Florida Gators vs. Tennessee Volunteers prediction podcast

Gator Country’s weekly Friday podcast is back as the Gator Country gang breaks down the Florida Gators game against the Tennessee Volunteers one more time before the big game on Saturday afternoon at 3:30 on CBS.

Andrew Spivey and Nick de la Torre gives you the keys to the game for both Florida and Tennessee and what it will take for the Florida Gators to come out with a victory on a Saturday.

Like all Friday’s Andrew and Nick conclude the podcast by giving you three players that they think will have big games on Saturday, plus they give you their score prediction for the game.

TRANSCRIPT:

Nick:                         Hello, Gator fans. Enjoy the calm refreshing tone of my voice as you tune into the GC podcast, because the moment you all have been waiting for, the moment you all have been waiting for, the moment Andrew Spivey has been waiting for all off season, the Andrew Spivey Tennessee Volunteer rant.

Andrew:                 Nick, it is here, buddy. It is here. It is here. I am so freaking excited, man. I have got this salt shaker I’m bringing. It’s a Gator one. My grandmother gave it to me for my birthday, and I was always wondering what I was going to do with it, but I’m bringing it for all the salty Tennessee fans this weekend. I’m going to bring back enough salt to supply the whole southeastern conference with this mess. On Twitter yesterday talking about Quincy is not going to be good enough, because Jalen’s there. I think Mr. Uncle Silk said it best. Chad Wilson didn’t make no blankin’ boy. I can’t say the word, sissy boy. That’s right Tennessee fans. Quincy Wilson, he’ll be fine.

Here’s the thing. This is what’s funny about it. Everybody loves to talk about the hate, even Mr. Raymond Hines, Gator Country owner, came up with, “Kids, remember, make good grades in school so you can yell Go Gators, not have to sit in the corner so you have to say Go Vols from the trailer park.” I like it, Mr. Hines. I am very glad to see this game. I’m very glad to see that we’re going to get to see the Vols go down as the overrated team that we all know that they’re going to be this weekend. Butch Jones now goes 1-18 against ranked teams. Florida’s not a ranked team, but he’s going to go 0-3 now against the Gators. Nick, I’m ready. I have got predictions ready for this game, but I think I’m good now with my rant for a while, but my salt shaker is going to be very full, and my Twitter is going to be fire. In case you guys didn’t pick that up, that’s my lingo for the week.

Nick:                         Yeah. Every once in a while Andrew will find a word, and that becomes his hot word, no pun intended. That word is fire, so I will be done with the word fire by the time he leaves Gainesville on Sunday, because I will be hearing it all week. Huge game. We put out our visitor list. It is chalk full of some of the best players across the country. That is only going to heighten the pressure for Florida, not necessarily for the coaching staff. They can’t really worry about who’s at the game. It will be in the back of their minds, but heightens the pressure for the program this Saturday with Tennessee coming in.

Andrew:                 Absolutely. If you’re a big name prospect in the state of Florida or on the Florida recruiting board, you’re visiting this weekend. If you’re a defensive player, a defensive lineman, chances are you’re at this game. If you’re a commit, chances are you’re at this game. I just want to run through. I can’t go through all the hundreds and hundreds of names that are out there, but two official visitors, Dexter Lawrence and Terrell Hall. Those are big name guys. Dexter Lawrence is one of the top defensive tackles in America. You go to the receiver board, Sam Bruce, Freddie Swain, Nate Craig-Myers, former Florida State guy, Keith Gavin. The list just goes on and on. Pulling out the big linebacker from the state of Alabama in Lyndell Mack Wilson.

It’s a big game. This is the game Mac has been building for. He knew he was going to have this game to bring in all of his big talent. I don’t want to say that Mac has told people he plans to win this football game, because that would be a lie, but I do know that he has said this game is what he hopes is a product for his recruits to see that this game, seize this game and is able to jumpstart their momentum heading into the rest of the year. Nick, you know, New Mexico State and ECU the crowd was wound. It’s going to be electric Saturday. A win makes it even more electric. Guess what? Kids love electric environments.

Nick:                         Yeah. They all had, fans that is, had a lot of drinking time with the 7:30 kickoffs. They’re going to have to double fist their alcoholic beverages with the 3:30 kick, but Tennessee coming into town there has been a ton of smack talk, to steal your word. Social media has been fire, not just this week, but pretty much all off season. No love lost.

Andrew:                 Stay away from my word.

Nick:                         No love lost between the fans at all this week. I expect a very electric environment for what I also expect to be a very sloppy football game.

Andrew:                 Very sloppy it is. I have to, I was going to read this one quote that I got from a 2017 prospect. I won’t name his name. You got to tune into tomorrow to Gator Country to see these predictions, but a prospect that is committed to Florida in 2017 said, “The Gators roll over the Volunteers 42-12.” That’s a big one. That’s a big one for you, Nicholas, 42-12. I think that you would probably disagree with that, but 42-12 is pretty nice.

Nick:                         You bet I disagree with that. I think 42 might even be more than the two teams combine for, let alone one team scoring 42. I think this is a sloppy football game. You mentioned all of the defensive line prospects coming into town, and what I think they’re going to see is a physical, ugly football game. Whoever runs the football better has historically won this game, and I think with Josh Dobbs and Will Grier both defensive coordinators are going to try to stop the running game to make the quarterback win the football game for the other team. Both offensives will try to establish the run, because they know they have a lot of question marks with their quarterbacks. So I see a very physical football game. I see maybe even getting a little contentious at points because of how physical it will be. So I don’t see 42 points. I see a run, ground and pound kind of style from both teams, and a low scoring, sloppy game.

Andrew:                 I think, I told you that I thought it was going to be a sloppy football game. I continue to say that it’s going to be a game of running and short passing. I don’t see a lot of deep plays, and I don’t see a lot of big plays happening. After I’ve gotten to think about it this week, watch a little bit more tape this week of some things, I think Florida has a chance to bust a big play deep on Tennessee. I’m not sold on the secondary of Tennessee at all. If Florida’s able to hit one of those little wheel routes or something like that it’s possible. I have changed from going to it’s going to be a real ugly game to I think it’s just going to a small low scoring football game that maybe doesn’t have a lot of big plays, but I think you have some big plays in the game. We talked to Vince from Tennessee, and he was talking about the offensive line being bad as well. The thing for me is Dobbs hasn’t been able to get away from pressure, so that is good for Florida, not good for Tennessee.

Nick:                         Right, but then you look at Will Grier last week, and Jim McElwain said it himself on Wednesday, some of those hits he took, some of the punishment he took against Kentucky was self-inflicted. We talked about it on the Monday podcast where it was kind of one read, my first option isn’t open, time to tuck it and run. That’s not going to cut it against Tennessee. They have some talented linebackers, if their defense has a deficiency it’s in the secondary. So I see maybe a DeAndre Goolsby getting out on a wheel route or a deep ball, something like that can hit, but I don’t know if Florida’s offensive line can give you the time to hit that deep post or hit that nine route. Is Will Grier going to feel comfortable behind a line that at times will be playing three true freshmen?

Andrew:                 I don’t think you see three true freshmen this year.

Nick:                         You think they’re going to, they did it last week against Kentucky. Do you think that they’re going to tighten up that rotation?

Andrew:                 I do. I think that you will see that there is not as many rotation in at all, and I would be very shocked if Tyler Jordan plays this week.

Nick:                         That’s interesting, because I definitely believe that you will see Martez Ivey, you will see Fred Johnson. For me, I think Tyler Jordan plays, because I think these guys are going to continue, the coaching staff is going to continue trying to get these guys experience, these young players. For whatever reason, I don’t agree with it. I don’t like it, but I don’t get paid money to coach the football team. They really like rotating these guys, keeping people fresh, getting guys experience. I see that continuing this weekend against Tennessee. I wouldn’t do it personally, but I see it continuing.

Andrew:                 Again, this is all speculation.

Nick:                         It’s all opinion.

Andrew:                 Yeah. I don’t think so. I think that you see some changes. The one thing I will say is I really thought they were going to put Martez Ivey at guard this week. I really thought that was a good move for them, and Summers completely dismissed that.

Nick:                         Really shot that down. I understand what he’s saying. There’s a lot. It’s really hard for a freshman to come in, especially in the SEC, and play right away on the offensive line.

Andrew:                 Right.

Nick:                         So what they’re trying to do is narrow their focus, and Martez Ivey’s already playing left and right tackle, and to somebody, you might think, he’s playing tackle. It’s the exact same. It’s a mirror image. It’s a complete opposite when it comes to technique, so that’s something that he has to switch the flip in his mind, be like, I’m not at right tackle anymore. Now my kick step is starting with my left foot. My stance is different, and that changes completely even when you move inside, and you, as a former football coach, know that, how different it is playing tackle and playing guard.

I think what Mike Summers is trying to do is saying we’re already putting a lot on their plate asking them to play this many reps as freshmen, let’s try to narrow the focus and keep it to one or two positions that are similar and not completely different positions on the line. You’ve seen somebody like Mason Halter, who’s a fifth year senior, play tackle and guard, but he’s been around the block. This stuff isn’t new to him. He knows what to expect.

Andrew:                 Again, the reasoning behind why I thought Ivey would play guard some was he’s a run blocking guy in high school. That’s where he made his way, not exactly his money, but that’s where he earned his scholarship was run blocking in Apoka’s offense. So I thought he was a better run blocking guard for that. The one thing that kind of did confuse me a little bit with Summers is Florida runs a lot of zone blocking schemes this year. Zone blocking for a guard and zone blocking for a tackle is very similar, so I didn’t understand where that was coming from. Maybe they’re trying something different.

