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Gators Favored by Three Touchdowns Over Kentucky
9/26/09
The thing that has stuck out the most this college football year is that
there is no such thing as a sure win. The gap between the big programs and
smaller programs is slowly decreasing. Just last weekend we saw a Washington
Huskies team pull a shocker upsetting the Pac 10 golden child USC. It is
becoming increasingly important for teams to come ready to play every single
week, and I promise you after the USC loss that is exactly what Coach Urban
Meyer is preaching to his team.
Florida is coming into the game off a very uninspiring performance against the
Tennessee Volunteers. With the media building up the Meyer vs. Kiffin war of
words everyone was expecting Florida to come out and hand it to the Volunteers,
but Tennessee’s defense gave Florida fits all day and Florida escaped with a
hard fought 23-13 win.
Urban Meyer has since came out and said several of his players were battling the
flu, and since he said Kiffin wasn’t playing to win so his team had a play it
safe game plan. After their surprising game against Tennessee many people are
questioning just how good Florida really is, so expect Florida to come out and
play inspired football this Saturday.
Kentucky is coming into the game 2-0 with wins over Miami (OH) and Louisville.
Kentucky surprisingly finds itself in the Top half of most offensive and
defensive stats in the SEC. They have a very well rounded team both offensively
and defensively. Kentucky has always been a below average team in the SEC and
this Florida game will be their biggest game of the year.
FLORIDA’S KEY TO VICTORY
Lets face it this Florida team is better then Kentucky in every aspect of the
game. They have a better offense, defense, and special teams. If Florida comes
out and plays like Florida is supposed to this one will be over early, but as we
saw last week with Tennessee, or even last year against Ole Miss, Florida isn’t
perfect. Florida needs to let Kentucky know early and often that this Gator
defense isn’t going to let up and that they are going to smack Kentucky in the
mouth. Kentucky is averaging over 400 yards of total offense this year, so they
are capable of putting up points with their QB Mike Hartline and QB turned WR
Randall Cobb, but if the Gators defense plays like they can Kentucky wont get
near that 400 yard average.
KENTUCKY’S KEY TO VICTORY
As we saw last week in the Tennessee game the best way to throw this Gator team
off is playing physical defense. Tim Tebow and his offense looked lost at times
and if Kentucky is going to have any shot in this game they need to get after
Tebow early and often. Kentucky is 4th in the SEC in rush defense allowing just
98 yards per game so expect Kentucky to commit to stacking the box and trying to
limit the Gators big plays on the ground and make Tebow beat them with his arm.
Tebow is more than capable of winning the game with his arm, but it’s a
situation where this Gator team is a lot more dangerous with the ball in their
running backs and quarterback’s hands especially since the Gators lost WRs Percy
Harvin and Louis Murphy to the NFL. If Kentucky can limit Florida’s big plays
and frustrate Tebow early they will have a chance to pull a shocker.
THE FINAL VERDICT
There is a reason why Florida has won 2 national championships in 4 years. This
team is full of speed and playmakers on either side of the ball. We're normally
not comfortable laying big numbers. It would be a bit easier to swallow if this
one were under 3 touchdowns, but it's -21.5. In this instance, we'll lay it.
Coming off last weeks Tennessee game Florida needs a big win to impress the
pollsters. If it's possible to run up the score, the Gators will do it. That's
the politics of the current system at work. Florida
-21.5