UMass vs. Florida Gators Friday prediction podcast

Gator Country brings you our Friday prediction podcast for the Florida Gators game against UMass on Saturday night in the Swamp.

Andrew Spivey and Nick de la Torre discuss the key match-ups in the game, plus have their buy/sell segment on predictions for this season opener.

Andrew and Nick also predict the Gators game, plus they each give you three players that you should watch for while watching the game.

TRANSCRIPT:

 

Andrew:                 Oh my, oh my, Nicholas. Football is here. We’re back. Gator Country here with your Friday prediction. Nicholas, it’s always this time of the year when you think, how did we make it through the off season? But we did. Off season is over with. Football started Thursday night. You’re listening to this Friday. Kickoff in less than 24 hours.

Nick:                         Oh my. That was my Mick. Was that good?

Andrew:                 That was pretty good.

Nick:                         Alright. Full slate on Thursday. Five straight days of college football ending on Monday with Ole Miss and Florida State. Great time to be a college football fan.

Andrew:                 Unbelievable time. I like it that they spread it out a little bit. That Texas/Notre Dame game on Sunday night is going to be a pretty good game. I’m interested to see how Texas gets better, because, quite frankly, it kind of feels like the 2014 season with Muschamp for Charlie Strong. It’s like, everyone expects for him to be fired. How long does it happen, and what does he need to do to get off that? They could be starting a freshman in Shane Buechele. Then Notre Dame, one of those teams that’s overrated every year, goes out to Austin.

Nick:                         Yeah. You’ve got Cal going out to Texas A&M on Saturday. Just a great slate of games. Glad that Florida will not be playing the University of Massachusetts to open the season next year. They’ll be joining that great slate of Week 1 games, but it is what it is. This year we will enjoy the ones we can. I will miss, unfortunately, some great games Saturday night, but I get paid to watch football.

Andrew:                 There you go.

Nick:                         That’s pretty cool.

Andrew:                 Pretty cool, it is. It’s a good slate of games. I was trying to think back, and really for the last few years I can’t really think of a better slate than this weekend.

Nick:                         It seems like there’s always a couple, but this year there’s a bunch.

Andrew:                 Yeah. That’s what I was saying. I kind of felt like it was one of those rare opportunities or rare seasons that there was a bunch of them. Of course, being Labor Day weekend they spread them out a little bit, so that helped. Be interesting to see how next season looks. I haven’t looked at the opening weekend, but should be a good one. We’ll pick them here in a little bit, and see how we do. Nicholas is still denying my victory from last year, but we’ll see. We’ll keep track of them. We’ll get to that here in a little bit with our three stars as well. We’ll make our prediction on this Gators/UMass game, and should be close, but we’ll make it.

Nick, a couple things I wanted to kind of talk about. You had Coach Mac Wednesday. Had Coach Skip, had all those guys. Receivers, man, you’re down to five. Lot of guys are going to get a lot of opportunities. Swain and Hammond and Massey, those three youngsters, are going to get a lot of reps Saturday.

Nick:                         Yeah. For everyone keeping score at home, Mac said they’ll have six wide receivers playing, rotating through, and that does not leave a lot of rest time. Powell, Massey, Hammond, Swain, Ahmad Fulwood, and who am I missing there?

Andrew:                 Callaway.

Nick:                         Callaway. Hello.

Andrew:                 How can you forget that guy?

Nick:                         Something’s wrong with me. So those are the guys that will be playing this Saturday, and you’ve got to look for a lot of opportunity. Florida’s going to still try to throw the ball, even though a bunch of receivers are suspended or missing the game. I really would have liked to have seen CJ Worton, out with a high ankle sprain, but it’s a great opportunity for Hammond, Massey, and Swain in their first real game at Florida.

Andrew:                 It’s one of those things where you get to kind of see, you’re going to see a lot of Powell and Massey together, and I’m interested to see it, because I think you can do a lot of things with that. Here’s another thing that we didn’t even talk about, and that is that Goolsby, I’ll be honest, I would kind of be shocked if he plays a lot in the game, with him still nursing that groin injury. Nick, you know how that is. That’s an injury that the wrong turn leads to you being out six weeks now. So I expect him not to play much. That means Knight and Moral Stephens are going to play a lot, so that’s an opportunity that you’re going to need more receivers to play, because those two guys aren’t really your pass catching tight ends.

