GatorCountry brings you a new podcast as we bring you our Friday prediction podcast for the Florida Gators big game against FSU on Saturday.
Andrew Spivey and Nick de la Torre breakdown the keys for the Gators on Saturday in order to knock off Florida State at home.
Andrew and Nick also predict several games around the country, plus give you three players to watch for the Gators.
TRANSCRIPT:
Andrew:What’s up, Gator Country? Your man, Andrew Spivey, here with Nicholas de la Torre. Nicholas, we’re ready. Friday before the Noles. Last Friday prediction podcast of the year before bowl game actually. Yeah. It’s a big one. Excited to see the atmosphere in the Swamp. Excited to see the students arrive early for the seniors. There’s no blackout, so I’m good with that.
Nick:It’s been the rumor.
Andrew:Yeah. It was the rumor. You and I have heard that the administration isn’t close to approving that rumor. So, we’ll see. I think it’s definitely that will happen eventually. You and I were talking about it. Kind of all the other sports have already started to do it, so why not? I’m cool with all blue.
Nick:Yeah. I think all blue or maybe an orange. Blue, orange. I know some people like that little mix of colors. To me, I think they’ll figure it out, maybe, and do it eventually. Dan Mullen’s fine behind it. So, it’s weird. He likes doing all, or says he likes doing all smoke or the smoke coming out of the field, music, make it all like a carnival, state fair kind of experience. He’s fine with different kind of jerseys, but he also likes just wearing the traditional orange, blue, white.
Andrew:Right. Yeah. Does look like there’s going to be a little bit different endzones though. What do you think?
Nick:Yeah. I think they probably just go back to, they weren’t blue before. They were just green, right? Weren’t they?
Andrew:Yeah. So, it looks like they’re going to go all blue, at least in one of them. We’re taping this on Wednesday before the Thanksgiving holiday, so I’m sure it’s out there exactly what it is. It does look like that. I’m cool with that. I’m cool with the different things on the field. I think that’s better than messing with the tradition of the uniforms and all that. But what do I know?
Nick:For me, I really did enjoy the orange though this year.
Andrew:Yeah.
Nick:When did that start? Right before FSU last year? Was it before that?
Andrew:Yeah. So, that was the game before FSU, because FSU was on the road. Yeah.
Nick:Okay. So, it was for the last game of the year.
Andrew:Yeah. Was that UAB? No. I don’t know. Whoever last year was. It’s too long ago.
Nick:Can’t remember.
Andrew:Yeah. So, I’m cool with that. As we get more, there’s not a ton to talk about in the breakdown of this game, but Nick Buchanan had something to say on Tuesday that I thought was interesting. I’ll ask you this same question. I think that, while Florida should win and should win easily, I do think that Dan Mullen’s pushing the right buttons when he’s telling these guys, be prepared, because they have nothing to lose. There is zero to lose for them. They know they’re going to the weed eaterbowl or whatever rinky dink bowl they can. They’re going to it. I think he’s doing a good job of saying, listen, you can’t go in here taking this game for granted, like you and I have talked about. You have to go into this game prepared that it’s going to be a war.
Nick:Yeah. It was Nick Buchanan, I think, that said it. This is their Super Bowl.
Andrew:Yeah.
Nick:This is a game where it doesn’t matter what’s happened. It doesn’t matter what’s happened at any point of this year. If Florida State beats Florida, they’ll take it. That would only the seventh win for them, but it makes you forget about a lot of bad things that happened before that.
Andrew:Exactly. These guys for Florida State are the same way as Florida is, and that is these guys don’t have exactly a lot of love lost there for each other. These guys plague each other. It’s a pride factor for this. Want to get into something though a little bit deeper into this, and that is do you think this is a must-win for Odell to even be in the conversation? Is it a situation where if he wins, he probably gets it?
Nick:I don’t think it’s a situation that if he wins, he gets it, but there’s no way he gets it without winning. If that makes sense.
Andrew:Okay. Yeah. No, no, it does. There is the report out there that they’re vetting Indiana’s coach, and they’re vetting Lane Kiffin and somebody else they were vetting. It looks like they’ve been turned down by all the big names. I think you and I kind of knew that Bryan Kelly wasn’t going to happen. James Franklin wasn’t going to happen. There was a lot of names. Listen, names that I think you have to go after, but, again, I think they’re getting to the bottom of the pile.