I will say that I did get the impression from Summers that he was putting all of his resources in to find the best five. I did not get the assumption that Antonio Riles was safe at right guard, that Halter or Fred or Ivey were going to play right tackle, or Dillard was even at center. I didn’t get the impression nobody was set for that. Again, I agree with you completely. I hate the rotation. I would rather five guys go out there and play the whole game and give up 4 sacks, then they rotate 10 guys and give up 3 sacks, because 5 guys are going to get better together more so than if it’s 10 guys. I think that that would have been better even through the first three games to develop some comfortable rhythm between the five guys.

Nick:                         Yeah. They’re going to keep doing it, no matter what we say. They’re going to keep doing it.

Andrew:                 Let me page Jim McElwain here. This is Andrew, I have an idea for you. He didn’t answer.

Nick:                         We don’t know, or I think we do know that they’ll continue rotating. Something else we do know is that Florida will be without two players this week. We were able to put that information out. Jim McElwain talked about it. He’s not calling them suspensions. He’s calling them, you can’t see my air quotes, I’ve got to figure out how to do air quotes on a podcast.

Andrew:                 Quote, unquote.

Nick:                         He’s calling them “choices”. It’s a suspension. Jalen Tabor and Treon Harris will not play in this game. For me personally, and I think a lot of people agree with this line of thinking, losing Jalen Tabor hurts more than losing Treon Harris. There was something to having Tennessee think both guys can play, we have to prepare for both. Maybe you take a hit there, but in my mind losing Tabor from a depth perspective on the back end of the defense is a bigger loss than losing Treon Harris.

Andrew:                 I see some things go on Twitter that are totally misguided. They say, that means we’re never going to see Tabor, Quincy, and Vernon on the field together. We haven’t seen that. They’re not going to do that. Quincy and Tabor are not playing inside. Vernon’s not playing inside, so guess what? If Tennessee does go four wide that means Brian Poole’s got a guy, and that means Marcus May has got a guy.

Nick:                         They’ve been on the field at the same time when Florida went into the dime, and that’s something they’re having to play more of now with the dime, but then you’ve got Duke Dawson who can come in and play inside at corner. Marcus May is going to be sliding down.

Andrew:                 They got away from that at the end of the game, and that’s where I’m getting at. They got away from that at the end of the game.

Nick:                         Crunch time.

Andrew:                 I don’t know if Jalen Tabor played in the 4th quarter last week. I would have to go back.

Nick:                         He played in the 4th quarter, but it was Quincy Wilson and Vernon Hargreaves down the stretch. Another thing is these TV announcers, you’d think that if you were going to be on national television you would, I don’t know, read the game notes that are emailed to you before you head to that school. When Florida played ECU the announcers basically made it seem like Quincy Wilson had won the lottery, because now he has a chance to play, because Vernon Hargreaves is out. Quincy Wilson has started all three games for Florida this year. He’s not starting this game because Jalen Tabor is suspended.

Andrew:                 Right.

Nick:                         Quincy Wilson has been the starter across from Vernon Hargreaves, and then in the second game the starter, because he’s earned it.

Andrew:                 Right. Again, my thing is this, for me, when I’m looking at the game, and I know Vegas disagrees, because they dropped Florida to an underdog, those two guys being suspended, in my opinion, have absolutely no input on my game prediction. If Vernon gets hurt, if Quincy gets hurt, if Poole gets hurt, then you have a problem.

Nick:                         Right. This is what I brought up when I wrote my story about it on Thursday, two years ago Florida goes to Missouri. First play of the game Cody Riggs get ejected for targeting. That changed everything. Florida never recovered from that. What happens if Marcus Maye on the first drive this Saturday gets ejected for targeting?

Andrew:                 Again, that has no impact on Jalen Tabor, because Jalen Tabor’s not playing safety. Unless Quincy or Vern get hit with a targeting, and no offense, I love both of those guys, highly doubtful either one of those get hit for targeting. So it has no outcome. You’re almost acting like a dumb Tennessee fan, Nick. Do I need to hate on you now?

Nick:                         Oh my goodness.

Andrew:                 Do I need to hate on you now?

Nick:                         There are not enough players in the secondary right now. You went into this year before JC Jackson and before some injuries, thinking DBU, yeah. Look how deep this roster is. Now you’re in a position where you have really two cornerbacks. After Quincy Wilson and Vernon Hargreaves, there’s DeAndre Porter, and that’s it. Chris Williamson, freshman, hasn’t played this season.

Andrew:                 I’m playing Williamson over Porter.

Nick:                         Williamson hasn’t played this year. Jim McElwain says no redshirts have been decided on.

Andrew:                 He has played this year on special teams.

Nick:                         He has not played this year. The report, the participation reports have been wrong. I went and checked, and asked, and double checked on Thursday. Williamson has not played this year. In the game notes, which Vern and Gary should read this week, it shows that he has not played yet.

Andrew:                 Okay. That’s fine. Gator fans, I’m sorry you had to listen to this Volunteer take over my podcast.

Nick:                         Unbelievable.

