Gator Country’s podcast is back as the gang previews the Florida Gators game against Vanderbilt on Saturday afternoon in Gainesville, Florida.
Andrew Spivey and Nick de la Torre break down the big match-ups in the game, plus tell where the Florida Gators have an edge at against Vanderbilt.
Andrew and Nick also predict the game, plus the give you three players to watch in the game for the Florida Gators football team.
Transcript:
Nick: What’s going on, Gator Country? Switching it up. Nick de la Torre here leading us into the podcast. Bringing some energy, because Andrew Spivey can’t. Andrew spent the morning fishing. Catch anything?
Andrew: Absolutely. My grandpa and I caught 65 little bream today. It wasn’t a bad day. As some of you guys know on the message board, my grandpa recently had a little medical procedure, so I was spending the day with him. Good day as always. It was hot though. Definitely not a wintery weather, but it’s always better to be myself than to be Mark Richt or Butch Jones.
Nick: As much as I try to keep those two off of the podcast, I feel like I’m going to fail, and I shouldn’t even try, based on the dumpster fire that is surrounding Georgia right now in the media, and then there was a quote that you enjoyed last night.
Andrew: Yeah.
Nick: I don’t know which way you want to lead first.
Andrew: Let’s go with the moron first. The moron has to be Butch Jones. Six or seven years to build a program? Basically what you’re telling me, Butch, is you’re going to fail with your first three classes to four classes, and they’re going to be chopped liver to you. Then you’re going to have a good class or good year, after seven years. I don’t know where you’re playing ball, but my University of South Alabama don’t even give you seven years. Take a hike somewhere else. To me that just showed he’s a loser. Sorry. That just showed he was a loser. I’m going to let you go ahead and give your response real quick, and then I’m going to go to Mark Richt.
Nick: To me I think our paesan, Vince, gave us some background to that. He was asked about Fulmer getting an opportunity to build a program, and I think no school is going to give you six years of losing and then think in that seventh year, you’ve done enough now. You’ll get it turned around in year seven. I think I lean more towards Butch’s six, seven year timeline than three. He’s in his third season now, and I don’t think you can really judge a coach until they’ve had a full four years of recruiting. Now, what can you do when it’s all your guys? I remember last year while Florida was losing sending out a tweet something like, this is Will Muschamp’s team. This is his fourth season. Everyone that’s not a redshirt senior is his guy. This is the product that he has built in four years, and it’s not getting the job done.
I think a lot of coaches aren’t afforded four years, because every fan base wants to win now. If you’re not winning a national championship what are we even doing here? Even though only one team out of more than 120 can win a national championship. I think it takes more than two years, three years, to build a program, but you’re not going to get six or seven. It’s not those times anymore where there’s three papers covering a team, and you’ll read one snippet about Tennessee in the morning paper. It’s 24/7, 365. The thing I also want to put in there before you jump in is Butch took over an absolute mess.
Andrew: Sure.
Nick: His whole brick by brick thing, you try to find a catch phrase or a credo, a motto to go with, but Lane Kiffin walked into Knoxville and poured gasoline over that program, lit a match, and then left. Dooley came in, and he was supposed to clean up that fire, and all he did was accidentally dump some more gasoline onto it. What Butch came to was a completely burned down program, and his whole brick by brick mantra was they burned down the program here. We literally are starting from the foundation trying to build this.
Andrew: Yeah, but here’s the thing, and this is what I think you’re missing. Seven years, that is almost two full classes of them going through four years, four years. No. No. No. That shows you’re awful as a football coach. A, that tells me you’re awful as an evaluator of talent. No. He’s stupid, man. Sorry. He’s stupid.
Nick: I think he was more referencing that in other times coaches would get six or seven years. To me, four. That’s you recruiting. Your first recruiting class, they are now seniors. Four years, if you haven’t gotten the job done in that fourth season your team isn’t clearly better than when you took over, isn’t headed in the right direction, and that’s it. There’s no six. There’s no five. There’s no seven. Four years is what you should get, and he’ll be coming up on that soon.
