Florida fooled media twice, but still not expected to do it a third time in SEC East

In his first season at Florida in 2015, Jim McElwain unexpectedly won the SEC East and did so largely with a collection of Will Muschamp’s players.

The Gators, coming off an ugly 7-5 campaign that included Muschamp’s ouster, were picked by the media to finish fifth in the division. However, McElwain and Co. managed to win 10 games and earned a trip to Atlanta.

Nevertheless, reporters didn’t seem all that impressed when they gathered in Hoover the following July. The darling of Media Days was Tennessee, which was the selection to capture the East in 2016 ahead of defending-champion Florida — the Gators were second in the voting. McElwain’s troop was fueled by all the doubters.

Even though Florida lost to the Volunteers for the first time since 2004, the Gators still emerged atop the division at season’s end.

Two years in Gainesville for McElwain have resulted in two bonus games at the Georgia Dome. Getting blown out by Alabama each time is immaterial to the discussion because nobody in the East is on par with the Crimson Tide at this point.

Yet here we are again, and precious few column inches are being written about the possibility of Florida making it a three-peat in the division come 2017. Since Tennessee is no longer the flavor of the year, Georgia — despite an awful two-touchdown defeat to the Gators last season — is the clear focus of the conference’s hype machine.

To be fair, the No. 1 reservation is obvious. Eventually, McElwain has to get improved play at the game’s most important position.

“There’s only one piece of the puzzle missing on offense, and that’s the quarterback,” said Andrew Olson, who covers Florida for Saturday Down South. “At every other position group, you have almost all of returning starters back from last year’s team that made it to Atlanta.”

Will Grier looked like the answer two years ago, but he got suspended by the NCAA for performance-enhancing drugs midseason and then transferred to West Virginia. His replacement, Treon Harris, was overmatched and left the program, too.

Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

This past season, the starting job was shared by Luke Del Rio (above) and Austin Appleby, both transfers — Del Rio from Alabama and Oregon State, Appleby from Purdue — with limited upside. Neither played particularly well, to put it bluntly. While Appleby is out of eligibility, Del Rio is still on the depth chart.

He’s not expected to challenge for the starting job, though. One of the redshirt freshmen, Feleipe Franks or Kyle Trask, must emerge.

“If Franks or Trask can get the ball to the wide receivers,” Olson said, “it should finally be a very good offense.”

Recent history suggests that catching passes has proven to be just as difficult for the Gators as throwing them. Believe it or not, the birthplace of the Fun-n-Gun hasn’t had a 1,000-yard receiver since Taylor Jacobs in 2002.

There have been some dangerous — insert Aaron Hernandez joke here — pass catchers at Florida in the last decade and a half, but they’re few and far between since Urban Meyer relocated back to the Midwest. Antonio Callaway is really the only member of McElwain’s receiving corps to put a scare into teams since his arrival.

McElwain’s reputation on the recruiting trail has been hit and miss thus far, but that’s a position group where he’s done well.

“If there’s one area of recruiting Mac has really hit it out of the park, it’s wide receiver,” Olson said. “There’s an assortment of blue-chip talent and now size, thanks to the signing of Tyrie Cleveland, Rick Wells and James Robinson.”

An offensive coach by trade, it’s fair to say that McElwain has taken advantage of the defense left behind by Muschamp. At both cornerback and safety, the Gators assembled some ballers in the secondary the last few years.

Last spring, cornerback Vernon Hargreaves and safety Keanu Neal were both first-rounders in the NFL Draft. This April, corners Teez Tabor (below) and Quincy Wilson are forecasted to come off the board in Round 1, as well — and it’s not just the defensive backfield. Muschamp also brought in several future pros along the front seven.

Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Most of Muschamp’s premier defenders have gone, so now it’s time for McElwain to prove he can shut down opponents with his own guys.

“The defense lost a lot,” Olson said, “but there’s a solid starting 11 of returning players with experience.”

From a scheduling perspective, Florida is in good shape this coming season. The Gators only play three true road games in league play: at Kentucky, Missouri and South Carolina. Not a legitimate contender in the East among them.

Tennessee, Vanderbilt, LSU — thanks to a flip-flop necessitated by Hurricane Matthew a year ago — and Texas A&M all visit Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, and then Florida has its annual neutral-site matchup with Georgia in Jacksonville. For a generation or so, that’s been a de facto home game for the Gators.

Still, the Bulldogs are the darlings of the division. There’s no reason to think they won’t be once Media Days arrive again.

“Georgia looks better on paper,” Olson said. “Even with a coaching change, UGA’s recruiting never suffered like Florida’s did in 2015-16. The Dawgs are more talented top to bottom and obviously have a better QB and running backs.”

Said coaching change was from Mark Richt to Kirby Smart. It took Smart only a year-plus on the job to land the No. 3 recruiting class in the country. McElwain, on the other hand, closed strongly in Year 3, but that only got him to No. 10.

UGA quarterback Jacob Eason has more physical tools than anyone Florida can throw out there, plus his tailback duo of Nick Chubb and Sony Michel is enviable. There weren’t nearly as many defections — only four of the Dawgs’ 27 leading tacklers last season were seniors — on the other side of the ball, either.

But the SEC’s hype machine has been off target the last few years. Being overlooked may as well be part of McElwain’s MO.

* All recruiting figures courtesy of the composite rankings at 247Sports.

John Crist is the senior writer for Saturday Down South, a member of the FWAA and a voter for the Heisman Trophy. Send him an e-mail, like him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter.