Second Florida Gators fall scrimmage podcast recap

GatorCountry brings you a new Florida Gators podcast as this time we recap the Gators second fall scrimmage of camp that took place on Friday night.

Andrew Spivey and Nick de la Torre talk about which players had good scrimmages, plus answer your hot questions on this football team as they head into the season.

Andrew and Nick also bring you a new edition of their buy/sell segment where we took your topics and answered them.

TRANSCRIPT:

Andrew:                 What’s up, Gator Country? Once again, your man, Andrew Spivey, here with my man, Nicholas de la Torre. Nicholas, it is now less than two weeks till game time, my good friend. Things are good. Everything is good in the world.

Nick:                         Everything is, and we got the AP, the Associated Press, top 25 poll released on Sunday. Florida is in it. They are behind Georgia, Tennessee, Florida State, but they’re in it. Preseason polls mean nothing, but I’m sure Gator fans are happy to see that Florida at least is in there.

Andrew:                 Of course, I’m going to talk Tennessee. I mean, I wouldn’t be Andrew Spivey if I didn’t talk Tennessee. It was something interesting that I noticed today. The last, I think it was five years, eight teams that have been ranked in the top 25 preseason poll have finished unranked. That gives that. Now, Tennessee’s not going to finish unranked, because, Nick, as you and I have already said, they face some cupcakes at the end of the season, but the hind train is still choo chooing down the railroad tracks with them, and I’m also going to bring up another team, LSU. Just, they haven’t shown me enough to be ranked #5 in the country. I mean, #5 in the country, that’s a big step. Outside of Leonard Fournette, when have they proven to be #5 in the country?

Nick:                         That’s a nasty defense. Guice is a very good running back behind Fournette. Really, they got receivers. The only question is quarterback. It’s a big question, in my mind at least, but I think they’re a top 10 team. If you put a proven guy at quarterback on that team, absolutely. I do think it is a big question. LSU has a very good team. It’s just where is the quarterback? What player are you going to get? I think everyone kind of gets the benefit of the doubt in the off season, but it’s kind of like Georgia. In my opinion, Georgia keeps getting ranked, and I’m wondering where that benefit of the doubt is, because you’ve got a huge question mark at quarterback, and you might even be starting a freshman. I think a lot of people just get the benefit of the doubt in preseason polls. It’s part of the reason I like that the playoff poll doesn’t come out until midway through the year.

Andrew:                 So let me ask you this. Do you agree LSU is #5 in the country? Georgia’s #18 in the country?

Nick:                         I mean, everyone right now in the country has the same record, so maybe.

Andrew:                 That’s not what I’m asking.

Nick:                         Maybe.

Andrew:                 Do you agree with that prediction?

Nick:                         I don’t know about Georgia. I feel fine putting LSU there. We’ll find out quickly with LSU, because they open the season up against Wisconsin at Lambo.

Andrew:                 That’s right. I totally forgot about that. That’s a Labor Day game, right?

Nick:                         I think so.

Andrew:                 That’s what I thought as well.

Nick:                         I also have a little fact about Alabama. Alabama is #1 in the preseason poll. Alabama’s won four national titles in the last seven years, but they were not preseason #1 in any of those years. So this is the third time in the last seven years that Alabama has started the season #1, and they have not won a national championship in any of those years.

Andrew:                 Really? Who was #1 last year? FSU?

Nick:                         I believe Ohio State.

Andrew:                 Okay. That’s interesting. That’s really interesting.

Nick:                         Ohio State was loaded last year.

Andrew:                 Absolutely. That’s interesting. I don’t know. It’s preseason for a reason. It is simply based on who’s got the biggest hype. I’ll be on the record to say that LSU doesn’t win the West. Tennessee doesn’t win the East, and neither of those teams finish in the top 10.

Nick:                         Say that again.

Andrew:                 LSU does not win the West, as predicted. Tennessee does not win the East, and neither one of those teams finish in the top 10.

Nick:                         That’s safe, probably. Right?

Andrew:                 I mean, Tennessee’s losing three games.

Nick:                         Yeah. For the past seven years their season has pretty much started off 0-2, when you put Florida and Alabama on it.

Andrew:                 I mean, and LSU’s the same way. LSU is starting 0-1. Six straight to Alabama. I mean, it’s one of those things where Nick Saban’s in Les Miles’ mind. It is what it is. You just can’t go against that. Then, you think about that. Fournette running against Bama’s defense. You’re going right up against what they’re prepared for.

