Podcast: Friday prediction podcast for Florida Gators vs. Georgia

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

Andrew Spivey and Nick de la Torre breakdown the keys for a Gators victory on Saturday and what they have to do win against Georgia.

Andrew and Nick also pick several games around the country on Saturday, plus we pick our players to watch on Saturday.

TRANSCRIPT:

Andrew:​What’s up, Gator Country? Your man, Andrew Spivey, here with Nicholas de la Torre. Nicholas, we’re back, and it’s time for our Friday prediction podcast for Florida-Georgia. It’s about time. Just won’t be the same.

Nick:​No. Certainly going to be a little different this year, especially if you’re attending the game. I mean, especially if you live in Jacksonville. You’ve got stuff all week to do. Obviously, the tailgating down at the beach bars. Going to be a little different this year. But as different as it is around the stadium, not much changes once you get between those lines.

Andrew:​As much as the tailgating and all that is what makes the game fun and makes the game so much more than a game, at the end of the day, none of that does do anything. What’s the updated ticket sales? Have we heard?

Nick:​No. As of Thursday, we have not heard. I would assume that they would all be sold out though. I think it’s 9,000 each, or a little shy of 9,000 each.

Andrew:​That’s what I was trying to get. Supposedly it was going to be 9,000 each. That’ll make the game a little bit different. It’ll only be 18,000 instead of 70,000, 80,000, the normal. It’ll be like everything else. I did think this was funny. Sam Pittman was asked about the atmosphere of the game. He said, there is no atmosphere unless you play at Texas A&M.

Nick:​Pittman said that?

Andrew:​Yes. I thought that was funny. He was asked how you replace the atmosphere of games when you’re trying to talk to recruits and stuff. He said, everybody has that problem, unless you’re at Texas A&M.

Nick:​Let’s see. The Florida governor said that Florida and Georgia could be full capacity. He said that back in early October. That is not the case. The reduced capacity is just shy of 18,000, and it is driving up ticket prices. It’s like $125 to get into the gate.

Andrew:​That’s everywhere.

Nick:​That’s America. It’s supply and demand. The less supply, demand goes up, price goes up.

Andrew:​Tickets to the World Series to sit in the balcony was like $900. What’s the Super Bowl going to be like?

Nick:​Andrew would have sold his damn car or refinanced his house. He would have been at all seven games if the Braves were in it.

Andrew:​We were thinking about it. That’s what I’m saying though. What do you think about the Super Bowl and that kind of stuff? I was looking at some South Alabama tickets for the opening game, and usually you can go to a South Alabama game for $20. $140 to get in for two people. Don’t think so.

Nick:​Might be in Alabama, but we’re not watching Alabama play. We ain’t playing that to see South.

Andrew:​Exactly. It’ll be interesting to see just how things are and how the stands are. Hopefully by next year we’re back to normal, because you and I have been at several of these games, and there’s nothing like the SEC Network and College GameDay both being there and bouncing back and forth. Just the overall tailgating scene. It’s not LSU, by any means, because LSU is different, but it is spectacular, especially right there on the St. Johns river and everything else. That whole crossing the bridge, all that stuff. It’s just not going to be the same.

Nick:​That’s exactly where I was going to go with this. I asked some of the players yesterday. I always like asking, because it could be different for different guys, and there’s no opinion that’s right or wrong. During Georgia week or FSU week I’ll ask some of the guys, where does this game rank in terms of rivalries for you? Darious Cummings, a guy who went to Florida State and then transferred to Florida, for him Florida State-Florida was bigger than Florida-Georgia. Damion Pierce, he’s from Georgia. Bainbridge, Georgia. This one’s going to be the top for him. So, I always just like asking the guys which rivalry is their favorite, where they would rank them. Even if Georgia isn’t their favorite rivalry, always mentions you come over that bridge, and you see that sea of red and that sea of blue and the tailgating scene. You’re not going to get those same visuals this year, but it’s certainly a rivalry week.

​Then even more so than last year, when you played Miami and FSU, that’s cool. Those are great rivalries, and I understand why someone might say Miami is my biggest rival, if I’m a Gator fan, or Florida State is my biggest rival. When we were looking at the season, before Covid, when they had a regular schedule, after Covid when it was just a 10-game schedule, there’s not a person, you and I included, that looked at this schedule and didn’t circle that date against Georgia and go, the winner of that game is most likely going to the SEC Championship. That’s kind of the different edge that this rivalry game will have.

​Dan Mullen said it, and he acknowledged it. The players have said it, and they acknowledged it. We want to win a championship. We want to win an SEC Championship. We want to win a National Championship. You can do that if you don’t take care of business against Georgia on Saturday night, and that was always going to be the case, even before you lost to A&M. Even before the season kicked off, you had to beat Georgia this year.