Andrew:                 Unbelievable is real. You need to get on fire. Here we go. Some hot points for you right here. Offensively, I think that Mac has a couple things up his sleeve, because I think he knows he’s got to score points this week. I don’t think last week he ever got nervous about the score before the game. I think he thought heading into the game he was going to be able to score some points. So I think going into this week he knows he’s going to have to be creative, and I do think that you will see some different things from Florida.

Nick:                         Here’s one thing that I’m really interested in seeing. The past coaching staff, getting into big games like this, would completely tense up and become conservative and play not to lose rather than to win.

Andrew:                 You know what we call that?

Nick:                         I don’t know if we can put that on the air.

Andrew:                 We call that being Butch Jones.

Nick:                         Another shot. So I’m interested to see, yes, Kentucky was a good, or a big matchup, Jim McElwain’s first conference game as head coach. Kentucky is not as good as a football team as Tennessee is. This is a tougher matchup for Florida. I’m interested to see what the play calling is, if Florida tightens up like they have the past four years, or if they’re going to, like you think they are, kind of throw the kitchen sink at Tennessee.

Andrew:                 Here’s my thing, and this is an honest assessment of Florida. Has the playbook not shown something different and taken some things out the last three weeks?

Nick:                         Yeah. I haven’t seen anyone cover a wheel route, and I didn’t see any last week.

Andrew:                 Right.

Nick:                         The wheel route is my first true love, and I’m missing it.

Andrew:                 Last week it was a lot of toss plays.

Nick:                         Yeah. They’ve used the toss play, but not as much as that toss sweep. They’ve used it, definitely not as much as they use…

Andrew:                 And they ran it out of a different formation, because in the ECU game they ran it to a one tight end set, not to the three tight end set.

Nick:                         That was like the Will Muschamp jumbo package, accept with an offensive mind, and you’ve got three tight ends over there instead.

Andrew:                 Here’s my last thought though on this a little bit. You find out a lot about McElwain. You find out a lot about Nussmeier this week. You find out a lot about Geoff Collins this week. Do they tense up in the big game like Muschamp, or do they rise up like the Urban Meyers, the Jimbo Fishers, the Nick Sabans, the best of the best? Does he rise up? You say I’m taking a shot at Butch Jones, and I am trying to take a shot at Butch Jones, but is it not facts as well? Vince Ferrara that came on our show the other day.

Nick:                         That was a butchering of his name.

Andrew:                 Vince Ferrara.

Nick:                         Poor Vince.

Andrew:                 Poor Vince. I’m not Cuban. Anyway.

Nick:                         He’s Italian.

Andrew:                 I’m not Italian either.

Nick:                         Oh my goodness.

Andrew:                 I do eat pizza though.

Nick:                         Go ahead.

Andrew:                 He said the same thing without calling him a loser, almost, but he did. He said, I question his big game ability.

Nick:                         That’s every Tennessee fan. Anyone that covers Tennessee, that is their gripe with him. It’s game day choices, taking chances, and when it comes down to crunch time, when it comes down to crap or get off the pot.

Andrew:                 Right.

Nick:                         They think he gets off the pot a lot.

Andrew:                 That’s what I’m saying. So where does McElwain fall? It’s a big game, but here’s the thing. This isn’t McElwain’s first big game. He’s been in bigger games than this game here, and I truly think you’re going to see some things differently this week that are going to be out of the ordinary and are going to be really good things. I think you’re going to see more perimeter running. I think you see that get it to them sheet. I think it actually happens this week.

Nick:                         Let me ask you then. We’re talking now about mixing it up on offense. Jim McElwain, I had mentioned before, all week you’ve kind of had to prepare. Butch Jones even said, we’ll be preparing for both quarterbacks. Tennessee’s had to prepare for both quarterbacks. It comes out on Wednesday, you sure don’t, but Jim McElwain slides into your DMs with Josh Grady has been running that Gator tail package. So we’ve been running that. Are you calling bluff, or do you think Joshua Grady, former Vanderbilt wide receiver, is going to end up taking snaps at quarterback for the Gators? By the way, he’s had one pass that was completed for 3 yards in the first game of the season.

Andrew:                 Here’s what I’ll say. Would it surprise me? No. It wouldn’t surprise me. Here’s the thing.

Nick:                         I’m calling bluff.

Andrew:                 Here’s the thing. Do I think it happens? Hell, no. Could it happen? Sure. Here’s my thing. You run Grady. If Grady gets hurt, I don’t want to say no big deal, because everybody getting hurt’s a big deal, but you would much rather him be running in some certain situations that you would Will Grier, your starting quarterback. That’s kind of what I’m saying. Would it surprise me to see a package come out with Josh Grady? No. Do I think it happens? Hell, no.

Nick:                         So we’re both calling bluff.

Andrew:                 I’m calling bluff, yeah. Sorry, Coach Mac. Sorry.

Nick:                         Calling bluff.