Nick:                         That’s true. Kind of the same way, when you say that Nick Saban is in Les Miles’ mind, probably the same way that Florida is there as well.

Andrew:                 Yeah.

Nick:                         Florida’s in Tennessee’s mind. That’s what I meant.

Andrew:                 Right. I agree with that. That’s what I’m saying. I don’t know. It’s just one of those things where until it happens, I don’t predict it.

Nick:                         Yeah. That’s what I’ve been saying. I’ll run you through real quick. The top 25 is Alabama, Clemson, Oklahoma, FSU, LSU, Ohio State, Michigan, Stanford, Tennessee, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Michigan State, TCU, Wisconsin, Houston, UCLA, Iowa, Georgia, Louisville, USC, Oklahoma State, UNC, Baylor, Oregon, and UF.

Andrew:                 Got you. Last thing that I want to say on that, on the top 25, is one thing, and that is Ole Miss overrated as well. Don’t see it. Outside of Chad Kelly, not sure…

Nick:                         Swag Kelly.

Andrew:                 Not sure where the offense is coming from. Let’s move on real quick. What’s that?

Nick:                         I was just yelling Swag.

Andrew:                 Okay.

Nick:                         Contributing nothing overall.

Andrew:                 There you go. I mean, that’s your place on this podcast. Just be in the shadow. There you go. Gators had their second scrimmage of the year. This one was a Friday night scrimmage, and overall, Nick, I heard the offense did really well. Del Rio did well. There was some key contributors on defense out, so that definitely helped things, but end of the day, it’s good to hear Del Rio, after being named the starter, continues to get better. I think it’s something that maybe you and I haven’t hit on yet, and I think we should real quick, before we talk more scrimmage. Naming Del Rio the starter probably took some weight off his shoulders, and it’s not necessarily a bad thing. I mean, do you want him to still compete? Yes, but do you want him to relax and just go out there and let his physical ability take over? Yes. So I think that it could have had an affect both ways, and maybe we saw that at the scrimmage.

Nick:                         Yeah. I don’t buy the whole, sure competition breeds, competition can make you better. I think at the quarterback position we read too much into that. I’m a big believer in that a quarterback, at least at some facet, is the face of the team and somebody that, even subconsciously, players will look to that guy, and if naming a quarterback, you’re going to be the starter, gives him more confidence, I would like to have that confident guy. It’s a natural thing. Players see what’s going on in practice, and if I’m Luke Del Rio, and I know that I’m playing well, playing better than the guy behind me, why am I not being named the starter? Am I not playing well? Then you start getting doubt to creep in your mind. To me, the whole not naming a quarterback stuff is silly. I think Del Rio is the best quarterback. Both you and I have been saying that for a while, and I don’t understand why it takes so long to do it. I’m glad that it’s done.

Andrew:                 Right. Exactly. I mean, that’s what I’m saying. I think it definitely does, but it’s good to have it out, and, like I said, it could have an influence both ways there. Back to the scrimmage, heard, we were told that Joseph Putu maybe had his coming out party as well. Playing corner, not playing at safety, but playing corner, and got some action with the ones there. I think Putu is a guy that is naturally gifted, and I think maybe now, we’re going at what? Four weeks, three weeks since he’s been on campus. Maybe the playbook’s settling in. Maybe he’s settling in, and he’s able just to let his ability take over.

Nick:                         That’s a big thing. Probably the first initial shock of everything, getting over that, and then getting into the playbook. You’ve got this whole initial shock of the stadium and Florida and the news guys, and there’s so much going on, and once all of that, once you become one of the guys, then you can really start focusing in on what’s my place? Where am I supposed to be? Stuff like that. To me, the more time he gets, the better he’ll be. I really think he is a guy that can be versatile, and missing out on Jalen Tabor with his suspension, and with Quincy Wilson missing a little bit of time, it’s getting you a chance to see what Duke Dawson looks like on the outside. It’s giving you a chance to see what Chauncey Gardner looks like playing outside cornerback and playing nickel back, and that’s creating more opportunities for Jawaan Taylor at safety, and creating more opportunities for Joseph Putu.

I keep saying it. The depth just isn’t there. People ask me, is McArthur Burnett going to play this year? He’s going to have to, because Quincy Wilson, Duke Dawson, and Jalen Tabor aren’t going to play every single defensive snap this year, and then you have to find guys to fill in after that. These young guys on defense are going to have to play, ready or not.