Andrew: That’s the thing. I mean, three to four, that’s fine. You look at the great coaches in America, Urban, Spurrier, Saban, you name them.
Nick: Dan Campbell, Miami Dolphins.
Andrew: No.
Nick: True American hero.
Andrew: Two and three seasons and they have their team playing for a championship, or at least competing. Tennessee’s not even relevant, man. They’re not even relevant.
Nick: They are always relevant in the off season, which is not the right season to be relevant in.
Andrew: Once again, they’re not relevant. Let’s just go up to Athens where I feel like it’s like tissue season out there. Soft season all around. Richt and Pruitt are fighting. This, that, and the other. Jeremy Pruitt is the only tough son of a gun that lives up in that area. I said before, I had heard some things that made me believe he wasn’t going to be there, but Jeremy Pruitt’s the only thing up there that even rivals the football coach. Mark Richt doesn’t need to be coaching flag football, that’s how soft he is. You’re going to run the guy out that plays defense who is actually doing his job. That thing that we call getting a paycheck, that’s what he’s doing. Richt, Schottenheimer on offense I have no idea what they’re doing. It’s a dumpster fire up in Athens, and I hope it stays a dumpster fire for years to come.
Nick: To me, I think Jeremy Pruitt got a little more power than he probably should have. I’ve been told that Pruitt was really the driving force and initiated the Schottenheimer hire, got Sale and Sherrer, those Alabama guys, to come over to Georgia. All of them are failing, and it’s kind of, why did Richt give Pruitt so much control? Now those pieces that Pruitt kind of got going, they’re not working out. Who is to blame? Is it the guy Pruitt for making bad calls, or the guy above him who’s the buck stops at Mark Richt’s deck? Why did you give somebody else that much control over decisions that would affect your job?
Andrew: Yeah, but here’s the deal. Jeremy Pruitt’s a heck of a football coach.
Nick: You know what else he does a heck of a job doing? He does a heck of a job burning bridges. Alabama’s not bringing him back.
Andrew: Hell no.
Nick: FSU, one year. They’re not bringing him back.
Andrew: Alabama will bring him back in a heartbeat. Him and Saban left on great terms. Saban actually was the one that reached out to Jimbo for Jeremy Pruitt, because of that. Nick Saban thinks of him as like a younger son of his. Alabama fans would welcome him back in a heartbeat. Because why? He’s a DB coach who knows what he’s doing. That’s exactly why they would want him back. The thing is, yes, he may burn bridges, because he wants success. He makes success happen. You’re either going to do it his way, or you’re not playing football for him. It’s the opposite of Mark Richt, and to this day I don’t know why him and Mark Richt ever signed up to be co-coaches, because neither one of those guys can get along. Both of those guys are very different personalities. Mark Richt is a sissy on top of a sissy, and Jeremy Pruitt’s a guy you want to take to a bar fight.
Nick: Hopefully there’s not many bar fights going on in Athens.
Andrew: You know what I mean. If I’m going to a fight, I’m taking Jeremy Pruitt. If I’m going to the opera, I’m taking Mark Richt. That’s just what it is. Then if I’m going to the liars contest I’m taking Butch Jones.
Nick: You’re taking a lot of people a lot of places.
Andrew: I ain’t taking none of them people anywhere, because I honestly can’t stand the sight of them. You know I had to get real far away. Let’s go to a true winner, the Florida Gators this week going for the SEC.
Nick: Real quick. Do you think Mark Richt survives this season?
Andrew: Yes, I do. I think that he has got enough, he’s two faced, so the administration likes him, and they’re blinded by the fact of it’s glory old Mark Richt. I said it before, I like him failing. I have nothing fun to talk about about Georgia if he’s there. I want him to stay there and fail forever.
Nick: I’m going to go with right now I think he’s done. I’m leaning towards that.