Nick:                         That’s saying it nicely.

Andrew:                 Exactly.

Nick:                         To me, that not having Lewis and Goolsby, if Goolsby is limited, and you don’t want to throw him out there, because it’s a game that you should win, that you should win handily, and you don’t want to risk an injury. You know what he can do. It’s not like he’s out there trying to prove anything to you. Then, to me, I would rather have the six wide receivers that you have then to only have those two tight ends.

Andrew:                 Right. Here’s another thing that I don’t even think we mentioned, and that is we don’t know what the weather’s going to be like either. Do you want Goolsby out there on a slippery field or a wet field with that injury? That’s something I think we have to remember, and that’s something you kind of have to remember for all the guys. Does that maybe now force Mac to play his starters less when the game gets out of hand? I was very vocal the other day in saying that I thought you would see Del Rio play more, because of being his first game. Now does he maybe not take that risk once the game gets out of hand?

Nick:                         Well, this tropical storm is supposed to make landfall probably around Thursday night, but it has shifted a little farther north, so more towards, I mean it’s pretty large, so more towards the Jacksonville area.

Andrew:                 Right.

Nick:                         More in the panhandle, but we’re going to get rain Thursday. We’re going to get rain Friday. It should be okay and out of the way by Saturday night.

Andrew:                 I’m just saying, the field’s still going to be wet, still going to be soggy. That’s kind of where I was at with that. Interesting to see. That’s the good thing about this. One thing is for sure, and that is that Florida did do a very good job last year signing some receivers that are good playmakers and can get those guys out there to play. I know I’m personally very excited to see how Josh Hammond. I was very high on him, as were you, Nick, during the Under Armour game. It was a thing where I think Hammond has been a guy that’s been slept on a little bit, a lot because of who his older brother is, and then a lot of because of who else Florida signed in that class. When they signed Cleveland everyone kind of took a back burner, especially when Hammond went through spring practice.

Nick:                         Maybe even by us a little bit lately.

Andrew:                 Yeah. No, I’m agreeing with you, completely.

Nick:                         We might even be guilty of that lately. It’s hard when we’re not seeing very much in practice, but still a guy that we’re very high on, even if we haven’t talked about him a ton, and to me I think he might be the best freshman receiver. Who knows when we’ll see Tyrie Cleveland and Rick Wells if they continue dealing with their legal issues, so right now I think he’s your best freshman receiver. Then when we look at Wells and Cleveland, they’re practicing, but if they’re out two more weeks now you’re talking about your first trip, your first game would be in Knoxville? That’s rough. That’s not that same kind of ease you into college football that the other guys are getting with UMass this week. So the longer Wells and Cleveland are not allowed to play, I think the less impact they’ll have on the season as a whole, because you start getting into you can simulate things in practice; you can’t simulate what it’s going to feel like on a game, during a game. I start to worry the longer that they’re out and not able to play, even though they are practicing.

Andrew:                 Right. I mean, we’re told a couple of weeks before this is fixed, and the law system, the legal system, works about as fast as the NCAA does, and that’s kind of slow. So when we hear a few weeks that could very well mean a month. Then you’re talking about you’re out half the season. I mean, it’s there. We’ll see. No need to focus on the guys that aren’t there. As Mac says, let’s focus on the guys that have done their job and are there.

Nick, let’s move into our buy and sell segment here. We didn’t talk about this, so everybody listening, Nick doesn’t know my topics that I’m coming with, and I have no clue of Nick’s topics he’s going to come with. My first topic for you, Nick, on buy and sell is this. Del Rio will throw for 250 this weekend.

Nick:                         Buy.

Andrew:                 You will buy that?

Nick:                         I buy 250.

Andrew:                 Okay. I will also buy that, and I buy that nervously, because I wonder if he’s in long enough and if the running game just doesn’t take over.