Andrew:                 Yeah. I think there is a couple guys that are starting to help this depth. It’s one of those things where you and I are talking about there’s no depth. There’s no experienced depth right now. At the end of the year, I do think Putu will be a quality SEC player. I think at the end of the year Chauncey will be a really good player. I think that Jawaan Taylor could be a really good player. I think at the end of the year you’re talking about maybe the depth’s not there, when you and I say there’s no depth, there’s no experienced depth. I do think that Putu’s going to play and play well. I think he’s a gifted player. I think that Jawaan Taylor is starting to come on. I’ve said it from Day 1. I thought Jawaan Taylor was a really good player.

So I think things are starting to shape up. Jalen Tabor missing the U Mass game might not be a bad thing in general, because, like you said, you’re able to see a lot of different things. Duke moving outside to corner will help, because it’s going to be a situation where you need him out there. Playing nickel is not as hard as playing corner, so you’re able to slide a guy like Putu into nickel against Tennessee, if needed.

Nick:                         Yeah. That’s kind of where it’s at, because that’s the first big game, first big test of the season.

Andrew:                 Well, Kentucky. Kentucky’s going to throw the ball a lot. Those DBs are going to have to come off the field, simply because they’re going to be winded. That’s going to be the second game of the season. It’s still going to be hot as hell that game.

Nick:                         It’s a 3:30 kickoff too.

Andrew:                 That’s what I’m saying. So it’s still going to be hot as hell. It’s going to be a game where you’re going to have cramping. You can go ahead and mark it down in your books. You can blame the trainers for not having them ready or whatever, but I’m telling you, we’re taping this August 21, that second week in the season against Kentucky they’re going to come out for cramping. It’s just going to happen, and that’s exactly what I think is going to be a situation where you need guys.

Let’s move on a little bit. We did hear the running back position. The guy that I’ve been hyping up, Perine, two touchdowns in the scrimmage, and did well. I think that it just further more shows how deep that running back position truly is. It’s a deep position.

Nick:                         Yeah. With Perine, so you have a guy in Mark Thompson is only going to be there for a year. You’ve got two guys in the Jordans that it’s almost kind of time to go or time to get going.

Andrew:                 Right. Here’s the thing with me, and I’m going to speak for myself, and you can agree or not agree. Jordan Cronkrite is probably the safest bet, but maybe not the most gifted player, if that makes sense. Does he have the homerun speed? No. Does he oppose the biggest, can he lower his shoulder and run over people? Some, but he’s not the most gifted. Scarlett is just so inconsistent. He’s good one day, like in the scrimmage, then he has three bad days. So it’s a situation where no guy’s really, I guess, taken reins over it, so maybe the old analogy, if you got four that means you don’t have one, so you’re not very good. Maybe that’s the analogy there, but nobody’s taking control of this.

Nick:                         I think that’s more about quarterback. Most teams would love to have four guys.

Andrew:                 What I’m saying though is if you don’t have one true starter, is that an issue? I don’t know. I mean, because right now I don’t know if there’s a clear cut starter. I mean, does Cronkrite get it just because he’s the safest bet? Maybe.

Nick:                         I think Mark Thompson will get it, and I think it’ll be on a very short leash.

Andrew:                 Right.

Nick:                         That first fumble, or second fumble, and it’s, hey, thanks. Thanks, but we can’t do that, and we’ve got other guys who aren’t going to do that.

Andrew:                 Right. I’m in agreement. I think it is Mark Thompson that starts. I’m just saying, to me it further more shows how it is, and here’s the thing. I wanted to say this, and this was something you and I, I know I’ve talked about. I just can’t remember if we talked about it on the podcast, but people say, “Why are they burning his redshirt?” You don’t redshirt running backs.

Nick:                         No.

Andrew:                 Running backs are only going to be at the school, if he does redshirt, when he gets to start his redshirt junior year he’s gone. It just it is what it is. The life of a running back is too small that they just don’t stick around.

Nick:                         No. You don’t redshirt running backs. If Lamical’s not playing running back, he’ll be on special teams.

Andrew:                 Right. They’re usually one of your better athletes.

Nick:                         Yeah.

Andrew:                 But anything else you want to add on the scrimmage before we kind of move on? I wanted to talk Fan Day next. Anything on the scrimmage you wanted to add?

