Feels Like '06

Florida quarterback Chris Leak caught the snap out of the shotgun at UF's 20-yard line with five seconds left to play. The Gators trailed Auburn 21-17. The 6 foot-tall thrower wearing No. 12 hit wide receiver Dallas Baker on a 7-yard completion over the middle.

Baker was hit immediately as he caught it, and he pitched the ball just in time to freshman wide receiver Jarred Fayson. Fayson found some open grass to the left side and picked up three more yard to the 30-yard line. Just before he got hit, Faysen pitched it back to Leak but Leak slipped before he could corral it.

Auburn cornerback Pat Lee scooped it and took it into the other end zone. Jordan-Hare stadium erupted as the No. 11 Tigers just toppled the No. 2 Gators.

Now, fast-forward 13 years.

Leak is gone. Baker is gone. The rest of the roster is gone and head coach Urban Meyer is gone. But you know isn't gone? Offensive coordinator and now head coach Dan Mullen.

And Mullen's team in 2019 feels eerily similar to that 2006 squad. Here are a few reasons why:

The two-quarterback, spread system.

You don't pay attention to Florida football if you have not heard this comparison by now. Quarterback Kyle Trask is Leak, and backup Emory Jones is Tim Tebow. The backup has the higher ceiling and rare athleticism, but the starter is more steady and at the current juncture a better passer.

Other than that Auburn game on Oct. 14 in 2006, that two-quarterback tandem worked. It was another component to the "gimmicky" spread offense Meyer had brought to Gainesville that many doubted would ever work in big boy SEC football.

Does a national championship prove otherwise? When the Gators won out after Auburn and beat Arkansas in the SEC Championship to climb back to No. 2 in the BCS ranking, most had seen enough. This offense works. And in a place like Florida with so much speed to recruit inside the state, it didn't just work. It was deadly.

Throwback Uniforms

The retro jerseys that the Gators wore against Auburn this season? They rocked the exact same look against the other SEC team in Alabama in 2006. In fact, for this current season, the memories from that game, where Florida beat the Crimson Tide 28-13, sparked the desire in fans to bring it back.

The final score this season against the Tigers was only four points different. UF topped Auburn 24-13 this year and long-time fans felt a sense of déjà vu.

The Road Loss

A game where the two-quarterback system was on full display was this season's LSU game. Mullen let the world see his new Tebow in Emory Jones. The obvious difference between this game and the 2006 Auburn game was, in 2006, Florida was favored.

The Gators were supposed to beat Auburn, the loss was considered an upset. That was not the case when Florida traveled to Baton Rouge a 14-point underdog according to Vegas. However, the feel was still the same.

It was still a road crowd that absolutely hates the Gators. It was still only one loss against a football team considered one of the best in the nation. It was still a best-case scenario loss.

Obviously, UF would have to have an improbable run to match 2006's final result. It would require the orange and blue to win seven games in a row: four more regular-season games, the SEC championship game, and two games in the college football playoff.

But perhaps more important than the final result of 2019's campaign relative to 2006's is the overall feel of it, and what it could mean for the future. That '06 squad set the stage for the Tebow's 2007 Heisman season. It more importantly set up the 2008 team, arguably the best college football team ever assembled.

Mullen is in the second phase of the groundwork of the program. 2018 was the infancy. He had to give the players and the fans a reason to believe in the program again.

Now, everyone is bought in. Not a single Gator fan with a functioning brain does not believe this is their guy long-term. Not a single player in that locker room does not think that Mullen's system works. Not a single person with respectable opinions about college football does not believe that UF is a few key recruiting pieces away from legitimate title contenders for the first time since those mid-2000's teams.