When Rick Pitino's Kentucky Wildcats dominated the Southeastern Conference in hoops from 1992-97, he said a coach's job was to magnify his team's strengths and camouflage its weaknesses.
The Cats did not appear to have a weakness as they cruised through the SEC Tournament five times in that six-year span and romped to the NCAA title the one year they lost, but they actually were painfully thin in the post for most of that period. The thing is, opponents rarely got to expose that flaw because Kentucky's pressure defense and relentless pace prevented them from getting into their half-court offense, turning competitive matchups into blowouts.
Pitino lived up to his motto, making Kentucky even better than its personnel dictated.
Florida's Urban Meyer is becoming football's version of Pitino. He took a flawed team to the national championship game last season and destroyed Ohio State 41-14. He took a flawed team into The Swamp last Saturday and destroyed Tennessee 59-20.
That's 100-34 in his last two significant games for anyone counting at home. So much for the conservative Meyer who was content to get two first downs, punt and play good defense, a formula that helped Florida reach the BCS championship contest a year ago.
Suddenly, like Pitino's Wildcats, the Gators are so dazzling, opponents can't even find their weaknesses.
Last year, Florida was the second-most penalized team in the nation, causing the offense to sputter for long stretches. In sequence (discounting the glorified scrimmage against overmatched Western Carolina), the Gators scored zero points in the second half at Auburn, zero points in the last 25 minutes against Georgia, three points in the last 23 minutes at Vanderbilt, seven points in the first three quarters against South Carolina and zero points in the final 25 minutes at FSU.
No wonder they were a touchdown underdog to Ohio State, but their defense never gave the Buckeyes room to breathe in the desert. The Gators scored three touchdowns and a field goal after starting drives inside the 40-yard line. Heisman Trophy quarterback Troy Smith produced six net yards, completing four passes and getting sacked five times.
This year, the camouflage involves the defense. The Gators hid a horrible pass rush against Tennessee by scoring so often, the Vols felt pressure anyway. Florida did not sack Erik Ainge and seldom touched him, but he made some jittery throws because he knew he had to be perfect to give Tennessee a chance.
Defensive tackle remains a huge concern for Florida. The secondary will be shockingly young at cornerback and free safety if Major Wright supplants Kyle Jackson as anticipated. But those potential weaknesses don't register when the Gators hit opponents with doses of Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin and Brandon James and Cornelius Ingram.
Tennessee faced an impossible dilemma – bringing an extra defender in the box to slow down Tebow's running left UF's speedy wideouts in single coverage, while keeping the safety back freed Tebow to pick up easy first downs.
Nothing worked for the Vols. After playing conservatively on their first two possessions, the Gators scored touchdowns on six of their last nine excluding a one-play series at the end of the first half. The Vols had no answer for Harvin, who ran around them when he took handoffs, right by them on a streak pattern and even outfought a defensive back for another deep ball when he was covered tightly.
They had no answer for any of UF's wide receivers, who averaged 25.5 yards on 11 catches.
They had no answer for Tebow, who rushed for four first downs and two touchdowns while throwing for two more scores.
They had no answer for James, who burned them for a long touchdown on a punt return for the second consecutive year and did not have it erased by a penalty this time.
It was a dizzying display, sort of a Run 'n' Gun parallel to Steve Spurrier's Fun 'n' Gun juggernauts of 1995 and 1996. Those teams had no comparable weaknesses, though – nothing they needed to hide. When Spurrier's teams had shortcomings (short-yardage offense, third-down defense) they almost always were exposed at some point in the season.
Don't count on that happening with Meyer. Having no pass rush will be no problem if the Gators continue to apply pressure every other way.
Blessing in Disguise
Have you noticed how Florida's offensive line misses injured left tackle Phil Trautwein? Me neither.
The stress fracture in his foot was an awful break (pun intended), for Trautwein, a true senior coming off a solid junior season, but it could be good for the Gators next year. If he decides to take a medical redshirt, he would shore up one of Florida's few potential concerns in 2008.
Center Drew Miller and right tackle Carlton Medder will be gone. Trautwein would anchor another outstanding line along with Jason Watkins, Jim Tartt, Maurice Hurt and one or both of the Pouncey twins.
Without Trautwein, the Gators would have to develop an unproven tackle for an offense that will be lethal at the skill positions. Unless Ingram applies for the NFL draft, every player who touched the ball against Tennessee will be back next season. USC running back transfer Emmanuel Moody will be eligible, too.
It is hard to imagine this offense being better than it was against Tennessee, but on paper, it will be.