Andrew: I think everybody gets fired off of his staff pretty much, and he has to retool everything, and he’s able to come back. That’s where I lean is that he cleans house, gets some new coordinators, and kind of revamps a couple of different things on that. I mean, the fact of the matter is you’re only as good as your head coach, and Mark Richt’s not a good coach. Does clearing house get better? Probably not. Hey, Pat McGarity, isn’t that his name? Pat? Isn’t that the AD’s name? Isn’t his name Pat McGarity or John McGarity? Something like that. Anyway, whatever the Ad’s name is, please keep him up there. He sucks. Let him stay up there.
Nick: Yeah. Shoot. I don’t know. I think Richt, it’s tough, and we’ve talked about it. I don’t know if we talked about it on the podcast, but we’ve talked about it personally. Richt’s a good football coach. You kind of know what you’re going to get at Georgia every year. You know what I mean? He’s probably the most successful coach that has never played for a national championship. You can kind of every year going to Georgia say, “We’re going to win 8, 9, maybe 10 games. Maybe we’ll sniff the SEC championship.” You just haven’t gotten over that hurdle. To me, the risk is the grass is always greener. Do we get rid of a guy who every year we go into a football season knowing we’re going to be good this year? We’ll have a product that we can sell. Then hiring an unknown, and now it’s we hope it works out.
Andrew: Here’s the thing. What does Georgia get out of winning 9 football games? Nothing. Nothing at all. I say this, and it’s like they got the same thing Will Muschamp got Florida, nothing. Nothing at all. With the exception of not losing to Georgia Southern, what did Mark Richt do for Georgia that Will Muschamp didn’t do for Florida? Nothing. It’s all about winning championships and putting rings on fingers. If you don’t do that you’re not successful. I mean, to steal a quote from McElwain, “It’s not all about participation ribbons.” What are you playing for here? To always be 9-3? Nicholas, what do you think?
Nick: The thing is is that these teams, it’s not just a football team. The reason we get these PC answers is because these teams are businesses. They’re run that way. Business is good, but not great, and by getting rid of a guy who you know is going to give you good business to bring in someone who may or may not give you good business is risky, but that’s the job for the AD and the president and people who get paid a lot of money to make those exact decisions. It’s a tough decision to make. He’s been there 15 years. It’s a tough decision to make. I think he could be done. I obviously don’t have as strong of feelings about Mark Richt as you do, but I think he’s a good football coach, and if he’s not back it’ll definitely look and feel a little different next year in Jacksonville.
Andrew: My podcast will sound a heck of a lot different. Let’s go to a winner.
Nick: We’ll have nothing to talk about.
Andrew: We’ll find something to talk about. Butch will still be around. Don’t worry about that. Let’s go to a real winner though. I really can’t handle it. It makes me sick on my stomach thinking about the guy. I hate the guy, really do. Sorry. Hate’s a strong word, but it is held for a couple of people. McElwain going for the East this week. Pretty much already clinched, but get to actually bring the banner or whatever Florida gets for the East, get that Saturday with a win. Coach Mac said yesterday, on Wednesday, that things were better, that he had good practices. Martez Ivey was questionable to play. To me that sounds okay. I just think this defense is going to dominate the game. It wouldn’t surprise me to see the defense to put up 7 or even 14 points in this football game.
Nick: To me, when you look at Vandy and what their offense has done, 14th in scoring offense, 15.8 points per game. Their rushing offense is okay. It’s actually a little bit better than Florida’s, averaging 156 per game. That’s 10th. Tenth in passing. It’s just not 13th in total offense. It’s a bad Vandy offense that is going to go up against their best competition, their best defense of the year. They played Georgia, got blown out 31-14. Played Ole Miss, 27-16, a little bit closer. Ole Miss has kind of been exposed a little bit. Florida definitely exposed them after that Vanderbilt game, but this will be the best defense that Vanderbilt has played all year long. Outside of Austin Peay when they scored 47, Vanderbilt’s highest total is 17 against Middle Tennessee State. I don’t know how Vanderbilt scores against this Florida defense.
