This has all the makings of a letdown game for Florida. But it’s so obvious that it won’t happen.

Yes, Vanderbilt has a pretty tough defense, and the Commodores are excited about what No. 2 quarterback Mackenzi Adams brings to the offense (the ability to move the ball through the air). The potential is there for a tough, grind it out game for the Gators. But that’s not going to happen. The Commodores simply don’t have enough talent to match up with Florida. If the Gators come ready to play, and they will, this game should be secured by halftime.

Why no letdown?

Because the Gators seem to have regained that same edge they had last season during their remarkable run down the stretch. The performance against Georgia a week ago is an obvious sign that this team is starting to get better, starting to play up to its potential. UF has started generating momentum, and it’s not going to be slowed by a 2-7 Vanderbilt team that lost to Army less than a month ago.

I think the offense is going to get on a roll in this game, and I look for the defense to pretty much shut down the Vandy offense, which has struggled to score throughout the season.

Letdown? Forget about it.

Prediction: Florida 45, Vanderbilt 10

Then, they disappeared. Hines caught a few passes early, then faded away. Hammond got some playing time, then he too disappeared. Lawrence got a handful of plays, but now is out for the season after injuring his knee.

The week before each game, Urban Meyer and wide receivers coach Billy Gonzales would say Hammond and Hines were getting close to being where the coaches wanted them to be and there was a chance they would play. Then they wouldn’t. It got to the point in recent weeks where everyone assumed those two would not been seen again until next spring.

Then, out of nowhere, Hammond and Hines showed up on the field in the first half of last Saturday’s Georgia game in Jacksonville.

Even though neither caught a pass, it was an obvious sign the two have made strides in practice and have finally earned the trust of the coaching staff. Offensive coordinator SteveAddazio said Hammond and Hines have earned the right to see more playing time in UF’s remaining games.

“We’re going to continue to try and do that, give guys a chance to get a blow,” Addazio said. “We needed to do that (against Georgia). So, that worked out pretty well.”

It’s working, so we’ll probably see more of it.

“It’s not the most thrilling, exciting style, but it’s a mindset,” UF coach Urban Meyer said Monday. “We need to be able to do that. With our personnel, we should be able to do that. I’m very pleased with what we’ve done (with Tebow under center). You might see more. I made the comment before the season, if it helps us win a game, we’re going to do it. We’re not in this for other reasons.

“Tim is getting more comfortable under center. The first thing is always ball security, and we’ve got two pretty trustworthy people (Tebow and center Maurkice Pouncey) managing that part of it.”

Tebow went under center in the opening seconds of the third quarter after linebacker A.J. Jones tipped and intercepted a pass, giving the Gators the ball on the Georgia 19. On first down, Demps gained 9 yards. He picked up 5 more on second. Tebow then lined up in the shotgun and scored on an option run.

Tebow said Monday he actually made a mistake by lining up under center when he did.

“I actually was supposed to be in the shotgun,” he said. “I thought the play was called for me to be under center, but it wasn’t. When I got back to the sideline, (the coaches) were saying they didn’t know what to do, should they call a timeout. But we got a 9-yard gain and it ended up being OK.”

Tebow said lining up under center has taken opposing defenses by surprise.

“I think it gives us a different look,” he said. “It’s something teams don’t prepare for a lot against us.”

In the few times Tebow has lined up under center, the Gators have looked like a very good power running team. So, it should be a regular part of the game plan from here on out.

Here’s the first one:

Florida’s red-zone woes continue, the Gators turn the ball over a few times on offense, give up a few plays on defense, and the Bulldogs spring the upset, dashingUF’s national title hopes. Part of this scenario would include Joe Cox having all kinds of time to throw and consistently moves the Georgia offense without the benefit of much of a running game. It also includes the Bulldogs stuffingUF’s usually reliable running game.

This could happen, but I’m just not feeling it.

What I am feeling is scenario two:

The Gators come out and avoid the red zone altogether by hitting some long scoring plays early in the game, including a TD bomb from TimTebow to Deonte Thompson. Once the Gators get the early lead, they’ll start playing with confidence and the red-zone problems will disappear, and then this team will start playing like everyone thought it would coming into the season. Defensively, I seeUF stifling the Georgia offense by shutting down the run, then harassing Cox all afternoon. A.J. Green will catch some passes, but the Florida defense is going to play one of its best games of the season.