Nick:                         I still think you want to see what you have. It’s an interesting dynamic, because in the past you’ve had two warmup games to start the year. So you could just lean on just your running game, but with Kentucky coming in next week, not the toughest SEC game, but still an SEC game, so you’re looking at a roster that has six wide receivers. Three of them are new guys. I don’t think you can say, our starting quarterback’s only go to go out there, throw 15-20 passes, and then get out.

Andrew:                 Right.

Nick:                         I think you need to continue to work on cohesion, still work on that chemistry and that timing, and that is going to continue into UMass.

Andrew:                 Okay. Do you have one?

Nick:                         I do. Mine are more of like season kind of things though.

Andrew:                 Okay.

Nick:                         So if yours were for the game…

Andrew:                 No. Go ahead. We’ll keep bouncing them.

Nick:                         Okay. The Gators have a 1,000 yard rusher in 2016.

Andrew:                 1,000 rusher?

Nick:                         Yes. Last year you had KT, before that it was Gillislee. There’s only been I think like 14, 13.

Andrew:                 Here’s the thing. I think Florida no doubt runs for 100 yards, I mean 1,000 yards, this year.

Nick:                         The team will absolutely run for 1,000. I’m saying one player.

Andrew:                 Right. I know. I’m trying to think here, because I really just, I am of the opinion, and people can disagree with me all they want, I don’t think there’s a guy that has stepped up to be the guy yet, so I’m not sure really how that’s going to be. I’ll say yes, because I think they figure it out, but I’m not very confident on that.

Nick:                         I’m going to sell that. Last year it was pretty obvious that Kelvin Taylor was going to be the starter and Jordan Scarlett and Cronkrite were kind of vying for that backup role. Scarlett and Cronkrite combined for 78 carries. Kelvin Taylor had 259, and needed damn near all 259 carries to get to that 1,035. I don’t know if somebody gets over 250 carries this year, so I am selling the Gators having a 1,000 yard rusher.

Andrew:                 Okay. Like I said, I’m very cautious about that, and I almost went sell as well, just because of that, but we’ll see. My question is back to this game this weekend. In your opinion, does a receiver get 100 yards?

Nick:                         Man. That’s a good one. That’s tough. I will buy.

Andrew:                 You will buy. So will I, because I think it’s, I’ll buy, and I’m going to buy and give you this. I’m going to buy and say Dre Massey gets it. I’ll give you the name and everything. I think that Florida will get a couple of big plays, and that will lead to him getting 100 yards in the game. So I will buy that.

Nick:                         Alright. Callaway had three last year, Tennessee, LSU, and Georgia. Those are the three games he had with over 100 receiving yards.

Andrew:                 I also had 100 against Georgia too.

Nick:                         That’s what I said.

Andrew:                 I said, I also did.

Nick:                         Oh. Tennessee, LSU, Georgia for him. Okay. Here’s one that’s tough, and I’m not even sure. I’m going to be doing this one on the fly.

Andrew:                 Okay.

Nick:                         The Gators pass for more than 3,500 yards as a team. That’s an average of about 250 a game.

Andrew:                 Sell.

Nick:                         That’s was a quick sell.

Andrew:                 Yeah. I think the running game is your bread and butter.

Nick:                         Okay. Let me give you some stats. Last year, with Treon Harris for half the year, Florida passed for 2,899 yards.

Andrew:                 Okay. What did they finish the year with?

Nick:                         That’s what I’m saying. Florida threw for almost 2,900.

Andrew:                 Sorry. I misunderstood what you were saying.

Nick:                         That’s an average of 207.

Andrew:                 Okay.

Nick:                         Florida has passed for, or, no, has not passed for 3,500 since 2008. The closest was in 2009, and that was Tim Tebow, 3,300. He and John Brantley combined for 3,300.

Andrew:                 I’m still selling.

Nick:                         I’m going to sell that too. Sell. Sell.

Andrew:                 I just think the running game is your bread and butter.