Andrew: Bro, it ain’t happening, Captain. So don’t even try to fool the people. Really they’re averaging 360 yards a game is all they’re averaging on the ground. That’s not very good. There is some question marks about the health of the team, so just good question, man. I really don’t know where they find offense in this game. Ralph Webb, I know coach Mac tried to give him praise. He’s just another guy, man. I can’t sit here and say that he’s going to do anything that’s going to be better. Florida’s faced Michel. They’ve faced Fournette. They’ve faced some good backs, Jalon Herd and Kamara. They faced good backs that Ralph Webb is not, I don’t even know if Ralph Webb is on the field for any of those teams. That’s the thing. As far as Florida’s defense versus Vandy’s offense, Florida should be just fine. Where it comes to be an issue is Vandy’s defense is 6th in the SEC, allowing just 323 yards a game, and that’s not too bad for this Vandy team.
Nick: No, and they’re 5th in scoring defense too. They’re only giving up 18.5 points a game, and they’ve played a high powered offense in Ole Miss. To me, Vanderbilt is a good defense. They are very good at stopping the run, which for me is kind of alarming when it comes to Florida. Vanderbilt’s only giving up, they’re 4th in the SEC right behind Florida, only giving up 114 rushing yards per game. Florida just came off their best statistical running game against Georgia last week, but now with David Sharpe expected to be out you’re starting to shuffle things. That offensive line was gelling. You take a piece out and move things around. Where are they? Is Florida going to be able to run the ball at all?
When you get into a game against an inferior team like Vanderbilt it, talent wise, you get a lead, you’re going to want to try and run the ball. Now if you’re up 14-0 and you can’t run the ball, you start letting Vanderbilt hang around, maybe something flukey, interception, or a fumble, or a return touchdown, get them back in the game and crazy things can happen. That’s really, to me, where I see the only way that Vanderbilt can kind of slow down Florida and make this a game is in the running game. Florida needs to be able to run the ball and assert their dominance over Vanderbilt. It’s a good Vanderbilt defense. Offensively they’re tragic.
It’s a good defense, and Florida just needs to kind of go in there, run the ball effectively, and that’s hitting Vanderbilt where it hurts. We’re hanging our hat on our defense, specifically our rushing defense, and if you can go in there and break out a couple long drives that feature the running game, you’re hitting Vanderbilt where it hurts, and you’re saying, the best thing we do on the football field Florida has an answer for.
Andrew: Now Vandy is 5th in the league in sacks. They’re averaging just under 3 sacks a game. That’s something you have to be careful about there a little bit. I’ll be honest. If you’re Florida, you come out, and you just let your playmakers make plays. You find a way to get the ball to Callaway. You find a way to get the ball to Demarcus Robinson. You find a way to get the ball to Brandon Powell, and just let your playmakers make plays in space. Then you get the defense out of the box a little bit, backed up a little bit, and then that’s when you come with the run game. Once again, Georgia’s defensive line, in my opinion, is a lot better than Vanderbilt’s. It may not say so on paper, but it is, in my opinion. You get that there, and then that’s where you should see Florida have an advantage is when they do that.
Nick: Yeah. Sometimes, for as much as football can be a chess match between coaches, maybe sometimes it just comes down to, listen guys, we have more talent. We need you guys to stay within yourselves, and we will come out on top this weekend. The other thing that I really think Jim McElwain is doing a very good job of, and it’s tricky. It’s kind of a tightrope to walk. Most coaches will say, we’re playing the nameless, faceless university for the 147th straight week this week. They’re a great opponent, blah, blah, blah. All that crap. Jim McElwain doesn’t feed into that. Last week he stressed to his team this isn’t just another opponent. This game means something to their university, to our university. It means something to their fans, to our fans, and that means it should mean something more to you. We don’t lose this game. This week there’s no rivalry. It’s not a very good team, a team that really shouldn’t give Florida much problems, but you’re 60 minutes away from Atlanta.
Andrew: That’s the biggest thing.
Nick: Jim McElwain is saying, listen, everybody’s asking me questions. They’re asking you questions. How are you guys ranked 10th? That’s what we are. That’s the University of Florida. Those are questions we shouldn’t be answering. Let’s go out there, play 60 minutes of hard football, get back to Atlanta, and start building towards a time where we’re not answering questions of, did you expect to be here? Did you expect to win this many games? We’ll be answering questions of, how does it feel to be back in Atlanta?