Nick:                         No. I think this scrimmage will serve a little more, we talked about it before the scrimmage. The first one’s kind of like, okay, where are we at? What are we going to get? Second scrimmage is kind of working on a lot of procedural things. Also trying to see, did we get fool’s gold that first scrimmage, or did we see the right thing? I think that’s what you’re looking at. They’ll have one more scrimmage before the season kicks off.

Andrew:                 Camp’s officially over as of Saturday. School starts Monday, so you kind of get into that. They move to the practice field, so that will be a different change of scenery. Then you kind of start that game week prep kind of week, where it’s perfect Thursday. What does he call Friday?

Nick:                         No. There’s special treat Wednesday.

Andrew:                 Yup. Then it’s…

Nick:                         Perfect Thursday.

Andrew:                 What’s Friday? There’s something else Friday.

Nick:                         I don’t know.

Andrew:                 Anyway, something for Friday, and they’ll kind of do that, and then they’ll have the scrimmage on Friday. Then it’s U Mass week. So things are getting there, and I think it’s one of those things where you see guys that are very glad to get out of camp, because camp is rough, and school starts now. So now you got to see how guys handle, the young guys, handle school and practice. Is that something they get? Chauncey’s been through it, but we’re talking about guys like Perine, both of the Taylors, Tyrie Cleveland. That kind of stuff.

Nick:                         Swain, Hammond, Jawaan Taylor, it’s a huge class.

Andrew:                 I’m saying Swain and Hammond, they’ve already been through that.

Nick:                         Right, in the spring.

Andrew:                 Right. Nick, I want to talk about Fan Day for a second. Florida went with a different kind of design, where it was some games, that kind of stuff. Talked to several different people, some parents as well, and the overwhelming response was that it was a huge success, and that the fans were really fired up about it. I know it was hot, very full in the indoor, but overall give me your impression of it.

Nick:                         Well, the marketing department is the one that’s in charge of this whole event. So if we’re going to give props, it would be to the marketing department, but they were kind of forced into the situation, because of the renovations going on at the O Dome, where Fan Day normally is.

Andrew:                 Right.

Nick:                         This had a decidedly different feel. To me, in going once before at the O Dome, you kind of felt like you were getting processed through something, where you got in line, and then that line carried you through the offensive tables, then the defensive tables, and then Coach Mac.

Andrew:                 Right.

Nick:                         You kind of just got processed through the system, and then spit out. This one they had two different lines set up. There was a different line for Coach Mac, so you could hop into whatever line. Then they had guys, players, kind of just walking around in the indoor practice facility. It was, there’s Eddie Pineiro. I can go up and talk to him. It seemed, at times…

Andrew:                 More relaxed?

Nick:                         At times, yeah, very relaxed. At times it seemed chaotic, because at one point I look at a line, and there’s like 50 people in line. I’m like, who are they waiting for? I turn, and it’s like Daniel McMillian? Do they know they’re waiting for Daniel McMillian? It seemed like at times people didn’t know what was going on, but it was definitely more relaxed with people being able to walk where they wanted to, be able to see the new indoor facility, walk out. They had a food truck with snow cones. They were selling food, hot dogs, stuff like that, outside. I prefer it this way. It will be interesting to see if they continue doing that after the O Dome renovations are done.

Andrew:                 Yeah.

Nick:                         It was fun to see.

Andrew:                 I think having the games and stuff for the kids was something else that was there.

Nick:                         Yeah. People were kicking footballs. They had some corn hole going on.

Andrew:                 You and I should have been. We might could have taken Coach Mac on that.

Nick:                         Corn hole didn’t even really get played, because then you have guys standing over there signing autographs, and they’re using the boards as a way to have a steady surface to sign on. It was kind of just cool. Someone’s going up, can I have your autograph? They turn around, and you’re writing it on their back. It was kind of just maybe like a more intimate thing than just getting in line and moving down one by one, the way they do it in the O Dome.

Andrew:                 Be interesting to see. We’re taping on Friday, on Sunday. I don’t know why I said Friday.

Nick:                         Hello.

Andrew:                 Taping this on Sunday, and they have the Rally in the Swamp on Sunday night. It’ll be interesting to see kind of how that turnout is. We’ll have Austin and Jackson there kind of covering it, talking about it. It’ll be interesting to see how that turns out, because in my opinion if there’s one thing Florida needs is their student support at the games. I will say this, and I feel bad saying this, because I know I’m about to piss people off. I shouldn’t do this, but I’m going to say this. I shouldn’t do this, but I’m going to say this. I don’t feel like Florida’s students support the team well enough. I’m used to Alabama, that kind of stuff, Auburn, that stuff, when growing up. That was some of the stuff I saw. People I know went to school there. It is so much different than it is at Florida, and I think that’s something that maybe should change.

Now, here’s the thing I’ll say. I don’t remember a ton of how it was when the Urban years there, because, quite frankly, I wasn’t covering the team then. So maybe it was different there, but I would say the last five years that I’ve been covering the team student support has been bad.

Nick:                         It was better last year than it was, obviously, in 2013.

Andrew:                 I agree with that.

Nick:                         It was probably, this will be, last year was my third season, and the student support was the best last year that it had been. I was getting yelled at. I was getting called the curmudgeon, because I was the guy that said Florida students show up late and leave early. That was the reputation that they had, or what they had shown me. So people were saying the get off my lawn. Yeah, I agree with you, to an extent. I don’t know what it is.

Andrew:                 Would you say, and you’ve been to a lot of games as well as I have, I don’t want you to rate this, because, quite frankly, I know our Twitter mentions are about to blow up, kind of upset we’ve been talking about this, but would you say Florida’s student section is better or worse than some of the teams in the SEC?

Nick:                         If you put them in tiers, are they better than Vanderbilt? Absolutely.

Andrew:                 Absolutely.

Nick:                         The best one that I’ve ever witnessed…

Andrew:                 LSU.

Nick:                         Is LSU, and that’s because they don’t have block seating. They don’t have assigned seats, so at LSU if you want a good seat in the student section, gates open four hours before kickoff, and you got to go get your seat.

Andrew:                 Right. It’s crazy.

Nick:                         People are waiting outside. Kids are running up and down aisles, running into the stadium. LSU’s student section fills up before the teams even put pads on.

Andrew:                 That’s what I’m saying. It’s crazy for warmups, when the players are coming out, and the team is heckling them. You and I were able to see them last year for the tell Caleb Brantley you guys are overrated as hell.

Nick:                         I remember two years ago at FSU. Dante Fowler, they were giving him an earful, and I would say FSU’s student section, the game that I was there was very good.

Andrew:                 Right.

Nick:                         Obviously Florida’s student section for FSU is fantastic, so I can’t say that FSU has a better student section than Florida, because I’m not at FSU when they’re playing the Sisters of the Poor and nobody wants to go see that game. Florida’s student section for Presbyterian, even though it’s Senior Day, is probably going to be terrible.

Andrew:                 Right. See, I don’t know. Again, we’re getting way too deep into this, and we’re pissing people off, but it’s something that is just, I don’t know. It’s near and dear to me, because it’s something like I just feel like it’s something you should take pride in. You get those student tickets. You should take pride in it. Maybe should go to the LSU kind of deal. Here’s another thing that I think about, Nick, and maybe, I don’t know. I know it’s something about the boosters and all this stuff, but I like the student section being in the end zones.

Nick:                         I don’t know. You’ve got the recruits in the end zone.

Andrew:                 See, I think it would be awesome if Florida had the students right behind the recruits. That’s how it does at Bama, and I love it.

Nick:                         Then there’s not as many seats there, so then you’d be probably making it smaller, and some of the student section does go into the North end zone.

Andrew:                 Right. What I’m saying, I don’t know. Let’s move on, because we’ve pissed enough people off today. Let’s move on. Nick, we started our thing last week, the buy and sell segment. Seems like overall it went really well. You guys gave us a ton of questions, and we’re going to start doing that every week. On Saturdays or Sundays we’ll ask you guys for buy and sell questions, so if you got some either shoot them to us on Twitter, shoot them to us on Gator Country, and we’ll answer them. If you just have a normal question, of course, send them our way as well. Nick, do we have any that we want to hit on, or we just want to do members today?

Nick:                         A couple news and notes. We’ll have stuff on our own for buy or sell based on what is said in press conferences, what is going on that week. I think a good idea is the top five, when the top five start moving and shaking, buying those top five teams. We’ll also do our pick ‘em, which I destroyed you in last year. So we’ll do that. Yeah, today let’s just do, we had Gator Country members. As a little perk to them, for being a member, we’ll answer their questions, their buy or sell questions, today.

Andrew:                 Yeah. On that note, a little simple plug. Come on and join us real quick. Season’s getting close, and I don’t like to brag. Well, actually I do, but, I mean…

Nick:                         I was going to call you out if you didn’t fix that on your own.

