Date: Saturday, Aug. 24 |
Time: 7 p.m. EDT/ 6 p.m. CDT
Location: Camping World Stadium -- Orlando, Florida
TV: ESPN, SEC Network
Announcers: Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Maria Taylor
All Florida hail! The football season is finally upon us! 2019 marks the 150th year of college football, and it begins with an epic showdown between two storied football programs, the Fighting Gators of Gainesville and the Tropical Depressions of Coral Gables.
The Gators and Hurricanes have not met on the gridiron since 2013, but Miami has won five of the last six matchups dating back to 2002. The two teams have not met regularly since 1987, and have not met in back-to-back seasons since 2004. Miami holds a 29-26 win total advantage over Florida. Regardless of who wins this game, the two teams will begin a home-and-home series in 2024-2025.
To add some drama to this game, it is worth noting that Dan Mullen and Manny Diaz are friends who respect one another, and know one another's philosophies. The Gators are favored by 7.5, while the over-under for total points scored is 47.
Players to watch:
- Florida QB Feleipe Franks 188/322, 2457 yards, 24 TD, 6 INT, 143.4 RAT. Franks improved 1000+ years, 13 TD, -2 INT, and 30 RAT from 2017 and looks to continue that trend in his second year under Brian Johnson and Dan Mullen.
- Florida RB Malik Davis returns from injury seeking to regain his 2017 form where he averaged 6.7 yards per touch before being injured in 2018. Lamical Perine and Dameon Pierce combined for 1200 yards in 2018, so the backfield is loaded with a variety of running backs with different styles.
- Miami All-ACC LB Shaq Quarterman returns with potential NFL draft picks LB
Michael Pinckney and LB/ Striker Zach McCloud ready to stuff the Gator backfield.
Prediction: The Gators should win this game 32-14 if Franks has a good day. I would take the under on the 47 points, but I would take the Gators covering the 7.5-point spread.
(Love the title, BTW)
Yep...Well, here we are...and here we go.
As late as the end of spring I was confident, and would have picked the Gators to win this one pulling away, EASILY covering the spread.
Now, I just don't know. With all the off field stuff that has clouded the view, news from both campuses that have muddied the waters concerning actual talent, scheme and x's and o's, at this point I just don't know.
In an effort to sweep away all the bs, get back to the basics of assessing "what I know and what we can actually SEE", I am going to try and head into tomorrow with a hopefully straight-on view of who WE are, what we got and what has to go well in order for us to live up to the expectations embodied in our #8 ranking (beyond "image and expectation" essentially meaningless, even useless before anyone has played a down) heading in:
Obviously, Franks has got to take that "step up" everyone inside and even outside the program has fitted him for. And that doesn't just go for winning this game: Either this is the year the passionate, tempermental "talented work-in-progress" bursts forth into fully developed star, shows he does indeed have all the tools and can call upon them on demand, or he likely devolves, ultimately self-combusts at key moments, and we are left with an uneven season as Emory Jones is phased into the role of "Future QB-1" and "Gator Savior". I support Franks, see his great potential, hope and expect only the best for him ahead...but let us not forget that he had been sat down, Trask set to replace him at mid-season last year: When Trask broke his leg in practice that very week, Franks returned out of necessity--and more or less reclaimed his form AND place at the center of the offense, restored confidence and calm balance on that offense and reclaimed hope and forward momentum for the remainder of the season. THAT Franks can take us to heights not seen in a decade.
We're NOT as deep as we had hoped or expected, even at places we weren't expected to have such concerns as late as late spring. WE HAVE GOT TO STAY HEALTHY this season...Here's hoping a man named "SAVAGE" (our new Strength & Conditioning Coach) and a reported and observed drastic upgrade in philosophy, approach and just plain hard work and effort on that front bears fruit.
We DO have potential studs'n'stars ALL OVER the field; There are game-changer types everywhere you look on BOTH sides of the line of scrimmage. We have the potential of returning to the type of squad that can dominate the scoreboard again.
Franks DOES take the reins, the squad has a generally fortunate and healthy year, and a reasonable portion of those "future stars" begin their stories NOW, and this could be one of those amazing, (at least to everyone else) surprising, announcing-ourselves-to-the-WORLD seasons.
But with bad luck and lousy breaks young men can stumble, quickly lose their hearts and their way...and it could all still fizzle.
We DO have a good Coach who has assembled a tight, talented and hard-charging staff, and that bodes well as far as dealing with adversity, rolling with the punches, keeping things upbeat and moving forward--above all, getting and KEEPING everyone on the same page, creating that feeling of near-invulnerability and mutual support that comes of being a part of an undeniable TEAM.
In the end, it is THAT that will I think make the difference: Oh, the nay-sayers are already projecting "a step back", the "hators" of "Hator Nation" are circling, popping up here and there on all the "Week Zero" shows...and we WILL have some ups and downs, but I think they will be surmountable, we will DEAL with them--and this will be on the whole at the very LEAST "a pretty satisfying season"--and potentially something a whole lot more than that.