Andrew: Right.
Nick: How does it feel to be in the College Football Playoff, instead of are you as surprised as I am that you’re here?
Andrew: Right. Exactly. That’s the thing. If it was just a normal game, if Florida had locked it up last week, and you were going into this game and you had some worries about how it would be, then I think that’s when you would have problems. Now that there’s something on the line, and guys like Trip Thurman, guys like D Rob, Kelvin Taylor, Marcus Maye, the guys that have been here, Jon Bullard. The guys that have never been to Atlanta this is something they’ve got to be looking forward to. Also, let’s remember one thing. The last time Vandy was in Gainesville the streak ended for Vanderbilt, and they sent you on your Homecoming with a loss. It’s almost like a revenge factor as well as Atlanta. There is no doubt in my mind the team comes out and out fast.
The one question I do have more than Vanderbilt is how will they react to noon? I don’t know. Noon is a big difference. Noon and a 3:30 game is a big difference. Now you’re waking up at 7:00 and eating breakfast at 8:00, and you’re on the field at 10:30. When you’re usually sleeping till 9:00 or 10:00, getting up, eating breakfast, then getting ready to head to the stadium at say 1:00. It’s a big difference in that. A three hour time frame it could be there. Will Muschamp had the worst luck getting his team ready to go for a noon game. Be interesting to see how Mac does. Mac’s challenging the crowd to get there. The crowd could very well get these guys energized.
Nick: I think Mac is so detail oriented when it comes to stuff like that that I really don’t, he’s talked about it as far as motivational tactic that he’s using with the guys, but to me he’s so detail oriented. These guys have been waking up and eating breakfast at 7:00 this week. They’ve been doing things to prepare them for what Saturday will be like. They were doing those things even back in the spring. To me, that doesn’t really play in. The coaches might bring it up, but to me I think the coaching staff will do a good job of handling that. Next week, if Florida wins this week at Vanderbilt, next week I can already tell you Monday’s press conference will be Jim McElwain saying, they’ve already locked up Atlanta, so now they have really nothing to play for. I’m really interested to see what these guys look like this week, because they’ve already reached their goal. I’m interested to see if they’ll have a letdown against South Carolina, because what are we playing for?
Andrew: That may come on Saturday.
Nick: Saturday after the game, yeah.
Andrew: You never know. It’s coming sometime or another. You can bet that. My thing is it’s not so much about the playing focused thing. It’s about playing like you’re supposed to be there in that I don’t know if I want to see a celebration Saturday. You didn’t do anything. You clinched the East. Let me celebrate when you get to Atlanta. That’s kind of where I’m looking is where do these guys’ mind, can they handle this in a professional manner, or do we look like children when they win?
Nick: Listen, to me, I think if Florida wins on Saturday Jim McElwain deserves a Gatorade bath. I think he will be the first Florida head coach to lead his first team to Atlanta. That deserves a celebration, but you won’t get it.
Andrew: You shouldn’t get it.
Nick: You won’t get it, and that’s part of what McElwain is building. It’s rebuilding the confidence and rebuilding that thought in everybody where it’s, I came to Florida. I’m not going to celebrate beating Vanderbilt, because it clinched the SEC East, because we should be clinching the SEC East every year.
Andrew: Exactly.
Nick: While I think that, yes, he should catch a Gatorade bath, or maybe even one of those baseball shaving cream pies to the face in his postgame on field interview, I think it’s deserved, but I don’t think you’ll see it.
Andrew: What would happen if he gets a Gatorade bath? Will he act pissed off like Nick Saban, or will he enjoy it? I think he enjoys it.
Nick: He would enjoy it. He would enjoy it. That’s just the kind of guy he is. He would enjoy it. He would talk about how cold it was and how being cold never felt so good.
