ALL QUIET ON THE FLORIDA FRONT
GAINESVILLE, FLA., SEPT. 17- The least you can say about football at Florida these humid, hurricanic days is that the front is considerably quieter.
A year ago this place was a turmoil. Rick Casares, whose bulky frame housed the Gators' offensive plant, had encountered severe misfortune on the highway. Poppa Hall and Buford Long had played out their string. And when Casares later answered the mellow tones of the bugle, Florida was rendered stingerless. The Gators limped in with a 3-5-2 record, submitting in the end to bitter 14-10 defeat by the junior fellow statesman, Miami.
So, Florida is now back where it started when Casares first came into focus. The outlook, though, is brighter for the foundation is more solid and strength of personnel more generously distributed. These advantages are offset by a schedule that is historical to this town. No Florida team has ever played one like it. Beginning with Rice of the Cotton Bowl in Houston Saturday night. Followed by Georgia Tech of the Sugar Bowl in Atlanta and Auburn of the Gator Bowl in Gainesville.
Next in order march Clemson, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Georgia, Tennessee and Miami. It's Bob Woodruff's own doing, for he is both head coach and athletic director. Around town they're muttering that if he comes out of it with a 6-4 record he will have managed an accomplishment. Woodruff, oddly enough, faces the year with a less fatalistic view.
"We've got more team speed." he said. "We're better offensively. We're green defensively. It all depends on how well our sophomores come along."
There are nine of them that figure, at least three of them mightily, among the first 22 men. Florida, you see, will be a two-unit team this year. Woodruff will field a Blue team quarterbacked by Bobby Lance and an Orange team quarterbacked by Dick Allen, who came out of Brown High in Atlanta. Allen is one of the three who figure mightily.
Quarterback play at Florida last year was distinctly sub-normal. Allen played enough to throw for two touchdowns but missed a letter. This year he has overhauled both veteran Fred Robinson and alternate captain Larry Scott and nailed down the Orange team job. Allen is an all-round athlete with good hands and a good head. Throws well for average distances and punts. He's on the small size, though, 160 pounds. Not the durable type and vulnerable to injury because he'll tackle a locomotive.