The Florida Gators will wear patriotic uniforms to honor the sacrifice that first responders made in response to the 9/11/2001 attacks. This weekend will mark the 20th anniversary of the deadly attack. The 1-0 Gators will travel to Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida and take on in-state rival 0-1 USF Bulls. The Gators are coming off a 35-14 tune-up victory over the FAU Owls. The Bulls are coming off a 0-45 thrashing at the hands of the NC State Wolfpack. The Gators are 1-0 against the Bulls, with their only previous meeting being a 38-14 victory for the Gators--the final season under coach Urban Meyer. Florida is favored by 28.5 and the over/under is at 58.5.
The USF Bulls are led by first-time head coach Jeff Scott, who spent the past decade at Clemson as a wide receiver coach and co-offensive coordinator. Scott is 1-9 all-time as head coach at USF. The USF offensive coordinator is Charlie Weis, Jr.. Weis got into coaching in 2011 as an offensive quality control analyst under Florida Gator offensive coordinator Charlie Weis. Weis spent the past decade as team manager for his father's Kansas football team, offensive analyst at Alabama, offensive analyst for the Atlanta Falcons, and offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the FAU Owls before joining the USF staff. The defensive coordinator is Glenn Spencer, who has been coaching since 1990. There really are no players to watch for at USF, but here are the players to watch:
- QB 9 Timmy McClain 6'1" 196, FR, Sanford, FL (Seminole HS)
- QB 12 Katravis Marsh 6'5" 226, SO, Hialeah, FL (Miami Central HS)
- RB 0 J. Mangham 6'2" 221, JR, Detroit, MI (Cass Tech/ Colorado)
- QB 6 Cade Fortin 6/3" 221, SO, Suwanee, GA (North Gwinnett HS)
- RB 2 Darrian Felix 5'11", SR, Fort Myers, FL (Fort Myers HS/ Oregon)
The Gators are led by Dan Mullen, who will be seeking his 100th victory this weekend. He is 99-54 as head coach at Mississippi State and Florida, 30-9 in his current position at Florida. The Gators are built to run--at least that is where they have the most depth at running back and quarterback, and this is where they shined against FAU. The Gators should have 200 yards passing by halftime, but this will also be the last opportunity to tweak the passing game before facing Alabama next week. Keep an eye on the following Gators on offense:
QB
- RSO QB 5 Emory Jones 6-3 200 Heard County HS Franklin, GA. 4-star.
- FR QB 15 Anthony Richardson 6-4 213 Eastside HS. Gainesville, FL 4-star
- JR RB 27 Dameon Pierce 5-11 210 Bainbridge HS. Bainbridge, GA. 4-star
- RJR RB 20 Malik Davis 5-11 190 Jesuit Tampa FL. 4-star.
- RFR RB 6 Nay'Quan Wright 5-9 188. Carol City HS, Miami, FL 4-star.
- TR-RSO RB Lorenzo Lingard 6-0 190 of University of Miami by way of University High School, Orange City, FL. 5-star.
- RJR 1 WR Jacob Copeland 6-1 181 Escambia HS, Pensacola, FL 4-star.
- SO 3 WR Xzavier Henderson 6-3.5 190 Columbus HS, Miami, FL 4-star.
- TR-SO. WR 4 Justin Shorter 6-4 226 of Penn State University by way of South Brunswick High School, Monmouth Junction, NJ. Former 5*.
- RSO WR/ATH Ja'Markis Weston 6-3 195. Clewiston HS. Clewiston, FL 3-star.
- RSO WR/DB Trent Whittemore 6-3 185. Bucholz HS. Gainesville FL. 3-star.
- RSR WR Rick Wells 6-1 185 Raines HS, Jacksonville FL. 3-star.
- RJR TE Kemore Gamble 6'4" 220 Miami Southridge Miami FL. 4-star.
- SO TE Keon Zipperer. 6-2 240. Lakeland HS. Lakeland, FL 4-star.