GatorCountry brings you a new podcast as we recap week two of the Florida Gators football fall camp that concluded with a scrimmage on Friday afternoon.
Andrew Spivey and Nick de la Torre talk about the injuries that occurred last week, plus talk about some of the notes from the scrimmage last Friday.
Andrew and Nick also break down the Florida Gators football schedule and talk about the toughest games for Florida in the 2016 season.
TRANSCRIPT:
Andrew: What’s up, Gator Country? This is your man right here, Andrew Spivey, with my man, Nicholas de la Torre. Nicholas, it’s another day closer to getting closer to the season, getting closer to the game talk, getting closer to not having to talk about the preseason hype and what this team is saying. Are you getting a little excited there, Nicholas?
Nick: Yeah. We are under three weeks. Under three weeks until U Mass comes into Gainesville and the season gets under way. It’s even less than that until the college football season starts, and Week 1 is a big week. I’m pumped for football to be back, whether it’s Gator football, whether it’s NFL football. I’m just pumped for football to be back.
Andrew: Yeah. Me too. That Alabama-USC game is going to be a lot of fun when it kicks off. I’m pumped for that game, and I’m pumped for a lot of games. We’re going to talk scheduling on this podcast, but before we get into scheduling, Nick, let’s recap what happened last week. It was kind of a wild, maybe crazy, week with a couple of injuries to some, I don’t want to say big name players, but guys that were going to contribute, maybe. So let’s recap that. Also, Gators had their first scrimmage on Friday. We can talk a little bit about what we know. Of course, it was closed to the media and to the public, so Mac will talk about that on what? Monday or Tuesday?
Nick: Monday.
Andrew: Monday. So when you guys are listening to this Mac will be talking about it, so we’ll talk about that. Let’s go, first things first, Nick. Antonio Riles suffered the season ending knee surgery, or not had the surgery yet, but suffered the season ending surgery.
Nick: Season ending injury. You’re struggling with that.
Andrew: Injury.
Nick: Struggling with that one.
Andrew: I am. To me, this is it. I was probably his hardest critic last year. He’s a guy that should not be your starter. I don’t think was going to be your starter, but he was a guy that you could legitimately plug in. He would know what to do. Now whether or not he did that assignment, that’s where hurts his experience, in my opinion. He was a guy that you could count on to at least go in there and contribute, maybe not dominate the game.
Nick: Talking about Riles?
Andrew: Riles.
Nick: It kind of gets into, as far as games go, kind of gets into what we’ve talked about a little bit. What would the rotation at offensive line be, and will there be a rotation? Last year it was trying to find 9, 10 guys. Is that something that the coaching staff wants to do? You’ve got a lot of sophomores now who earned valuable playing time because of that, but do you still want to have that fluid rotation? It got to a point last year where you’re texting me during a game or talking to me during a game, and you’re like, they need to quit rotating these damn linemen, because it is a position where you need that cohesion, and you need everyone playing on the same page, and it’s hard to do that when you’re moving pieces around so much. Would Riles start? There was a possibility. I don’t think he was a starter, but it really hurts you when it comes to practice, because that’s one less body now, and something Florida’s going to have to deal with.
Andrew: I don’t think they wanted 10 guys. Mac did say that he wanted 10 guys to be ready to play. I don’t think they wanted 10 guys to be in the rotation, by any stretch of the floor, but I think it was just more about Riles was a guy that easily you plug in at guard. For instance, and I’m just throwing this circumstance out, if Fred Johnson was to get hurt, you could have slid Martez to right tackle, Antonio to left guard, and you’ve have been okay. Now your situation is you’re probably looking to find your next best tackle.
Nick: It really hurts your flexibility.
Andrew: Yes. It hurts. I would say usually most teams have seven guys or eight guys that are ready to play. They have a guy that can backup at tackle, a guy that can backup at guard or center. So you usually have eight guys, and I feel like losing Riles was one of those guys they lost. The other injury was CJ McWilliams. I think you and I both agree he was destined to redshirt, but that does suck to go down with a season ending injury in the growth of his game to get ready for next year. Then Quincy Litton having the foot injury. Again, I think he was probably destined to redshirt, but he was a guy that I think you look at, and you say, next year he should have been in the rotation. Now how much did that set him back missing those possible 4-5 weeks?