This is a Florida team that is loaded with talent but hasn’t played up to its potential yet. It’s going to happen sometime. The Gators are going to put together a complete game and the results will be very impressive.

I just have a strong feeling that it’s going to happen in this game.

Prediction: Florida 34, Georgia 10

Then he went out and basically did nothing for the first few games. He was barely noticed. He was rarely a factor.

But he’s turned that around in a big way recently. Dunlap has started to play like one of the best defensive players in the nation. In Saturday night’s victory at Mississippi State, he was all over the field, making plays and disrupting the MSU offense. He was perhaps the most noticeable player on the field. He had three sacks, tipped a pass that was intercepted and recorded three tackles for losses.

“He needs to keep it going,” UF defensive line coach Dan McCarney said. “He’s got that in him. He’s got the ability, he’s got the talent, he’s got the experience. I just told him, ‘We’ve talked about your dreams and goals and what you want to accomplish, and you need to start playing that way. That means practicing better.’

“He did that the past couple of weeks, and he sure played that way on Saturday. We hope it will continue. We think it will.”

It’s no secret that Dunlap, a junior, is planing to leave early for the NFL. He has the talent. He has perhaps the biggest upside of any player on a very deep and talented Florida roster.

In the past, it’s been a real battle for the coaching staff to tap into all that potential. Now, McCarney is getting it to pour out, which is definitely good news for the Gators as they continue to seek perfection this season.

“Everybody is different,” McCarney said. “You can’t treat them all the same. There are different people and personalities inside those helmets. With Carlos, you can’t stand there and scream and yell at him all day long. But he’s got to understand this isn’t good enough, you’re capable of doing this and this is what you need to do. If you do that, we have a chance to have a great defensive end out there in No. 8.

“He was a dominant football player Saturday. The plays he made, the athletic plays, the effort plays, it was really impressive. I’m excited about what he can do for the rest of the year.”

It looks like Dunlap is ready to start living up to all that big preseason talk.

When Tebow was asked if UF’s recent struggles (and close games) have taken some of the fun out of the season, the All-America quarterback said, “I don’t think so. I’ve had a lot of fun this season. Beating Arkansas in the last minute was a lot of fun. Beating Tennessee was fun. I’m having fun.”

Meyer admitted after Saturday’s narrow win at Mississippi State that he was feeling some pressure, and that there is a lot of pressure on this Florida team. He talked to the players after the game, stressing to them he wants to make sure they are still having fun and enjoying being undefeated.

Meyer said Monday he’s having fun.

“Do you really care?” he said. “I’m having a ball.”

Obviously, the Gators would like to play better, and they plan to. But they’re going to be happy as long as they keep winning.

The only Gators who apparently are not having fun are some of the fans. Some of them, expecting more from this team, seem downright miserable. They need to relax and enjoy this (winning) ride for as long as it lasts.

Like Tebow said Monday, all of UF’s goals are still out there, and still very attainable. There’s no gloom and doom feeling among the players. That’s for sure.

Scott Field isn’t on anyone’s top 10 list of toughest places to play in college football, but it’s been a nightmare venue for the Gators, who haven’t won there since 1985. They’re 0-4 since then.

I covered three of those losses, two Steve Spurrier-coached teams (1992 and 2000) and one under Ron Zook (2004).

In the 1992 game, Shane Matthews and the Gators got spanked in a big way. Matthews had no time to throw, the offense went nowhere and UF was physically over-matched in a 30-6 loss on a Thursday night.

The strangest game was the 47-35 loss in 2000. That got weird right from the start. MSU won the coin toss, elected to defer, and Florida captain Marquand Manuel elected to kickoff for some reason. That meant the Bulldogs got the ball to start both halves. It went downhill from there. The lowlights included Spurrier punting on third down and tailback Robert Gillespie getting penalized for unsportsmanlike after directing the UF pep band after he scored a touchdown.

The 2004 loss, of course, is what accelerated Zook’s demise at Florida. The Monday after the embarrassing 38-31 defeat, Zook was fired, effective at the end of the season. Earlier in the season, MSU had lost to Maine at Scott Field.

So, given all that I’ve seen at Scott Field, and given Florida’s grim history there, I am very tempted to pull the trigger and predict a Bulldog upset Saturday night. It could happen, definitely.

