With the Florida vs. Florida State game coming up this week, there is going to be a lot of talk about Percy Harvin by the Noles fans. If you read any trash talk it’s because they’re jealous. Percy is a unique player that is a duel rushing and receiving threat. FSU has seen him before: In fact, Percy lit them up for over 200 yards last year.

In case they need a reminder, here’s a video straight from the Citadel game. Those defenders don’t know what to do.

Here’s a video of Percy Harvin’s 80-yard touchdown vs. South Carolina. Now I was at the game, so I never heard the broadcast… but Brent Musberger did a terrible job announcing it. You know Mick Hubert was up in the booth yelling “ohh Myyyy!!!”

For the first time in 2008, Percy Harvin was given an SEC honor! Earlier this week, percy was named SEC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in the South Carolina game.

From GatorZone.com:

Harvin rushed for a career-high 167 yards and tied a career high with two rushing touchdowns in UF’s 56-6 win over No. 24 South Carolina. His 167 rushing yards versus the Gamecocks were the most by any wide receiver in the nation this year against a top-25 program. Harvin’s performance on the ground against USC propelled him to the third spot in the UF record books for rushing yards in a season by a wide receiver with 476 in 2008, and now owns the top three spots for that record. Harvin scored on an career-long 80 yard rush on the first play of the second half and now has scored a touchdown in the past 12 games he has played in, tying Texas Tech’s Michael Crabtree for the longest streak in the country.

Harvin leads the Gators with 476 rushing yards in 2008 on 52 carries and seven touchdowns. Four of his seven receiving touchdowns have come in his last 14 catches. He leads the SEC in scoring with 9.3 points per game.

With two regular season games left, there is still time for Percy Harvin to get on a roll. I doubt he’ll play much vs. Citadel this weekend, but if he can put up 150+ yards and have another big 70+ yard run/catch, then he may grab himself another honor.

I found this video on Youtube that shows all the highlights from the Gator vs. Vanderbilt game last week. It shows Percy Harvin’s touchdown. The music is annoying, but if you can listen to it without sound you should be OK. The main thing is to see the highlights. At the end of the video, you also get to see a super slow motion replay of that horrible call by the refs on Percy’s “fumble” before the half.

Tomorrow I’ll get a little pregame South Carolina action going.

I’m going to start this up again because I believe the key for the Gators beating the Bulldogs this weekend in Jacksonville is to get Percy the ball! The Gators can’t expect to win this game if Percy is only getting 6 touches. The Gators need to go back to getting him the ball 15 times. He needs to ball in space.

When I look at Percy Harvin’s stats this season, sure his touchdown numbers are good, but his yardage isn’t that great. There have only been a handful of plays where Percy has taken it the distance. The Gators need to focus on getting him the ball in space so he can use his speed to break free.

There’s no doubt that last years debacle against UGA is in the minds of Harvin and all the Gator players. A picture of the “Gator Stomp” hangs in their locker room everyday as a reminder. But standout slotback Percy Harvin told reporters over the weekend his team would not pull a similar stunt.

“That’s not our style,” Harvin said. “When teams do that, they expect not to score. We plan on putting points on the board, so we don’t need that. We don’t celebrate here. We go hug a big man and thank the people that got us in the end zone.”

I’ll have more of a game breakdown later this week.

The Florida Gators football season is halfway over. A recent Gator Envy poll asked members who they thought was the first half MVP for the Gators. 60% of members select Percy Harvin as the Gators first half MVP.

So far through 2008, he has 190 yards rushing, 396 yards receiving and 7 total touchdowns. The statline may not be as impressive as it could have been, but remember Percy didn’t play in the Hawaii game and he was still very limited against Miami.

Percy has brought explosion to the Gator offense and hit some big plays when we needed him to. I think there is a solid case to be made for several players on the Gator team for first half MVP.

What do you think?

You know something we haven’t seen a lot of (if at all) this season? The direct snap to Percy Harvin. Some are calling it the “Wildcat Formation”. Arkansas ran it a lot last year with Darren McFadden.

If I remember correctly, we saw several plays in 2007 that were direct snaps to Percy Harvin. Now he never took the ball and threw it, but he would run with the ball from the shotgun position. That play always seemed good for positive yardage.

Is Urban trying to move away from the less gimicky stuff? Is he more concentrated on running the pure option play?

I would like to see this play run a couple of times over the remainder of the season. Percy is too fast for them to lose yardage on it.

I haven’t had word yet today on if Percy Harvin was at, or will be practicing. But I do know he has missed two practices in a row. I found this piece of info from the Orlando Sentinel:

Florida WR Percy Harvin missed his second consecutive practice Tuesday with a sprained right ankle. Coach Urban Meyer still expects his dynamic junior to play Saturday against LSU. “We hope to get him back tomorrow,” Meyer said.

Harvin has worn a protective boot this week. The Gators will need Harvin to carry some of the running  back load as RB Emmanuel Moody (ankle) didn’t practice Tuesday and is doubtful for Saturday.

The Gators have a huge matchup this week against LSU and need Percy Harvin on the field. I really don’t care if he doesn’t practice all week, just as long as he’s on the field Saturday night ready to go.

We have to face it as Percy Harvin and Gator fans: He will never be 100% again. That heel, ankle area will always be a problem. Percy plays hard and gives it everything he’s got on every play, unfortunately, that attitude can get a player injured. But even an 80% Percy is the Gators best offensive option.

I’ve got a video of highlights from the recent Ole Miss game. It’s got more then just Percy Harvin on it, but the video definitely shows all his big plays. You’ll just need to fast forward some sections.

And just so we all know, Percy is accepting some of the blame for the Gators’ loss, despite the fact that he had 200+ yards of offense.

“Me turning over the ball had a lot to do with us turning over some points,” Harvin said. “That’s the first time I’ve fumbled since my freshman year. It’s something I take pride in.”

Do you think Percy Harvin is out of the 2008 Heisman race? As much as it pains me to say this, I think he is. Through the first three Gator games (Harvin only active for 2) he has:

• 11 carries for 58 yards and 1 touchdown
• 3 receptions for 61 yards and 1 touchdown

Missing the first game didn’t hurt him as much as a balanced Gator offense has. Percy Harvin is still the dynamic threat we remember from last year. However, the 2008 Gators have a new offensive plan that doesn’t involved 95% Percy Harvin and Tim Tebow. They’re spreading the ball around to all their weapons.

I mean it is possible for Percy to still win a Heisman. If he gets 150+ total yards every game for the rest of the season, scores 15-20 touchdowns, has a Heisman moment, and the Gators go to a BCS game… then he can still win. Let’s hope it happens.

What do you think?