Nick: Yeah. I think Litton was a guy that probably could have played special teams, if you didn’t want to redshirt him. If you didn’t need him on special teams, probably someone who would redshirt, but it gets to a point now, so you’re out 4-5 weeks. It’s not like you’re back playing football in 4-5 weeks. It’s you’re out, so when you get back in 4 weeks, a month, or when you get back in 6 weeks, then it’s starting sort of a rehab process. You have to get used to running on it again and trusting your foot again. It’s kind of at that point of the season, at that point you’re already three games in, how far behind is he? Is it worth having him be a gunner on special teams or be on special teams? Is that worth giving up a year? That’s something you have to weigh. I think this could have, there might have been a situation where the coaching staff would have had to have a long hard conversation, but I think this could have made it easier. It might have helped make a decision to say, let’s just redshirt him, because he’s not going to be up to speed when he comes back.
Andrew: Right. I think that’s exactly right. My thing is this, and this is simply me speaking. I don’t want to say misinformed, but not as informed as I’d like to be, but with a foot injury, and this is the second foot injury for Quincy Litton, does it start to become a problem like Brandon Powell has?
Nick: Similar situation where you’re having screws put into the foot.
Andrew: Right.
Nick: We’ve heard about the hot spot with Powell. I think it’s a valid question you ask.
Andrew: So that’s my thing. Is this something that’s going to continue and all this? The Nike shoes that were specially made for Brandon Powell, hopefully those work. So far, so good. That’s my question is where does this go there? You’ve heard everybody, all the fans and stuff, talking about, it’s a lot of injuries. Not really. I mean, two season ending injuries, that does suck, but you’re going to have injuries. I mean, you look at across the country. FSU loses their returning starting quarterback, whether he started this year or not is beyond me.
Nick: SMag.
Andrew: Yup. LSU loses people. You’re losing people all over. I don’t think that it’s anything Florida. It’s not the Will Muschamp curse, that’s for sure.
Nick: Find some wood and knock on it.
Andrew: Yeah. I don’t know though. Can you get the Will Muschamp curse ever again? That’s kind of one of those one in a lifetime. Funny story, though, and we’re going to get off topic, but I actually was a part of a Will Muschamp curse coaching one year. We had five guys go out with ACL injuries within a matter of 18 months.
Nick: Jeez.
Andrew: It was awful. It was really bad. It was nothing we were doing. Simply was that bad luck, the Will Muschamp curse, before it was the Will Muschamp curse.
Nick: Maybe it’s you.
Andrew: Maybe. Who knows? I don’t know. I guess I’m that bad. I don’t know. Who knows? Let’s move on. Let’s talk a little scrimmage. Like I said, we didn’t get to see it. We’re simply going off of hearsay, this, that, and the other. Even though, let’s call a spade a spade. We kind of did have that big time scrimmage report up on where, Nick?
Nick: www.GatorCountry.com
Andrew: There you go. Yes. Quarterback situation, Mac wants everybody to believe it’s a competition. It is a competition in practice. From everything, Nick, and I’m speaking for you hear, correct me if I’m wrong, it is a competition. They are splitting games or splitting reps and splitting turns with the ones, that kind of stuff, in practice, but I think that’s simply to get Appleby ready to be that guy in case something does happen. As the backup, as Dan Thompson wrote, it’s good to have a backup that can play. It’s not a bad thing. While Mac says that, and props to Mac for saying that. He can use that line all he wants. I’m not believing it. I think it’s still Del Rio, and from everything we heard, him and Appleby both had a really good scrimmage.
Nick: Yeah. Both guys had a good scrimmage. Why would you not want a good backup? Especially given the last four or five years of quarterback history. It just makes sense. You need to have more than one guy prepared, for anything. For whatever happens, you need to have more than one guy. I think, you and I maybe at some point maybe something will happen, and we’ll change our tune, but we’ve been pretty consistent staying with Del Rio’s probably going to be the starter, would be our starter right now. If that changes it’s because he got beat out, because both guys were playing well. It’s not to say Appleby’s bad.
