Machine-like Gators keep blasting through all foes

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The light (but steady) rain came early, just enough to make The Swamp a little swampy. So Florida and South Carolina sloshed around for a while and traded the ball back and forth with almost nothing in the way of offense, and it really did look like we were headed for a scoreless first quarter.

And then the game was over.

Just like that.

It happened quicker than you can say Gator Bait, quicker than Percy Harvin can get from here to there, quicker than Steve Spurrier can throw a visor and splash it on the turf while wondering how he ever talked himself into trying to win SEC titles at South Carolina. We went from no scores to three scores in a matter of 136 seconds, and that all three scores were touchdowns belonging to the Gators eliminated any suspense Saturday.

The final: Florida 56, South Carolina 6.

It's like the old saying goes: When it rains, they score.

And score.

And score again.

"We got clobbered," said Spurrier, who is now 1-3 against his alma mater. "I don't know what we could have done differently except try to keep things close."

The interesting storyline going in was Spurrier coaching at The Swamp for just the second time since he left Florida in January 2002, but when the game was over the homecoming was an afterthought replaced by the nearly consensus opinion here in the press box that the best team in the country wears orange helmets and runs a spread offense. No, the Gators aren't the nation's top-ranked team; hell, they aren't even the SEC's top-ranked team. But you could put them on a neutral field against anybody tomorrow and I guarantee you the oddsmakers would make them the favorite regardless of whether the opponent was No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Texas Tech, No. 4 Texas, No. 5 Oklahoma, No. 6 Southern California or anybody else who'd like to try to stop this machine.

You definitely got that one right, Urban Meyer. (US Presswire)

And it is a machine.

The Gators have played eight SEC opponents and hung at least 30 points on each one. They're averaging 44.9 points in SEC games, and how they lost at home to Ole Miss in September remains one of the world's greatest mysteries. Play that game again and Florida wins 44-17. That's my prediction. But the good news for Urban Meyer is that the smack-the-head mishap doesn't figure to cost him a shot at the national title because if the Gators win out and then beat Alabama in the SEC Championship Game they'll almost certainly finish in the top two of the BCS standings and play a Big 12 representative for the national title.

"Our team is playing with a lot of momentum," said quarterback Tim Tebow, whose 48-yard touchdown pass to Deonte Thompson put Florida ahead 28-0 early in the second quarter. "It's something we have to keep going."

There's no reason to think they won't, by the way. A pretty amazing statistic floating around after the game was that Florida is now the first team in SEC history to win six consecutive league games by 28 or more points. Think on that for a moment. Of all the great teams that have ever competed in this great conference, none have ever been as consistently dominant as these Gators, which is why though Meyer kept his comments conservative, he made it clear he's happy with how things are going.

Asked if this is the best part of coaching, when things are clicking to this degree, Meyer responded simply: "I think that's obvious, yes." A few minutes later, somebody asked whether Meyer was surprised at how easy his Gators are making things look.

He paused before answering cautiously.

"I don't know how to answer that question without getting blasted," Meyer said before pausing again. Then he collected his thoughts and added about the most diplomatic quote possible despite the fact that Spurrier was a few rooms over explaining how this Florida team is "a lot better" and "a lot stronger" than the Florida team that won the national title two years ago.

"I'm very pleased with how (we're) playing," Meyer said with a slight grin. "How's that?"

That sounds about right, coach.

But you probably shouldn't worry so much about getting blasted.

Not when you're the guy with the team consistently blasting everybody.