Nick:Man, you got me all excited with Lane Kiffin.
Andrew:That would be awesome. I’m not even going to lie.
Nick:Yeah. Just the verbal wars that Lane Kiffin and Dan Mullen would get into, the back and forth there. Sign me up for that.
Andrew:The tweets. I mean, Lane’s all about subtweetingpeople.
Nick:Lane would have a good time [with pot belly’s stuff]. That’s for sure.
Andrew:Yeah. Well.
Nick:I think for me, we’ve gone through it. You and I have gone through it twice now. I never know if I’m saying, like you just said, they got down to the bottom. They’re getting down to the bottom of the barrel. I think it’s pretty obvious that Florida went after Chip Kelly, so you can say that’s a miss, but a lot of times you’re just saying, people are saying they’re looking at this guy, they’re looking at that guy. That’s just people with sauces, that don’t really know what they’re talking about.
Andrew:Right.
Nick:Just putting stuff out there. I do think that Florida State went after, geez …
Andrew:Bob Stoops.
Nick:Went after Bob Stoops. And then I also think that, whether or not they went after Mark Stoops, or if that was talking back and forth to agents and stuff like that, I do think that’s a whiff. So, yeah, I think you’re now getting into a situation where there’s a couple. There’s a couple of guys that you’re looking at, and you’re like, all right, well, they’ve said no. They’ve said no. They’ve said no.
Andrew:Well, here, I’m going to break some news for you. When it happens, FSU got the guy they wanted, the top guy, because everybody does.
Nick:Everybody does.
Andrew:Everybody does. So, yeah. Again, for me, I’ll go back to what we said on Wednesday, and that was I don’t see a way that Odell gets the job. I’m sorry. I just, I don’t. I don’t think, from a standpoint of Florida State trying to get back to where they are, I just don’t see it. I don’t see that being a situation where they can hire him.
Nick:Yeah. I mean, I think there’s a good portion of the fans, of FSU fans, that would be okay with it. It’s not a splash, sexy, homerun hire. I don’t know if there is one though, right now.
Andrew:Right.
Nick:I mean, could you think of one right now that you’re like, okay, yeah, that’d be a big splash hire?
Andrew:No. But I mean, was Dan Mullen a splash hire at Florida? I would say no.
Nick:No. I thought, I mean, at the time it was they missed on Chip, they missed on Scott Frost, and kind of settled for Dan. But I also said that it might not be a sexy hire, but I thought it was a good hire, just because he knew.
Andrew:Right. I don’t think it’s a bad hire, but I think it’s a situation where you have to judge it afterwards, a couple years afterwards, where you kind of look back and say, okay, this was. I know that’s kind of a bad way of looking at it, and an easy way of saying this was good or bad, but I think everyone in America thought Scott Frost going to Nebraska was going to be good, and that’s turned into a train wreck. I think everybody thought Chip Kelly going to UCLA he would win more, and he’s on the verge of not going to the bowl game for his second straight year.
Nick:Yeah. I think, Chip Kelly’s a disaster, but I thought the Scott Frost one, listen, if someone can win at Nebraska, because you’re not getting the kind of athletes that all these other schools are getting at Nebraska. I thought if someone could win at Nebraska, it would probably be him, but that’s, like you said, turning out to not be the case.
Andrew:Right. So, it’ll be interesting to see. Obviously, Florida State will want to move quickly, as after this weekend you have two recruiting weekends before the early signing period, so you want to kind of get that going and get that going quick, because they need to salvage something. Because a lot of guys are signing early, and Florida State is not exactly going to sign very many good prospects without a coach.
Nick:No, and it’s not just, like you said, it’s not just the coach, the head coach. It’s new head coach comes in, he brings his own guys in. So, it’s position coaches, strength coach, staffers in and around the building. Until Florida State gets a coach, nobody, or not nobody, but most of the people in that building aren’t going to be there when you, the high school senior, gets to campus.
Andrew:Right. Exactly.
Nick:So, when am I even coming to visit? I can come and see the facilities, but who am I meeting?
Andrew:Right. I think that’s a big thing, and I think it has to be done next week.
