Friday prediction podcast for Florida Gators vs. Georgia

GatorCountry brings you our Friday prediction podcast for the Florida Gators vs. Georgia game on Saturday in Jacksonville.

Andrew Spivey and Nick de la Torre give the latest injury updates, plus you run through the key match-ups one more time before Saturday.

Andrew and Nick pick their three players that they think will have big games on Saturday, plus they predict the big games around the country.

TRANSCRIPT:

Friday Before UGA

 

Andrew:                 What’s up, Gator Country? Game week. Nicholas de la Torre, Georgia, Jacksonville, let’s go. I’m going to get this rivalry going.

 

Nick:                         If Georgia fans ain’t bringing that sauce, then we got to bring it this week.

 

Andrew:                 If the timeline ain’t bringing it, I’m bringing the damn heat. Let’s go. It might be Kirby Smart, or as I call him, Kirby not Smart. I’ll bring the heat. Let’s go. Let’s go. Let’s knock out the podcast. Let’s go for about 45 minutes, and let’s bring the heat.

 

Nick:                         Big week. The Big Ten is actually taking the stage. They got three monster games, conference games, in the Big Ten, but you can’t forget about this one. SEC kind of an off week, but you got Florida/Georgia. It might be the last time we see Vern up in the press box too, Uncle Vern.

 

Andrew:                 That’s right. I forgot about it. We’ll see him in Atlanta.

 

Nick:                         Florida’s got to take care of business for that to happen.

 

Andrew:                 You know what? I’m going to get a selfie. It’s going to happen. I’m going to get one with Uncle Vern.

 

Nick:                         You should do that.

 

Andrew:                 I am. I’m going to get one with Vern this week. That’s going to happen. It’s going to happen. I’m going to put that on the checklist. Get a photo with Vern. That’s my boy, Vern. Nick, this rivalry’s dead on Georgia’s side. They’re not bringing the heat. I’m getting more hate from Tennessee fans.

 

Nick:                         You’ve earned that.

 

Andrew:                 Yeah. I have. I’m still messing with them, because the SEC had the little poll out where they have Tennessee like 60% chance of winning it. I said, “It’s a good thing that the championship isn’t won on paper,” and Tennessee fans were not very happy. One person did have a nice comeback. They said, “Tennessee fans are going to remember this year, because they’re going to be able to tell their grandchildren that they actually beat Florida one time while Teez Tabor becomes an NFL Hall of Famer at cornerback.” I thought that was pretty good.

 

Nick:                         I don’t even understand that.

 

Andrew:                 They were joking like, they can remember this game that they beat Tabor one time. Jauan Jennings is who they were referring to.

 

Nick:                         Got you.

 

Andrew:                 While he’s not playing in the League.

 

Nick:                         When he slips. Yeah. Hang your hat on something.

 

Andrew:                 Yeah. Nick, get an injury update on Wednesday. Seems like everybody’s going to play.

 

Nick:                         It was funny. One of the SIDs, one of the sports information directors, mentioned to me that he thought my injury report that I tweet out when Mac gives it to us was funny, because it mentions guys with thumb injuries, the update for them is, “Ran around a little bit.” Someone on Twitter goes, “What does that mean? I don’t care if a guy with a thumb injury is running around. What’s he doing with his thumb?” I’m like, “I don’t know, man. That’s the update that I got.”

 

Joey Ivie is playing with a club. Jordan Sherit is back. I don’t even see a knee brace on him when he’s out there practicing. Bryan Cox broke his hand, his left hand; he’s playing with a club. Jarrad Davis, he’s got that knee, ankle thing. Ankle was a little bit taped up, but that was it. There’s no knee brace, anything like that. Deandre Goolsby, to me, would be the one that would limited. Gun to my head, I would say Joey Ivie is good. Sherit’s good. Cox is good. Davis is good. Goolsby, for me, if you’re talking about a pass, he’s not doing anything in the blocking game. He’s in the game to catch footballs. He’s got his finger, which might have been dislocated, hopefully he didn’t break it. It looked like it was dislocated the way we watched it against Missouri. It’s kind of taped up, and not just like that small tape you tape one finger next to the other as kind of like a brace. It’s got like a pretty hefty brace tape job on it.

 

Andrew:                 Splint.

 

Nick:                         Yeah. Maybe. I couldn’t tell because it was so heavily taped. It might have a splint on the finger. To me, and Jim McElwain said, “He actually did more than we anticipated him doing on Wednesday.” That might just be showing up. So I don’t know. I would say yes on Ivie, Sherit, Cox, Davis, and that Goolsby, for me, would be the one that’s really questionable.

