Sorry Shane about posting this article before you could get to it. But, Pat Dooley is right here! After hearing about all the injuries before the season started, not to mention those that occurred during the season I figured we'd be 8-4 at best. Losing Cornelius Ingram was losing about 20% of the offense. Then Dorian Munroe was the man to save a secondary that was porous at best. It is because Urban Meyer recruits well and that he has a great conditioning program that we're waiting around until January 8 to watch the Gators play for a national championship!! I'm happy we got him when we did. I'm happy we got him instead of Steve Spurrier back for another round. He's a better coach than Spurrier was. I know, Spurrier could beat you with your own players, but I don't think he could beat you with your second string. Yes, Meyer should be coach of the year. It's (Really) Great to be a Flo-ri-da Ga-tor!! Oliver
UF has overcome injuries <http://www.gatorsports.com/article/20081226/NEWS/812270996/1130?Title=UF_has_overcome_injuries#> AARON DAYE/Staff photographer Percy Harvin's two missed games don't tell the story as UF starters sat out 41 games in total this season. Two starters, Cornelius Ingram and Dorian Munroe, didn't see the field. By Pat Dooley <mailto:[email protected]> Columnist Published: Friday, December 26, 2008 at 6:01 a.m. Last Modified: Saturday, December 27, 2008 at 12:06 a.m. Go back to early July. Go ahead, I'll wait. It's hot, it's sticky and football still seems a long way off. You feeling it? OK, the only preseason polls belong to magazines. The real ones aren't out yet. But you like your Gator football team. I'm going to tell you something about the 2008 team. Remember, it's early July and you just stepped off the golf course/sauna. You're not in the mood for any bad news because you have just lost 10 pounds in sweat. But there's something you need to know. I know you like your tight end Cornelius Ingram. Great player. Came back for his senior year. Won't play a down for you. And he's not alone. You're going to lose your starting strong safety Dorian Monroe. Gone. Knee. You know that junior college tackle you're counting on? Knee. Troy Epps will be no factor. Brandon Antwine is going to battle back from a back injury and be a tremendous story. Until he blows out his anterior cruciate ligament. No, I'm not making this up. You're going to lose nine players to season-ending knee injuries including two defensive tackles. You are going to be nicknamed ACL-U. Oh and that's not all. Your best playmaker will miss the biggest game of the year. Yep, Percy Harvin. He'll also miss the first game. That prized tailback transfer Emmanuel Moody? An ankle injury will keep him out of the middle of the season. And your right guard, Jim Tartt. Could be all-SEC. Except he's hardly going to play. Neither will Maurice Hurt, his backup. Your outside linebackers are going to be banged up all year and Ryan Stamper is going to start much of the season with a broken hand. So what do you think? "I'm thinking 6-6, 7-6, something like that," said Urban Meyer. "But I never realized how much guys would step up. It's a credit to (strength coach) Mickey Marotti and their position coaches and mostly to those players." Players like Ahmad Black. When the Gators lost their starting strong safety, Black stepped in and had a sensational year. "He's a guy we were trying to run out of here a year ago," Meyer said. "Chuck Heater has one of those a year. A Reggie Lewis, a Ryan Smith, an Ahmad Black." Hey, I realize every college football team goes through injuries. But I thought it was important to point out what you already knew but probably never stopped to absorb. Where Florida is now considering what it went through is truly an amazing story. As Meyer said, a lot of people deserve credit, especially guys like Will Hill and Terron Sanders and Tate Casey and David Nelson. I think the head coach deserves some credit, too. Because when they are filling out those Coach of the Year ballots, I don't think many of the voters consider what Florida lost this year. "I saw where Coach (Nick) Saban said the only injury they had all year was losing (Terrence) Cody for two games," Meyer said. "You add them all up for us and it's 50, 60, 70 games. It's almost frightening." Actually, it's more frightening than that. By my count - and I'm not including Jim Barrie, an offensive lineman who suffered a torn ACL but probably wouldn't have played anyway this season - I've got the injured Gators missing 103 games. That's right, 103 games missed. You can scoff at that and blow off John Curtis, Brendan Beal and Cody Worton, all ACL injuries but not starters. They'd have played on special teams. "People don't talk about Cody Worton, but he was one of my best special teams guys," Meyer said. Worton tore his ACL against Miami. And the hits, they just kept a comin'. In all, Florida starters (and I include Ingram and Munroe) missed 41 games this season. Somehow, some way, the Gator coaching staff was able to patch it together. And now they find themselves here, on the brink of a national championship game. "I've been a head coach for eight years and I can't think of a team I've been more proud of," Meyer said. "I love this team." Amazing. You might have seen this in early July. You didn't see this broken path. Contact Pat Dooley at 352-374-5053 or [email protected]. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