Andrew: Yeah. That’s what I was about to say. He’ll have something. It’s funny though. I just think that it’ll be there. Quick thing real quick. This is something I meant to say a second ago when you’re looking at the game. Don’t be shocked if Florida doesn’t have a ton of sacks in this game. Vanderbilt’s going to go to a three step drop, much like ECU did, much like Kentucky did. You’re going to see that. Don’t be afraid when you look at the stats on Saturday night, Saturday afternoon, Sunday and say Florida had 2 sacks in the game. Don’t be surprised.
Nick: Yeah. It was the first game when Joey Ivie missed the LSU game that was the first time Florida went an entire game without a sack. They only had 1 last week. It’s kind of, I was swatting people away on Twitter who were telling me that I was wrong that this was a good defense, because they weren’t getting sacks in those first couple games. I told them the offenses that they’re playing are dictating what they can do. Vanderbilt’s going to try to do those exact same things, getting the ball out. To me, I agree with you. I don’t think the sack total is big. I think people will be upset about that. We’re trying to let you know, warn you. Please don’t be upset about that.
Andrew: Please don’t be upset about it. Just know that I warned you guys, and everything is good. Lock up the East. Head to Atlanta, and then beat the Noles in November 28th in the Swamp. Let’s move on to some important business for the day. Everyone wants to know, your man right here was 3 of 3 last week at predicting his picks. I’m going to give you the dues to pick first this week, because you’re going to lose again. I might as well give you first pick.
Nick: How kind of you to also throw in that subtle jab there. My first pick, I have gone on record before picking him. I am going to go out on another limb with Antonio Callaway and his second punt return touchdown of the year. Vanderbilt, the SEC’s best kickoff return coverage team, the SEC’s 12th punt return coverage team. Vanderbilt is allowing 23.8 yards per punt return. That’s awful. Antonio Callaway, is a monster on offense, and he will eat again on special teams this week.
Andrew: Okay. That’s cool. A couple weeks ago, Week 3 or 4 or something like that, I predicted Jordan Scarlett to have a big game against Kentucky. Didn’t happen, but guess what? The freshman has awoken. Tomorrow, big game. I am going not 1 touchdown, but 2 touchdowns. Not 50 yards, 80 yards and 2 touchdowns. He gets the running game going, and the freshman has a big day in the Swamp for Homecoming.
Nick: It is a big day for him. His final Homecoming.
Andrew: No, first Homecoming.
Nick: Excuse me. First Homecoming. I’m thinking of my next pick. My next pick is his final Homecoming. I think Vanderbilt is going to try to get the running game going. I don’t know where they would try to throw the ball, so they’re going to try to get the running game going, and my second pick is Jon Bullard, having a tremendous season this year. What a nice story. It’s always nice to see a kid come back for his senior year and reap the rewards of that, of being loyal. Jonathan Bullard is reaping those rewards hand over fist. I think he is a big impact against the run this week, playing down inside. It’s one of those where it might not be stats, but Andrew and I will watch and see what kind of impact he makes. I think Jon Bullard is the guy that’s really going to stop Vanderbilt’s running attack this week.
Andrew: Here’s my next pick. If the running game doesn’t get going, that means they’re going to have to throw the ball. Bullard creates pressure, and 31, Superman, Jalen Tabor, has a big game. I’m not going to say pick six, but he gets a pick in the game, has a big game. He may be one of those guys that has a return for a touchdown. I said that the defense would get a touchdown, so maybe he’s the guy. Second pick for me is 31, Jalen Tabor.
Nick: Jalen Tabor told us, “When I touch the ball I score.” If he gets a pick he might make you look like a smart man there.
Andrew: I mean, he doesn’t need to make me look like a smart man. Butch and Mark make me look a smart man every day of the week.
Nick: My third, my third and final, I went with him last week. Didn’t get the win, but I’m going to go with Treon Harris, because of Vanderbilt’s defense and because of their rushing defense in particular. I think this game is going to be put on Treon’s shoulders. He’s going to have to make passes when they matter. He’s going to have to be on time. He’s going to have to be accurate, and I also think he’s going to have to make some stuff happen with his escape ability, with his legs. I think he’ll be able to do that. My third star of the week, player of the week, is Treon Harris.