Andrew:​It’s like we said on there with Barrett on Wednesday. Everything that you thought was going to be the case with the SEC as far as getting to Atlanta is still right there. Did the teams get to this point the same way we thought they would, are the teams the same thing that we thought they were heading into this? No. I think we both expected the Georgia’s offense was going to be better than it was. We thought they would probably have the one loss to Alabama. I think we’d have thought Florida would probably have been undefeated at this time, and we’d have thought their defense would have been a lot better than it was, and it wasn’t.

Nick:​I we went farther than saying we thought. I think we both predicted that Florida would be undefeated and facing a one-loss Georgia.

Andrew:​Yeah. Again, at the end of the day, it’s gotten to the point where you win this game for Florida, and who cares about the A&M game? Now, the question then becomes had you beaten A&M, and then you beat Georgia, and you were undefeated heading to the SEC Championship game, and maybe you lose to Alabama in that game, you probably would have went to the playoff as a one-loss team. Now you go into that as you probably have to beat Alabama to get into the playoffs, if you’re going to make it there. Then now you have Texas A&M that possibly is a one-loss team in the SEC, who doesn’t even have to play in the SEC Championship game, who goes in there.

​We’re getting way ahead of ourselves, but my point is that your first goal of getting to Atlanta is still on the board by just winning against Georgia on Saturday. I know it doesn’t clinch, but I think we can both agree that if Florida wins on Saturday you feel very good about their chances of getting to Atlanta.

Nick:​Absolutely. 100%. You are in the driver’s seat if that happens. Now, I do want to point out that Georgia, once they finish this Florida game, the rest of their schedule is easy. I’m pulling it up right now. Georgia’s beginning schedule, having to play Alabama, Auburn, and Florida, that was the hard part of their schedule. You could argue that Florida’s hard part is over. We didn’t really know what Ole Miss was going to be, and we probably should have given them more credit, but that offense, like we’ve said all year, is scoring on everybody. Florida gets Ole Miss. South Carolina should have been a cakewalk. It wasn’t, but it should have been. At Texas A&M we thought was going to be tough.

Florida’s got a touch schedule still after this. Arkansas is not very good, but that’s going to be an emotionally charged game, and you’re coming off of Georgia. Vanderbilt’s easy. Kentucky is not an easy game. I’m still sitting here banging the door on that. You’ve got Kentucky, Tennessee, and LSU to go. You look at Georgia’s schedule after Florida it really gets easy for them. They get a Missouri team that we just saw not very good. Mississippi State team, outside of Week 1, atrocious. South Carolina not very good. Vanderbilt, terrible.

You look at the schedules for both teams after this week, advantage Georgia. Really for Florida you’re looking at this game as a must-win. Where do you see another loss for Georgia in those next series of games? I don’t see one.

Andrew:​It’d have to be two losses, because one loss only puts you at a tie.

Nick:​That’s true.

Andrew:​That’s why you think even with Florida’s schedule tougher than Georgia, and I say tougher because Kentucky is not going to lay down for you. Tennessee sure the hell not going to lay down for you. They hate you as much as you hate them.

Nick:​That’s going to be weird. In Knoxville in December. It’s going to be cold. It’s going to be weird, and it literally could be a situation for Florida going up there on December 5th to Tennessee thinking we have to win Tennessee and we have to beat LSU these next two weeks, or else. Because I don’t see Georgia losing. I don’t see Georgia losing any of those four games, and I certainly don’t see them losing two.

Andrew:​If you win out, and then you go to Tennessee, then that game’s to clinch, because then you could lose to LSU, and you would still be in.

Nick:​Two conference losses, but you would have the tiebreaker of the head to head. That’s what I’m saying. Things could get weird in Knoxville. Cold, to clinch. You’re on the road. We’ll see. Florida goes to Vanderbilt before that.

Andrew:​That’s what I’m saying. Those teams are not going to lay down. LSU is sure not going to lay down. They hate you. They can’t stand you. Things will be interesting. Again, you like Florida’s chances in all those games. It’s all about Saturday. It goes back to what we said kind of with Barrett on Wednesday as well. If you’re Dan Mullen, now is the time to win this game. Now is your time to win this game. If you’re ready to get over that hump and to be that coach and that team that you think you are, and that you’ve told everybody you’re going to be, winning on Saturday is that step that you have to take. Is next year going to be any easier? No. No way. Your offense is probably going to take a step back, and Georgia’s offense is probably going to take a step up.