Something that’s interesting to me is when you ask the players about the quarterbacks everybody talks about Del Rio kind of intangible stuff. They’re talking about he’s smart. He knows what the defense is trying to do. He knows what the play is offensively, and where the offense can exploit what the defense is trying to do, or how to check out of a play and say, that’s what the defense is doing; here’s our check. Here’s our hot, so we’re going to get into this, because that’s going to do a better job against what we’re seeing on defense right now. Everyone’s talking about, when asked about Appleby, it’s kind of just arm strength. To me, are they saying Appleby’s stupid? No. That’s not what they’re saying. It is interesting to me, when you ask many different players what’s he do well, what’s he need to do better? They’re all kind of sticking to that same thing talking more about physical traits with Appleby and the arm strength, and more heady kind of stuff with Del Rio.
Andrew: I mean, I don’t think that’s a bad thing on Appleby either. Let’s remember, this is Del Rio’s, what? Fourth, third year in the system. It’s not a bad thing at all. Again, I think it’s good. As Florida fans, do you want to see another Treon situation where you can’t even complete a pass against Alabama, or can’t complete a pass against FSU? No. If something does happen to Del Rio, you want it to be a guy like Appleby there. I think it’s great that it’s there, because you’re not pushing a Franks or a Trask or one of those freshmen guys to have to step up and maybe play before they’re ready, and then stunt their growth as a quarterback.
Nick: I still think you’d like to get some separation. Right?
Andrew: Yeah. Absolutely.
Nick: If you could.
Andrew: Absolutely. I just think that it’s a situation where, I mean, do you really want Trask or Franks, it’s like you and I said off the air. If Del Rio gets hit in the helmet, and his helmet falls off, or he is running and his shoe falls off, and it’s 3rd and goal on the 3, and Tennessee’s got nine men in the box, do you want Trask to come in and simply have to hand off, or do you want Appleby to come in and be able to run that play X and bootleg pass? You know what I’m saying? That’s where I’m at.
Nick: Yeah. I just, my point was more of if the situation presents itself would you like to be able to get separation between the two freshmen, but I get that. Are you going to bring him in, give them the Will Muschamp Jacoby Brissett treatment where he comes in and hands the ball off 15 times? I don’t think you do that.
Andrew: Right.
Nick: If you’re going to not use the redshirt, make it worth it. Let him play in the first game. Let him play against North Texas. If you’re in an SEC game, where the outcome is all but done, you’re up big, let him get some reps.
Andrew: Right.
Nick: Against that kind of talent. Don’t send him in, don’t waste a redshirt to hand the ball off.
Andrew: Yeah. Let’s move on to receiver. Massey and CJ Worton were the two guys that we heard had really good days. Everybody goes, what happened to Antonio Callaway? Is he not as good? No. Simply scrimmage. Simply that those two guys had better days. Let’s also remember, Callaway is going up against arguably the best corner in the country in Jalen Tabor, so it wasn’t exactly easy for Callaway to get open against Tabor. Those two guys, Worton and Massey, did good. Also heard Brandon Powell did well. Nick, I continue to say, I think Worton is going to have a good year, and Massey as well. Cleveland and Rick Wells didn’t practice, so Tyrie wasn’t in the mix. I do think Tyrie eventually gets up there to be one of your go to guys, but I think we can sit here today, August 14th, you guys are listening to it the 15th, and say, Massey, Worton, and Callaway are probably your three guys that are starting come U Mass.
Nick: Massey, Worton…
Andrew: Callaway.
Nick: Yeah.
Andrew: I say that. I say that, because I don’t know Callaway’s deal. Does he get a one game suspension? I don’t know. If he doesn’t, then yes. If he does, then I don’t know.
Nick: That will be a question that McElwain gets asked, and I look forward to that question being dodged. That’s completely unknown.
Andrew: Yeah. Completely unknown.
Nick: Completely unknown. I was talking to another writer, and he said, “Well, you read the report, and it says he was high, this, that.” That doesn’t mean he failed the test. You could walk up to your head coach and say, “Coach, I’m high on weed right now.” If you didn’t fail a test, you’re not going to miss a game. Did he fail a test? That would be a violation. That would be a choice that he made.
Andrew: Right.
Nick: Because he has freedom of choice, but there would be a consequence.
Andrew: Here’s another thing. He wasn’t on campus for what? Six months?
Nick: That doesn’t matter. Yeah, but it doesn’t matter, because if you’re peeing hot, if you’re peeing dirty.
Andrew: Yeah, but are they going to his house to do a drug test? That’s what I’m saying.
Nick: No. I’m saying it’s not like, most people that smoke weed don’t do it one time ever.
Andrew: I know that.