Andrew:                 Here’s the thing. I would like to see it though. Grady, here’s the thing. Grady’s a good athlete. I think we can both agree he’s a good athlete. He’s just not a very good quarterback, good passer, but I think we both can agree he’s a good athlete. Agreed?

Nick:                         Yeah. He’s a good athlete. He’s looked okay. He’s inconsistent. I’ve seen him throw some balls in practice where to myself I’m thinking, I didn’t think he would look that good. Then he throws some knuckleballs that two hop a receiver on a 5 yard comeback, and I think, that’s what I expected.

Andrew:                 I’ll be honest. I’d like to see Brandon Powell get a snap. See what he can do.

Nick:                         If you want to run a wildcat package.

Andrew:                 I don’t like Brandon Powell running the wildcat package.

Nick:                         Kelvin Taylor’s run it in the past.

Andrew:                 Kelvin Taylor dances. What’s he going to do, catch the ball, play ballerina in the back field, and then go? No thank you. I don’t want to see that.

Nick:                         Maybe Hayes Grier, younger brother of starting quarterback Will Grier, has given Kelvin some dance tips, and he’s got some new moves this week.

Andrew:                 Erin Andrews, she probably taught him some as well. She’s into the assistant announcer or some bull crap like that? Maybe she can come help a former Gator out, or a former Gator come help out a current Gator. Maybe she can do that for him.

Nick:                         I think that Florida is going to try to establish the run. You really need to see Will Grier not have happy feet. It’s something that I talked about Jeremy Johnson from Auburn having before he was demoted. It’s something Jim McElwain has talked about. Will Grier had a little bit of happy feet against Kentucky. You need to see him have more confidence in the line. I don’t know if he will, because they’re not really confidence inspiring, but he needs to hang in there, hang tight. Tennessee’s big deficiency is their secondary, and if Florida’s offensive line can give Will 4 seconds Demarcus Robinson can sneak behind somebody to where he won’t have to dance, because he’ll be 5 yards in front of them.

Andrew:                 Guess what happens? Guess how that happens?

Nick:                         How does that happen?

Andrew:                 You know that little toss play they’re running last week? You pop that on a play action this week, and guess what? Cam Sutton, Berry and all their guys come flying up to stop that running game. Guess what? Brandon Powell pops over the top, six in the end zone. Brandon Powell’s celebrating with the recruits in the south end zone, and wind up being a fireworks shoot off in Gainesville.

Nick:                         Yeah. Little story time. We saw that play Week 1. We saw the run, that toss sweep, Week 1. Then Week 2 we saw the fake toss sweep, the little play action roll out and dump it off for the pass. That was a touchdown to Demarcus Robinson. When they started running it in the first half, I talked to you on the phone during half time from Tennessee, and I said they’re going to hit that. They’re going to go that play action on that toss sweep, and it’s going to hit, because they’ve run it so much. They didn’t go to it. Maybe Mac is starting a trend where every other week he throws out of it, so you put it on film from the week before of look at that formation. You see that toss sweep? When they’re in that formation that’s what they’re running. Then you get a linebacker to bite down. You get a safety to think, I know what they’re running. I can cheat on this a little bit, and that’s when you can hit it. I would not be surprised at all to see that play action hit or called and hit this week against Tennessee.

Andrew:                 Completely agree. I think it’s there. Let’s turn a quick second here to the defensive side of the ball before we move on. Defensive side of the ball, make Josh Dobbs beat you. Stop Kamara. Stop Hurd, and I say stop. You’re never going to truly stop those guys, just, I’ve lost my word here. Contain them. That’s the word I was trying to think of. Contain them. Contain them and not let them beat you. Make Josh Dobbs beat you. My guess, my opinion going into the game is Josh Dobbs can’t beat Florida.

Nick:                         I think that this the approach that you have to take. So right now Tennessee has a very good running game. Their running averaging over 200 yards rushing per game. You can take some shots or question the kind of talent level that they’ve played against on defense as far as run stopping, but I think right now you’ve got a big bruising back in Jalen Hurd. You’ve got a guy in Alvin Kamara who I don’t know why they’re not using him, but a talented back in Alvin Kamara. I think right now if I’m Geoff Collins I’m thinking, shut down the running game. If we lose this it’s going to be because Josh Dobbs beat us, and we don’t think Josh Dobbs can beat us.

Andrew:                 I don’t Tennessee’s receivers can beat Quincy and Vern.

Nick:                         Yeah. I was very high on Tennessee’s receiving core coming in. Pig Howard gets hurt this week. Marquez North hobbled in practice, so they’re not going to be coming in full strength. Even if they were coming in full strength I’d like Quincy Wilson and Vernon Hargreaves. Quincy is over 6’ tall, 195 pounds, long arms. He can play with those bigger receivers that Tennessee has. Vernon Hargreaves is only about 5’10”, 5’11”, but he is built like a bodybuilder, can jam those guys at the line. He’s not going to be pushed around by a bigger receiver. So I have no problem with either of them lining up.