Nick:​We both did that before the year. We both pointed and this year and said, look at what you’ve got coming back, look at the rest of the East, look at the way the schedules line up. I think we both pointed at this year and said, this is Florida’s year. I know I picked Florida to win the East before the season. Obviously, playing Alabama in the SEC Championship, that’s a ridiculously hard game, but this is Florida’s year.

Andrew:​Yeah. Like you said, people are saying why is everyone giving Florida the advantage here and everything else. My thing is this. I’ll say this until the end. Pump the brakes a little bit. Yes, Florida is in really good shape heading into the game, with the problems Georgia has defensively from injuries and the problems that they have on offense that they’re just not very good. Pump the brakes a little bit. Florida still hasn’t done it lately, and Florida’s defense has only been a one-night wonder so far this year. Pump the brakes a little bit. This still will be a football game, and probably a close football game, unless you just come out and play a really good game like you should. If you come out and you play as well as you did defensively against Missouri, then yes, Florida can run away with this game. If you come out and you play as bad as you played in some of the other games, even this Georgia offense will score points.

Nick:​Let’s real quick, some people on our message board were asking, as a fanbase Florida fans were worried about Missouri, and I think you and I were even voicing some concerns about the Missouri game, but as a fanbase right now there doesn’t seem to be much worry or concern about Georgia. I think a lot of that is stemming from the injuries. Defensive lineman Jordan Davis is out, has been out. He practiced on Monday. Kirby on Wednesday said he’s day to day. That could be some gamesmanship, because most of the reports from people in Georgia, and their beat writers like taking care of that program, say that he’s out.

Richard LeCounte, I think probably if not the best defensive player in the SEC, I was having a conversation with another writer the other day. We were trying to figure out who the best defensive player was. I thought it might be him, Richard LeCounte, the safety. He’s out for the game after the scary motorcycle accident. Defensive tackle Julian Rochester is out. Linebacker Quay Walker is out, and safety Lewis Cine is out.

That’s right there five starters on Georgia’s defense that won’t be playing against Florida. When we were talking to Barrett about it, as bad as this Georgia offense can be if you make them one-dimensional and make Stetson Bennett beat you, D’WanMathis has been practicing, but he looked awful in their first game, and there was a reason he got pulled. Hurt, but now he’s coming back and practicing. I still think it’ll be Stetson Bennett. I go with what Barrett said. When you look at those guys that Georgia will be missing just on the defensive side of the ball, I could see Florida scoring 30. You just get a point, if I’m Florida, I’m saying, just come and score with us. If you can score with us, then we’ll yell at Todd Grantham, but we don’t think you can run with us.

Andrew:​Right.

Nick:​Basically, you get into a boat race to see who can score the most.

Andrew:​Yeah. I was reading a practice report yesterday. It looks like George Pickens will play on Saturday, and that’s good news. Jordan Davis was still out on Wednesday. The sophomore running back, Kenny McIntosh, was practicing a little bit, and they said that Quay Walker was in a black noncontact jersey as well, but that Lewis Cine and Monty Rice are practicing and should be able to play now on Saturday.

Nick:​Some guys from my list are making some strides. George Pickens is a problem.

Andrew:​Yeah. I was just reading this, and they said they expect Darnell Washington, the big tight end out of Vegas that signed with them, to play on Saturday. If you’re a Florida fan, you’re thinking, oh Lord no. No. Not another big tight end for Georgia. That’s just where Georgia has whipped Florida like a little boy the last few years. Vosean Joseph probably still has nightmares about Isaac Nauta. It seemed like a 20-minute drive that was like back to back to back. It really was for about five or six straight plays, if I remember. It was just out routes to Nauta. Out routes to Nauta.

Nick:​That was the game that I luckily was at a wedding, that I was in my buddy’s wedding for and didn’t have to watch that live inside the stadium. We had Baileigh covering it for me.

Andrew:​It was Baileigh and I sitting in the press box just watching. Straight to Nauta. Straight to Nauta. I’m sitting here thinking, it might be a good idea to double-team him a little bit there, Todd. Nope. Continued on. Then I remember one play where he caught it, and Vosean was actually pretty decent coverage, and then Nauta just stiff armed him to the ground. This just isn’t going your way there, buddy.

Nick:​I wasn’t the person that asked the question, but somebody asked Kaiir Elam about Pickens, and he literally just kind of giggled to himself and just said, next question. He didn’t want to talk about him. There’s two guys that I think you really need to focus in on. Obviously, Kearis Jackson is Georgia’s leading receiver. He has 24 catches on the year already for 348 and one touchdown. Then James Cook, the running back, obviously the last name sticks out to Florida fans. He’s the third leading receiver. More yards than Pickens, but 10 catches. Pickens has 13. Georgia’s top four receivers have five touchdowns, which is less than Florida’s, either Kadarius Toney or Kyle Pitts.

