UF Football Schedule: Florida Atlantic

Fall practice will start up in about a month, and, shortly after, the 2011 college football season will kick off.

With less than two months until the UF football schedule begins, Gator Country stops to break down each of the opponents on the 2011 Gators’ football schedule, starting with Florida Atlantic.

Sept. 3 – Florida Atlantic Owls

2010 Record: 4-8 (3-5)

Returning Starters: 7 offense, 7 defense

Key Returning Players: RB Alfred Morris, LT Sam McRoy, ILB Yourhighness Morgan, FS Marcus Bartels, P Mickey Groody

2010 Recap: Florida Atlantic was a streaky team in 2010, winning their first game against UAB before dropping five straight to fall to 1-5. The Owls rebounded to win their next three before suffering three blowout losses to finish 4-8.

Florida Atlantic was plagued by an anemic running game and a defense that had just as many problems stopping the run. The Owls ranked 115th nationally in rushing offense and 105th nationally in rushing defense.

Overview: Florida Atlantic figures to be a much different team in 2011 than it was a year ago, when the Owls were effective as a passing team, but couldn’t run the ball.

With quarterback Jeff Van Camp and four of the top five receivers from 2010 gone, the Owls will rely on the running game and senior running back Alfred Morris, who finished 2010 just 72 yards shy of back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons.

Morris will be running behind a young offensive line that returns all five starters from a year ago, so Florida Atlantic should be able to run the ball much better than it did last season.

The passing game will be a work in progress early in the year, as the Owls let David Kooi and Graham Wilbert battle it out for the starting job.

Defensively, the Owls should be in pretty good shape with a 3-4 defense that returns plenty of experienced playmakers, including the entire starting defensive line.

Linebacker Yourhighness Morgan will lead a unit returning three players who started several games for Florida Atlantic in 2010. The unit is aggressive and makes a lot of plays behind the line of scrimmage, as the Owls ranked 24th nationally in tackles for a loss last season.

The secondary is young and inexperienced after losing three of four starters.

Free safety Marcus Bartels returns as the leader of the defense after leading the team in tackles in each of the past two seasons. He helped Florida Atlantic rank 29th nationally against the pass in 2010, but will have his work cut out for him this year playing with an inexperienced unit.

Owls punter Mickey Groody is one of the nation’s best, finishing fifth nationally in punting average in 2010 at 45.8 yards. He will be on the Ray Guy shortlist and can help Florida Atlantic flip field position almost every time he punts.

Key Matchup: Florida’s offensive line vs. Florida Atlantic’s front seven – Florida Atlantic created a lot of negative plays last season, and the Owls know how to get into the backfield. Florida’s offense struggled providing good pass protection last season, and that’s one of the biggest concerns heading into 2011.

If Florida’s offensive line can give quarterback John Brantley ample time to throw, there’s no reason Brantley and the Gators shouldn’t pick apart a young, inexperienced Owls secondary through the air.

Best Guess: Florida’s teams have always stopped the run well, and that’s Florida Atlantic’s strength. With the Gators’ defensive line expected to be a strong point, it’s improbable the Owls will have any sort of success offensively in Gainesville.

What the game boils down to is whether Florida’s offense is as bad as it was in last year’s season opener against Miami (Ohio). In truth, it would have to be even worse than that to lose to Florida Atlantic.

Looking at how the matchups stack up, Florida will likely have this game well in hand by halftime, new schemes or not. For an offense with a quarterback desperately needing to build some confidence early in the season, you couldn’t ask for a better opening game than Florida Atlantic.