Andrew: My third one, because I like to just mess with your brain every time, I got to thinking about who I was going to pick, and I said, no.
Nick: Unbelievable. It’s shady. It’s a shady, shady game that you play.
Andrew: It’s a shady game. This week I feel #11, Demarcus Robinson, has a big game. I feel like Treon to Robinson. I think it’s going to be Florida Georgia line is going to be the connection this week, not Booker T. I think it’s going to go Florida Georgia line. I’m going Robinson, and I’m going to go with Robinson a touchdown. I’m going to say that Florida scores 4 touchdowns, 2 by Scarlett, 1 by D Rob, 1 by Tabor. Andrew sweeps the pick.
Nick: I’m going to sweep the picks this week.
Andrew: As they say, you can be mean when you look this clean.
Nick: We’re going to move on to games. Great slate of games this week. I am very happy that Florida plays at noon. I know a lot of fans might not be, but as far as covering the team and being there, these 7:00 games are murder, because after the game I’m watching the game on DVR over again. I’m missing all the other prime time games. I’ve missed most of the 3:30 games. Noon kickoff, get me out of there. I’ll be writing stories in the press box watching Florida State vs. Clemson. That’s not where we’re going to start. We will start with the prime time game, the beasts of the west, LSU travels up to Alabama, the fighting Fournettes vs the Nicky Sabans. Who you got?
Andrew: I have went back and forth on this all week. I really have. I started the week saying Alabama by 10. Then midweek I said LSU by 4. I don’t know. I just don’t know. It’s one of those deals where I am literally split. My head tells me Nick Saban doesn’t lose of off bye week. My gut says, this may be LSU’s time to get him. I do love Nick Saban. I don’t like Alabama, but I do like Nick Saban. I’m going with Alabama, 31-24, but I hope LSU wins.
Nick: Who do you think Florida matches up better with? Assuming Florida goes and beats Vanderbilt.
Andrew: I think Florida matches up better with Alabama.
Nick: We disagree on that.
Andrew: Brandon Harris can beat you with his arm and his mobility. Jake Coker doesn’t beat anyone. I like Florida’s matchup with that from a defense to offense standpoint. I don’t think Florida scores a ton of points against either defense, so while Alabama’s defense is better than LSU’s defense, I think LSU can score on Florida, as we’ve seen. I don’t think Alabama can put up the points that LSU can. I can’t see that. That’s why I think Florida matches up with Alabama. I said this to you the other day, and I’ll say it again. This Florida team reminds me of the 2008 Alabama football team that is really good, but they’re a year away from winning the SEC championship, and that’s where I am again. Maybe it is Florida vs Alabama, and then you get a reverse next year and Florida can turn the tables, much like Alabama did. I do think they match up better against Alabama. I personally want to see LSU win. I’m tired of hearing about Alabama.
Nick: Okay. To me the biggest number when I was thinking about this game and looking up how the game went last year, the biggest thing in my mind was one, Anthony Jennings was terrible, but really it’s the job that Alabama did against Leonard Fournette. Fournette carried the ball 21 times for 79 yards, 13 yard long run. To me, Alabama is built, their defense is built to stop this LSU team. Yes, Brandon Harris has done a good job since the Florida game, but Alabama is better suited to beat a team like LSU, to beat a team like Georgia, then they are to beat a team like Ole Miss, who wants to spread them out and throw the ball everywhere.
To me, Alabama is built to handle the monster that is Leonard Fournette, and playing in Tuscaloosa I think that is also another factor. LSU, Brandon Harris beat Florida more so than Leonard Fournette beat Florida, a fake field goal really beat Florida. I don’t think Brandon Harris is good enough to overcome that Alabama team that’s going to slow down the LSU rushing attack that they’ve been able to lean on all year, and I think Alabama wins in a close game, a one possession game. I think Alabama wins at home.
Andrew: Who has more rushing yards, Fournette or Henry? Just one word.
Nick: Henry.
