FanHouse Urban Meyer

On Friday, SEC Commissioner Mike Slive fined Urban Meyer $30,000 for criticizing the officials in the wake of the Georgia-Florida game. When questioned by the media about a non-call on a late hit against Tim Tebow, Meyer responded, "That should have been a penalty, in my opinion. Obviously, it should have been. You've got to protect quarterbacks. That's the whole purpose. It's right in front of the referee."

In announcing the penalty, Commissioner Slive stated as follows: "Coach Meyer has violated the Southeastern Conference code of ethics. SEC bylaw 10.5.4 clearly states that the coaches, players and support personnel shall refrain from public criticism of officials. The league's athletics directors and presidents and chancellors have made it clear that negative public comments on officiating are not acceptable."

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes has had his suspension for apparently trying to gouge the eyes of a Georgia running back increased to a full game.

Coach Urban Meyer says it was in the best interest of the team for Spikes to serve a full-game suspension when the top-ranked Gators play Vanderbilt on Saturday.

Meyer had faced some criticism for only suspending his All-American linebacker for only the first half the Vandy game. The Southeastern Conference accepted the original punishment.

Spikes stuck his hand into the facemask of Georgia's Washaun Ealey during Florida 41-17 victory against the Bulldogs last week. There was no penalty called at the time, but Meyer went back and looked at the play of tape and decided to punish Spikes.

Florida has suspended linebacker Brandon Spikes for the first half of Saturday's game against Vanderbilt for attempting to gouge the eyes of Georgia running back Washaun Ealey in this weekend's game.

All is good with top-ranked Florida. Scout's honor, according to head coach Urban Meyer.

Meyer denied on Sunday that his Fightin' Gators -- specifically seniors Tim Tebow and Brandon Spikes -- were involved in a "skirmish" following UF's (pardon the pun) hard-fought victory at Mississippi State two weeks ago. Spikes admitted to the media following the Gators' 41-17 win over the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday that the "skirmish" was more like two brothers venting at each other.

Meyer, however, did stress that he planned to talk with Spikes after news that a video surfaced on YouTube late Saturday night that showed Spikes appearing to gouge at the eyes of Georgia's Washaun Ealy after making a tackle.

"I'll talk with him today," Meyer said during his Sunday teleconference with the media. "He's a very emotional player. If that's the case, I'll have a very serious talk with him."

The Florida Gators are circling the wagons.

Even while UF regained the top spot Sunday in The Associated Press poll from Alabama, which was ranked No. 1 for a week ahead of the Gators, UF coach Urban Meyer appears to be growing weary of critics focusing only on his team's blemishes.

Though the Gators pulled away from Mississippi State in the fourth quarter for a 29-19 victory Saturday night to push their season record to 7-0 for the fifth time in team history and first time since 1996, questions continue to outnumber answers.

---

---

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- A majority of callers that flooded local radio sports talk shows late Saturday night were not thrilled with their top-ranked Florida Gators. Most complaints focused on the offense. Agitated fans moaned about turnovers, predictable play-calling and porous blocking along the line.

UF had escaped with its life hours earlier over Arkansas, 23-20, but it was obvious not everyone was impressed with the Gators. Include head coach Urban Meyer and Associated Press voters in that mix, too.

Not even a restless night's sleep made it any better for Meyer, who admitted his team -- the defending BCS champion and winners of a nation-best 16 straight -- needs to get its act together. AP voters also noted UF's struggles, dropping the Gators behind Alabama in Sunday's poll.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- It was less than 24 hours earlier during Florida's Gator Growl, claimed to be the largest student-run pep rally, when comedian Dana Carvey turned to Florida head coach Urban Meyer and quipped, "You freakin' rock. That self-tanner was working." Following a sunny but cool Saturday afternoon, Meyer's face, if not the face of the entire Gator Nation, was nearly drained of color.

That was OK, though, because the collective sigh of relief that bellowed from The Swamp meant that UF's perfect season and likely No. 1 ranking remained intact.

Quite truthfully, Florida wasn't very impressed when it watched video of Mississippi last season. The Rebels had lost to Wake Forest and Vanderbilt and, let's face it, they weren't expected to give the Gators much of a tussle in The Swamp. Of course, we all know what happened that final Saturday in September:

Ole Miss 31, UF 30.

The top-ranked Gators don't plan to make the same mistake twice against visiting Arkansas on Saturday.

"We would watch Ole Miss on film and our guys would say they're not very good," UF coach Urban Meyer said.

BATON ROUGE, La. -- He's quite the drama king, this Tim Tebow lad, always involved in some sort of swirl that prompts debate, wonderment and humor. No one knows if he'll make it in the NFL, despite a career as storied as any in college football history. He's an avowed virgin even as coeds clamor to have his babies, including one who stopped him at Radio Shack, asked him to pose for a picture and lifted her shirt as her proud mother took the shot. While other Florida students go to South Beach or Cancun for spring break, he heads to prisons and speaks to inmates.

Or flies off to a poverty-stricken village in the Phillippines and helps circumsize children.

Florida hasn't hit the field to play LSU, but already the Tigers have Gator quarterback John Brantley's number. His cell phone number, in fact. Yes, those crazy Cajuns have struck again, discovering the phone number of projected Gators starting quarterback John Brantley and doing pesky things with it like you'd expect an amateur fan base to do.

This is sort of old hat for LSU, as its fans also figured out how to reach out and touch opponents such as Alabama quarterback John Parker Wilson and Georgia back Knowshon Moreno. They're rumored to have also discovered the numbers for several other Florida players and even coach Urban Meyer. At this rate they're probably not to far from reaching President Barack Obama with a different kind of 3 AM call if his health care push upsets them too much.