Nick:Yeah. You don’t want to rush it, but you got the December signing period coming up quick.
Andrew:I mean, you’ve been looking for a month.
Nick:Yeah.
Andrew:Let’s get into this game, Nick.
Nick:All right. Listen, Florida State’s a bad football team.
Andrew:Okay.
Nick:But we talked to Todd Grantham, and we’ve talked to some of the guys, and I think we’ve identified Cam Akers already, right?
Andrew:Right. Yup.
Nick:As a playmaker. I think they also have a couple receivers, one in Tamorrion Terry, and DJ Matthews, who’ve been effective this year. Then Todd Grantham mentioned that they’ve got those two guys that can go up and get those 50/50 balls.
Andrew:Right.
Nick:He was also complimentary of James Blackman. I think James Blackman’s gotten a raw deal there, starting with the very first game last year, his freshman year, where he just got plastered and broke in half. I mean, it’s still Florida State, and they have talent, even if, you know, sometimes we’ve seen it at Florida. You can have talented players that just get wasted in a bad system, a bad scheme, or things start to snowball. So, it’s not like Florida State’s coming in with the talent of a UT Martin. There’s guys there that are talented, and it’s not a game that Florida can kind of just show up, I guess.
Andrew:Right. No. I mean, no, it’s not a you show up kind of thing. I think if both teams show up to play, and Florida plays hard like they should, and I have no doubts that they will, Florida’s a better team. I still don’t know where Florida State’s going to create offense, because I don’t know how the offensive line is going to block. I just don’t. I don’t see it. I think Todd Grantham gets aggressive here and goes after them. Yes, James Blackman has got a little bit of a raw deal, but at the same time, he hasn’t exactly done very well either, even despite the bad offensive line play. At times he’s thrown balls wildly to the wrong guy, thrown into double and triple coverage, that way. Let’s just be honest here. If you don’t have a passing game, and Florida’s able to put nine in the box against Cam Akers, unless Florida has one of those games where they can’t tackle, Cam Akers ain’t going very far.
Nick:Yeah. That’s true. You think this will be Cam’s last year? He’s a junior.
Andrew:Every part of me would say yes, but I think it depends on who the coach is, if he gets excited, that kind of stuff, because while Cam Akers, I think, is a very, very good football player, I think he is very unknown, because of how bad FSU has been. So, it’d be interesting to see kind of where he is on some mock drafts.
Nick:He’s kind of been, the most known he was wasprobably his freshman year. Yeah. Right?
Andrew:Yeah. I mean, last year didn’t do anything that really stands out. This year hasn’t really done anything stands out. I mean, he’s Florida State’s best player, by far. I think he’s going to be an effective NFL player. I thought maybe they should have tried him at quarterback a little bit.
Nick:Quarterback?
Andrew:He played quarterback in high school.
Nick:I think he’s had 1,000 rushing yards this year. Yeah. He’s got 1,042 rushing yards, 13 touchdowns. He’s getting the ball 21 times a game.
Andrew:Yeah. But if you had asked some national people, what’s Cam Akers done this year? I think the resounding note would be, I don’t know.
Nick:Yeah. He’s rushed for 1,000 yards twice in his career. Didn’t do it last year. Kind of split the carries with Jacques Patrick. Not split them. He got more carries that Jacques, but that’s 100 carries that Jacques got that he didn’t get. And still had 700 yards. So, he’s definitely a player.
Andrew:Yeah. I mean, like I said, I think he plays in the NFL. We’ll see.
Nick:People have been asking. One on our message board asked like why aren’t we breaking down the game more, and I think David Wunderlich broke down the game really well for us this week in his story that came out on Wednesday. To me, and if you agree, let me know, this is just a game where other than Florida State’s rush defense against Florida’s rushing attack, there’s nowhere else that I think Florida State has an advantage, whether it’s quarterback, special teams, even offensive line. I don’t see many areas that Florida State has an advantage over Florida.
Andrew:Right. No. You’re exactly right. I think it’s a situation where there’s not a lot of parity here. Then you go back to there’s no head coach, so is there going to be some wrinkles? I’m sure there will be. If you’re Odell, and let’s just say this is his last game, why not throw the wrinkles out there? If you’re Kendal Briles here, go ahead. Show everybody what your offense is, what you can do without Willie Taggart.