Nick:                         Yeah. Probably your bread and butter, but the running game will end up setting up the passing game.

Andrew:                 Here’s the thing. I think we can both be very wrong in that passing game, because we saw Florida focus more on the running game last year because of the terribleness at quarterback. I mean, let’s not forget.

Nick:                         That’s a new word.

Andrew:                 Will Grier didn’t exactly set the world on fire, so even when he was there he wasn’t great, except for the Ole Miss game. We’ll see. Del Rio may light it up, and Mac may get comfortable.

My last question for you, Nick, is does the Gators pitch a shutout on Saturday?

Nick:                         Sell. Florida will not pitch a shutout.

Andrew:                 Florida will not. I’m going to buy that they pitch a shutout. I think this is a defense that is pissed off that they’ve been underrated and under talked about. I will say they get the shutout on Saturday, and UMass has less than 150 yards.

Nick:                         I also think this is a defense that is pissed off, and I think is still a defense that will slack off after a while.

Andrew:                 Okay.

Nick:                         These are guys that are highly recruited. These are guys that start feeling good about themselves. It was kind of like even through the Muschamp years. You’d play these cupcake teams, and it would be 38-0, and all of a sudden, someone misses a tackle. That’s a 38 yard run. Now they’re in scoring territory. A little reverse, people just start slowing down.

Andrew:                 I think you’re talking about some guys that are going to be coming in playing on that second unit that is going to be playing for playing time. That is Putu. That is Chauncey Gardner. That is David Reese, Kylan Johnson. Younger guys, for sure, but I think that’s going to be a group coming in wanting to make an impact. I’m going to go that.

Do you have one more?

Nick:                         Nope. That’s all I got.

Andrew:                 That’s all you got.

Nick:                         That’s all I got.

Andrew:                 You couldn’t think of one more?

Nick:                         I’m struggling with UMass.

Andrew:                 Give me another season one.

Nick:                         I’m struggling with UMass. I can’t get up for this. I’m more excited for the other games.

Andrew:                 Okay.

Nick:                         I got one then for you, another season one.

Andrew:                 Okay. Go ahead.

Nick:                         It’s going to be with your boy, LP.

Andrew:                 Okay.

Nick:                         Over or under 40 carries for Lamical Perine this year?

Andrew:                 Over, under 40? I will say over.

Nick:                         Over. Okay. So last year you had Kelvin with a bunch, and then at running back Scarlett 34, Cronk 34, Case Harrison 5, Mark Herndon 4.

Andrew:                 I say over.

Nick:                         There’s just a lot of guys and not a lot of carries. Florida carried the ball 500 times last year.

Andrew:                 Right.

Nick:                         Other than Treon Harris with 96 and Kelvin Taylor with 259, the ball wasn’t being carried by too many other people.

Andrew:                 My thing is this, and I think that it works itself out. I think one of the Jordans works themselves out of the rotation, and I will be honest. Mark Thompson’s fumbling problem worries me to the point where, and, Nick, I think you’ll agree with me here, if he starts fumbling Mac and Skip are not going to give him the ball.

Nick:                         No. That’s 100%. Mark, I think what Mark Thompson has done in the spring and in the fall has kind of shortened his leash, and he’s done that by fumbling the ball to where now if you’re a coach you’re thinking, okay, this is starting to look like a problem, and if it shows itself during a real game, then we’re right. Then it is a real problem.

Andrew:                 Right. So I think it works itself out. I think that it’ll get to the point where it’ll work itself out, and probably he’ll either start getting a lot of carries, or he won’t. For me, for Florida, they need him to get a lot of carries. He might be their best back on the team when he’s not fumbling the ball. They need it.

Nick:                         How many carries do you think? You said over 40.

Andrew:                 I don’t know.

Nick:                         Is that 41, or is that 112?

Andrew:                 No. Hell. I would say between 40 and 50.

Nick:                         Okay.

Andrew:                 I would say between 40 and 50. Everybody knows that’s my guy. I don’t sugarcoat that. I don’t try to hide that. He’s from my area. It’s a guy that I’ve personally watched and everything else, but I’m not stupid either.

Nick:                         We caved for our guys. I caved for my boy, Jordan Scarlett, St. Thomas alum, last year, and that bit me in the face, because that did not turn out.

Andrew:                 That’s what I’m saying. I’m not trying to be a homer about it. I really truly, like when I take everything away from it, I really truly believe Lamical’s a very good football player, a very, very good running back. I’ve been told that by several people that I trust deeply, and I think that he plays a good bit. I’ll be honest. He could end up being your goal line back if Mark fumbles. That is because you can count on him to hold the ball. He’s going to be shifty. He’s going to get in the end zone, and he’s going to be tough. I do say between 40 and 50. I don’t think he redshirts. I think it’s dumb to redshirt any running back. You and I are in agreement with that. So I think he gets between 40 and 50, and becomes a guy that next season you’re talking about could end up being your guy, the guy to get all of the carries.

Nick:                         That makes sense. It’ll be interesting. I think I’m going push, I feel like I should be like antagonistically say under, just so we have, I’ll go under. I have a notebook that I’m keeping track of all these. If I can be responsible enough to keep track of these we’ll have actually a winner and a loser at the end of the year.

Andrew:                 I mean, it’s a thing. We’ll see. If both Jordans and Mark come out, and they’re dominating the game, they’re older guys, and they’ll get all the carries. We’ll see.

Nick:                         So the statement will be, Lamical Perine gets 40 carries in 2016, and you’re buying that, or more than 40 carries. Buy that. So if he gets 40, I win.

Andrew:                 Yes. Here’s my thing, Nick, and we’ll move on right after this. Do you not find it very interesting that no matter who steps up to the podium for Florida Lamical Perine’s name comes up?

Nick:                         I mean, Ahmad Fulwood’s name comes up a lot too.

Andrew:                 Right. That’s true. I see what you’re saying now. I think it’s very interesting.

Nick:                         It’s talking season where everyone’s great and everyone’s good, but yeah, I do agree with you that Lamical’s name is brought up organically by, well Ahmad Fulwood’s name is brought up organically, because no one’s asking about him.

Andrew:                 That’s true. Well, Nick, let’s move on. Here we go. Let’s go. Let’s get this show on the road. Let’s pick. We’ve got five football games, plus the Gators game. We’ll predict the Gators game here in a few minutes. The five games we’re going to predict this week are Texas/Notre Dame, Ole Miss/Florida State, Auburn/Clemson, Texas A&M/Cal, and the Alabama Crimson Tide vs. the USC Trojans. That’s your five.

Nick:                         Just so everyone listening knows, we made this list yesterday, and I wrote it down in order, and then before we started taping Andrew asked me what the games were again, and I read it to him in that exact same list. The way that he read them to you again was completely random.

Andrew:                 Completely random.

Nick:                         He has completely ignored me in the way that I’ve said them. I’ve said it: Alabama/USC, Texas/Notre Dame, Ole Miss/FSU, Texas A&M/UCLA, Auburn/Clemson, Florida/UMass. As he’s talking I’m going to try to go down my list to make sure he says everything, and he’s bouncing all over the page.

Andrew:                 First off, let me just throw this disclaimer out there. We’re taping this on Thursday. I was up till 2:00AM following 2018 recruiting, and was back up at 6:30 when kids from the East Coast started blowing my phone up telling me they were coming. So I’m working on small sleep, and memory is not Andrew’s cup of tea for some things. We’ll go in your order, Nick. Call out the first game and make the first pick.

Nick:                         First pick, Alabama/USC. I am going with the Tide rolling over the Trojans. I just think Alabama is going to be too good. First time starter at USC, but I will enjoy seeing Adoree Jackson score a touchdown against Nick Saban.

Andrew:                 Yeah. Bama’s got the first time starter, well, no. I think they go Bateman, and he did get the start against Ole Miss last year for a few minutes. I’m also going Alabama, but I’m going to go Alabama in a 4th quarter win. I think that USC does have guys that can make some plays, and I do kind of worry about Alabama’s offense a little bit. Bateman’s not a very good quarterback, and our buddy, Bo, man, he just he’s not fully healthy again, and I kind of wonder about their offense. So close game, but Bama pulls it out against USC in the 4th.

Nick:                         Alright. Next game, wait, we’re both down as Alabama?

Andrew:                 Both down as Alabama. You got them rolling, and I got them barely winning.

Nick:                         Alright. Texas/Notre Dame, the Irish are down in Austin.

Andrew:                 Okay. I’ll pick. Here we go. I’m going to go with the surprise, no. Nope. Nope. The Irish luck is still there. Our boy, Charlie Strong, who, Nick, you and I both like, goes down at home. Irish win in a close one.

Nick:                         I’m going to say the Irish win. Don’t know what Texas is going to look like. I really don’t know what to expect from Texas this year.

Andrew:                 That’s me. I don’t know. Do they play the Swoopes kid at quarterback and try to run again, or do they play Buechele and throw the ball a little bit? We’ll see. I’m going to go Notre Dame.

Nick:                         Ole Miss/Florida State down in Orlando.

Andrew:                 Pick first. This is tough for me. This is the toughest one for me.

Nick:                         I’m going to do it. I’m going hotty toddy, gosh almighty, who the hell are we, flim flam. Ole Miss wins.

Andrew:                 Damn it. I thought I was going to get to shock the world. Hotty toddy, hot damn. Ole Miss beats Florida State. To my good friend, Bud Elliott, this is why Florida State is not the best team in the SEC, like you think, buddy.

Nick:                         Bud!

Andrew:                 Bud, get you some! Hotty toddy, Ole Miss wins. Our boy, what do they call Mr. Kelly?

Nick:                         Swag.

Andrew:                 Swag Kelly with the swag up in Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl.

Nick:                         It’s actually just called the Citrus Bowl.

Andrew:                 I thought it was called something else.

Nick:                         The Buffalo Wild Wings pays money to have the name put on some…

Andrew:                 Yeah, but isn’t it called something else? The stadium.

Nick:                         Citrus Bowl.

Andrew:                 No. I mean, it’s Citrus Bowl to you and I, but there’s something. They call it something.

Nick:                         They did just change the name, but it’s the Citrus Bowl. You’re thinking of the, so it’s called the Orlando Citrus Bowl Stadium. You’re thinking of Camping World.

Andrew:                 There you go.

Nick:                         This is the Camping World kickoff.

Andrew:                 Okay.

Nick:                         They’re calling it Camping World Stadium, but I think that’s just for this game. I’m not calling it the Camping World anything, because Camping World didn’t pay me. So it’s still the Citrus Bowl to me, damn it.

Andrew:                 There you go. So we’re both hoddy toddy, hot damn. Let’s go.

Nick:                         UCLA and outspoken quarterback Josh Rosen head down to Aggie land, College Station, where Will Muschamp once famously said, “Have you ever been there? No? Don’t worry about it. Don’t need to go.” Who you got? Do you got the boys from California on the road? Josh Rosen, also said, “Not worried about the volume, not worried about the crowd noise in College Station. Once you get over about 50,000 people; it all sounds the same.”

Andrew:                 Boy, that twelfth man is loud. I’m going A&M with my Oklahoma transfer, Trevor Knight, getting the win for the Aggies in the SEC.

Nick:                         I am going to go, see I was planning on picking UCLA all week, and then Rosen started taking, and he’s been talking a lot, and he’s had a very interesting off season with just how outspoken he is. I feel like it’s just the storyline of outspoken quarterback then ends up talking mess before he goes to a game, throws three picks, they lose. So I’m going to ride with A&M, which, at least in my own mind this week, was an upset for me, because I had planned on picking UCLA on the road.

Andrew:                 Okay. There you go. The last game is Auburn and Clemson.

Nick:                         Clemson’s going to win big here.

Andrew:                 Dabo rolls the hot seat for Gus starts burning his little smug ass big time. Can’t stand Gus Malzahn.

Nick:                         This isn’t even going to be close.

Andrew:                 No, and I hope…

Nick:                         This is going to be a really bad, this is going to be the game where all of your ACC friends point to you and laugh and say, “The SEC’s overrated; look what Clemson did to Auburn.” It’s like, okay. You should have Clemson and Alabama play to start the year.

Andrew:                 You should say Auburn is probably our worst team in our conference, besides Will Muschamp.

Nick:                         You can throw Vandy in there too.

Andrew:                 I think Vandy beats Auburn, because Auburn sure as hell wouldn’t score on Vandy.

Nick:                         Let’s pick another game. I’m throwing a wildcard. We both picked Clemson there.

Andrew:                 Okay.

Nick:                         Vanderbilt/South Carolina, Thursday night. We’re making our pick right now. It’s 12:34 on Thursday, so the game hasn’t happened. You will know the outcome of the game as you’re listening to this. Vanderbilt.

Andrew:                 Rolls over South Carolina, 24-3.

Nick:                         24-3. I don’t even know if they score that much. I don’t think South Carolina scores more than a field goal, like you do. I’m going to go something like 14-3, 17-3. It’s going to be ugly. Most Will Muschamp football games are.

Andrew:                 Okay.

Nick:                         He struggled against lesser Vanderbilt teams while he was at Florida, and he has a lesser team against a better Vanderbilt team. The Will Muschamp return to the SEC head coaching sphere will take a little hit this week.

Andrew:                 There you go. Nick, let’s go. This is our favorite time of the podcast. Pick our three stars of the night for Saturday night in the Swamp.

Nick:                         I got the first pick this year. Before we’ll remind you, we go back and forth picking guys. I got the first pick, so with the first pick in the annual three star GC podcast player of the week draft I took quarterback, Lucas of the River.

Andrew:                 The man that would start at FSU.

Nick:                         That’s a discussion for Twitter.

Andrew:                 That’s a discussion for somewhere else. Give your reason why Del Rio real quick.

Nick:                         I think it’s his first start, there’s some questions about what he’s going to be able to do in his first start. I think Jim McElwain wants to go out there and silence those. You’re playing a UMass team that can’t match up with you physically at the skill positions, and probably is not going to be able to put pressure on Del Rio, and that’s going to be the biggest thing. The rest of the year I look how does he handle pressure. He’s not going to have to do that on Saturday, so I think he’s got a comfortable pocket, plenty of time to throw. He can pick apart the UMass defense.

Andrew:                 Okay. My first pick was AD, all day, Mr. Antonio Callaway. I didn’t say he would get 100 in the Dre Massey thing, but I’m going to say he gets not one, but two touchdowns, one punt return, one receiving. AD, Antonio Callaway.

Nick:                         You’re trying to pull the me and call a punt return.

Andrew:                 I am. I’m going with it, and I’m very confident that 81 has got the off field issues of the off season in his rearview mirror and six will be happening twice on Saturday.

Nick:                         I’ve got Jordan Scarlett for the first touchdown of the year from running backs. He’s also my second player. I think he leads the running backs in yards, and he scores.

Andrew:                 And he scores. Okay. I’m going to go with my next one with Jarrad “Mr. Big Hit” Davis. Can’t go wrong with that. He’ll probably lead the team in tackles, and that’s an automatic win. When you’re looking to get off on the good streak so far, you go with Jarrad Davis. Big game, Jarrad Davis.

Nick:                         My last one will be Marcus Maye. Marcus Maye will lead the Gators in tackles.

Andrew:                 Will lead the Gators in tackles. Okay. My next one is Duke Dawson will get a pick in the game and may return it for six. Duke Dawson’s my third pick, and Nick didn’t know about that. It was Eddie Pinero, but I don’t think Eddie Pinero gets many opportunities, because the Gators are going to be finding the promised land a lot.

Nick:                         Already up to your same games from last year. Already switching picks, changing what you had told me. That’s not what you told me.

Andrew:                 I told you Eddie Pinero.

Nick:                         We’ll let it fly though. You didn’t pick Eddie. You picked Duke.

