2007 Florida Gators

The 2007 Florida Gators team will represent the University of Florida in the 2007 college football season. This is the team's third season under head coach Urban Meyer. They will play their home games at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida where they are currently undefeated under Meyer's tenure.

Previous season
The Gators won the BCS Championship Game in Glendale, Arizona to cap off the 2006 season, the second national championship in school history. In addition, they won a school-record 13 games and the school's seventh official SEC title.

Pre-season
Two highly-rated recruiting classes from 2006 and 2007 are expected to fill up most of the depth chart, as few upperclassmen remain from last year's title team. Nine of 11 starters have to be replaced from their championship defense. While the offense lost fewer starters—only 6—from last season, the Gators will have to replace their former leader, Chris Leak, at quarterback. Leak will most likely be replaced by sophomore Tim Tebow, who shared quarterback duties with him last season but has zero career starts.

The coaching staff remained, surprisingly, intact after 2006, which gives Meyer a third straight season at Florida with the same coaching staff.

The schedule for the Gators plays in their favor this season, as they face their toughest opponents—such as Tennessee, Auburn, and Florida State—at home in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

Despite the challenges of youth, the Gators are ranked in the top 5 in some preseason polls.

Pre-season All-SEC honors

 * 2007 All-SEC First Team
 * Derrick Harvey, DL
 * Drew Miller, OL
 * Drew Miller, OL


 * 2007 All-SEC Second Team
 * Phil Trautwein, OL
 * Tony Joiner, DB
 * Tony Joiner, DB


 * 2007 All-SEC Third Team
 * Andre Caldwell, WR
 * Percy Harvin, WR
 * Percy Harvin, WR

Pre-season watchlists

 * Tim Tebow (QB) - 2007 Maxwell Award Watch List
 * Andre Caldwell (WR) - 2007 Maxwell Award Watch List
 * Percy Harvin (WR) - 2007 Maxwell Award Watch List
 * Derrick Harvey (DE) - 2007 Bednarik Award Watch List

Schedule
September 1, 2007* 12:30 PM Western Kentucky #3 Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL LFS W 49-3 September 8, 2007* 6:00 PM Troy Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL PPV September 15, 2007 3:30 PM Tennessee Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL CBS September 22, 2007 6:00 PM @ Ole Miss Vaught-Hemingway Stadium • Oxford, MS September 29, 2007 5:00 PM Auburn Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL CBS October 6, 2007 8:00 PM @ LSU Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA CBS October 20, 2007 7:00 PM @ Kentucky Commonwealth Stadium • Lexington, KY October 27, 2007 3:30 PM Georgia Jacksonville Municipal Stadium • Jacksonville, FL CBS November 3, 2007† Vanderbilt Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL November 10, 2007 @ South Carolina Williams-Brice Stadium • Columbia, SC November 17, 2007* Florida Atlantic Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL November 24, 2007* Florida State Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL CBS
 * Non-Conference Game. †Homecoming. #

Western Kentucky
Western Kentucky fills the void left by Central Florida, who backed out of being the Gators' opener in December 2006. This will be the first game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium since before the Gators won their 2006 SEC and national championships. This is the first meeting between the two teams.

Troy
The Gators' second game of the season will also be the first meeting with its opponent. This is the second of three such games in the 2007 season.

Tennessee
The Tennessee Volunteers travel to Gainesville in the annual meeting of the two bitter rivals. The Gators won last year's contest, 21-20, en route to their SEC & national championships. Tennessee leads the series 17-19-0.

Ole Miss
The Gators will face the Ole Miss Rebels for the 22nd time with Mississippi leading the series 11-9-1. This is the first meeting between the two since the last home-and-home series ended in 2003.

Auburn
The Gators will look for revenge for last year's loss as the Auburn Tigers travel to The Swamp. This will be the 82nd meeting for the two teams and the Tigers lead 41-38-2.

LSU
In one of the most anticipated games of the season, the Florida Gators will travel to Tiger Stadium to face the LSU Tigers. Florida leads the series 28-22-3.

Kentucky
This game marks Florida's 57th meeting with the Wildcats. Florida leads the series 39-17-0.

Georgia
The 2007 World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party figures to be another deciding factor in the SEC Eastern Division race and a view of the next couple of years in this series; both teams will likely start sophomore quarterbacks in this game. This will be the 85th meeting between the two teams with the Bulldogs leading the series 45-37-2.

Vanderbilt
The Commodores will travel to Gainesville for the first time since 2005 where they nearly came away with a win in overtime. This will be the 41st meeting between the two and Florida leads with a lopsided 29-9-2 record.

South Carolina
After needing a field-goal block late in the 4th quarter last year to secure a win, the Gators will travel to Columbia, South Carolina to face Steve Spurrier and the Gamecocks. The Gators have yet to win at South Carolina since head coach Spurrier returned to college football. Although the series record against South Carolina shows differently (Florida leading 20-4-3), the series has turned into a budding rivalry.

Florida Atlantic
The FAU Owls will travel to Gainesville for the first meeting between the two teams. This marks the third game of the season where the Gators have faced an opponent for the first time.

Florida State
Senior day for the Gators sees them close their regular season schedule against their in-state rivals, the Seminoles. On a rare 3-game win streak against the Noles during the Bobby Bowden era, the Gators will look to continue their home dominance under head coach Urban Meyer. The Gators won last season's game in Tallahassee, 21-14, and lead the series 30-19-2.

Depth Chart
Pre-season Unofficial Depth Chart: http://www.gatorcountry.com/page/gator_football_depth_chart/

Coaching Staff

 * Urban Meyer - Head Coach - 2 years at UF
 * Steve Addazio - Tackles/Tight Ends - 2 years
 * Stan Drayton - Running Backs - 2 years
 * Billy Gonzales - Wide Receivers - 2 years
 * Chuck Heater - Recruiting Coordinator/Cornerbacks - 2 years
 * John Hevesy - Centers/Guards - 2 years
 * John "Doc" Holliday - Associate Head Coach/Safeties - 2 years
 * Greg Mattison - Co-Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line - 2 years
 * Dan Mullen - Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks - 2 years
 * Charlie Strong - Assistant Head Coach/Co-Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers - 7 years