Nick:Yeah. Kendal Briles too. He got a chance, because he was kind of persona non grata. He got a chance to come here and call your plays and rebuild your public persona.
Andrew:Right.
Nick:He was in the middle of that when the coach that gave him the chance got fired.
Andrew:Right. I don’t think it’s a bad thing or anything that we’re not breaking it down as much. I just think that there’s a lot of unknowns here. To be honest, Florida’s the better football team. I think, outside of like you said, Florida State’s going to shut down Florida’s running game, but Florida shuts down their own running game.
Nick:They’ll help Florida State shut down the running game.
Andrew:Exactly. Let’s get into some recruiting though. You got anything before we get into some recruiting?
Nick:No. The biggest thing for me all week was trying to celebrate the senior class. We did that on the Wednesday podcast, so I’m good. I think Florida wins this game.
Andrew:We’ll talk in a minute. We’ll get some predictions here in a little bit. We’ll get there.
Nick:Big recruiting weekend though.
Andrew:Big recruiting weekend. Six official visitors will be on campus. That’ll be the biggest, by far, weekend, outside of the Auburn game, for Florida. Everyone asks me, it’s a bad Florida State team, Florida should win this game, but the atmosphere should be electric. It’s a situation where you’re Florida-Florida State. They want to see you beat Florida State. You get six official visitors in town this weekend to see a good atmosphere. Then the staff will have all day Sunday to kind of meet with them and talk with them, because, guess what? There’s no game to prepare for on Sunday.
Nick:No. Then, I mean, we’ll get into it a little bit later, I guess, but I want to know what to expect for probably the rest of …
Andrew:Yeah. We’ll get into that. I think the biggest thing to remember is that you’re going into this weekend, you’re setting yourself up. Okay. The six official visitors here. You’re setting yourself up to kind of know where you stand with those guys, where you’re going to be heading down the road here. You got Malik Heath, the Mississippi State JUCO wide receiver coming on campus. Biggest thing for him is can he get into school early? Can he qualify out of JUCO? Where is that? Florida kind of needs an answer on him, because they have Bryan Robinson coming later. They have a decision to make on Kentron Poitier.
They have some decisions to make at wide receiver, so you’ve got to figure out where you’re at with Malik Heath. Little Henderson, little CJ, Xzavier Henderson, coming on his official visit. He’s going to announce at the All-Star game. Going to still visit Alabama. But where do you stand? You kind of need to know this weekend for him.
Then you have the linebacker, Phillip Webb. He doesn’t really factor into anything down the road, as he’s really only one of the few linebackers they’re recruiting, but it sets it up, because starting next week the staff goes for in-home visits. They start to by your school. Then it’s another two weekends of official visitors. It’s starting to kind of narrow that board to where do we need to go after Plan B here, or do we stay with Plan A?
Nick:Where do we stand with CJ, and what do you think?
Andrew:Little CJ? Xzavier?
Nick:Sorry. Yeah. Now you’re getting me confused, when you said Little CJ.
Andrew:I call him Little CJ. I mean, poor guy is Little Henderson. That’s what everybody calls him. Just like everybody called Marco Little Quincy, or the Little Wilson. Anyway, I think it’s a Florida-Alabama battle. Clemson’s starting to fade a little bit there. I think Clemson’s still in the mix there. It really is going to be a situation where can Florida get Xzavier to understand you can be your own guy here, not be Little CJ like we’re calling him, and you can kind of make your own name here, or does he feel like going to Bama and being that next South Florida receiver to go up there and dominate is better for him? I think that’s a big, big factor for Florida is to get Xzavier to understand he can be his own guy at Florida.
Nick:You’ve got a little bit of a history with that with Marco and Quincy also.
Andrew:Yeah.
Nick:Marco’s been his own man and his own person at Florida. It’s something that you have on campus. To me, that’d be a big one.
Andrew:It’s kind of the same thing with EJ Smith. It’s a little bit different with EJ, because his dad’s in the Hall of Fame. I’m sure everywhere EJ goes he’s referred to as Emmett’s son.
Nick:It’s not going to be different at Florida than it would be if he went to University of Louisiana Monroe.