Nick: That’s what I’m saying. I’m not saying he smoked weed that time, and that’s when he got…Here’s a question. So this incident happened before the SEC Championship game.
Andrew: Right.
Nick: It wasn’t reported until after, but does the SEC drug test at the SEC Championship game?
Andrew: I think so.
Nick: Is it random? Is it everyone?
Andrew: I don’t know.
Nick: Are they testing players that go into bowl games?
Andrew: I don’t know that. I know they do like when they go into the tournament for basketball. Here’s my thing too, though.
Nick: There’s just a ton of questions of, and we don’t even have any kind of clarification on if he’ll be available to play, like cleared to play, for the first game. So there’s just…
Andrew: But the Alabama guys, what I was going to say, the two guys that were arrested at Bama, also admitted to smoking weed and stuff like that, and Saban’s come out and said they’re ready for Game 1.
Nick: They have a big Game 1.
Andrew: That’s what I’m saying. Maybe they’re suspended for Game 2, or Game 10, when they play Eastern Kentucky of the South, or some crap like that. Let’s move.
Nick: Saban was looking at his schedule, and was like, well, they’ll play Week 1. They’ll be suspended Week 2 against Western Kentucky, and Week 4 against Ken State, and that’s how we’re going to handle it.
Andrew: Yup. That’s it. I don’t know. We’ll see. Let’s move to offensive line, though. Starting to wonder about right tackle, after a few things being heard. Maybe Jawaan Taylor gets a spot there, Nick?
Nick: That’s tough, man. Tough. Tough for a freshman, and people will say, David Sharpe did it when he was a freshman, and Martez Ivey played as a freshman, and Fred Johnson played as a freshman. They’re playing in roles. It’s completely different when you’re playing, you’ve got 15 snaps, or you’ve got 20 snaps this game, and you’re going to come in in the second quarter, versus you’re starting at right tackle. That could be 40 snaps, 60 snaps. Could be 80 snaps. How many plays did Florida run against Ole Miss? They ran like 80 snaps, or maybe it was Kentucky. Kentucky with the overtime game. That was a lot of snaps. It’s completely different. A freshman’s looking good at right tackle, but I’m just never going to be comfortable with it.
Andrew: No. No, no. You know. I don’t know. I don’t know. It’s weird to me, because it’s a guy that we just didn’t expect, and it’s one of those guys where, I’m not a star guy, so it’s never that, but I think there’s only a select few of guys that I think can really step in and play one of the tackle spots as freshmen in the SEC. Jawaan just wasn’t one of those guys, but every time you hear, you talk to people, I mean Mac talks about him every day in his press conference. He’s a guy standing out. He’s certainly big enough to, and can do it, so we’ll see. Right tackle’s going to be the weak spot of the team, so is Fred that much better than Jawaan? Right now I don’t know if we know.
Nick: Yeah. That’s tough. It’s still, the offensive line’s just not deep. I want to think that they’re going to be better, but I just don’t know how confident I am in that. I’m not ready to say.
Andrew: You’re not confident in it at all.
Nick: I’m not ready to say, the offensive line is going to be trash. I’m not ready to say that.
Andrew: There’s so many question marks.
Nick: They’re not a great offensive line.
Andrew: It’s just so many question marks. I mean, does Martez Ivey play like the guy we all thought he could be at guard? Does he? If he does, sure. Does Tyler Jordan play? He was solid last season. Did he get even better over the off season? Where’s Sharpe? That’s my thing. It’s something I even told you on Friday. They’re going up against a really, really good defensive line. Can we agree on that?
Nick: Yeah, but that’s been the excuse for…
Andrew: No. I’m not using the excuse. I’m asking you.
Nick: I’m not saying you’re making the excuse. I’m saying that’ been used for five years, and the line has been terrible for five years.
Andrew: What I’m asking you is this. Are they going up against a good defensive line?
Nick: Yeah. Sure are.
Andrew: So I need to see them in that first game to see, okay, is Dillard getting beat by Caleb Brantley just because Caleb Brantley is that monster? Where if Brantley wasn’t, then you’d be like, something’s not right. Or is he getting beat because he simply hasn’t gotten better? That’s my question. That’s what we need to see in Game 1, and you can’t really tell until Game 1. That’s as simple as it is.
We can fly through the defense. You’re never going to get as much in the defense scrimmages, so let’s fly through that real quick. Tabor, Quincy, both had really good days. We heard safety, Jawaan Talor, had a good day. I feel like we’re missing someone. We heard those three had a good day, and Brantley, of course, had a good day, and that Jordan Sherit had a good day. I think that’s the guys on defense that we know about. I have heard some good things on Putu, and that’s that he is still looking good. I think the biggest question is just maybe how much of the system he knows. I think that’s the biggest question for me.
Nick: Yeah. A guy that’s been working out at two positions, at safety and corner, but then you got to think, much easier to play corner.
Andrew: Right.
Nick: Where is your knowledge when it comes to safety?
Andrew: Never getting on the field at corner as a starter.
Nick: Let’s hold on, because Florida, in my opinion, has three cornerbacks. You’ve got Jalen Tabor and Quincy Wilson on the outside, and Duke Dawson, and that’s it. The drop off after that goes from DBU to DB Who? So that’s it. If Tabor or Quincy go down, I think it’s a situation where you kick Gardner down from safety into nickel, and then you have to ask Duke to play outside. We’ve seen Duke play outside in portions of practice. To me, it’s hard. You’re one injury away from maybe him having to start.
Andrew: Yeah. That’s true. I guess, I don’t know. I guess my thing is how much has he developed, but he’s still got a little bit of time there for that. Anything you want to add on the scrimmage before we talk a little scheduling?
Nick: No. I’m really excited about this little schedule talk, because I’ve got all of the schedules pulled up. So when we’re talking Florida schedule I know who the opponent is playing the week before, and who they have before Florida.
Andrew: Alright. We’ve got a couple of Twitter questions. Someone asked about Trask and Franks. We discussed that. Someone asked, is Putu an SEC caliber DB? I would say, from what we’ve heard, he has the ability to be. It’s still of question of the mental standpoint. You’re in agreement with that, right?
Nick: Yeah. He’s behind. He just got to campus. The question of can he jump in right now, and he’s gone through 10 practices.
Andrew: Right. Let’s hold the board there. Last question we really had was, how has 92, 95, and 99 looked so far? I’m going to be honest.
Nick: No. Andrew, you should know this.
Andrew: I’m going to be honest and say I don’t know who 92 is.
Nick: Yeah, you do. You just can’t say his name.
Andrew: Oh, that’s my boy, Jabari.
Nick: There you go.
Andrew: 95 is Keivonnis. Who is 99?
Nick: Freshman. Jachai Polite. I’m not going to let you look it up and cheat and make it sound like you know what you’re talking about over here.
Andrew: Okay. Yeah. I’m terrible right now with numbers.
Nick: Jabari Zuniga, 92. 95 is Keivonnis Davis, and 99 is Jachai Polite.
Andrew: Everything I’ve heard about Jachai Polite is that he’s going to be a monster, and he’s going to be a guy that’s going to play like the Bullard role of inside and outside. With Jabari, I’ve heard he’s doing better as a pass rusher. I think the main thing right now is him being a run guy. Can he defend the run? Then Keivonnis Davis I think is doing what Keivonnis Davis kind of did last year, and that’s just being a guy that, I don’t want to say it’s being just there, because he contributed some last year. I think he’s still trying to learn, but he is able to give you that pass rush.
Nick: Yeah. I see Jachai, at 270, I see him being an inside guy, because I think he’s going to continue to get bigger.
Andrew: Yeah. Okay. I can agree with that. I just think he’s a guy that right now is a guy that could play that Bullard role.
Nick: I don’t see him cracking in right now, to be honest. I don’t see him playing this year.
Andrew: The weight he is right now, next year, he could.
Nick: Yeah.
Andrew: Alright. Let’s go to scheduling talk. I’m going to hit you with this one first, and that is I want to know the three toughest games on the schedule for the Gators, in order from 1-3. 1 being the toughest, no. 3 being the softest, and then one being the hardest. Work your way down.
Nick: I’m going to give you one that is sneaky, in my opinion. It’ll be my #2 game. My #3 game I’m going to go at Tennessee. It’s a big game. It’s going to be hyped. You and I were talking about it. There will be yellow flags thrown that game. I think Florida will come into that game 4-0.
Andrew: 3-0.
Nick: Sorry, 3-0. I think Tennessee will come into that game probably 3-0, with a win over VA Tech. That’s the big Bristol, right? That’s the big Bristol bowl. So I think it’ll be 3-0 and 3-0, and that game has so much riding on it. Even though it’s the first month in the season, so much riding on that game. I’m going to put that at 3.
Andrew: Okay.
Nick: My #2 game is at Arkansas.
Andrew: I knew that was coming.
Nick: Tough trip, towards the end of the season, and it comes off of playing against Georgia, and Arkansas has a bye week. So Florida has a game against Georgia where you are taking a pounding. That’s a physical game, a tough game. Arkansas gets to put their feet up the week before.
Andrew: Yeah.
Nick: And the week before that they’ve got probably the worst team in the SEC West in Auburn.
Andrew: Worse that Mississippi State?
Nick: Auburn is trash. Mississippi State’s going to be bad too, but Auburn’s trash.
Andrew: Okay. I mean, I agree Auburn’s trash.
Nick: Basically two weeks off before getting to play Florida, and that’s a tough trip. Tough trip to make, and Arkansas normally starts peaking towards the end of the year. It seems to be what they’ve done under Bielema is that they struggle, and they stumble a couple games early on. They’ve got a tough game against TCU, at Texas A&M, and at Alabama all in the first six games. I think they’ll struggle there, but they kind of turn it on towards the end of the year. Then my toughest game will be LSU, even though that’s at home.
Andrew: You’re leaving out the Noles.
Nick: Actually, yeah. I’m comfortable sliding, nope. I’m leaving out the Noles. I’m going to go LSU. I’m super underwhelmed with Deondre Francois. I made that very clear when Florida was recruiting him, and I’m not that confident in the Noles. They’ve done well, or I’m not that confident in their quarterback play. It’s really, in my opinion, kind of Dalvin or bust. I saw a tweet today about George Campbell playing some at practice.
Andrew: Oh, God.
Nick: I honestly forgot that George Campbell played for Florida State. I almost tweeted that. Almost forgot that he was playing. So I’m going to leave the Noles out and stick with LSU.
Andrew: He’s the Ermon Lane of his class.
Nick: I’m sticking with LSU. I think LSU has a better defense than Florida State. I think LSU has one of the best defenses in the conference, in the country, if Brandon Harris can get it going, and that’s a game for Florida you’re missing two, you’re flying back and forth to Tennessee two weeks with Tennessee and at Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt’s going to make Florida’s offense earn that game. Vanderbilt has a very good defense. So where is Florida going into that game mentally with LSU? That Vanderbilt’s a trap game with Tennessee, sandwiched in between Tennessee and LSU, by the way.
Andrew: You get that hype of whipping that ass for the 12th time.
Nick: Or you’re super duper sad about not extending the streak.
Andrew: Jalen Tabor may be still under Tennessee capture. He may still be the goal post. I’m going to go with this. I’m going 3 is Florida State, for the same reasons you are. No quarterback play. Until Francois proves it, ain’t buying it. Dalvin Cook or bust there. George Campbell, Ermon Lane, couldn’t catch a cold if their life depended on it. No thank you. 2 is Tennessee. I would love to say Tennessee shouldn’t be in the top three. I’m the biggest trash talker, but it is what it is. The trash talk is at an all time high. Like it or not, that game is going to be a knockout, drag out war, and it is going to be a game. We talk about the last second touchdown Florida scored last year. It could very well come down to another last second drive. I think it’s going to be that big of a game there.
Then my first is LSU. For me, Florida has to win this LSU game this year for a couple reasons. A, it’s a conference game. Whether you win Tennessee or lose Tennessee, you’ve got to beat LSU for the conference. The second thing is taking back the Swamp. Florida and Mac have talked about taking back the Swamp. You can say Tennessee game last year you took it back, sure, but that’s Tennessee, the team you own. Beat LSU, take back the Swamp there, and beat a team that’s kind of had your number. That, in my opinion, is the biggest one. I mean, I could really say Florida State was 2, because I think you also have got to beat Florida State, because you’re losing some in state recruiting battles because you can’t beat Florida State. Beating LSU and Florida State, in my opinion, are musts for recruiting, but if I’m going the toughest I’m going to say LSU is the hardest. Tennessee is the second, and Florida State’s the third.
Nick: First off, little side note, I turned on Miami-Florida State from last season, was watching it. Dalvin Cook is a monster, but so is Leonard Fournette. Here’s another thing, maybe a little caveat. The teams Florida’s playing this year, last year it was a lot of those spread teams. The teams Florida’s playing this year, you’ve got Jalen Hurd, Fournette, Chubb. Arkansas is going to run the ball, no matter who they have. Bert’s going to run the ball. Florida State you’re playing Dalvin Cook. So really you’re getting teams that want to run and want to run, and we were talking about the defense. What happens if Caleb Brantley goes down and misses one of these games? Alex Anzalone goes down. Now you’ve got to plug in Kylan Johnson, who’s been playing linebacker for a year, or a freshman in David Reese. Florida is thin at some key positions where you can really get exposed by these teams who have power running games and are going to be determined. Listen, Bret Bielema will take will take 3 yards. He will take a 3 yard Iso, and he’ll live on that. He’ll run the ball 50 times and do that.
Andrew: See, I think that’s why I’m not, do I think Arkansas is a trap game? Yes. I think that’s a tough game, but I think it’s kind of like, and I’m going to say this, and it’s going to be cliché, and I’m going to hear about it, whatever. It’s kind of like Bama. Bama doesn’t struggle with the spread teams, because they’re up against a team that’s very similar to Arkansas, to LSU, to Florida State, to Tennessee, where they’re going to run first, then be under center play action, that stuff. Florida should be used to it by now, so I think that they’ll be prepared, and I think the Arkansas game may be a game that helps Florida when it comes to Florida State, even though Arkansas doesn’t have the players Florida State does. It’s going to be a situation that the offense is very similar. Georgia being the same. Georgia with Chaney now as the OC, they’re going to be kind of more of a run at you first, try to pound it, with their running backs.
Nick: Yeah. I don’t know. I don’t know if I agree with that statement, Florida should be used to that. I think Florida, maybe not because the depth isn’t there anymore, but like last year I think Florida handled those spread teams well, because of how deep you were on the secondary.
Andrew: Right. The thing is this, and that is that Florida doesn’t see spread in practice.
Nick: Right.
Andrew: They’re seeing the run right at you. They’re seeing that play action. That is something they should be a little more used to now, after what? 18 months of really going against it. That’s why I say that. We’ll see. Florida should be better against the pass, because when you look at their secondary it’s there. My biggest thing is, had you faced six straight spread teams, you’re having Jalen and Quincy running man for 70 plays a game. You’re less likely they’re going to need a break against those spread teams then you are against the Arkansas, where Quincy and them are probably running a guy who’s running a fake route or blocking them, more so than running down the field 50 yards every play.
Nick: Yeah.
Andrew: That’s why I say that. Maybe that’s good for Florida with the depth being a little down at DB.
Nick: I can see that.
Andrew: Teaching something every day.
Nick: I can get down with that.
Andrew: I teach you something every day.
Nick: Let’s not go that far.
Andrew: I teach you something every day of the week. Let’s talk a couple things about the scheduling. Florida, in my opinion, Florida has a decent schedule as far as being able to maneuver, kind of go through it. I want to talk about Tennessee’s schedule real quick, and it’s four games that…
Nick: Oh, those four games.
Andrew: I just don’t understand. Why does the SEC do this? I am the biggest anti Tennessee person there possibly is, so I wouldn’t complain about it.
Nick: Tennessee, this is a sledgehammer.
Andrew: I mean, at home against Florida, on the road against Georgia, at A&M. No matter how bad A&M is, that’s a tough game.
Nick: Sumlin’s coaching for his job. That’s going to be a desperate team, and desperate teams are dangerous.
Andrew: Yeah. Then a home game against Alabama. They could easily go 0-4 in that stretch, easily.
Nick: Listen. Tennessee’s not beating Alabama. I don’t care who Alabama’s quarterback is. Tennessee is not beating Alabama. They can start the year 0-1 and take two bye weeks. Skip the Alabama game, take the second bye week before they travel to South Carolina. They’re not beating them. Playing between the hedges, that’s tough. Playing at Texas A&M, no matter what that situation is, that’s a tough place to play.
Andrew: What happens if they lose to Florida? Do they just spiral downhill?
Nick: They might expect to lose to Florida, so maybe they don’t spiral downhill.
Andrew: They sure as hell aren’t talking about it.
Nick: Can I tell you something? After that four game stretch, no matter what happens there, I see the hype train again.
Andrew: Here we go.
