Three And Out: FSU-Florida

This week's "Three And Out" is contributed by David Jones. David has covered Florida since 1994 for Florida Today including the Choke at Doak. According to David, he was" walking down the stadium steps to the field while the 'Noles scored 14 points. Still trying to figure those drives out." He is a graduate of Marshall and attended on a baseball scholarship. David says that "as that goes, I was a better writer and I'm average at best than I was at hitting curveballs. Everybody makes recruiting mistakes." I like a guy with a sense of humor. Again, thanks to David for his answers to the questions. David also wanted to include a link to his paper's site for fan forums regarding the College Football Scene. I am sure there will be a lot of rivalry smack going on this week among Nole and Gator fans in the forum.

1. I have to admit that I have not watched a lot of Gator games but what I have seen, their offense looks almost unstoppable. How do you think the Nole defense matches up with the Gator offense?

Turnovers. That's what I would watch for. They've killed Florida at big times in big losses. LSU got an interception that hit Cornelius Ingram in the helmet when he ran the wrong route and Kestahn Moore fumbled the ball away in the clutch. Those mistakes gave LSU the ball at midfield and the UF 27. Led to two of LSU's touchdowns in the comeback win. Georgia, same thing. UF fumbled the ball the first and last time it had the ball. Seems to be a Florida trend this year. When the Gators don't take care of the ball, with a defense that is shaky at best, they lose.

2. The Gator pass defense is ranked last in the SEC. Is the secondary as vulnerable as that stat would seem to show?

Vulnerable may be the wrong word for the secondary. Try bad. This is just not a very good pass defense. Chuck Heater is one of the nation's best secondary coaches and he's time tested. He can take a bad secondary and turn it into a good one. But not in just a few months with a group that includes a converted high school quarterback, a second-year player with a bad knee a true freshman just figuring out the speed of this level with a broken thumb. But those are excuses. Excuses keep you out of BCS games. It's just bad.

3. Where are the critical matchups for the game on Saturday?

The key to the whole game should be up front. When Florida's defensive front is able to get some pressure, it covers up a lot of holes in that secondary. Otherwise, it will be a 50-49 game and the winner will be the one that has the ball last.