What Should Be the Bar for Florida Gators Football in 2020?
The Florida Gators are heading into their most important season of the Dan Mullen era. Ironically, the upcoming season will likely be the most unpredictable, confusing and messy season in its history due to the on-going pandemic caused by the coronavirus.
Entering 2020, the Gators have already successfully reached a goal many assumed wouldn't occur in a long time due to the way the Jim McElwain era unceremoniously ended after Florida fell to 4-7, the worst final record for the Gators since 2013.
No, the Gators would go on to win 10 games the following year, seeing a New Year's Six Bowl for the first time since the re-alignment of bowl games was set in 2014.
As the Gators inch closer to the 2020 season, many have predicted several potential ceilings for the team, ranging from simply double-digit victories to the College Football Playoff. However, there are a variety of factors that should point to the Gators being closer to the latter than the former.
When the Gators enter their third season under the Mullen era, not only will they be led by a now-experienced veteran quarterback in Kyle Trask, but the team has arguably never been as talented under Mullen as it is slated to be, both offensively and defensively.
The Gators have acquired several talented players over the past few seasons, and now that they've had more time to develop, Mullen's first and second recruiting classes are set and ready to make an impact. Several players such as sophomore cornerback Kaiir Elam, redshirt sophomore wide receiver Jacob Copeland and sophomore BUCK/Linebacker Mohamoud Diabate are poised to make a major difference with the team next season.
As a model, the LSU Tigers entered last season with similar expectations to that of the Gators entering 2019, even - a double-digit victory season with the potential for a lot more under the guidance of LSU head coach Ed Orgeron. The Tigers, of course, would go on to win the National Championship, securing a perfect 15-0 record in the meantime.
The Tigers were stemming off of a 10-win season with questions at the quarterback position, even with Joe Burrow being entrenched, there was uncertainty surrounding his potential at the position. The talent, however, was there on both sides of the football, similar to the Gators heading into 2020.
Trask is thought to, by many outlets, be the best quarterback in the SEC heading into 2020. With players such as Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa and Jake Fromm no longer at the top, he has the argument.
After throwing for 2,941 yards, completing 237/354 (66.9%) of his passes for 25 touchdowns and just seven interceptions, there is no debating he was successful in his time starting for the Gators last season, and there is reason to believe that with the work he has put in over the course of, not only last season but his whole life, he should be able to improve immensely next year.
Recently, the Gators were selected to make yet another New Year Six Bowl game by the College Football Network, but is that enough?
Several players, namely Trask and defensive back Marco Wilson seem to believe the playoffs should be the expectation. Former Gators wide receiver Josh Hammond echoed those sentiments, telling Sports Illustrated - AllGators:
"All [of] the younger guys have seen it now, so they kinda know what to expect. They watched us go through it. They kinda last year - sat back and watched how it was done and seeing all the bad stuff, seeing all the good stuff. So they all know right from wrong. and they definitely have a young group of guys this year that'll be ready to make plays and put them in a position to get where they wanna go."
Time will tell what the future holds for the Gators football team, but for now, the expectations should be high, and the bar absolutely rises by the day.