The Florida offense isn’t scoring many points and the defense has some injury issues in the front seven, a bad thing when you’re facing a tailback as good as Anthony Dixon. And you know Dan Mullen is going to really be helping out his defense in terms of how to stop an offense that he used to coordinate.

MSU had a chance to beat LSU at Scott Field earlier in the season. The Bulldogs will have a chance to beat Florida.

This is a game that will be in doubt going into the fourth quarter. The way the UF offense is playing, it’s probably going to be this way the rest of the season, with the exception of the FIU game.

I’m going with Florida, but it’s a very shaky call.

Prediction: Florida 27, Mississippi State 17

A year ago, during Florida’s amazing run to the national championship, the defense’s ability to force turnovers (and actually score) was one of the reasons the Gators enjoyed such high-scoring games and lopsided victories in the second half of the season.

This season, the games have been closer, the scores lower. Everyone points to Percy Harvin and Louis Murphy being gone and the lack of playmakers remaining on offense. But the defense’s inability to create turnovers has also been a major factor.

In UF’s last two SEC games, the Gators had one turnover (interception) against LSU and zero turnovers against Arkansas. Through six games, the Gators have produced only nine takeaways (seven interceptions, two fumble recoveries). If the current pace continues, the Gators will end up with only 18 takeaways on the season. Contrast that to a year ago, when the Gators forced 33 turnovers, 24 on interceptions.

The bottom line is the defense is not producing a lot of turnovers that are giving the offense a short field to work with. And here’s another thing to consider: the Gators do not have a defensive touchdown this season.

So, the next time you hear someone whining about the lack of playmakers on the Florida offense, point out the fact that the same thing is happening on the defense.

This is a team that probably needs to amp up the tempo on both sides of the ball to make some things happen.

Will the Gators start opening things up and turning things on like they did during their national championship run a year ago?

It’s possible. But probably not likely. That’s not to say the Gators won’t run the table and reach the national title game. What I’m saying is don’t expect this UF team to become the offensive juggernaut that last year’s team did after the Ole Miss loss.

Six games into the season, it’s obvious the Gators are what they are. They’re a very good defensive team that can shut down opponents when they don’t have breakdowns and mental lapses like a week ago. They’re a struggling offensive team that doesn’t have the playmakers (especially in the passing game) they had a year ago to roll up all kinds of points.

Somehow the Gators won a game they probably should have lost Saturday. Like Tim Tebow said Monday, it took a lot of heart and character to somehow earn a victory with those four lost fumbles and six sacks.

Maybe the near-loss will take off some of the pressure and UF will start making some of those plays they’ve been just missing on offensive. Maybe that will lead to more relaxing games and a wider margin of victory.

But the thinking here is that was just the first of what could be several down-to-the-wire games for UF the rest of the way. The Gators know they can win those games, just like they did Saturday.

To win the national championship, the Gators probably will have to do it the way they did in 2006, when they managed games so well offensively and found a way to win each week.

Buckle your seatbelts, because it could be a thrilling (and scary) ride the rest of the way.

The one big difference I see is that this Arkansas team appears to be much better than that Ole Miss team came in here and pulled the stunner. The Razorbacks have a lot of talent and speed at the skill positions, and a quarterback and an offensive scheme to make big things happen. Defensively, the Hogs are giving up lots of yards, but they come after you with lots of pressure.

Arkansas clearly has UF’s attention. But the Gators probably are more concerned with themselves this week. They’re trying to overcome some injuries, trying to find better balance in their offense, trying to develop a down-field passing game that has been mysteriously missing for most of the season.

Earlier in the week, Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said he would be surprised if his offense didn’t move the ball against the Florida defense. I will be, too. But moving the ball and scoring are two different things. I think the Gators will give up the most yards they have this season. But they’ll also come up with some sacks, interceptions and big plays that will make it hard for Arkansas to find the end zone. I seeUF giving up considerable yardage, but not that many points.

Offensively for Florida, it’s time to get going. Tim Tebow is healthy again, the Gators are playing at home and the Arkansas defense has been susceptible throughout the season. I have a feeling the Gators might actually come out passing in this game to set up the run. It’s been the other way all season, but change is good in this case.

Overall, there will be some nervous moments for sure in The Swamp for the UF faithful. But the Gators will gain control of this game late in the first half and get out with a very solid victory against a fast-improving team.

Score: Florida 38, Arkansas 17.