Andrew:                 When you look at the scrimmage notes, my friends, Gator fans, you guys know. You guys know. I mean, it’s simple, guys. There’s only one place to be. Come join us, and if you want a good deal, hit me up. We’ll get you taken care of. Onto business though, Nick. Our first buy or sell is from our guy, RPerry, on the site. He says, “Buy or sell, does Del Rio throw from 3,000 and 18 touchdowns?”

Nick:                         If I have to take that as a whole, I will sell. If I can split those up, I will sell and buy. I will buy 18 touchdowns.

Andrew:                 Okay.

Nick:                         I am selling 3,000 passing yards.

Andrew:                 How many did Florida have in general last year?

Nick:                         Florida last year, as a full team, including 10 passing yards from Joshua Grady, seven passing yards from Johnny Townsend, and two passing yards from Antonio Callaway, had a team total of 2,899 yards. Will Grier through six games threw for 1,204. If you extrapolate that out to 14 starts, 14 games for him, he still doesn’t get to 3,000. He would end up at 2,809. We’ve already talked about the running backs. Florida’s going to lean heavy on that running game, mix things in with the passing game. I sell 3,000 yards, but Florida had 20 passing touchdowns last year. So I sell the yards, buy the touchdowns.

Andrew:                 I agree.

Nick:                         Florida has only had nine seasons where a quarterback has thrown for 3,000 yards, and only five quarterbacks have thrown for 3,000 yards. Grossman did it twice. Wuerffel did it twice. Leek, Matthews, Tebow. I think Matthews did it twice as well. Only five different guys in Florida history, in history, that’s including the fun and gun days with Spurrier, have thrown for 3,000 yards. So I sell 3,000 hard.

Andrew:                 Yeah. Sell 3,000, buy the 18 touchdowns. I’ll go with 22 touchdowns on the year. Buy that, for sure. The reason I do that, as well, is Florida’s running game is going to be really good, and I don’t know if Mac needs a 3,000 yard passer. I don’t know. If you could tell him, I’ll give your quarterback 2,500 yards passing and your running backs do really well, I think he would take that. I’m going to do the same as you.

Nick, here’s, I’m going to give you the question and wait until I give you a second part of the question. Okay? Buy or sell, UF has a standalone football facility by the start of the 2017 season? Okay. That’s one part. Second part I’m going to ask you is, buy or sell the plan is in place and construction is going by the start of 2017 season?

Nick:                         Is a gigantic standalone football facility going to built before 2017? No. Construction takes time. Is that what McElwain wants? Absolutely.

Andrew:                 Okay.

Nick:                         Does construction start before 2017? I don’t know. I want to say no.

Andrew:                 Buy or sell?

Nick:                         I sell. I sell both. I don’t know where you put it.

Andrew:                 Okay. I’m going to sell that it is done.

Nick:                         It’s not going to be there before 2017. It’s pretty much impossible to have that building built before the start of next season.

Andrew:                 I don’t know. A gigantic indoor practice facility was done. Now, lot different.

Nick:                         No. You’re talking about offices. You’re talking about locker rooms. You’re talking the football facility is…

Andrew:                 Yes. I got you.

Nick:                         Walls and a roof.

Andrew:                 Yes. I’ll sell that it’s done, buy that it is being constructed there. Yes. That’s where I’m at. It’s getting done. Mac’s making sure it’s getting done. It’s happening. Don’t worry about it.

I’m scrolling through these buy or sell questions. Buy or sell Gator fans will question Coach Mac’s hiring and the season will be over before, nevermind. I’m not, we’re not answering that.

Nick:                         Buy. People will freak out. People will freak out if Florida loses to Tennessee.

Andrew:                 That’s crazy. Guys, come on. Give us some questions. Hot dogs, come on, guys. You’re wasting our time.

Nick:                         This is why I came prepared. I wrote down the ones we’re going to use.

Andrew:                 Yeah. Buy or sell, Andrew can cover and pick passes on Nick? No. Absolutely not. Now, can Andrew throw better than Nick? Yes.

Nick:                         No.

Andrew:                 Yes.

Nick:                         No.

Andrew:                 Yes.

Nick:                         Absolutely not.

Andrew:                 Yes. Now…

Nick:                         Nick has the better arm, and Andrew is in no way, shape, or form covering Nick.

Andrew:                 No. Absolutely not.

Nick:                         Buy or sell, Andrew can cover and pick passes on Nick in one on one passing? Sell.

Andrew:                 Now, here’s the deal, and, Nicholas, you can back me here. Your boy over here is not bad.