It’s then, what happens if Tennessee just runs nine routes all game? Whether they’re running the ball or actually trying to hit them, where’s the conditioning level of Vernon and Quincy when it comes to the 4th quarter after they’ve been chasing wide receivers that Tennessee can shuffle in and out to keep fresh, having them just run down the field? I would try to tire Florida’s cornerbacks out, because there’s not going to be much, any, none, kind of rotation from the cornerbacks this weekend.

Andrew:                 Yeah. Agreed. Defensive line has got to play big, Brantley, Bullard, those guys have got to play big. Tennessee’s offensive line is not very good. Florida should have a field day up front. For my key of the game, and you give me your key of the game next, is which offensive line protects their quarterback better wins the football game.

Nick:                         Yeah. Listen, Tennessee has given up 6 sacks this year. That’s 2 a game. That’s not good.

Andrew:                 And they haven’t faced a defensive line near as good as Florida’s.

Nick:                         No. Not at all. Oklahoma, obviously a little bit bigger, but we’re talking about giving up 6 sacks with opponents named Bowling Green and Western Carolina. Not great competition to be averaging 2 sacks a game, and that’s not even accounting for affecting the quarterback. So just getting near him, hurrying him, stuff like that, that adds up. It doesn’t show really in the stats, but that stuff adds up. My key to the game is running. Whoever runs the ball better wins this game.

Andrew:                 That doesn’t sound good for Florida. I’m just going to be honest.

Nick:                         It doesn’t, because Florida’s running game has been terrible since the first game. Right now Florida is 11th in the SEC, only averaging 170 yards per game on the ground. That’s bad. We’ve talked in the past about how each consecutive week was a small step up in competition for Florida. If you look at it, Florida had 222 yards at 5.41 yards per carry in the first game, just 168 yards at 4.42 per carry in the second game, and then against Kentucky 37 carries for 120 yards, 3.24 per carry. It’s gotten worse and worse. This will be another step up in competition. Florida has to be able to stop the run, or Florida has to be able to run the ball. On the other hand, Florida’s only given up 55 yards a game. Averaging giving up 1.95 yards per carry. That is very good.

Andrew:                 Very good, and had Florida tackled last week it’d be a lot less.

Nick:                         That’s another thing. Those small little, a run that should be -2 yards turns into an 8 yard gain. You can’t have missed tackles, especially when you’re getting into conference play. Florida’s margin of error, I think you and I will both agree, they don’t have a very big margin of error.

Andrew:                 I don’t think either team does.

Nick:                         No, I don’t think either team does. I’m talking about not just this week. I’m talking about Florida in general.

Andrew:                 Yeah.

Nick:                         The rest of the year, their margin of error is so small that you can’t have missed tackles, the penalties, stuff like that. You can’t have that kind of stuff and expect to win football games.

Andrew:                 Agreed. Let’s look at a couple of other games here, Nicholas. I know you have some friends that are Michigan fans. Michigan and BYU, I like BYU to continue that miracle they’re having over there in Utah.

Nick:                         Yeah. I’m going to go, I apologize to my Michigan alumni friends. I’m also going to go with BYU in this one.

Andrew:                 Missouri vs. Kentucky sets up for me for Kentucky to get a big home win. Agree or disagree?

Nick:                         Kentucky, the Kentucky slide starts every year. Florida kicks off Kentucky’s basketball season. Basketball season has hit Lexington. They’re done with that football team. Missouri gets a win and gets back on track, looks more competent than the team who barely beat U Conn at home.

Andrew:                 I’m going to say Kentucky wins by two scores.

Nick:                         Wow. Confident.

Andrew:                 Confident. Last, but not least, what say you out of the Utah Utes and the Oregon Duckies?

Nick:                         We don’t pick with the spread, but that won’t matter this game, because this is a Pick ‘Em. Vegas has given no team any points. I’m going with Utah.

Andrew:                 You’re going with Utah on the road.

Nick:                         Yup.

Andrew:                 I like it. I’m going with Utah as well. I just had to see if I could get you to change your pick, but I like the Utes this weekend. Last, but not least, Nick, I want to give one more to you, Auburn vs. Mississippi State. Could we have a 3-2 ballgame again?

Nick:                         This is going to be bad. This is not going to be good, but I picked against Auburn last week. A quarterback that I loved when I was out in Beaverton at the Elite 11, Sean White from University School is getting the start this week for Auburn. I’m picking the Tigers to beat Mississippi State.

Andrew:                 I can’t pick Dan Mullen. I like Sean White as well. I think Sean White does well, if Malzahn allows him to play. He’s not going to run the ball very well. He’s going to throw the ball very well.

Nick:                         Sean White’s starting. They named him the starter.

Andrew:                 I said that he’s not going to run the ball as well as Gus Malzahn would like him to run the ball. He’s going to be a good throwing quarterback. I like Auburn this weekend, but the people didn’t come here for that.

Nick:                         We’ll save that for last. I’ve got a could Twitter questions for us to hit.

Andrew:                 Okay. Bring the Twitter questions on.

