GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Quarterback Tim Tebow has beefed up to 242 pounds. Linebacker Brandon Spikes surpassed 255 this offseason. Offensive lineman Matt Patchan jumped almost 30 pounds to 290 in a matter of months.

That’s feathery weight compared to the scale-breaking expectations of the Florida Gators as fall camp kicked off Thursday.
A Southeastern Conference title would likely thrust the Gators into a third Bowl Championship Series title game in four years, but players admit that going undefeated would be a sweet payoff after a rigorous offseason.
“It’s been something I’ve been thinking about every day,” Spikes said.
Florida football has never recorded a perfect record in its 103 seasons. The closest performance came from Coach G.E. Pyle and the 1911 Gators, who finished 5-0-1 with a 6-6 tie against South Carolina.
With the talent returning from last year’s national title team, Gators fans can’t help but be spoiled while expecting nothing less than a Sears Trophy.
Tebow is one of seven returning offensive starters thanks to this week’s return of wide receiver Riley Cooper, who was mulling a Texas Rangers baseball contract all summer. Cooper is signing with the Rangers but has been cleared to focus on football for the next five months.
Spikes leads a defense returning every starter from last year and almost every backup. Most of that talent worked out in the Thursday morning session for returning players while freshmen and redshirt freshmen gathered for a late-afternoon session.
Tebow, who has gained a good five pounds of muscle and a thick beard this offseason, said the 2009 squad has fostered the best chemistry out of his four years at UF. All summer he sent early-morning text messages to teammates and perfected routes with his wide receivers on the Ben Hill Griffin Stadium field.
Tebow said he worked on “every possible throw we will ever make” over the summer. Those sweltering afternoon sessions were fueled by the thought of riding a manageable schedule into Atlanta as the SEC East champion.
LSU and Georgia are the only UF opponents considered to be national top-10 material.
“(Undefeated) is something that we want,” Tebow said. “That’s not our goal, we’re not positing that. But when we step on the field, we want to win. That would be special, the first time in Florida history.”
The Gators showed up at 5:45 a.m. Thursday and practiced with helmets and no pads. Starting strong safety Ahmad Black (back), backup running back Emmanuel Moody (ankle) and wide receiver Carl Moore were held out of practice because they are “not 100 percent,” according to a team spokesman.
Florida needs a good two weeks of practice before “we’re really clicking,” Tebow said.
“I think we have a shot with talent. Talent doesn’t mean anything,” Tebow said. “Talent never won any games. Hard work (does).”
Thursday’s practices included plenty of smiles and casual pats on the back from players, but Spikes doesn’t want to be judged by his jovial exterior.
Trying to go undefeated is serious business.
“We want to rewrite history,” Spikes said.