Nick:                         No. Talking more about me.

Andrew:                 Yes. Nick’s got me. He’s got, I am still steadily coming down the scales.

Nick:                         You know that I am, I got you on the arm too.

Andrew:                 No. We’ll disagree there.

Nick:                         I have a stronger arm and a more accurate arm.

Andrew:                 Neither one of us can do anything at the SEC Championship. That’s a different story. Buy or sell, UF has a top 25 offense and a top 10 defense this season? We got to pick these up, so give me some quick answers.

Nick:                         Sell. Defense in the nation, I’m probably going to sell that too. Yes, sell. Outside the top 25, outside the top 10. Close on defense.

Andrew:                 Sell on the offense, simply because the offensive line. Buying the defense. Defensive line, linebackers, Tabor, Wilson, they do it. So sell on the offense.

Nick:                         Florida was 8th last year in total defense, and what were they in scoring defense? 11th in scoring.

Andrew:                 Offense helps that. I’m going to buy the defense. Let’s see here. Buy or sell, Florida makes the playoffs? Sell. Ain’t happening this year, guys.

Nick:                         Sell.

Andrew:                 2017 is the year. Buy or sell, Vern is better than Ramsey? Sell. Absolutely. Or buy. Buy. Sorry.

Nick:                         Buy.

Andrew:                 I was reading that wrong.

Nick:                         Buy.

Andrew:                 Buy, absolutely. Vern’s way better.

Nick:                         Buy or sell, Florida has a thousand yard receiver this season?

Andrew:                 I am buying that Antonio Callaway has a thousand yard receiver and will stick at 1,200.

Nick:                         I am selling.

Andrew:                 Of course you are. Course you are. Buy or sell, Muschamp’s offensive recruits will make a significant impact this year? I am buying that the two tight ends, C’yontai and Gooslby, have a really good year. So I will buy that. At receiver, there isn’t nobody. Come on.

Nick:                         No. The tight ends. Ahmad Fulwood’s a no. Other than the tight ends, yeah. I buy it because of the tight ends, yeah.

Andrew:                 Me too. Buy or sell, 75% of the offensive playmakers/starters are brought in by the current staff? Buy for sure.

Nick:                         Yeah, buy.

Andrew:                 Buy for sure. Buy or sell, this year’s defense is on comparable level to last year’s? I’m going to buy this, because I think that the linebacker play will be, maybe not better, but will be as good. So I’m going to buy that it’s on the same level, or a comparable level.

Nick:                         Comparable, not better.

Andrew:                 Comparable, not better. Okay. That’s it. That’s all the buy or sell. Nick, I do have one more buy or sell for you.

Nick:                         Hit me.

Andrew:                 Are you ready for this?

Nick:                         Probably not, but go ahead anyway.

Andrew:                 Lordy, do you buy or sell that there was actually a quarterback competition?

Nick:                         Sell.

Andrew:                 That’s what I thought you were going to say.

Nick:                         Sell.

Andrew:                 I thought you were going to say that. I just had to ask. Okay. We got about 10 minutes left. Got some Q&A that the members want. Nick, number of true freshmen to start a game this season? This is very tough to say, as Nick and I were kind of discussing this beforehand. We’re going to say who we think will start the first game, and then guys that have a chance to start later in the year, if injuries, that kind of stuff. Go ahead, Nick, you can fire away, and then I’ll go.

Nick:                         When you put it that way, guys that are going to start the first game, I think there’s only one, and I think the only reason he’s going to start is because Tabor is out. The only freshman I think that will start opening day is Chauncey Gardner.

Andrew:                 I agree with that.

Nick:                         Freshmen I think that could start are Tyrie Cleveland, Jawaan Taylor, Frankie Hammond.

Andrew:                 Which Jawaan Taylor?

Nick:                         I don’t think, well, the safety is the one I was referencing. I don’t think Jawaan the lineman starts a game, unless somebody gets hurt, but if you look at the history of offensive linemen, especially when you’re looking at someone like Martez Ivey, who’s gotten multiple shoulder surgeries, both Jawaans could end up starting. Then I say Frankie Hammond, excuse me. Josh Hammond. Josh Hammond and Freddie Swain, just because there’s still, outside of Callaway, Massey, and Powell, there’s question marks on that other side of the ball. Also, Fan Day note, CJ Worton was not in a walking boot at Fan Day.