Nick:                         Matt Fitzsimmons wants to know, have we seen everything there is on offense? I think we kind of touched on it a little bit. I would say no we haven’t seen everything, but you get into a situation where each week there’s things to correct that you spend that you could be installing new stuff. You spend time correcting, and then I think there’s entire pages in Jim McElwain’s playbook that he has completely ripped out and put aside, because of the offensive line play. There’s stuff that Florida simply won’t be able to run because of the play that they’re going to get from their offensive line and because the offensive line is so young.

Andrew:                 Agreed. I think that you’ll see some things this week that Mac’s going to test the waters and see. I have another question from Twitter. When are we going to not be the most penalized team in the SEC? We being Florida. I think you have to change it. I think you saw last week it went down a little bit. I think it goes down a little bit more this week. I think it’s something that is doing well.

Nick:                         Good thing I got my story out about penalties after the first week. It was better against Kentucky a little bit, but to answer the question, this year. Florida’s 10th in the SEC in penalty yards per game, so they are not the most penalized. They do have the most number of penalties, but not for the most yards per game. Florida has been hit with 23 penalties this year, which is 2 more than the next closest, Georgia. I think this year Florida will 13th in the SEC in penalties.

Andrew:                 Now let’s go to what the people want to hear, our breakout players of the week. I let you go first last week, guess what? I’m going first this week. It’s hate week for Tennessee, and Caleb Brantley, he’s going to do Andrew right this week. He’s having a big game. It may not show on the stat sheet, but when you and I are sitting in the Swamp together I guarantee you we say he has a big game.

Nick:                         I’m going to go with Quincy Wilson.

Andrew:                 The guy that can’t play, according to Tennessee fans?

Nick:                         According to Tennessee fans, the guy that Tennessee will pick on, because he’s not the starter.

Andrew:                 The guy that won the lottery this week, because he gets to play?

Nick:                         Just some lucky walk-on who lucked into a role starting against Tennessee. Wilson had the game sealing interception last week on that Hail Mary heave. I think he is seeing that people are kind of sleeping on him, even Gator fans kind of sleeping on him. I think he responds in a big way, because Tennessee will try to pick on him because he’s not Vernon Hargreaves.

Andrew:                 Yes.

Nick:                         I don’t mean that he’s not the player. I’m saying they know who Vernon Hargreaves is. They might not know who Quincy Wilson is. They’re not going to throw out Vernon. They’re going to try, at least early, to throw out Quincy.

Andrew:                 Next one for me is going to be quarterback 7, Will Grier.

Nick:                         That’s a big one. This is Will Grier’s game. There is nobody behind him. We have both professed our serious doubts that the Gator Tail package has any kind of legs this week. It’s Will Grier’s game.

Andrew:                 I think Will has a big game. I think he’s confident. I think he’s not looking over his shoulder, and I think he puts a stiff arm to the competition this week, has a big game, and the passing game is what wins the game.

Nick:                         Going back to my key for the game, running. I’m going with Kelvin Taylor as my second player. I think Kelvin.

Andrew:                 Dancing Kelvin or non-dancing Kelvin?

Nick:                         Lay off Kelvin. I think Kelvin Taylor leads all rushers in this game, and I think he finds the end zone not once, but twice.

Andrew:                 Okay. Last, but not least, hit stick city this week, Antonio Morrison has promised to lay a licking for me, and Morrison is pick #3.

Nick:                         I am going with the other linebacker, Jarrad Davis. Davis, since taking over for Alex Anzalone, has been a tackling machine. Where I think this game is going to be won, and where the coaches will try to win it, is the running game, and I think you’re a smart man to pick Morrison, and I’m going to pick Davis to lead the Gators again in tackles, another double digit tackle performance from him.

Andrew:                 Okay. Before we move on real quick, this quote just came off from Butch Jones on Twitter. He keeps talking about youth moment. Butch, you’ve got to play the game on Saturday. To pull a line out of McElwain’s book, the calendar has Saturday on there. Like it or not, buddy, you’re coming to the Swamp, and you’re playing with your youth you have or not. Sorry. Stop making excuses. Play the game. Florida’s playing with a bunch of guys that are Will Muschamp’s guys for the most part. You don’t hear McElwain griping about it. It’s players, football players you coach. Do your job, man. Prediction time, Nicholas. Who you got?

Nick:                         If Florida loses this game what will your Twitter mentions look like?

Andrew:                 Nothing. I’ll block them.

Nick:                         The block button will be on fire.

Andrew:                 It’ll be on fire. I’ll be salting my salt shaker all over it. Tennessee fans at some point Saturday will have something to whine about, very much something to whine about.

Nick:                         That leads us into your prediction I feel like.

Andrew:                 That goes into prediction. Gators 24, Volunteers 17. Grier with 2 touchdowns. Jordan Scarlett 80 yards rushing.

Nick:                         I’m going with Florida 24, Tennessee 23.

Andrew:                 My nerves may not be able to handle that.