Andrew:Right.
Nick:Shoot, Emmett Smith’s kid is here.
Andrew:I just think it’s a little different in a way, because if you go to Florida you’re following in dad’s footsteps. If he goes to Stanford, he’s not following in dad’s footsteps. He’s still Emmett’s son, but he’s not following. I know we’re getting off track. EJ’s not visiting this weekend, but that’s a big one there.
To hit on the running back class though, and I think this is very important, because it’s a big weekend. Florida feels good on Jo’Quavious Marks, the Mississippi State commit. He’s going to come into town that last weekend before Signing Day. He’s going to visit Mississippi State next weekend, and then Florida gets the last visit. They like Jahmyr Gibbs, the Georgia Tech commit, and they really like Jaylan Knighton, the former FSU and Oklahoma commit. It’s a situation of does Mullen take two guys here, and who does he feel good with? He likes Gibbs a lot. This is Gibbs first visit to campus there. Then he’s around Knighton a little bit more. These are unofficial visits, by the way. Little bit more before you get the official there. The running back board has continued to circle around. For the first time in a while, it looks like Florida’s really got some chances now.
Nick:Yeah. To me, it’s a big recruiting weekend for that. How big is it to have, we talk about this a lot, the mix of committed guys that are coming versus the uncommitted guys, and how do you handle that as a coach? How do you pair guys together? Then what about positions? Do you want to have seven wide receivers? Maybe wide receiver is the bad, wide receiver’s probably the bad position to say, because you’re about to lose like five of them.
Andrew:Yeah.
Nick:Do you want seven running backs on campus?
Andrew:Right. Yeah. I mean, Mullen’s been different about it, where he brings them in. I know we said we weren’t going to talk about future weekends, but the last weekend of the recruiting cycle he’s going to have the big three defensive tackles on campus that he’s targeting in Tim Smith, Clyde Pinder, and Jalen Lee, all three defensive tackles. Now, obviously, multiple guys play at one time, and so they can play on the field, but Mullen’s been different about it, where he’s cool with having multiple guys on campus there.
I think it used to be a big deal to have a lot of commits on campus to help with you recruiting, but now that you’ve got that support staff of Keiwan Ratliff, Jamar Chaney, Cooper, those guys, they’re able to do that during the game a little bit, talk to those guys, so it’s not as important. When you got a guy like Gervon Dexter or Jaquavion Frasiars or Derek Wingo, your St. Thomas boy, they’re all heavy recruiters, and they’re friends with these guys, so I think it’s big to have these guys on campus with them. I just don’t think it’s as important as it was maybe three years ago.
Nick:Got you. It’s all about the system you’ve built around you.
Andrew:Exactly. One name that’s interesting to me, Nick, that’s coming on campus is Tennessee offensive line commit James Robinson. Hasn’t visited Florida yet. Doesn’t have a Florida offer yet, but there is a need. I mean, if you listen to this podcast, you know I’m not happy with the offensive line. I know most people aren’t happy with it. They understand that it’s big. He’s more of a guard, but in my opinion he’s a big one to look out for, because I think Florida’s got to get more physical. He’s physical as all get out there.
To move to that defensive tackle. Dan Mullen’s made no mistake about it, he’s going to load up at that position this year and get some dudes. He’s going to have newly offered North Carolina defensive tackle commit Clyde Pinder from Armwoodup, and then Alabama defensive tackle commit Tim Smith up this weekend. A chance to really gain momentum even more with those guys before they come in for that official visit that last weekend. Both guys are going to sign early. It’s kind of laying that last bit of groundwork before officials with a lot of these guys. With those official visitors, it’s a chance to kind of figure out where you’re at.
Now, here’s the big one that’s coming on campus, Nick, and I don’t even know if I’ve told you this yet. Broke this last night on the site. Former Texas wide receiver, who’s transferring, Jordan Pouncey and his younger brother Ethan Pouncey are coming on. I think it’s big for Florida to get a transfer wide receiver this year.
Nick:Yeah. When you look at it, we don’t know what Tre Grimes will do, but you’re going to lose four senior wide receivers, or is it five? Four.
Andrew:Four.
Nick:Four senior wide receivers. You could lost a fifth in Tre Grimes, if he leaves early. Then you’re going to be looking at guys. We’ve already talked about it. Kadarius Toney, people were worried about him transferring or whatever but he’s a junior. Come back, your time’s next year. There’s no one there left.
Andrew:Right.
Nick:Yeah. I think for me, yeah, I agree with you. If you can get somebody, if you can get lucky. You got to get lucky. We talked about the guys on the last podcast, the one that came out Wednesday. It was Graham Harrell, that was the Georgia Tech linebacker that we were blanking on his name.
Andrew:Okay.
Nick:For me, you got to get lucky. Graham Harrell and the offensive lineman that came in that year didn’t work out.
Andrew:Right. They were busts.
Nick:Didn’t work out. Weren’t a good culture fit. The guys they’ve gotten this year, Jonathan Greenard and Van Jefferson, homerun.
Andrew:Right.
Nick:Couldn’t have been a better culture fit. Couldn’t have been better in the locker room. Then obviously the production on the field.
Andrew:Right. Now, Jordan will probably have to sit out next year, unless he gets a waiver, but the biggest thing I’ve heard with Jordan is he’s a guy that’s a lot like Josh Hammond and Freddie Swain. He might not be that guy that’s going to make Sports Center top 10, but he’s a guy that’s going to come to work every day, be great in your locker room, and do everything you want him to do on the field, make those tough plays. 3rd and 5, look his way. He’s going to make a play. I think, listen, I’m the biggest Jacob Copeland fan there is. Jacob Copeland is more that homerun guy. He maybe doesn’t have the truest of hands. Kadarius Toney’s the same way. You bring in a guy that is that Julian Edelman type guy, that’s what you need.
Nick:Yeah. That’ll be a guy, especially when you’re looking at what you’re losing. It’s not just you’re losing your slot receivers. I think everything we’ve said and everything that has been said about Josh and Freddie is just that dependability. When you think of like a Julian Edelman, it’s like Tom Brady liked him, because he knows exactly where he’s going to be at a given time of a play. If I need a check down to something, I know where Julian’s going to be. You need that kind of reliability.
Andrew:Exactly. Anyway, we’ll move on to start making some picks. Check us out next week. We’ll get into more of this recruiting stuff and recapping all this stuff, and let you know what’s ahead coming up. Get into all that as that December 15th, excuse me, December 17th early Signing Day. Let me make sure, December 17th. December 18th Signing Day draws near.
Nick:Thursday, right?
Andrew:Wednesday.
Nick:Wednesday.
Andrew:Yup. As that draws near. Nick, let’s pick some games. You want to start with the big one, or you want to start with a smaller one?
Nick:Rivalry week. I’ve got them here by the time that they’re going to happen.
Andrew:Okay. Let’s do that.
Nick:We can just do it that way.
Andrew:Okay.
Nick:It’s a big noon game. #1 Ohio State at Michigan. The big house. Jim Harbaugh is 0fer versus Ohio State. He’s got to get something going, because I mean, I don’t know that he will be fired after this year. They’ve looked like a completely different team since halftime in that Penn State game. They ended up losing the Penn State game, but second half they looked like a much different team, and then they’ve beaten everyone by double digits since then. I don’t know if he gets fired, but he can’t keep losing to Ohio State. I just don’t know who they would go out and get right now. I think Harbaugh’s safe, but you got to beat Ohio State eventually. Is this the year?
Andrew:Nope. Nope.
Nick:Close?
Andrew:Ohio State’s much better. I think this is a blowout.
Nick:The line is only like a touchdown, maybe less than that. Let me, I can pull it up.
Andrew:It’s rivalry week, so I understand it, but no.
Nick:Yeah. I’m going with the Buckeyes as well. I think Justin Fields has been really good. This will be his first true road test this season.
Andrew:Justin Fields is my favorite player, outside of the Gators. Big Justin Fields fan.
Nick:You’re a big Justin Fields guy.
Andrew:Yeah. I like Justin. What’s the next one?
Nick:Wisconsin on the road at Minnesota. This is kind of a big game for Florida, in the sense of a New Year’s Six Bowl, because you want to get ahead. They’re ahead of Wisconsin. You want to get ahead of Minnesota. Will the committee jump, will Wisconsin jump Florida, or would they kind of just everyone moves up a slot if Minnesota loses? Game to watch for Florida fans that are wondering where Florida’s going to go bowling.
Andrew:I don’t think you worry about that. I got the Badgers.
Nick:Badgers on the road.
Andrew:Yeah. I do. I think the Badgers find a way to win this one. They kind of play that grind it out old-school football and find a way to win the ballgame.
Nick:I’m going to go with Wisconsin as well.
Andrew:Okay. I think Wisconsin is starting to turn around, and I think they’ll just grind it out, run the ball. Bad weather up there. I got the Badgers.
Nick:I think this is a single digit spread as well. I think it’s been a nice story. It’s been a good story for Minnesota, but I think, like you said, I think Wisconsin’s been there before. They’ve been in these wars, and they’ll be able to figure things out and grind out a win.
Andrew:Yeah. There you go. What’s next? Iron Bowl?
Nick:Iron Bowl is next. #5 Alabama at #13 Auburn. You’ve been talking about it for a year now. Is this Gus’s last game?
Andrew:It is. Alabama rolls. As someone pointed out to me, if you can’t beat Alabama without their starting quarterback and Mac Jones, when do you ever beat Alabama? It ain’t this year. Bama goes on the road. Bama gets the W. See you, Gus. Hope on down to Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Nick:I know everyone was upset about Florida being #11. Also, some people were upset about Ohio State being the new #1 team over LSU. I think what they’re doing is they’re just setting it up. Alabama’s going to beat Auburn this week. Georgia’s going to lose to LSU. The committee’s trying to avoid a 1 vs 4, LSU vs Alabama rematch in a playoff. If we get the rematch, it’ll be because both teams won their playoff games, and then they deserve to be in the championship, but we’re not going to create a rematch one month after the game was played.
Andrew:Yup. There it is. Who you got?
Nick:I got Bama. I said Bama wins this week.
Andrew:Is the Gus bus gone?
Nick:That was that whole long spiel.
Andrew:Gus bus gone?
Nick:I don’t know.
Andrew:All right.
Nick:If he goes, I think he’s gone to Arkansas.
Andrew:Yeah. There you go. What’s the next? Oklahoma?
Nick:Next one, #7 Oklahoma at Oklahoma State. Mike Gundy came out this week and said they’ve got to stop one guy. I didn’t take it as a diss to Lincoln Riley and to Oklahoma. I think he was kind of taken the wrong way. He was probably just trying to say how good Jalen Hurts has been.
Andrew:Better stop CeeDee Lamb.
Nick:Yeah. But it came off as they’re not very good, we just have to beat this one player.
Andrew:I’ll be honest. I don’t think Oklahoma is that good. I think Oklahoma’s good. I don’t think they’re great. I don’t know if they’re better than Florida. I don’t know if they’re better than Georgia. I don’t think so, but they’re better than Oklahoma State.
Nick:I think they’re better than Oklahoma State. I think they also win. We’ve picked all the same games, all the same teams.
Andrew:That’s cool. What we got next? Where we rolling next?
Nick:Next one’s our game, so we got to go players, and then we’ll pick Florida-Florida State after.
Andrew:Okay. Well, is it mine or your? I had the odd week, right?
Nick:Yup. This is me. This is Week 12.
Andrew:There you go.
Nick:I’m going go, for me big game for a senior, and it’s going to be Jonathan Greenard. I think this is a game where Florida’s defensive line is going to get a ton of pressure, and that probably, for me, starts with Greenard.
Andrew:Are you ready, because I’m going to shock the world here?
Nick:Shock them.
Andrew:I said the running game was going to suck, but they’re going to find a way to get the Deuce the ball.
Nick:There you go.
Andrew:One more chance to roll with the senior from the 251.
Nick:Very good. I’m going with Kyle Pitts. He’s going to throw for 300 yards, easy.
Andrew:Kyle Pitts or Kyle Trask?
Nick:Sorry. Kyle Trask. If Kyle Pitts throws for 300 yards, then we got a real story to talk about, but I meant Kyle Trask. He’s going to get 300.
Andrew:Well, if he’s going to get 300, he’s going to throw to another receiver, and that’s going to be the Van bus. Give me Van.
