Far be it from me to tell Coach Urban Meyer how to run his team. Two National Titles in five years say he obviously knows what he’s doing. But if I were in his shoes, Carlos Dunlap would not be playing in the Sugar Bowl.

Dunlap was arrested days before the SEC Championship Game for DUI. That in itself is deplorable. Many young and innocent lives are snuffed out every day from people getting behind the wheel of a car after drinking too much. He could have killed himself or someone else that night. To me, that warrants a season ending suspension.

But on top of that, Dunlap committed this sin on the week of the biggest game of the year. Some would argue that it may have been the biggest game in school history. He let his coaches, teammates, fellow students, and the fans of Gators down. Would the Gators have won had he not been arrested? That’s something we will never know. We will never know what impact his absence had on the defense. But one thing we do know, the defense was able to hold LSU to 3 points. It was able to hold Tennessee to 6 points until the game was all but over. It was able to hold FSU to 6 points until all the suns were put in. Against Alabama , they got gashed. The difference? No Dunlap.

Now Dunlap is being allowed to play in the Sugar Bowl? Why? So he can showcase his talents one more time before he leaves early for the draft? Having him playing in the Sugar Bowl is like shutting the barn door after the horse has already gotten loose. And it seems the only one benefiting from it is Dunlap. Does anyone really care that much who wins this game. The UAA is practically begging people to buy tickets. There are no rings to won here. Sure it would be nice to win and finish in the top five, but in a way it just makes the whole situation even more maddening.

If UF’s defense with Dunlap is able to put the clamps on Cincinnati ’s high powered offense, then what will that prove? Maybe nothing. But it will sure raise suspicions that had Dunlap been in the ‘Bama game, things would’ve been different. That along with the notion that Meyer is recruiting a bunch of thugs and let’s them run wild is enough of a reason why he should sit. Meyer’s rep has taken enough hits lately with this and Leon Orr’s picture of himself holding a gun and cash. He really doesn’t need another one. Winning a fairly meaningless bowl game is not worth taking another shot to the chin.

By: James Folsom

Boy, you don’t know how much I wish the title could be, “Dunlap Cleared To Play In BCS National Championship”, but that’s the past, and this is the present. Florida still is in a top tier bowl game, and as we all know, this will be the farewell game for the most influential collegiate athlete of our decade, Tim Tebow, and some of the best players to ever wear the blue and orange. One of those players happens to be Defensive End Carlos Dunlap, who previously was arrested before the SEC Championship game, and therefore was suspended for that dreadful game. Thankfully, the talented Defensive End has been cleared to play for the Sugar Bowl on January 1st.

Dunlap has a chance to be a first round pick in next year’s NFL Draft, so this upcoming game is crucial for his draft stock. The troubles off the field will certainly not help his cause, but if he can comeback and put up a great performance in the Allstate Sugar Bowl, Dunlap has a chance to launch himself at the top of the draft board.

When the Gators take on the undefeated Cincinnati Bearcats (who will be without Brian Kelly following his decision to leave for Notre Dame), they will look to spoil their perfect season, just as Alabama managed to do for Florida.

Last weekend was one of the biggest recruiting weekends Florida has ever had when they had twelve 2010 recruits visit. You think that was big? Well there is even a bigger surprise this weekend and it only has to do with one official visitor and that just happens to be the Nations No. 1 rated prospect Seantrel Henderson from Saint Paul (MINN.)

The 6-foot-8 301 pound OT from Cretin-Derham Hall has Southern Cal, Ohio State, and Notre Dame at the top of his list but Florida is just behind those three as his favorite choices. He also has Miami in the mix with the four. Right now his top three choices are pretty solid, he isn’t the type of player who considers all different kinds of schools and changes his mind. UF is really going to have to impress this kid over the weekend if they want to try and slide into his top three choices. I might know something Henderson may consider already before the visit, and that is the weather. Hopefully he wants to stay warm and possibly add that into consideration when it is about time to decide where he wants to go. Here is a little bit of information on him.

Seantrel Henderson (5 Stars)
- 6’8 301 pounds.
- Saint Paul (Minn.) Cretin-Derham Hall
- Offensive tackle ranking: No. 1
- Rivals100 ranking: No. 1

- Other interests and visiting dates: Ohio State (9/11), Notre Dame (10/16), USC (12/4), IOWA, MIA & OKL.