 

Andrew:                 To be fair, Goolsby hasn’t done much. So you want him to play, but you would much rather, in my opinion, have the defensive linemen playing this week. You need Sherit. You need Ivie. You need Bryan Cox. You need Jarrad Davis. Not that there was ever question those guys were going to play. You needed those guys.

 

Nick:                         We have come so far with you.

 

Andrew:                 Why?

 

Nick:                         We have come so far. You just said Florida needs Jordan Sherit.

 

Andrew:                 No. I’m saying—

 

Nick:                         I’m proud of you, Andrew.

 

Andrew:                 You know what I mean.

 

Nick:                         I do. I agree.

 

Andrew:                 You know what I mean. When you say you need this, you need this, and that’s what I’m saying. You can’t go into this Georgia game without those guys. I just think that you’re putting too much emphasis on Keivonnis Davis, Khairi Clark, all of those guys in this game. I just think you can’t do that.

 

Nick:                         I remember right after Ivie got hurt I tweeted something like, huge loss. I think we forget, but Joey Ivie was playing great football, and losing him has hurt your run defense, and that’s something that we’ve talked about with Florida’s run defense. Ivie got hurt during the Tennessee game. Didn’t play much, I think, in that game. Definitely didn’t play much in the second half, and then you look at Florida’s run defense now, without him, and obviously Sherit got hurt in that same quarter. Sherit played against Tennessee, tried to go in Nashville against Vanderbilt, couldn’t, but since then Florida gave up 179, 144, and 265 on the ground, after giving up 46, 94, and -13 to North Texas. Jim McElwain, no matter how many times I’ve tried to ask him, won’t really tell me how big of an impact losing those guys have been, but I think you look at the numbers, and it’s pretty evident.

 

Andrew:                 Right. I think that you can’t, I’m trying to think of the best way to say this without knocking Joey, because I don’t want to knock Joey. The stat sheet doesn’t show how good Joey Ivie is. Just like the stat sheet doesn’t show how good Caleb Brantley is. They’re not going to lead the team in tackles. They’re not going to lead the team in sacks. They’re not going to do that. They are going to open the holes for Davis, for Anzalone, for Maye, for Nick Washington, whoever it may be. They’re going to get the stats, but when you look at the film, you got to give it an assist to those defensive tackles. I think that’s the one thing with Ivie that he’s just almost one of those guys that’s just like a workhorse. He’s like the big man in basketball who does the dirty work. That’s what Ivie does.

 

Nick:                         Yeah. Caleb Brantley can do that too, but you’re taking away his bash brother. You’re taking away the guy next to him that sometimes maybe Joey Ivie will get a single coverage, because Caleb Brantley’s taking two. Maybe vice versa. Then, like you said, you put those two guys to clear the A gap, and now Alex Anzalone, who’s shown that he has great timing on this blitzes, he’s coming right through. Jarrad Davis, coming right through. That’s what you really missed, and those plays that go for loss I think is what you’re missing, and that’s from those two guys opening up lanes. Like you said, whether it’s a safety or a linebacker coming down, or even maybe a defensive end stunting.

 

Andrew:                 Yeah. I’m trying to decide here who’s more important, and I guess you can’t. If I’m Chris Rumph, which one of my guys is more important? Is it Sherit, or is it Cox, or is it Ivie? I don’t know if you can really talk about which one is more important. Someone said this to me best. They’re like, “We as a team,” and I was talking to someone that was around the program, “rely on Bryan Cox’s energy,” and they were saying, “He may not be the most athletic guy out there that’s going to do a ton, but he is going to be the guy that’s going to get the team fired up, as far as he’s the one that’s going to bring the energy. Jarrad Davis is definitely the leader, but Cox is maybe the energy guy. Kind of like Jon Bullard was last year.

 

Then Sherit is just a guy that, and I said this, I don’t know if it was the Missouri game or which game it was, but Jabari and a couple other guys were the reason the big runs—it was the Missouri game—was because they were out of their gap. Jordan Sherit’s never going to be out of his gap. He may not make the play, but he’s going to be where he’s supposed to be.

 

Nick:                         That’s the thing that you’ve seen. It’s kind of just he’s become that veteran where is he a guy that’s going to have 10 sacks, 15 tackles for loss, 20 tackles for loss? No, but he’s not going to make that mistake. He’s going to be where he needs to be. That’s going to help create for others. He was just playing smart, sound football. Jordan Sherit, Joey Ivie, and a lot of those guys that Florida fans have kind of been waiting for, have been playing their best football. Cam Dillard, add him to the list. They’ve been playing their best football since they’ve been at Florida.

 

To not have Sherit and to not have Cox, I think, sure, you talk about Cox being an emotional leader. I don’t know if Sherit’s an emotional leader. He’s definitely a well-liked player, but I think you’ve really seen Florida struggle, especially against the run, without those guys in there. Maybe even a little blessing in disguise, because I think Joey Ivie was scheduled to miss like Vanderbilt, LSU, Missouri, and maybe Georgia. Georgia was the kind of game where it was like, if everything went right he could come back for this.

