Florida football: This time next year, Gators will be playing for a title in Atlanta

Florida football is surging and Dan Mullen has the Gators in position to spend the first Saturday of December in Atlanta as long as he’s in charge.

The Gators are one game away from being in the playoff hunt this season.

I’m about to dig into some painful memories, but only to make this point: Florida is close to once-again being an annual contender in the SEC.

I’m not talking about a team that gets to Atlanta to serve as Alabama’s playoff-appetizer a la 2015-2016. I’m talking about a full-blown, SEC title contender that has not existed in Gainesville since the Urban Meyer era.

The SEC East Overview

Let’s review the East:

• Vandy doesn’t do Atlanta.
• Kentucky and South Carolina are scrappy and can give the Gators fits, but neither team will be a threat in the East.
• Mizzou will be replacing head coach Barry Odom … and Jim McElwain has been rumored as a leading candidate and both of the SEC Columbias could be home to zombie Gators’ head coaches looking for some annual revenge.
• Tennessee’s nice finish to 2019 may garner some hype going into 2020, but I’m going to need to see proof of concept over the course of a full season. What’s the highlight win of the Pruitt era? A 2018 win on The Plains against an Auburn team that finished 8-5 last season? The Vols should be patient and allow Pruitt to build, but they’re at least 2-3 years of livin’ right away from being a serious threat again.

That leaves the mutts.

Two years ago, it looked like Kirby Smart was building the next Death Star in Athens. The comparisons to Alabama ran rampant and Florida was staring down the barrel at another decade of mediocrity.

Enter Mullen and everything shifted.

The Existing Gap

Florida is not yet where it needs to be as a program, but the progress over two years has been evident.

Time for those painful memories referenced at the start.

It would’ve been nice to steal one from Georgia this season, but the Bulldogs were still perceived by many to be the stronger team coming into the season.

More from Hail Florida Hail

• Florida football: Billy Napier disappointed in how Gators’ handling success
• Florida football: Gators’ defense ranks No. 2 in the country in vital stat
• Florida Football: Former target Cormani McClain struggling at Colorado
• Florida Football: The curious case of Kamari Wilson
• Florida Football: Gators know consistency is the next big step

With two epic postseason collapses to the Tide under their belts and QB Jake Fromm returning for a third season as the starter, Georgia entered 2019 facing monumental pressure to win the East, get over the hump in Atlanta, and compete for a national title.

To Georgia’s credit, they’re still in a position to realize all of these goals. This Bulldogs team will not be intimidated by an explosive LSU team. The same UGA defense that suffocated a Florida offense, which ran up-and-down the field on an October Saturday night in Baton Rouge, should present a stiff test for the Tigers’ eventual Heisman-winner, QB Joe Burrow.

Mullen cited the depth between each program as the primary difference between the Gators and Bulldogs heading in 2019.

His point was on full display in Jacksonville when Florida looked sluggish on defense with BUCK Jonathan Greenard and DL Jabari Zuniga hampered by injuries. Both played, but both lacked the explosiveness that had been on display in the early parts of the season and the Gators’ defense suffered.

Georgia used its depth up-front along the defensive line to expose the Florida offensive line in this year’s game.

The Florida football offensive line has struggled against top-tier competition this season, but they’ve seemingly been able to outlast opponents and piece together a few big plays per game, especially in the fourth quarter. By the fourth quarter of the Georgia game, Mullen abandoned the run and relied on Trask to take what the defense gave him.

While ultimately effective, this approach burned nearly seven minutes off the clock in the fourth quarter in the Gators’ final touchdown drive.

Florida football was one off-balanced,eyes-closed Fromm throw away from getting the ball back with 2:30 left in the fourth quarter. However, 2019 was not meant to be…

Painful memories concluded.

The Coaching Edge

The crew on the Shutdown Fullcast put it best (I’m paraphrasing) in a recent episode when they described their frustrations with 2019 Georgia, “Kirby Smart has a Ferrari, but he drives it like a minivan.”

Smart can recruit like a genius, but he coaches scared. Mullen and his visor don’t possess Smart’s recruiting chops, but they coach without fear. If Mullen and his visor had the talent Smart has at UGA, you can bet the Gators would be averaging close to 60.

Georgia can continue to rake in top-rated recruiting class after top-rated recruiting class, but when Mullen gets all of his pieces in place, I’ll put my money on Mullen to make adjustments on the fly and put the Gators in a position to win.

Despite the talent-gap that has existed in their first two meetings, Mullen held a lead in the third quarter last season and twice had the Gators within one-score in the second half this season.

Realistically, Florida football is still another season or two away from catching up with Georgia’s roster depth, but the Gators have certainly gained ground over Mullen’s first two years.

Advantage: Mullen.

The 2020 Schedule

Ask Jimbo Fisher and Texas A&M if schedules matter.

Road trips to No. 3 Clemson, No. 4 Georgia, and No. 2 LSU along with home dates with both No. 11 Auburn and No. 12 Alabama made for a long 2019 in College Station.

Key crossover games, facing rivals on the road, and several other scheduling factors can have a great impact on how a season plays out.

Florida football and Georgia both face a difficult SEC schedule next season, but the Gators definitely possess an edge.

Florida only plays one SEC heavyweight outside of UGA: LSU at home. The SEC road schedule is far from daunting: at Tennessee, at Ole Mills, and at Vanderbilt.

Georgia plays two SEC heavyweights outside of UF: Auburn at home and Alabama on the road. The Bulldogs’ SEC road schedule is also tougher than what the Gators expect to face: at Alabama, at Missouri, at South Carolina, at Kentucky.

Year three of the Mullen era will feature experience from the quarterback position, expected improvement along the offensive line, and an advantageous conference schedule. All of these factors should add up to the Gators being back to Atlanta to compete for the SEC title in 2020.

Book it.