Gators Football Opener on Saturday

This Saturday evening will see the new edition of the University of Florida football team unveiled against Florida Atlantic University in the 2011 season opener, to be held here in Gainesville. FAU is coached by old Gator nemesis Howard Schnellenberger, who carried on an intense, bitter rivalry as University of Miami head coach during the early 1980's against Charlie Pell's UF teams. Florida has a brand-new head coach in Will Muschamp. From his history on the sidelines working for other schools, I expect Muschamp to be quite an animated, funny, and overall entertaining spectacle. Good...I miss ol' Steve Spurrier and his visor! And we'll see how much Charlie Weis, the new almost-legendary offensive coordinator, has succeeded in transforming the Gators' lame offense from last year into something more explosive and exciting. All hinges on how quarterback John Brantley does...and if his center can figure out how to hike the ball this time around...

Coach Muschamp is in his first role as a major college football head coach. All of his other jobs on this level have been as defensive coach or coordinator. So it will also be interesting how Florida's defense will perform this Saturday...

I like seasons like this one, when expectations are relatively low and there is a great feeling of uncertainty about how successful the home team will be. It got to be a little tedious during the Spurrier and Meyer tenures at UF when they were expected to compete for the national championship every year, and the Southeastern Conference championship came to be regarded lightly as something of a stepping stone to that national title. No way is that happening this year, though! Or will it?

Just a little reminder: a couple of years ago, Alabama wasn't picked to storm their way to a strong undefeated season and the national championship. As a matter of fact, it was Florida who carried the designation of "favorite" for most of the season. And, like the Gators this year, Alabama wasn't even picked by most to even win their division. But once the season begins, the ball is finally in play, and people see what the teams are actually made of, perspectives can change in a hurry...