If you are a fan of the Florida Gators, you’ve heard it from rival fans. “ It’s all over after Tebow leaves.” Or “you guys are losing an awful lot of players this year. You’re going to lose at least dour games next year.” I hear that and I just sit there and smile. I smile because I know what they don’t know. The truth.

If you look at rivals.com during recruiting season like many of us do, you know next year is not nearly as bleak as some people think. This year’s (2010) recruiting class is ranked #3 in the Nation (so far). Rivals rates players on a numerical basis. A 5* player is at the top. Then it goes to 4*, 3* etc. The average Florida commit for this year is 3.79. To give you some perspective, there are only 22 players in the entire nation rated at 5*. So almost everybody is at 4* or lower and Florida is averaging a four star for every player. 7 of rivals top 100 players are committed to UF already. There are still 30 payers who are undecided. So Florida has 10% of the top 100 players that have committed. So playing the odds UF should expect to get 3 more.

Last year’s class (this past season’s freshmen) averaged 3.94. It was the highest average in the nation. Almost none of these guys have seen the field yet. A few got in during the fourth quarter of the blowouts.

The 2008 class was ranked in the top 3 also. They averaged 3.82 for that year. Most of those players have still not seen the field much. The only ones who have are Jeff Demps, Janoris Jenkins, and Will Hill are about the only ones who have seen significant playing time.

These will be your 2010 Gators. They will be young. They will be inexperienced. But they will be talented. So when you hear the usual drivel coming out of Athens , Knoxville , and Tallahassee , just smile.

By: James Folsom

It’s been about ten days now. Time to let what happened fully sink in. It is as bad as we thought. I have been a Gator fan for a long time. I was here for Herschel Walker. I was around for 0-10-1. Suffering huge losses in big games is nothing new to me. The Gators pre-Spurrier made games like Saturday an art form.

But this is the most down after a loss as I’ve seen the Gator Nation. Maybe it’s because a lot of us have never experienced this big of a loss before. Or maybe it’s because it’s been a while since the Gators haven’t come through in a big game. But for me, it’s because of all we lost on Saturday. We lost a chance to go back to back in football. We lost a chance to go back to back in both football and basketball (both in the same decade). We lost the perfect season. At Florida , this is the Great White Whale. It is the only thing FSU, Alabama , Georgia , Miami , and Tennessee still have on us. We also lost the win streak. It was a streak that was within reach of an SEC record. Tim Tebow lost a second Heisman Trophy. When he won his first in his sophomore year, t-shirts were made that said “no longer a question of when, but how many”. The answer to that is now known. There would be no more. And we lost the SEC.

So with all that could have been and to not end up with so much as an SEC Title, I rank this loss as the biggest. Here is my list of the most crushing defeats that I can remember.

