Meyer says Practice one for the records - Bloody Tuesday

[IHateUGAlyDawgs]

It’s called Bloody Tuesday for a reason. For theFlorida Gators that means tighten up the chin strap and get after it.It’s two-and-half very intense hours of practice and it goes a long waytoward determining who’s going to play and how far the Gators are intheir preparation for Saturday’s game.

UrbanMeyer’s remarks about practice Tuesday afternoon were short and verymuch to the point but they spoke volumes about where the Gators are inpreparation for Saturday’s showdown with Miami (8 p.m., Ben HillGriffin Stadium, ESPN).
“It was Bloody Tuesday,” said Meyer. “That one goes in the record books.”
Meyer didn’t expand on the remarks. He didn’t have to. He hadAll-American wide receiver/running back Percy Harvin going full contactfor the first time this season and apparently Harvin passed all thetests. It’s highly likely that Harvin, who sat out game one againstHawaii, will be playing Saturday.
Harvin had rather unique heel surgery back in the spring as doctorstried a procedure that will tighten the Achilles heel and eliminate thechronic tendonitis in the heel and in the hip. He’s been brought alongslowly in rehabilitation and even though he probably could have playedlast week against Hawaii, Harvin was held out. Meyer says it’s not theheel that is the concern but other parts of Harvin’s body.
“I’m not worried about the heel,” Meyer said. “I’ve told him thatfor two months. I’m worried about something else that happens toathletes when they favor something. They took a big chunk of bone outof his heel. I’m just worried about the other parts.
“That’s a credit to our doctors, our strength staff, our trainingstaff that even when he couldn’t run they had him doing the hip flexorexercises and everything in that pool that they have in the trainingroom.”
Meyer also had All-SEC middle linebacker Brandon Spikes back atpractice, looking like he will be playing Saturday. About the onlystarter that wasn’t full go was left guard Jim Tartt and Meyer saidthat’s simply a precaution.
“We’re just being cautious with him,” said Meyer. Tartt missed game onewith a sore shoulder, the lingering effect of surgery back in thespring.
Tight end Aaron Hernandez, who missed game one for undisclosed reasons,practiced Tuesday and Meyer said he’s “full go” for Saturday’s game.
NO SURPRISES FROM MIAMI: After watching film of Miami’s openinggame route of Division I-AA Charleston Southern, Meyer pretty muchknows what’s coming. The Hurricanes don’t disguise what they’re tryingto do. They want to control the football with the running game and whenthey force teams to bring their safeties into the box to help out, theywant to go over the top.
“You watch their offense and it’s real clear what they’re going totry to do to us,” said Meyer. “They’re going to try to knock guys offthe ball. They have two really good running backs and their offensiveline is 335, 340 and 328. I was looking at them to day and they’re justgigantic.
“They’re going to play action and launch it down the field. It’s nosecret. That’s just a fact. I made this comment that they’re astalented a team as there is in college football.”
STURGIS WILL KICK OFF: Caleb Sturgis had some problems withkickoffs in last week’s win over Hawaii but Meyer says the freshmanfrom St. Augustine will be back out there on kickoff for the GatorsSaturday.
“He’s going to start,” said Meyer. “We’ve been working on that. I hope he does a lot better.”
Against Hawaii, Meyer used three kickers --- Sturgis, JonathanPhillips and Greg Taussig. Phillips, who also kicked extra points, wasused for sky kicks while Taussig and Sturgis both tried unsuccessfullyto hammer the ball into the end zone.
IMPROVED DEFENSIVE LINE: After a 2007 when the defensive linehad plenty of problems, Meyer saw plenty of improvement from that unitin game one. The Gators got three and a half sacks from startingdefensive linemen --- two from nose tackle Lawrence Marsh and a sackand a half from end Jermaine Cunningham.
“The D-line is much improved from what it was a year ago,” said Meyer. “We’ve still got a long way to go.”
Meyer also commented that he liked what he saw from the offensive linethat was going against what he has been calling a very good front sevenfrom Hawaii.
“The Hawaii coach [Greg McMackin] … that’s the best front seven thathe’s had at Hawaii and they’ve had some very good front sevens,” saidMeyer.
WHEN NUMBERS ONE, TWO AND THREE ARE IN THE GAME: With Harvinback, there is plenty of anticipation of what happens when the Gatorsgo one, two, three --- that’s number one Percy Harvin, number two JeffDemps and number three Chris Rainey. All three have run sub-4.3 in the40-yard dash and when it comes to 100 meters, Demps holds the worldrecord for his age group at 10.01.
“Fast, fast and faster,” cracked Meyer when asked about the possibilityof the one, two, three lineup. “Slow, slow and slower … that’s aproblem.”
With those three in the game, there’s no danger of the Gators goingslow, slow and slower. This might be a case of blink and you’ll misssomething important because all three are capable of scoring on anyplay from anywhere on the field.