 

Andrew:                 Right.

 

Nick:                         Really now you only miss him for two.

 

Andrew:                 That was the big thing. I mean, we’re going to take this down a road, and then we’re going to hear about it from the LSU fans about how they were scared, Florida was scared, but it was good. Same thing like LSU. They’re going to get back their dudes.

 

To go on a little bit further. You hear Mac, and he talks about Del Rio looks better. I mean, we believe what Mac says, but we also do our own homework, and that is that we have heard that he’s better. We have heard that the team has come back with some fire, finally. Fire is good. Heading into this big game, they shouldn’t have to have anything to get them fired up, and I don’t think they will, but they’re ready to go. I think that’s the big thing coming off this bye week is this is a big game. This is a big game. The guys know what’s kind of in front of them. I do think we’re going to see a team that’s energized, a team that’s ready to go, and I’m feeling good about where things should be Saturday.

 

Nick:                         I think we both kind of feel confident about the team this coming Saturday. I mentioned it before, it’s almost to the point where you’re kind of like, is it too confident? We were both trying to figure out, I don’t know how Tennessee beats Florida.

 

Andrew:                 Right.

 

Nick:                         So maybe a little over confident? It’s just Georgia is going to be able to run the ball, and that’s what Florida needs to focus on stopping. Stop the run.

 

Andrew:                 Right. I think that that’s the thing that we got to remember with this game is that you’re going to stop the run. Eason can do it, but make him prove he can do it. I think that’s the thing that until he proves he can do it, then make him do it. Like you said, he’s going to go up against the best secondary that he may ever face in his career, because, let’s face it, it’s going to be tough to find two guys that are probably going to be drafted in the top 20 picks at cornerback playing together. Just one of those things. I know Mac gives a lot of credit to the receivers and just the playmakers for Georgia, and I’m not saying they’re bad, but Florida’s faced better.

 

Nick:                         You never like to talk in absolutes, but like you said, you’re going to be hard pressed to find a better duo.

 

Andrew:                 Right.

 

Nick:                         He still has some of that gunslinger in him too, where he might choose to zing one in to tighter coverage than to try to use some waft and go somewhere else. He’s still has that mentality of I can put the ball there.

 

Andrew:                 Right. It’ll be interesting to see. Then to flip the switch to Del Rio, you just need Del Rio to do his job. Not to do too much.

 

Nick:                         What we said all season, even before the season, what we said.

 

Andrew:                 Yeah. Exactly. Just do your job, and you will be perfectly fine. You say it’s kind of the same thing, and I don’t disagree with you, because it is the same thing. Do your job, but I think the big thing for him is this, and that is don’t try to be the guy that gets the offense going. If your knee is still bad, then just do what you’re limited to do. I guess that’s what I’m trying to say. The knee’s never going to be healthy this year. We both agree on that.

 

Nick:                         Just live inside the offense. You need to get away from, like what Austin Appleby said when he was at Purdue. Get away from that. The coaching staff understands that you’re limited, man. They see you every day in practice. They know that you don’t feel the way you did before you knee hurt. They’re not going to ask you to do the same things they asked you to do before you got your knee hurt. It’s their job to put you in a position to be successful. Let them do that. You’re a smart kid. Find out what they need you to do within the offense, and just execute that. That’s it. Everything else you take out of your mind.

 

Andrew:                 I’m trying to think of the best word that I was trying to say. I’m trying to think of the quote that Mac gives. The quote Mac gives is, “He’s going to give you the answers to the test for Saturday. You just go answer them.” I was trying to make a joke out of that. Like Appleby, for instance, with Appleby he was trying to always make the big play instead of just taking the small play. Nick, how many times have we seen the stand pass that we call, or the crossing route, turn into big plays? Not just at Florida, but everywhere. You turn on any college game, any NFL game, the small play turns into the big play, because guess what? That play’s open, and it turns into big yardage. Just make the play. Get the chains moving, on time possession. Let your best defensive in the country rest. Chances are that scoreboard’s going to show you’re going to win.

 

Nick:                         Yeah. I want to get into one thing. If you look at Nick Saban, something that he does better than anybody, and I bring Nick Saban up because of Kirby Smart, but something Nick Saban does better than anybody in the country is take away your best option. For Florida, I don’t know. To me, that is make Del Rio beat you with his arm, and I’m not saying that in the same breath of last year where it was make Treon beat you with his arm, because it can’t happen. Del Rio can do it, but you’d rather have Florida beat you through the air than have them just run all over you.

 

Will Georgia come in with the game plan of let’s make Florida one dimensional, stop the run, let’s get them to pass? Can they do that? Has Kirby learned enough from being with Saban to be able to scheme and get Florida off of that kind of game? We’ve been sitting here kind of talking how does Georgia beat Florida. I think that’s the way you can do it. If you can stop the game and make it just on Luke Del Rio’s shoulders, I think that could present some problems for Florida.

 

Andrew:                 That’s a good point, Nick. You want to make Florida one dimensional.

 

Nick:                         You know what I mean. Not everyone is Saban. There’s a reason that Nick Saban doesn’t have off years at Alabama. Not everyone is Saban, but it’s a first year head coach coming off of that tree. You try to emulate what you’ve seen that has worked.

 

Andrew:                 Willy, Willy Muschamp, he didn’t do that very well either.

 

Nick:                         Nothing really worked for Will.

 

Andrew:                 My thing is this, and I agree. If we’re going to say that you’re going to shut down Georgia’s running game and make them pass, that’s the same thing they want to do with Florida. I agree with that. Some teams have done that, and when you do that you’re going to have success against Florida. I will say this, and that is that Mac is a strategic genius when it comes on offense, and I know there’s going to be some dipshit that says, “He ain’t scoring a lot of points.” My response is going to be, “Well, he also has to have a quarterback.” He always finds the mismatch in this game. I think that that is his biggest thing, and he’ll do it against Georgia. Big games are where he goes and what he does. I’m confident that the offense is going to make a turning point this week. I’ll probably get bit in the butt, but I’ll say it that I think they’re going to do better this week.

 

Nick:                         Okay. Can I divert our attention away from actual real game talk to something that I feel is more important?

 

Andrew:                 Sure.

 

Nick:                         What the hell is the River City Showdown?

 

Andrew:                 I mean, where does that even come from?

 

Nick:                         What the hell is the River City Showdown? How dare you, city of Jacksonville?

 

Andrew:                 Are we talking about the Red River Shootout or what?

 

Nick:                         It’s the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. I don’t care that you don’t feel like embracing it. That’s what it is. You can’t change it. You can call it something stupid. You can call it something different. You can call it Georgia/Florida, Florida/Georgia, the red and black team versus the orange and blue team. Everybody is going to continue calling it the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. How dare you? River City Showdown.

 

Andrew:                 My question is this. What is wrong with the World’s Largest Cocktail Party? It’s not like we’re sitting here calling it the World’s Largest Drunken Party.

 

Nick:                         I mean, that’s what it is.

 

Andrew:                 It is, but cocktail’s a nice way.

 

Nick:                         You can call it a nice conglomeration of ladies and gentlemen watching a collegiate football game, and you’re still going to have pictures of drunk Florida and Georgia fans passed out in the grass, because it’s the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.

 

Andrew:                 Right. In my experience, and I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not up on the language of alcohol, and I’m cool with that, but isn’t cocktail a nice way? Isn’t that the proper way of saying drinking pretty much?

 

Nick:                         A cocktail’s a nice mixed beverage. You get a little alcohol, maybe some gin and tonic. That’s a cocktail. Rum and coke is a cocktail. Maybe you get a Moscow Mule, cocktail. Maybe a vodka soda, trying to watch your bikini body like me, trying to watch my girlish figure, vodka soda, cocktail.

 

Andrew:                 Whatever it may be. Alex Anzalone’s not very happy about it.

 

Nick:                         Thor doesn’t play those game.

 

Andrew:                 He says, this is hit tweet, “The River City Showdown is not a thing. It’s called the World’s Largest Cocktail Party. LOL.”

 

Nick:                         That’s what it is.

 

Andrew:                 It is.

 

Nick:                         TWLOCP, that is the hashtag that I will be using. City of Jacksonville, you can go ahead and ban me from your city. I don’t care about Duvall anyway. It’s the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. None of this River City Showdown nonsense.

 

Andrew:                 Exactly. Alright. We’re going to go to buy and sell real quick, but I wanted to hit on this real quick, Nick, and this is something that is mute talk pretty much, but Mac talks about they’re going to take the team to see the stadium, because 50% of the guys have never seen the stadium or played in the stadium. I think, Nick, that we talk a lot about the defense being older guys, but in general this is a young football team. For the vast majority of this team it’s a young football team. I just wanted to make that point, because I guess it kind of hit me too as how young they really were. I mean, I knew they were young, but when you think about 50% of your 85 man football team, that’s a lot.

 

Nick:                         Yeah. That was a question I asked, because they’ve been getting to places early. Florida will go up Friday, and they’ll stay in the hotel, but Friday they’ll go and look. Mac kind of said, “Last year, selfishly, it was almost more for me than them. I wanted to see a professional stadium.” He’s like, “There’s not many professional stadiums in the state of Montana.” There are none. He said he spent a lot of time in Alabama, no professional stadiums there. It’s a nice stadium, the upgrades they’ve done. That video board, if you’ve never been, the video board’s incredible. It’s a nice stadium. You and I will be down there, down on the field, which is one of my favorite parts. I hate that Florida doesn’t let us down on the field, but you and I take advantage of it whenever we can.

 

Andrew:                 I personally would love to just stay on the field. If it wasn’t for the message board and Twitter, and, quite frankly, if I could do that on the field with good service I would. I don’t like being in the box. I like being where the action is.

 

Nick:                         Alright. Moving on to buy or sell.

 

Andrew:                 We have some good ones this week or what? Do we have good ones for Florida/Georiga or what? I have a buy or sell, Nick.

 

Nick:                         Buy or sell. Hit me.

 

Andrew:                 Buy or sell, Georgia fans are upset Mark Richt’s not their football coach.

 

Nick:                         They should be buying.

 

Andrew:                 Buy or sell, Andrew’s upset.

 

Nick:                         Buy. Andrew is very upset that Mark Richt is not an opponent this year.

 

Andrew:                 Yes. Need that Georgia game to come back and come back quickly. Can we have that happen? Alright. Let’s go to real buy or sell. What you got?

 

Nick:                         Buy or sell, our boy Riffenburgh hooked it up again, Gators will have two 100 yard rushers against Georgia.

 

Andrew:                 Repeat that one more time.

 

Nick:                         Buy or sell, Florida will have two 100 yard rushers, two separate people rush for 100 yards.

 

Andrew:                 Buy.

 

Nick:                         Okay. I’m going to sell that. I think it will be close. I think one running back, who I pick later, will, and another will come close, but you’re still going to be splitting carries too much to really hammer that and confirm that.

 

Andrew:                 Okay. I’ll buy it.

 

Nick:                         You think Scarlett and Perine both get it?

 

Andrew:                 Yeah. 24 don’t know what 100 looks like.

 

Nick:                         Buy or sell, Florida gets two interceptions and brings one back to the house.

 

Andrew:                 Sell. Sell.

 

Nick:                         I’m selling it, and we’re both selling it for the same reason.

 

Andrew:                 I think they get two, but taking one back to the house is just so tough to predict.

 

Nick:                         Yeah. Let’s not get spoiled. Florida has what? Two pick sixes this year?

 

Andrew:                 Yeah.

 

Nick:                         Both in that same game, or do they have three?

 

Andrew:                 They didn’t take one back before, have they?

 

Nick:                         I’ll tell you in a second. This is what I’m here for. Yeah. Two, Wilson and Tabor both have one apiece.

 

Andrew:                 That’s what I thought. I didn’t think they took one back.

 

Nick:                         It’s tough. Florida had two total last year. Two total in 2014. One in ’13. Two in ’12. Two in ’11. Four pick sixes in 2010. Three in 2009, and five in 2008. Goodness. Ahmad Black had two. Oh, that’s when Brandon Spikes had two. Those were gifted to him. We’re both going to sell.

 

Andrew:                 Yeah. I mean, would it surprise me? No. I’m not willing to go out and say yes, just because of the fact of that’s tough. It’s real tough.

 

Nick:                         Buy or sell, Luke Del Rio throws for 250, two touchdowns, no interceptions.

 

Andrew:                 Buying it, and you will know why in a little bit.

 

Nick:                         I’m also going to buy it.

 

Andrew:                 Okay.

 

Nick:                         Does that surprise you?

 

Andrew:                 Yes. Surprises me a bunch, but yes, I’m going to buy that.

 

Nick:                         Buy or sell, Georgia is held to under 100 rushing yards?

 

Andrew:                 Sell.

 

Nick:                         I’m also selling. That does not surprise you.

 

Andrew:                 Here’s the thing. I think a little bit of this, and maybe I’m wrong, I’ll ask you this, Nick. You just tell me if I’m right or not. I feel like that 100 yard plateau is maybe an older number. Maybe we should say like 125 or 150 now. Five years ago holding a team under 100 yards, I don’t want to say was easy, but you know what I’m saying? Now the running game is more there, so that 100 yard plateau is tough to hold a team under.

 

Nick:                         Maybe not in the Big 12, but in the SEC the running game is there. I think holding a team to under 100 rushing yards might be a little unrealistic. That would come into, sacks in college get taken off of your rushing count. It counts against the quarterback’s rushing numbers. In the NFL it doesn’t. You’re going to have to talk about like 50 yards of sacks.

 

Andrew:                 Yeah. I’ll sell. I think that it will be like 125.

 

Nick:                         Yeah. Georgia’s just a really good team, and it’s not saying like if Georgia rushes for 150, like that’s not even saying that Florida got run over. Georgia’s going to try to get theirs on the ground. So North Texas was held to -13 yards. Florida had seven sacks for 53 yards. They really actually ran for yards. They ran for 43, but you’re looking at negative yards, because of sacks. I don’t think Florida’s going to have 53 sack yards against Georgia this week.

 

Andrew:                 Look at the South Carolina game. I know that’s just one game, but Georgia had 36 yards passing.

 

Nick:                         Yeah. They’re interested in taking care of their freshmen trophy.

 

Andrew:                 What you got?

 

Nick:                         Buy or sell that Florida has four plays of 20 or more yards.

 

Andrew:                 Four plays for 20 or more?

 

Nick:                         Four plays that go for 20 or more yards. Florida this year has 29 plays of 20 or more yards in six games, so that averages just a little bit over four a game.

 

Andrew:                 Over four a game.

 

Nick:                         They’re averaging almost five a game. It’s 4.8, 20 plus yards. They’re actually the second to worst team with plays going over 10 plus yards.

 

Andrew:                 That’s tough. 20 yards, that’s a big play. You want four of them? Hell, whatever. I’m going buy.

 

Nick:                         I thought you would sell that. I’m going buy, and I think it plays into the next one. Buy or sell, Florida runs a trick play against Georgia.

 

Andrew:                 Absolutely. This is the big game of the year, and they will, and they’ll run more wildcat this week.

 

Nick:                         Okay. I take it. I also buy.

 

Andrew:                 Can we get a name for that, Nick? I want to make a name. I will admit, that’s my boy, Perine. So what’s it called when he gets in the game?

 

Nick:                         When he gets in the game.

 

Andrew:                 Predator.

 

Nick:                         What?

 

Andrew:                 I don’t know. I was trying to do something with a P.

 

Nick:                         If you’ve listened this far, tweet us what you think Florida’s wildcat should be called when Lamical Perine is running it.

 

Andrew:                 I promise, if it’s good, I’ll use it.

 

Nick:                         If it’s good.

 

Andrew:                 If it’s good, I’ll use it.

 

Nick:                         Now we’re getting into our players, or you want to go games first?

 

Andrew:                 You didn’t ask me if I have any buy or sell.

 

Nick:                         Do you have any buy or sell?

 

Andrew:                 Yes, I do. Buy or sell, in the 4th quarter it will be like the last few years where there is not very many Bulldogs fans left in the stands.

 

Nick:                         I will buy that. Both of these fan bases are very fickle and will leave at the first sign of something not going well.

 

Andrew:                 Okay. We’re good. Let’s go to pick ‘em, pick our games, or you wanting to go players? Which one you want to do first?

 

Nick:                         We’ll do games, then players.

 

Andrew:                 Games and then players, okay. First up?

 

Nick:                         First game, Auburn at Ole Miss.

 

Andrew:                 Auburn at Ole Miss. Nick, I’m still not a believer. Still not a believer in Gus. I’m going to go hotty toddy, gosh almighty.

 

Nick:                         I’m going against. I’m going Auburn’s getting back into their zone running. I’m on the Gus bus for this week.

 

Andrew:                 Okay. I’ll still go hotty toddy.

 

Nick:                         Gus bus with a road win.

 

Andrew:                 Hotty toddy, gosh almighty.

 

Nick:                         Washington at Utah.

 

Andrew:                 This is a good one. I’m going to go with Washington.

 

Nick:                         I’m also going to go with Washington. They seem like the real deal out west this year, to me.

 

Andrew:                 Yeah. Maybe. I don’t know. I’ll go Washington.

 

Nick:                         Big Ten, one of the big matchups that I mentioned earlier for the Big Ten is Wisconsin hosting Nebraska.

 

Andrew:                 Get plenty of alcohol, because this is going to be a boring football game.

 

Nick:                         It’s going to be a lot of this is three yards and a cloud of dust.

 

Andrew:                 This is three yards, three yards, punt. Three yards, three yards, yard, punt.

 

Nick:                         I was going to say, hopefully they’re not punting on 3rd down.

 

Andrew:                 No.

 

Nick:                         Well, why not?

 

Andrew:                 Why not?

 

Nick:                         Maybe not. Maybe go ahead and punt on 3rd down.

 

Andrew:                 I’m going Nebraska. No, I’m not. I’m going Wisconsin. I’m going Wisconsin.

 

Nick:                         Final answer.

 

Andrew:                 Wisconsin.

 

Nick:                         I am picking Wisconsin at home.

 

Andrew:                 They’ve been a little bit more battle tested, but both of them, in my opinion, are overrated.

