The Florida football program has fallen off the map in terms of national supremacy. The Gators were once one of the best college football programs in the country. Every season, they were in contention for a National Championship. A lot of that was likely due to head coaches Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer. The Florida Gators won the college football National Championship in 1996 with Danny Wuerffel as quarterback, of all players. I'm not hating on Wuerffel, but come on. He basically was shop putting the football out there. Under Urban Meyer, the Florida football program hit new heights. They reached and won the 2006 and 2008 National Championships.
But over the last decade or so, the Florida football program has fallen on hard times. They consistently are not in the conversation for a championship and they have been surpassed by Georgia in the SEC East as the preeminent power. The Bulldogs won the title last year and there was little hope for Florida in the immediate future. But on Saturday, that all changed.
The Florida Gators beat the #7 ranked Utah Utes on Saturday, 29-26. It's a huge upset and a massive victory for Florida football fans everywhere. So, we thought we would give you the two biggest takeaways from their win over Utah.
2. The Florida football program might have found a quarterback, finally
One of the biggest reasons the Florida football program has fallen off has been because of the quarterback position. Since Tim Tebow was under center in 2009, the Florida Gators hav used John Brantly, Jacoby Brissett, Jeff Driskel, Tyler Murphy, Tyler Murphy, Skylar Mornhinweg, Treon Harris, Will Grier, Luke Del Rio, Austin Appleby, Felipe Freniks, Malik Zaire, Kyle Trask, Emory Jones and Anthony Richardson.
That is a lot of quarterbacks in a relatively short amount of time. The sport of football has increasingly become a quarterback's game. That has left the Florida football program searching for someone that can take them back to the promise land.
On Saturday, Gators quarterback Anthony Richardson had a fantastic game. He completed 17 of 24 passes for 168 yards but it what he did with his legs that truly stood out. Richardson rushed for 106 yards and three touchdowns on just 11 carries. Knowing the way the game is going, it's possible Richardson might be the best all-around quarterback Florida has found in a very long time.
1. The SEC East could be attainable
For many years, the SEC East had some of the best teams in the nation. The Florida Gators, along with the Georgia Bulldogs and the Tennessee Volunteers ran the conference. That obviously all changed when Nick Saban arrived in Alabama. All of a sudden, the power of the conference shifted to the SEC West. Alabama, LSU and Auburn were suddenly running the show.
But that has opened things up for the Florida football program. Their schedule this year is not incredible difficult. Yes, if they want to win the SEC East they will probably need to beat Georgia in Athens this year. They also have Texas A&M on their schedule. But outside of those two games, the Florida Gators will likely be favored in the rest of their games.
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