Gators look to regroup

When Auburn smacked Florida in the mouth a year ago, the senior-laden Gators responded by regrouping, refocusing and winning the rest of their games and capturing the SEC and national titles.

Meyer said Sunday he isn't sure how this young 2007 Florida team is going to respond after getting smacked in the mouth by Auburn on Saturday night in The Swamp. He will find out soon enough because new No. 1 LSU is up next for the Gators in Baton Rouge this Saturday night.

"The phrase I was taught as a young person is the soul of a man is exposed when you get hit in the face," Meyer said. "I don't want to overdramatize a loss in football with some of the major issues in life. But the soul of a man isn't exposed when you pick up a crystal ball and put on a championship ring. A lot of people can do that. It's when you have to rebound from some adversity.

"The negative right now is we probably have 10 seniors. How many of which are actually playing a lot? How are we going to respond? Obviously, I don't have that answer. I feel like there's a lot of character on this team and some good people."

With so many young players playing key roles, each week, each game has been another learning experience for Florida. Saturday night's lesson was the first real damaging one - a humbling 20-17 loss to a 19-point underdog on a 43-yard field goal on the final play of the game.

The loss drops UF to No. 9 nationally and in a tough position to defend its national title. But, as the Gators discovered a year ago after the loss to Auburn, there's still plenty of football to play. Based on Saturday's rash of upsets (four top 10 teams fell), many different scenarios could play out over the next two months.

"(The upsets) tell you how hard it is to go unblemished," Meyer said. "You watch, it's a marathon, not a sprint."

Perhaps UF's biggest challenge is the one that lies ahead Saturday. LSU is 5-0 and has one of the nation's most dominant defenses, and the Gators are coming off a game in which their offensive line was beaten by Auburn's defensive front. Defensively, Florida's young secondary was again exposed by a quarterback (Brandon Cox) with time to throw.

"They have pretty good personnel and I don't know how well we blocked them," Meyer said of UF's offensive problems.

For the second game in a row, the UF running game was one-dimensional, with quarterback Tim Tebow getting the majority of the carries and yards. Kestahn Moore had only three carries for seven yards as the tailback position continues to be less of a factor in the offense.

"Yes, we would like to have more carries (from the tailback)," Meyer said. "We'd like to block people better so we can do that.

"We were a little banged up, up front. We faced a good defensive line and we didn't control the line of scrimmage. That's the first time I felt that way this year. We did not consistently block them. We need to get guys healthy because we're going to have a heck of a test this week."

Meyer said UF's subpar offensive performance had nothing to do with offensive coordinator Dan Mullen's medical situation. Mullen had an emergency appendectomy late Friday night, but still was at the game Saturday night calling the plays from the press box like he usually does.

"He's a tough guy," Meyer said. "He did everything he possibly could. It didn't affect the game. He called a fine game."

NOTES: Meyer said true freshman tailback Chris Rainey will undergo shoulder surgery and may not play again this season. "He's had an unstable shoulder since he got to Florida. It looks like he's not going to play again this fall. It's not final, but he's got a problem with his shoulder," Meyer said. ... Wide receiver Andre Caldwell ran a deep route in the first half of Saturday night's game, but Meyer did not want to risk playing him any further in the game. Caldwell missed the Tennessee and Ole Miss games with a sprained knee and still wasn't 100 percent Saturday night. Caldwell did not practice last week, but there's a chance he'll return this week and play against LSU. ... Meyer said former starting cornerback Markihe Anderson, who has missed most of the season with an injured knee, might return to practice Tuesday. ... Meyer said true freshman Chas Henry will continue to be the No. 1 punter. Henry shanked a punt that gave Auburn good field position (it's own 39) to start the winning drive in the closing minutes. "(No. 2 punter) Bobby Kane has a back issue and is not doing well. (Henry) is our punter and he has to continue to get better," Meyer said.

Robbie Andreu can be reached at 352-374-5022 or andreur@gvillesun.com.