Gator Country

The Florida Gators will have to plug a few holes in their defensive front seven after this season. The Gators have one of the top defenses in the nation and if they want to maintain their place among the nation's elite, then they fill those gaps with players such as middle linebacker Allen Bailey of Darien (GA) McIntosh Academy. Bailey was in Gainesville Saturday for Florida's game with Alabama.

The Gators might be losing all three of their starters at linebacker so it’s imperative to recruit talented players like Bailey, rated five stars by Scout.com and perhaps the most physical and powerful linebacker in the country. Bailey is pretty much the headhunter so he will fit in well with the Florida scheme.

When Bailey was in Gainesville for the Florida-Alabama game he had a hard time hearing anything because the crowd of 90,671 made The Swamp the loudest place on the planet.

“I went down to Gainesville and liked the atmosphere,” Bailey said Sunday evening. “All the fans were really loud and at times I couldn’t hear anything. I talked to some of the coaches after the game and they just asked about my season.”

When it comes to recruiting, Bailey has a final four. Saturday was an important day for him because he got to see two of his final four teams go head to head. The Florida defense did its part, holding Alabama without an offensive touchdown in the 28-13 win for the Gators. Bailey was impressed with the consistency on defense.

“They were on point,” Bailey said. “They seemed to really know their responsibilities.”

Alabama held Florida to one touchdown in the first half before fading to the more talented Gators. Bailey was also watching the Bama defense.

“They were pretty much the same,” he said, “but they needed a little more work in places.”

The Gators have already put 14 of their 26 true freshmen on the field this season so Bailey knows the Gators aren’t afraid to play young guys. Bailey doesn’t worry about things like that.

“I am not worried about playing time at all,” he said.

It is still a four team race for Bailey with Florida, Georgia, Miami, and Alabama all in line to see which one gets the services of the superstar. As usual the Gators are lacking in depth at the position and with the possible loss of all three starters a huge impact freshman could make his mark on the Gator defense really early next season. The Gators would love to give Bailey a shot at doing just that.

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