Nick: At South Carolina, that’s a win. Tennessee Tech is a win. Kentucky is a win. Missouri’s probably a win. At Vanderbilt, that’s five. You win your bowl game. That’s six wins in a row.
Andrew: Here we go next year. It’s all again next year.
Nick: But that four game stretch is brutal, brutal stretch of games.
Andrew: I’m calling it now, people. 9-4, Tennessee. 9-4 Tennessee is the 2017 Spring National Champions once again, because they were on a six game winning streak, seven if you count the bye week.
Nick: What’s Florida’s record?
Andrew: What’s Florida’s record? I’m going to run through this real quick. Florida plays U Mass. I give them a W. Florida plays Kentucky. I give it a W. North Texas, W. Tennessee, I don’t even have to answer that. Vanderbilt, a W. So they’re 5-0 with LSU coming to town.
Nick: Hold on. So LSU has Wisconsin, which is a great game.
Andrew: Yeah.
Nick: Then if you beat Wisconsin, Jacksonville State, Mississippi State, at Auburn, and Missouri. That could be a battle of two undefeated teams, again, back to back seasons.
Andrew: Absolutely. Here’s my thing, and I say the same thing about Florida-Tennessee, and I’m going to say it about Florida-LSU. Until Florida beats LSU, I just can’t. I can’t say Florida will beat LSU until they beat them. So I’ll go L for LSU. That’s 5-1. 6-1 against Missouri. Georgia is just one of those games where I just don’t believe in the quarterback play. I’ll go 7-1.
Nick: I put this on Twitter. 2014 taught me that I don’t know jack sh—in the way of predicting that game. Florida should have gotten run off the damn field in 2014, and they housed Georgia.
Andrew: Just remember, Mark Richt.
Nick: I can’t predict that game. I don’t know.
Andrew: It’s Mark Richt. I’ll give a Florida a win at 7-1. Arkansas, 8-1. I’m going to go that they go 10-2 and lose to LSU and Florida State. Name your losses, Nicholas.
Nick: I don’t know. I think Florida loses to LSU. I think Florida loses at Arkansas. I really do. I think you lose at Florida State.
Andrew: So you’re going 9-3.
Nick: I see three losses. I have no idea how to predict Georgia. I might not even predict it once we do our prediction show Friday before the game. I might not even predict that day. I might just throw my hands in the air, break my headset.
Andrew: You will. You will. You absolutely will.
Nick: Florida will beat Presbyterian. They will beat South Carolina. They will beat North Texas. They will beat U Mass. So that’s five right there. Kentucky’s played Florida really close, but in my lifetime I’ve never seen it, so six wins with Kentucky.
Andrew: U Mass and North Texas.
Nick: U Mass, Kentucky, North Texas, Tennessee, Missouri, Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Presbyterian. That gives me eight, eight wins right there. I’m not predicting Georgia. I don’t know. That game’s canceled. I’m not predicting it right now. I have a hard enough time predicting it. I’ll have a hard enough time predicting it on October 28th, the day before the game. I don’t know. I don’t see 10. I don’t see 10-2. I’ll say that. You picked 10-2. I don’t see 10-2. I see three losses.
Andrew: Okay. That’s what we’re here for. Let’s get out of here. We’ve bored the people enough. Tell the people where they can find us, and we’ll get out of here and see everyone on Thursday. That’s a guarantee.
Nick: You already know, quick programming note, Jeff Driskel is, I think it’s the Niners debut today, so congrats to Jeff for making his NFL debut, Sunday night. As always, you already know, it’s www.GatorCountry.com for all your Florida Gators news. Thank you to everyone who has signed up this week, and appreciate it. Let us know what we’re doing well, what we’re doing poorly, and how to fix it. On Facebook it’s Gator Country. On Instagram, The Gator Country. On Twitter, @GatorCountry, @NickdelaTorreGC, @AndrewSpiveyGC. That’s it. Let me know, and check out the podcast on iTunes as well. Leave a comment down there. Leave a rating. We would appreciate that. I’m out.
Andrew: Definitely, like you said, big movement this week, a lot of guys. Appreciate everyone that has joined. If you haven’t joined, what are you waiting on? Hit us up. We’ll get you in. We’ll get you going with the best there is. Hit us up on Gator Country. As Nick said, on Twitter as well. As always, go Braves, and chomp, chomp.
Nick: You stay classy, Gator Country.