Nick:I like that pick. I’m going to go with Freddie Swain.
Andrew:Okay.
Nick:Different receiver.
Andrew:So, Josh Hammond’s going to have a big week.
Nick:Yeah. Every time. No matter which one I pick, the other one scores.
Andrew:Yeah.
Nick:Every week.
Andrew:Yeah. I like that. I’m going to turn it around though. I’m going the defensive side of the ball. This man’s going to stop Cam Akers and going to have a big Senior Day as well. Give me 33.
Nick:Big game for David Reese.
Andrew:Big game for David Reese. This is games he eats at.
Nick:Yeah. Man, a lot of times it feels like people have been around for a while. It doesn’t feel like David Reese has been, at least to me. It doesn’t feel like he’s been around forever, but he was on the same team as Antonio Morrison.
Andrew:See, I feel like Brett Heggie’s been here forever.
Nick:Brett Heggie has been here forever.
Andrew:Yeah. I mean, and he’s just a redshirt junior. Yeah. There you go. X factor this week, Nick.
Nick:X factor for me this week, I’m going to with, I’ll go with Kyle Pitts. Always an X factor.
Andrew:My X factor, I think, this week’s going to be CJ. I think he has something to prove. Listen, I think he’s all but gone, but he’s still trying to prove that he can be that guy to be that first-round Draft pick. I’m going to go with CJ.
Nick:No black uniform X factor.
Andrew:No.
Nick:No black endzone X factor.
Andrew:No.
Nick:For me this is an opportunity to end the decade right. Send the seniors out right. If you’re going to the game, get there early. Be in the seats. Be loud for when they announce these seniors. They deserve all of your cheers, and they deserve a lot of credit for helping get Florida back. Yeah, we talk about Dan Mullen and his coaching staff and the job that they’ve done to do it, but this senior class has been here longer than those guys. They’ve gone through the trials and tribulations through their four or five years that they’ve been here. Five years in the case of Nick Buchanan. They’ve been through a lot. We anticipate it being a good sendoff, but make sure that you’re there in the seats. You’ll also get a preview, a look at the new football facility. They’ll show it on the jumbotron. You’ll get a little treat for being there early. For Florida and these seniors, I think it’s a really big opportunity for them to go out right and really end their careers on a high note.
Andrew:End their careers on a two-game winning streak against the Noles.
Nick:Yeah. I think Nick Buchanan is what? Shoot. He’s one win against them?
Andrew:Yeah. So, he’s 1-4, or 1-3. Chance to go 2-3. There it is. All right, Nick. Again, if you guys haven’t checked out the Black Friday special on Gator Country, check it out. Get you a year of subscription to Gator Country. All the big recruiting stuff. Basketball’s starting to do well. Get you that. Get you softball and baseball. Get you all the good stuff that you can get at Gator Country. Check us out. Get that good subscription there, and have a good holiday weekend. I know you guys are listening to this on Friday, so I hope you had a good Thanksgiving. Nick, tell everybody where they can find us on social media.
Nick:www.GatorCountry.com for all your Florida Gator news. Like Andrew said, check out the, if you’ve been on the fence, or if you’ve been thinking about it, or even if your subscription is not done but coming up, save you some dollar dollar bills, and renew your subscription. We’re not going anywhere. You get to hang out with me and Spivey the rest of the year.
Andrew:Yeah.
Nick:Do your social media, or the podcast is there. It’s on iTunes. That’s always free. It’s wherever you listen to your podcasts. Just subscribe. Never miss an episode. Do your social media thing. @GatorCountry on Facebook and Twitter. @TheGatorCountry on Instagram. I’m @NickdelaTorreGC. He’s @AndrewSpiveyGC.
Andrew:There you go. Guys, we’ll be back on Monday to talk about the thrashing of the Noles and all the good stuff there.
Nick:We didn’t even pick. We didn’t even officially pick. We’re both picking Florida.
Andrew:Yeah. We’re both picking Florida.
Nick:We’re both picking Florida. I’m picking Florida to cover that big old spread.
Andrew:Me too. It’s going to be big. Emory Jones plays and plays well. Guys, we appreciate it. As always, chomp, chomp and go Braves.
Nick:You stay classy, Gator Country.