 

Nick:                         Clemson, I think it’s the #3 team in the country, goes down to Tallahassee. FSU hosts Clemson. Who you got?

 

Andrew:                 Is this even a question?

 

Nick:                         I don’t think it is. The spread is low. It’s like 4.5.

 

Andrew:                 Really? Wow. Clemson big.

 

Nick:                         Yeah. I would say Clemson, no problem.

 

Andrew:                 Derwin James not playing. There ain’t no chance.

 

Nick:                         Clemson, no problem.

 

Andrew:                 No problem.

 

Nick:                         Catholics host the Convicts. Miami/Notre Dame.

 

Andrew:                 At Notre Dame?

 

Nick:                         At Notre Dame. The Convicts travel to the Catholics.

 

Andrew:                 Al Golden, sorry. Mark Richt. That was a joke. Sorry. Just not a good one. Mark Richt doesn’t win this game. Sorry, Mark. Mark Richt’s on the losing streak, and he continues to lose. Bryan Kelly gets a much needed win.

 

Nick:                         Their AD, their Chancellor, just came out and gave the dreaded vote of confidence.

 

Andrew:                 So he’s fired next week?

 

Nick:                         Which should make no coach feel confident. I’m going Miami. Miami gets a road win. That’s a bad Notre Dame team.

 

Andrew:                 That’s a bad Miami team.

 

Nick:                         They’re less bad.

 

Andrew:                 They’re already looking forward to next year.

 

Nick:                         Notre Dame’s badder.

 

Andrew:                 Badder? Okay. Alright. Gators/Bulldogs, or Gators and butt lickers.

 

Nick:                         That’s not nice. I’m going Florida. I think Florida has the more veteran team. I think Florida is going to be able to impose its will offensively, which is to run the ball. I keep saying that, and I keep saying that, and they keep throwing more and throwing more. So I think this week you realize, “We got to get a win. We’re in the nitty gritty part of the season, have to get a win.” I think is important for Florida. If you lose this game, the rest of the season doesn’t matter, because Tennessee is not going to lose. So that’s where it’s at. You do whatever it takes to win. I don’t think Georgia stops Florida on the ground.

 

Andrew:                 30-10, Gators win, and win big. Florida needs a big win, and I mean not even just a win, but a big win. 30-10, Gators win. 200 yard rushers is there. Florida puts up about 450.

 

Nick:                         Alright. Both take Florida. Moving on to our players now. I get the distinction of picking first.

 

Andrew:                 No, I do.

 

Nick:                         I do.

 

Andrew:                 Okay. Go, Nick. Crybaby.

 

Nick:                         Jordan Scarlett will lead the Gators in rushing, and I think he finds the end zone two times.

 

Andrew:                 Did you say Mark Thompson?

 

Nick:                         Jordan Scarlett. Absolutely not.

 

Andrew:                 My first pick is QB 1. QB 1, Luke Del Rio. You said it on the buy or sell, and if he gets 250 and two touchdowns that’s a win, and I’m going with that. May not be pretty. Who cares if it’s pretty? The answers to the test are in the bank. Just fill them out, big dog.

 

Nick:                         Quincy Wilson is my second pick, and he’ll get a pick.

 

Andrew:                 Okay. If he doesn’t, that’s a loss.

 

Nick:                         Unbelievable. The way you try to wiggle out of this thing. Quincy Wilson, my second pick.

 

Andrew:                 Alex Anzalone steps up, does well in the game, and leads the defense. With Jarrad Davis being not 100%, Anzalone’s that guy. 34 is pick #2.

 

Nick:                         Can’t believe you let me do this. I’m going with Jalen Teez Tabor. I think he gets a pick too.

 

Andrew:                 Shit, why don’t you just say Marcus Maye? You might as well have said Nick Washington.

 

Nick:                         I can only pick three. I can only pick three players.

 

Andrew:                 You might as well have said Chris Williamson.

 

Nick:                         Let’s calm down. If we picked four I might pick Marcus Maye, but we only pick three.

 

Andrew:                 Not so fast, my friend. Not so fast, my friend. Nick, are you ready for mine?

 

Nick:                         You didn’t tell me beforehand, so I am waiting with bated breath, much like everyone else listening to the podcast.

 

Andrew:                 I haven’t picked him all year.

 

Nick:                         Chris Williamson?

 

Andrew:                 No. The 251 heads to the 904, and Lamical Perine has his game. I haven’t picked him all year, and I promise if I make his day a bad day I won’t never pick him again. LP, love you, buddy. I’m going to go with you, so don’t let me down. I need some wins.

 

Nick:                         So if Jordan Scarlett out rushes him, you don’t get that win?

 

Andrew:                 I mean, if Jordan Scarlett has 150, and Perine has 148, then, yes, I’m taking a win.