Andrew:                 That’s good news. Here’s real quick what I’m going to say. I think that, Nick, I have a very bad echo on your end. Fix that, please. Thank you. I say that Chauncey starts, and I think Wanny, the offensive lineman, has a chance, and I think that Tyrie has a chance, and that’s it, and Josh Hammond. I don’t think Freddie Swain does. Nick, next question. Who gets the start at running back? I think we both already said we think Mark Thompson.

Nick:                         Thompson.

Andrew:                 Okay. That’s where I’m at as well. Here, Nick, here’s a good question. I liked this question when we were going through this. How many misses has Mac had in the past two recruiting classes? I haven’t heard anyone speak of a Mac signing and make the claim that they didn’t believe they were good enough to compete at this level. What are your thoughts?

Nick:                         What do we mean by miss?

Andrew:                 I mean, because Mac’s first class is what?

Nick:                         That’s also, so what do we mean by miss, and how do you say somebody is a miss when you’ve only had one full recruiting class? The class last year, a lot of the guys are redshirting, so you can’t judge a freshman class after their first year, in my opinion.

Andrew:                 Let me ask you this. Biggest disappointment so far? For me, it is Buchanan and Sandifer.

Nick:                         Not disappointing to me yet. First things first. For me is that I think most freshmen, most offensive linemen, should redshirt their freshman year. So that’s disappointing to me. If you want to get into they should be starting now, or pushing to start now.

Andrew:                 I think they should be definitely in the rotation.

Nick:                         Yeah, and that’s not something that I think either of us would be confident in saying yet.

Andrew:                 Alright. Next question, last year after we lost our starting quarterback defenses seemed to shut our offense down. What did they do to be so effective? Take away our running game, passing game, something else? Will that be an issue this year? I know our quarterback was weak, but just wondering how the defensed us so well.

Simply. You didn’t have to respect the passing game with Treon, so you loaded the box, and that’s what shut down the running game. Then when it was passing time, they were still loading the box, and just bringing the heat.

Nick:                         Simple.

Andrew:                 You had no quarterback.

Nick:                         You’re one dimensional.

Andrew:                 Yeah. You’re one dimensional, and defenses know that, so they load up the box. I think that’s it, Nick. That’s all the questions we got. We appreciate it. Just to kind of give you guys a look ahead, start having our high school recap with stats and stuff like that. We’ll still have our daily stuff with Nick and that, and the interns, that kind of stuff. So we’ll start to kind of get more. It’ll feel like game week content. If there’s one thing you guys want to see, game week content, stuff like that, shoot us a message, Twitter or on Gator Country, or email. Both of our emails are very easy. It’s Andrew or Nick@GatorCountry.com. Just put our first name and then GatorCountry. So shoot us that, and we’ll get that. We got some cool things planned. So let us know. Nick, tell the people where they can find us. We’ll get out of here and see everyone on Friday.

Nick:                         www.GatorCountry.com for all your latest, greatest Florida Gators news. @TheGatorCountry on Instagram. @GatorCountry everywhere else. That’s Twitter and Facebook. @NickdelaTorreGC, @AndrewSpiveyGC. Follow along. Thank you for sending in the questions. Check us out on iTunes. Leave a comment. Leave a rating. We would appreciate that. Thank you very much.

Andrew:                 Yeah. Come on and join us if you want to. Let us know. Real quick, Nick, I had somebody on Twitter ask me if my hate for the Mets is as bad as the hate for the Tennessee Volunteers.

Nick:                         No. It is not.

Andrew:                 It is very close. People don’t know how serious I take my Atlanta Braves.

Nick:                         Oh jeez.

Andrew:                 I take my Atlanta Braves very serious, and my hate for the Mets is very, very comparable to my disdain for the Tennessee Volunteers. Very close, and that’s the truth. So, as always, guys, we appreciate it. Hit us up if you want to join. As always, guys, go Braves and chomp, chomp.

Nick:                         You stay classy, Gator Country.

Andrew Spivey
Andrew always knew he wanted to be involved with sports in some capacity. He began by coaching high school football for six years before deciding to pursue a career in journalism. While coaching, he was a part of two state semifinal teams in the state of Alabama. Given his past coaching experience, he figured covering recruiting would be a perfect fit. He began his career as an intern for Rivals.com, covering University of Florida football recruiting. After interning with Rivals for six months, he joined the Gator Country family as a recruiting analyst. Andrew enjoys spending his free time on the golf course and watching his beloved Atlanta Braves. Follow him on Twitter at @AndrewSpiveyGC.