Florida coach Urban Meyer said he was starting to like this year's team after last Saturday's 30-6 win at Tennessee.
He gets another look at his developing team at 12:30 p.m., today when the Gators (3-0 overall, 1-0 in the SEC) host Ole Miss (2-2, 0-1).
Florida's defense showed its maturity in the first half by stopping Tennessee twice when the Vols reached the 1-yard line, once on a fumble recovery and the other with an interception.
"We always talk about how we need to make a goal line stand and then to go down and make those two plays on the goal line, it was big,"
UF defensive coordinator Charlie Strong said.
The same clutch attitude has been shown by Florida's special teams. Especially when Brandon James has the ball in his hands. James returned his second punt of the season for a touchdown at Tennessee. He needs just eight more yards to become the school's all-time leader in punt return yardage.
On defense, cornerback Janoris Jenkins is emerging as a playmaker after causing a fumble and getting an interception at Tennessee. He's another weapon for a defense that is starting to earn some respect.
"He's a playmaker,"
Meyer said of Jenkins. "He does that in practice all the time. He's going to have a great career at Florida."
In an interesting sidebar to the game, Rebels quarterback Jevan Snead was actually recruited by UF, and committed before Tim Tebow. The story varies there. There have been reports that Snead was promised he would be the only quarterback recruit and that, later, he was told Tebow was a linebacker recruit -- not a future quarterback.
"I don't really look at it like that,"
he said of possibly wanting to prove a point to Meyer and the Gators. "Every game I go out and play, I give 100 percent. I look forward to one game as much as any other game."