Andrew: Henry. Okay. Let’s go to the matchup in Death Valley between weirdo Dabo and weirdo Jimbo.
Nick: I love Dabo. Bring your own guts. I love Dabo.
Andrew: I like Dabo, but he’s so weird. He’s just weird.
Nick: Whatever. It’s working. Bring your weird. Bring your own guts. Dabo, I would commit to Dabo.
Andrew: Whatever. Who do you think wins in Death Valley this weekend? A quick why. We’re running out of time. I can’t let you go long. I need a quick explanation of why.
Nick: Clemson is for real. FSU is for reeling. They are reeling after that loss. Dalvin Cook is not 100% healthy. Sean Maguire, the backup wonder, he played well in the one game that he needed to when Jameis was out. Played well last week. I’ve got Clemson winning at home, staying undefeated.
Andrew: What’s the score?
Nick: Clemson will cover the spread. I think the last spread I saw was 12.5. Clemson will cover that.
Andrew: Okay. I’m also going Clemson. If Dalvin Cook’s 100%, I think I may be more inclined to picking FSU, but I’m going to go 42-20, Clemson runs away with the game. I just don’t see FSU doing much in the game. Clemson, the thing about Clemson is they’re going to get the ball a lot, and they’re not screwing it up that many times. Clemson rolls big in this game, and the Gators see a two loss FSU team in Gainesville in a couple weeks. Last game, Oklahoma State hosts TCU in a big game. TCU lost Ja’Juan Story the other day, and that hurt. Who do you got?
Nick: Horned frogs. I got the fighting Gary Pattersons.
Andrew: No explanation of why?
Nick: Because their mascot is the horned frogs.
Andrew: It’s two 8-0 teams facing off in Oklahoma State. I am going to go with the Cowboys of Oklahoma State. TCU has played some close games. I think the Cowboys are a little too much this week. It’ll be a shootout, probably like 53-51. Cowboys beat the Horned Frogs, because the Cowboys were able to tie up the Horned Frogs.
Nick: We’ve got Florida and Vanderbilt. Andrew, shock the world.
Andrew: Shock the world. Shit. I ain’t shocking no world here. Gators 31, Vanderbilt 3.
Nick: I’m going Florida 20, Vanderbilt 0. Calling for the shutout this week.
Andrew: What was that? One more time.
Nick: Florida 20, Vanderbilt 0. Calling for the shutout this week.
Andrew: I hope not. I hope it ain’t 20-0. I want to see 31-0 or 55-0.
Nick: I think this is going to be a very boring football game where Florida will struggle some on offense, because of that Vanderbilt defense, but I don’t see how Vanderbilt does anything offensively.
Andrew: Yeah. I agree with you. Let’s just go right on to our finale here. We got a lot of good things out of here. Any final thoughts before we end this thing? A lot of good stuff going on Gator Country this weekend. If the Gators win the SEC East on Saturday, I promise you guys that I will write a very good story about how nice it is to be back in Hotlanta.
Nick: I have a really good feature that is already up if you’re listening to this on Antonio Callaway. It was a pleasure talking to some of the people he grew up with, as well as his mother, Sabrina. Thank you to her for giving me some time for the interview. Please go over, read that. As always, @NickdelaTorreGC, @AndrewSpiveyGC on the tweeter machine. Let us know who you want on the podcast next week. We’ll see if we can make pull some strings to get a guest to happen. Until next time, until Sunday. You stay classy, Gator Country.
Andrew: Yeah. Definitely. By the way, speaking of Twitter, the GatorGang Twitter. I like to make fun of Tennessee Twitter, FSU Twitter, Georgia Twitter, the GatorGang Twitter got my tweet up. I am now looking at almost 8,000. If you’re listening to this, and you’re not following the great Andrew Spivey, make that happen. Don’t make a mistake. Don’t live another day with my Twitter. As always, Mark, Butch, you can be mean when you look as clean as Andrew Spivey, because you still suck guys. Mark, I hope you have a job when you’re listening to this tomorrow. As always, go Braves.