Nick:                         I think it’s a very close game. I don’t know if Florida will blow anybody out this year. By that I mean I don’t know if Florida will win by double digits over anyone this year.

Andrew:                 24-17 is only 7. Where’d you go to school?

Nick:                         I said 24-23.

Andrew:                 I said 24-17, and you’re acting like it’s double digits. Do I need to go back to Mr. Hine’s quote?

Nick:                         Unbelievable. I’m talking on my own accord. I’m not talking about you. Everything’s not about you.

Andrew:                 It is about me. I’m fired today, remember that.

Nick:                         I think Florida, their defense will keep them in all of the games on the schedule, maybe not next week, will keep them in most of the games on the schedule, and I think that the defense will hold strong here. I predicted Kelvin Taylor. I was going to predict an ugly 14-9 game, but I went off the rails, lost control, and said Kelvin Taylor would score twice. That leaves me with my 24-23 prediction. I think Florida wins barely. I would not be surprised to see Tennessee end the streak this year, but crazy things happen when you lose 10 games in a row to a team. Austin Hardin has missed his last three field goals all from inside 40 yards. He hit a 49 yard field goal with six minutes left in the game to go up 10-9. Two years before that Jeff Driskel gets hurt in the 1st quarter, and Tyler Murphy leads the Gators to a win. Crazy things have happened.

Andrew:                 I have a question. What are the two things that happened in that game? What is the same thing in all three games, the same denominator in all three games?

Nick:                         Florida run the rushing battle.

Andrew:                 Butch Jones was the head football coach at Tennessee.

Nick:                         Unbelievable.

Andrew:                 Butch Jones was the head football coach at Tennessee.

Nick:                         I think I’m going to send you to Butch Jones’ press conference after the game while I go to talk to McElwain after the game.

Andrew:                 I’m good. I have dealt with Nick Saban, Nick. I don’t care. You want me to call Butch Jones. Here’s my last thing, and we’ll end this here. Career defining win for Butch Jones, is it must win?

Nick:                         Yeah. This is it for Butch Jones. He would’ve won some more rope with Tennessee fans if he had beaten Oklahoma, but then you look at the way they lose to Oklahoma, up big, can’t put the game away, end up losing it in overtime. It’s the same way he loses all of those big games is you get a lead, or you stay close, and then there’s a couple decisions that you can point to during the game to say, had a chance to bury them there, had a chance to close the door there, you don’t, and now look what happens. Tennessee fans, and I agree with them, love the way that he has recruited, the way that he’s built the program, but when you look at game day decisions on Saturday, it can’t happen, and the way that I think the game is going to go a loss will be in heartbreaking fashion to Florida, again for an 11th year, and I know he hasn’t been the coach for 11 years, but another loss to Florida, and like Vince said the radio lines will all be full of angry Tennessee fans calling for his head. If Butch Jones doesn’t beat Florida this year I don’t think he’s long for that job anymore.

Andrew:                 I may have to call into one of those shows.

Nick:                         I don’t know if you want to do that.

Andrew:                 I may call in to one of those shows. I doubt it. It’s hate week. It’s come to an end on podcast, but don’t worry.

Nick:                         On the other foot, what if Jim McElwain loses this game, and then you get the whole…

Andrew:                 No heat whatsoever on Jim McElwain.

Nick:                         Not heat, obviously, it’s his fourth game, but do fans kind of change their tune a little bit about him? Will Muschamp never lost to Tennessee.

Andrew:                 No. I don’t even think it comes up unless it’s like 40-0. If it’s like a Missouri game last year, then people will start to get pissed off at McElwain, but I don’t think he’s inept offensively to allow that to happen. I don’t think so. I don’t think so. Last thought real quick. Hate week has come to an end, but don’t worry. I dislike Mark Richt more than I dislike Butch Jones. That may sound crazy, but it is true. Nick has read text messages from me. So, Nick, sign off, because I get to say my two favorite words one more time.

Nick:                         All right. Gator fans, you know where to go Saturday, www.GatorCountry.com. Andrew, myself, and our photographer David Bowie will be at SEC Nation bright and early with Timmy, with Marcus, with Kaley, and with Paul.

Andrew:                 Paul Finebaum.

Nick:                         We’ll be there. You can follow us on Twitter, @AndrewSpiveyGC, @NickdelaTorreGC. We will be Tweeting. We will have our message board up starting from 8:00 for SEC Nation through the game that starts at 3:00, 3:30. Stories, photo gallery, you name it. Everything you want and need on game day and throughout the week, throughout football season, is on GatorCountry.com. Give it a listen. Thank you if you’ve made it this far into the podcast. Thank you for listening to the podcast. We appreciate everyone who has rated and left a comment there. We love you all.

Andrew:                 Boomer Sooner, guys. One more time. McElwain greater than Butch.

Nick:                         You stay classy, Gator Country. Andrew, can I get one more Rick Flair woo?

Andrew:                 Woo. Until Saturday.

Nick:                         Wear blue, stay classy.

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.