 

Nick:                         Okay. I would agree with that. Just had to throw that shot at you like you did to me last time.

 

Andrew:                 You took Scarlett, who got out rushed and got a win.

 

Nick:                         I know. I’m making fun of you, because I thought Jarrad Davis would lead the team in tackles, which he did, playing only a half of football, and you said, “So if he doesn’t lead the team in tackles then you don’t get a win?” You tried that nonsense with me again today.

 

Andrew:                 You know, as I say, got to hold you accountable.

 

Nick:                         So, wrap it up. I have Jordan Scarlett, Teez, and Quincy. You have Del Rio, Anzalone, and Perine.

 

Andrew:                 I do. I want to say this real quick, as we get ready to end this. I really think that you’re going to see an offense. I do. I’m confident, and I say that, and, Nick, I think you can back me up. I have been a critic of it, of the offense. I’m really feeling like an offense is going to come out. I really do. I think the off week helped. I do. I think things are going to be okay on Saturday for this Gators offense, and it’s the best time to do it, because they need to start it. They’re going on the road next week to Arkansas. Then they got a home game against the scrums up at Willy, and then they got LSU. They need to get an offense rolling.

 

Nick:                         I think so, and I think this is a defense that they can move the ball. I mean, they moved the ball fine last week. You just got to cut these penalties out. You can’t have them.

 

Andrew:                 They move the ball fine, except for the second half of the Tennessee game and the Vanderbilt game.

 

Nick:                         Yeah, but at some point moving the ball is not enough.

 

Andrew:                 I’m with you.

 

Nick:                         You feel me?

 

Andrew:                 You got it. You got to punch it in the zone, or it means nothing. Three points ain’t winning football games, and I say this, and I’m going to say it tongue in check, but you’re trying to build your program up to be able to contend against Alabama. Me and you are in agreement that Florida’s offense isn’t that offense to do that yet, but in order to build that up you’ve got to start getting seven instead of three, because when you get a chance in the red zone against good teams you need to punch it in. You don’t get multiple opportunities. You do against Missouri and Kentucky, all those other schools, but when you’re playing LSU in Death Valley in a couple weeks, you may only get four chances in the red zone. You need 28 points, not 12.

 

Nick:                         And Florida’s the worst red zone team, I think, in the SEC.

 

Andrew:                 So you got to fix that. Nick, we’ll be out there on Saturday. We’ll be at SEC Nation, and then we’ll be out and about Saturday night in Jacksonville. This is my favorite game of the year, so if anybody’s around and wants to chat it up with Nick and I, we’ll be around. Hit us up. We’re here.

 

Nick:                         As always, www.GatorCountry.com. That’s where you can find all of our stories. You can find the podcast there. If you’re an Android user, that’s where you’ll find the podcast in transcript form and audio form. If you are on iTunes, find us in the podcast store section. Do what you do. Hit us up there. Do your social media thing. @GatorCountry on Facebook and Twitter. @TheGatorCountry on Instagram. Follow me and Andrew, @NickdelaTorreGC and @AndrewSpiveyGC on Twitter. Follow me on Instagram, just @NickdelaTorre.

 

Andrew:                 We’ll be there. We’ll have some photos, stuff like that. Hit us up if you’re around on Saturday, and we’ll be there. Nick, I’m looking forward to it. There’s always a storyline in this game. Looking forward to seeing what this one is. Maybe we can get with Jarrad Davis or Alex Anzalone like monster hit or something, something cool. Maybe Mac does something stupid. Don’t let them run in the end zone like Mark Richt did. That just shows you suck.

 

Nick:                         That was unbelievable.

 

Andrew:                 That just shows you suck, like Mark Richt sucked. Alright, guys. We’re going to get out of here. We’ll see you guys Saturday for the World’s Largest Cocktail Party in Jacksonville. We appreciate you guys listening. As always, guys, chomp, chomp. Go Braves. Mark, Butch, get some losses this week, buddy.

 

Nick:                         Don’t let the city of Jacksonville win. Call it by its name, the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. You stay classy, Gator Country.

 

Andrew:                 Stay classy with them cocktails.

Andrew Spivey
Andrew always knew he wanted to be involved with sports in some capacity. He began by coaching high school football for six years before deciding to pursue a career in journalism. While coaching, he was a part of two state semifinal teams in the state of Alabama. Given his past coaching experience, he figured covering recruiting would be a perfect fit. He began his career as an intern for Rivals.com, covering University of Florida football recruiting. After interning with Rivals for six months, he joined the Gator Country family as a recruiting analyst. Andrew enjoys spending his free time on the golf course and watching his beloved Atlanta Braves. Follow him on Twitter at @AndrewSpiveyGC.