While the Florida Gators offense continues to be a bit of a mystery, one thing that is crystal clear is that Will Muschamp's defense will be one of the best in the country.
Alligator Army's Andy Hutchins attended the Gators' open practice on Saturday, and its clear that there will be a few new stars that will command your attention real soon.
The defense was the real star of the scrimmage, and likely always is this fall. I saw nothing from Florida's running game, though there's not a ton you can see in a light contact practice from a running game, and I suspect that was because of the defensive line controlling things up front. I saw Dante Fowler, who does not look like a freshman, practically living in the backfield. I saw Marcus Roberson get flagged a couple of times and play good coverage without his hands; I saw Brian Poole get worked over on one route in a goal-to-go drill. Jon Bostic is enormous now, as is Jelani Jenkins, and Loucheiz Purifoy looks good. It's not going to shock you or make you all that happy to learn that Florida's defense is well ahead of its offense right now, unless you really like defense, but I'll put it this way: Ronald Powell may be the most talented defender Florida has, and the Gators didn't seem to miss him all that much (he's doing drills and such, though) on Saturday morning.
The Gators defense will get an early test run versus Bowling Green on September 1st, then the competition ramps up in the following weeks in contests versus Texas A&M and Tennessee.
For more on Gators football, visit Florida blog Alligator Army, plus SEC blog Team Speed Kills and SB Nation Tampa Bay.