1. Alabama in the 2009 SEC Championship game.
2. Florida State in Tallahassee in 1996. It turned out ok in the end but at the time it was a crusher. It looked for all the world we had lost the chance at a national championship.
3. Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl in the 1995 season. All was lost on this night too, except for the SEC.
4. 1980 Georgia game. “Run Lindsay Run” resulted in a perfect season for UGA. It also cost us our first SEC title. This would’ve been especially sweet for a team that didn’t win a game the year prior. And we had them on the ropes.
5. 1994 FSU. Technically not a loss. But it was a crusher. Spurrier had finally beaten the ‘Noles in Tallahassee . Or so we thought. He never would do it. Who knows how ’96 turns out if we won in ’94.
6. 2001 Tennessee . This one is particularly galling. It cost us the SEC East. It also cost us a shot to win the SECCG and play Miami for the BCS. It was rescheduled because of 9/11. We had to play the game the week following FSU. If you recall, Earnest Graham was intentionally hurt by Darnell Dockett and was unable to go against UT. We lost by two points. Going for a two point conversion and a tie at the end of the game, our intended receiver was obviously interfered with. No flag.
7. 1998 Tennessee . We hold them to a FG in OT. Then we don’t score the winning TD. Then we miss the game tying FG. UT goes undefeated. We go to the Orange Bowl.
8. 1994 Auburn . We lose at the Swamp while ranked #1. Auburn scores a TD in the last seconds. We go on to win the SEC, but no shot a the National Title following the Choke at Doak.
9. 1985 Georgia . Our very first #1 ranking. We go to the Gator Bowl and lay an egg. Any loss against Georgia is a killer. This one stung.
10. 2003 FSU. We lost a shot at representing the SEC East in the championship game. This game was stolen. It’s the only game I’ve ever been to that I had serious questions whether it was on the up and up. And exactly how does the SEC let a non conference game decide a conference race?
11. 2003 Miami . Up 33-10 in the 3rd. This game was over. And then Zook works his magic and next thing you know Brock Berlin is doing the Gator Chomp at our fans
12. 2004 Mississippi State . The straw the broke Zook’s back. It turned out great in the end. But at the time it was a killer.
13. 2008 Ole Miss. We should have crushed them. Or so we all thought. Nobody knew that Ole Miss was actually good. Another one that turned out good in the end. But at the time it was bad.
14. 1992 SEC Title Game vs. Alabama . A Shane Matthews pick 6 gives ‘Bama the win. They go on to win the National Title. It was the first ever SECCG. It would’ve been nice to win the first one.
15. 1985 Rutgers . Another game that was not technically a loss. However, like the ’94 FSU game it sure felt like one. Florida pulls the starters with a huge end of the 3rd quarter lead. Rutgers rallies to tie. This could have been worse had we not been on probation. It may have cost us a National Title.
16. 2004 Tennessee . The Dallas Baker penalty game. Some questionable officiating cost us this one. That and Zook’s brilliance.
17. Speaking of Zook’s brilliance, the Outback Bowl vs. Michigan following the 2002 season. The Gators are driving fo a tying score late, Grossman is lighting them up, and we run a double reverse pass where Vernell Brown, a DB, throes a pick.
18. 1991 Sugar Bowl. We had just won our first SEC. Going to the Sugar Bowl was like going to the Super Bowl. We then go out and lose to Notre Dame. We still haven’t had a shot to get even
19. 2006 Auburn . We lost a chance at a perfect season that night. Particularly maddening was they still haven’t scored on our defense.
20. 2005 LSU. We lose despite getting five takeaways. How do you do that?

By: James Folsom

The Florida Gators will be taking on the undefeated Cincinnati Bearcats on New Year’s Night at the Sugar Bowl. There was a time when that sentence would have sent chills up and down the spines of the Gator Nation. But this is 2010, not 1990. Big time bowl games are now old hat for the Orange and Blue. The Gators in the last two decades have played in 10 of the BCS Bowls already. They have played in four Sugar Bowls. With the new BCS system where there is a Championship Game after the big bowls, the goal is no longer to make the Sugar Bowl. It has been reduced to a consolation prize. In the last two years, it has been little consolation.

Last year when Florida met Alabama in the SEC Championship Game, the winner went on to the BCS Title Game and the loser to the Sugar Bowl. Florida won. So ‘Bama trudged off to New Orleans to face an unbeaten Utah. Utah was pumped to be in the Sugar Bowl. It was a big deal for them. For ‘Bama it was a let down. The results bore this out. Utah jumped on Alabama early and often. By the time the Tide woke up they were down 24-3. They could not recover. It’s hard to blame them. They had their sites set on playing for the National Title. How were they supposed to react?

This year the shoe is on the other foot. Again Florida and Alabama have met for a chance to play for title. Again, the loser has had to settle for the Sugar Bowl. Only this time the Gators are the ones headed for the Big Uneasy. They too will meet an undefeated foe. An opponent who is excited to be in the game, Cincinnati will be on their game. They are an offensive juggernaut. But they have a weak defense. Under different circumstances, I feel the Gators would beat them. But it will be tough for them on this game. How do they get back off the mat? They had their hearts ripped out against ‘Bama. So much was riding on that game, the SEC Title, the BCS opportunity, the chance for the first unbeaten season in UF history, a chance for back to back titles, and possibly a second Heisman for Tebow. All of it gone.

If the Gators can rally to win this game it will be impressive. That’s a lot to overcome. It would be a shame if this group of seniors went out on a two game losing streak. They are after all the winningest class in SEC history. Hopefully they can pull it together one more time. Win or lose, I would like to thank them. They have been fun to watch and a great representative for the Gator Nation.

By: Jim Folsom