There were some glaring errors that we need to get corrected real fast," Meyer said after the Gators' 41-35 Capital One Bowl loss to Michigan. "Personnel-wise and also coaching-wise, I was not pleased with some of the stuff."

What's the hurry? Florida won't play again until the Aug. 31 season opener against Hawaii. Time is of the essence, receiver Percy Harvin explained. According to Harvin, the breakdowns that led to Florida's four-loss season began in January 2007.

"We didn't have a very good offseason this year," Harvin said. "We had a lot of individuals doing their own thing. We didn't have that the year before when we won the national championship. I'm going to put that on my shoulders and get everybody back on the same page."

Harvin, who gained 242 total yards against the Wolverines on Tuesday, has the on- and off-field chops to make such a statement. But will the rest of the Gators follow him? Florida has top-five talent coming back, but can those players mesh into a national title-caliber team? The Gators will spend the next eight months trying to answer that question.

"If you don't have chemistry," Harvin said, "it doesn't matter who you have coming back."

And while Florida's offense will return Harvin, Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Tim Tebow and most of the offensive line from a unit that led the Southeastern Conference in scoring and total offense during the regular season, the Gators defense will return eight starters from a unit that allowed opponents to convert 40 of 65 third and fourth downs in Florida's four losses.

Linebacker Brandon Spikes said defenders know they folded at crucial times, and they have to get better.

"Throughout this whole offseason, we've got a lot of growing up to do," Spikes said. "We've got to grow up and man up. If we need plays to be made, people have to stand up."

Meyer and his staff also must decide if they want to change their scheme, their players or both. To avoid giving up the big play, the Gators didn't blitz aggressively. Because of that, better quarterbacks picked apart Florida's inexperienced cornerbacks.

"We expect more out of our corner play than that. That's one of the areas we're going to have to improve greatly," Meyer said. "We may have to change up some coverages and do some things to give those guys a chance or recruit or develop. That's an area that's subpar right now."

Meyer also hopes someone fills Florida's leadership void. With only a handful of senior contributors this past season, the Gators didn't have the stable, steady leadership they enjoyed during their national title run in 2006. Harvin, a rising junior, seems the most willing to accept the mantle. Tuesday, he said he will try to force teammates to listen to their coaches because this past season's result "proved that our way doesn't work."

"I'm not satisfied. I'm going to get hungry, get to the offseason and work hard and get everybody else to play at a certain level," Harvin said. "I hope to get back to the championship next year."

Reporter Andy Staples can be reached at (352) 262-3719 or astaples@tampatrib.com.

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