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- The Big Board: One month to go
- October Superlatives
- Former Florida Player Feedback: 10 Observations
- Recruit Reaction: I thought the atmosphere was electric
- Parental Perspective: Florida Football Commits Parental RoundTable
- What names are on your Coaching Hot Board
- OTM: Is there a path to a fourth year
- Ranking UF’s commits from least to most likely to jump ship
Inside the Gators’ Ben McLeish and Mark Wheeler take a closer look at Saturday’s match-up between Florida and No. 9 Ole Miss, including thoughts on what a win would mean to Florida’s Billy Napier, Gators players to keep an eye on, as well as offering up a score prediction.
What would a win or loss mean for the rest of Florida’s season?
McLeish: A win officially makes the Gators bowl-eligible (with a very winnable matchup with FSU looming). That would be remarkable following the Gators 1-2 start. Following the Texas A&M Game everyone wanted Billy Napier fired. People were asking themselves if this was a two-win team. A win would be the ultimate cherry on top for the Gators’ impressive turnaround. It would make it very likely that they avoid becoming the first senior class to have four losing seasons since the Great Depression. And finally, it would temporarily put the Lane Kiffin coming to the Gators’ hopes to bed.
Wheeler: A win would help to establish Florida as a program on an upswing. Here, nearing the end of his third year in Gainesville Billy Napier hasn’t been able to maintain any sort of momentum on or off the field. What good comes of last week’s win over LSU if UF sandwiches it between a blowout loss to Texas and a potential loss to Ole Miss? If Florida football is to take another step in the right direction, it starts this weekend.
What is the Gators’ biggest advantage and disadvantage?
McLeish: The Gators’ biggest advantage is the fact that they’ve had the hardest schedule in college football this year. For a lot of teams, a game against Ole Miss would be the hardest game of the year. But the Gators have already played, Georgia, Texas, Texas A&M, etc. Ole Miss might be the fourth-best team they’ve played this year. So they should come prepared.
Their biggest disadvantage is that they’re coming off of such a huge win. In Napier’s tenure at Florida, he’s never been able to win two consecutive big games. There’s always a first for everything, but Napier will have a tough time rallying the troops for another huge matchup in the Swamp.
Wheeler: Florida’s biggest advantage is that they will be playing in front of their 12th straight sellout in the Swamp. With it being a noon kickoff, it won’t quite be the same atmosphere as it was last Saturday for LSU, but it’ll be loud enough to make life difficult for the Rebels.
The biggest disadvantage will be Florida’s injury-depleted secondary going up against the best passing attack they will face this season. Ole Miss receiver Tre Harris returning after sitting out the last month will only help complicate matters for the Gators.
Who are the key players to watch for?
McLeish: For Florida, obviously the play of DJ Lagway is very important. But if this offense is going to be successful in the way that the Gators want, it’s going to need another stellar performance from wide receiver Elijhah Badger. Lagway clearly gets his success from the deep ball. He has the most accurate deep ball in the league. If Badger can consistently get open, Lagway will make sure to get it to his favorite target.
Ole Miss will be excited to unleash the former Gator edge rusher Princely Umanmielen. He’s coming off of three straight two-sack performances. If the Gators aren’t careful, he can absolutely wreck their gameplan. And he’ll be looking for revenge against his former team.
Wheeler: Before the start of the season the general consensus was that Florida would be better off at left tackle than at right tackle. However, Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson has had a damn good year, while Austin Barber has had his struggles. Now, in comes Ole Miss with perhaps the best set of pass rushers in the nation in Princely Umanmielen and Suntarine Perkins to put Barber to the test.
Prediction
McLeish: For the first time since week one against Miami, I was wrong about my prediction last week against LSU. I was very impressed with the Gators’ performance, and I didn’t think they had it in them after the beatdown in Austin. I think they’ll play their hearts out this week and give the Kiffin-led Rebels a tough time. But I don’t think they’re ready yet to beat a top-10 team in the country. Ole Miss 31-27.
Wheeler: On paper, this has the makings of a blowout. In Ole Miss, you have the No. 1 pass offense in the SEC coming to town to face a Florida squad with the third-worst pass defense in the SEC. The good news is the Rebels’ pass defense is suspect as well, coming in but one spot ahead of the Gators. I have a feeling Lane Kiffin is going to want to make a point on Saturday. Ole Miss 45-21
Season-to-date Predictions
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