Andrew:                 I know. I just said that. I said I picked Duke, but I had picked Eddie, so it’s Duke. I’m thinking Duke gets six.

Nick:                         You lied directly to my face, but we’ll allow it.

Andrew:                 The reason they call me the Con Man.

Nick:                         They call you that?

Andrew:                 I don’t know, but it sounded cool. It’s Friday, for this podcast. I’m kind of pumped. It’s football season. Don’t have to write no more talking this, talking that. See some football.

Nick:                         Yeah. While we were taping this Matt Rolin posted a picture, a little throwback Thursday, to 2013. Kelvin Taylor, Marcell Harris, Keanu Neal, Alvin Bailey, Matt Rolin, and Vernon Hargreaves.

Andrew:                 At the Under Armour game.

Nick:                         At the Under Armour game. Only Marcell Harris is still playing football at Florida in that picture. Three are in the NFL and Rolin is obviously done. Alvin Bailey transferred. So you got Marcell Harris.

Andrew:                 He just transferred a little too late. Wouldn’t be a podcast if we didn’t take a shot at somebody. I mean, it’s what it is. Alright. Nick, for what everyone tunes in for every week, prediction on this Florida/UMass game? Nick, you got the first pick, so I get the first pick here. I’m saying Gators with the shutout, and going to say 41 points, Pinero gets two field goals. 41-0 Gators roll against UMass.

Nick:                         I never give a score for this, but I think Florida. I actually picked in the Alligator Pick ‘Em, which I am the returning defending undisputed reigning champion of, I picked Florida to actually cover the 36 point spread. So I’ll stick with that. Say that Florida rolls, covers that 36 point spread. I hope the offense can score 36.

Andrew:                 Yeah.

Nick:                         I hope the defense doesn’t give up more than, if you’re watching this game you probably hope Florida doesn’t give up more than a field goal.

Andrew:                 I got the shutout.

Nick:                         I got no shutout. I got Florida covering that spread though.

Andrew:                 How many points do they score?

Nick:                         Florida’s going to score in the 40s.

Andrew:                 How many points does UMass score?

Nick:                         I hope 3, and that’ll give me that lucky number 36, because if Florida scores 40 and UMass kicks two field goals, I’m out of luck on my 36 point spread.

Andrew:                 There you go. Listen, we’re pumped for this. We appreciate everyone that follows this podcast. We know there’s a lot of new podcasts that comes out, but Nick and I, from the bottom of our hearts, we appreciate everyone that follows us, gives us feedback. Our podcast wouldn’t still be good, Nick and I both had some doubts that podcast would be good, but you guys really have, you’ve helped our podcast become good. We’re pumped for it. We get excited for doing it. Nick and I, we don’t talk about this stuff. It’s straight from the head. We don’t discuss topics. We don’t discuss debates. It is what it is. Nick, we both, we appreciate them a ton.

Nick:                         We do. As always, we appreciate all the new members to the site as well, appreciate all the feedback we get on the message boards, all the feedback that we get on Twitter and Facebook as well. So, as always, here goes. www.GatorCountry.com for all your latest Florida Gators news. On Facebook, hit us up there. We respond to your messages, and all of our stories are there as well. Twitter, @GatorCountry. On Instagram, @TheGatorCountry. I am @NickdelaTorreGC on Twitter. He is @AndrewSpiveyGC on Twitter. Hit me up on Instagram too. That’s just Nick de la Torre.

Andrew:                 There you go. Hit him up. He’s always posting something there. Have a lot of stuff for game week coming up. Notice we got some new interns, Ryan, Bailey, Austin, Jackson. Got our normal writers in PD. PD is PD; he’s going to bring that crazy stuff to the site. Got our good friend Mark Miller, and got some good stuff coming. Can’t forget about our man DK with the stats. That’s going to be cool. DK does a really good job with those stats. Dan likes that stuff, and everyone likes it, so looking forward to that. If you haven’t joined us yet, like Nick said, hit us up. We’ll get you a deal. As always guys, go Braves and chomp, chomp.

Nick:                         You stay classy, Gator Country.

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.