Anything can happen on any Saturday as we have seen many times, but, I think the Gators best hope is that Bama suffers heatstroke. That's always a possibility in Gainesville in Aug/Sept, esp since the visitors are on the east sideline (facing west) while the Gators will be in the shade (at least in the second half). Mullen ought to increase those odds by laying down Doug's rug on top of the natural turf for this game. That would add another 25-30 deg down on the field. (I played on it as a freshman and it was hotter than anything I've ever played on.) If I was betting I would give the points, no matter how many. Bama will be fired up after the closeness of the SEC championship last year; they will show no mercy and the Gators are young at key positions.

The word on why Mullen stayed so long with Franks is that the players loved him. Not a good enough reason for me, but, I don't make a billion $$/year. Franks only pass was 45+. Anything under that was wasted, but he sure could hit that one. I fail to understand why Mullen, being a QB genius, can't teach his QBs to hit a receiver on the run. They have to stop and catch every single pass. SOS would never have a QB who couldn't do that. He expected his receivers to be on a dead run when the ball got there and then turn it on. (He would have had Trask starting as a sophomore. Accuracy and smarts were what he looked for, not a guy who could throw it 65 yards on one knee.) Drives me crazy.