​It’s not an explosive offense, but there are guys that you still need to give your attention to. You mentioned Darnell Washington, and Tre McKitty, tight end, John FitzPatrick. They’ve got a bunch of tight ends right now. If we’re talking about tight ends, and we’re talking about Florida’s linebackers covering, you can’t forget about the running backs also. James Cook can hurt you if you’ve got one of Florida’s pass coverage deficient linebackers trying to pick him up out of the back field.

Andrew:​I think the recipe for winning is just stop the run and find out if Stetson Bennett can do that, and if he can, then you tip your hat to him, because I don’t think that he can even find the running back consistently enough to win this ballgame, if Florida can shut down the running game. I don’t know.

Nick:​Are we oversimplifying it?

Andrew:​No. There’s no oversimplifying it.

Nick:​I’m 100% in agreement with you. The game plan is stop the run, make Stetson beat you. We kind of came to that conclusion when, Sunday? Maybe even during the bye weeks.

Andrew:​I always go back to Alabama in this game, just because Alabama’s the team that is the best team they played. I don’t think Auburn’s a good football team, by any means. I definitely don’t think Tennessee is a good football team, by any means. When you look at the Alabama-Georgia game, that’s what they did. They said, Stetson, if you can beat us, fine. Zamir White, James Cook, you’re not going to beat us, and they didn’t. They put a ton of pressure on Stetson Bennett, and they won the football game. That was their recipe for win, and they did.

​I’m going back here, and I’m looking at the Auburn game, because I think Auburn’s defense is okay. Let’s see here. Let me pull this up, the box score. Stetson Bennett threw for 240 yards in this game, but there it is. Auburn allowed Georgia 202 yards rushing in the game. You cannot have that to happen. If Florida allows 202 yards rushing in this game, don’t think you’re going to be looking at a good game on Saturday.

Nick:​When you look at their game by game, they really beat Arkansas pretty handily. Obviously, that was the first game for Sam Pittman and for Arkansas, but really inefficient running the ball. 121 yards on 42 attempts. That’s under three yards a carry. Just one touchdown on the ground. Then you look at Alabama.

Andrew:​Here’s what I was going to get at. Here is the game plan for winning. Against Alabama, Stetson Bennett threw the ball 40 times. Not winning very many football games with Stetson Bennett throwing the ball 40 times.

Nick:​If you’re Florida, that’s what you want. You want Stetson Bennett’s passing attempts to be equal to or more than their rushing attempts.

Andrew:​They were 30 carries for 145 yards in the game. That was against Alabama. Stetson Bennett was 18 of 40 for 269 yards. 18 for 40. 40 attempts in the game. That’s what you want if you’re in this game. If you’re Florida, you’re looking at that game, and you’re going back and saying, that’s what we need to do to win this football game.

Nick:​Yeah. I got an email from Mike Griffith, who gave me a long list of Georgia guys that are in and out. That’s what I’ve been waiting on to get back.

Andrew:​You look at it overall, and Bama didn’t get a ton of pressure on Stetson Bennett. They only had six quarterback hurries in the game, but it was constant forcing him to throw the ball quick. Not so much from hitting the quarterback, but he understood the pass rush was coming, and it was one-dimensional. Bama knew they’re throwing the ball, we don’t have to worry about the running game.

Nick:​You can manufacture some of those situations. You don’t have to be up. Obviously, the quickest way to do that is to get a big lead, and then force the team to come back. They’re not going to waste clock by running.

Andrew:​Right.

Nick:​But you can manufacture forcing passing situations by being good against the run on 1st down. If Georgia’s dedicated to run the ball on 1st down to try to manage the down and distance, we talk about that all the time for Florida in the past. Haven’t had to talk about it much this year, because you’re just moving the chains at will. But if Georgia’s trying to win this football game, they want to control the clock, run the football. That means we’re happy with getting a 3-yard run on 1st down, because now on 2nd and 7 we can run the ball for another three, or we can pass the ball. We can do some play action. 2nd and 7, 2nd and 6, 2nd and 5, your playbook’s wide open. That’s kind of where Georgia wants to stay.

​If you can get a tackle for loss, now you’ve got 2nd and 11, 2nd and 12. You’ve manufactured passing downs. I think that’s where Florida needs to get. You need to be strong. Florida needs to be really strong on 1st down and on 2nd down. Don’t let Georgia into a ton of 3rd and 1, 3rd and 2, 3rd and 3. That’s a recipe for a 3rd and Grantham afternoon. A lot of times when teams fail on 3rd down it’s because of failing on 1st down or failing on 2nd down. Then you give a team a 3rd and short, and then that’s when you start running up a really big number in terms of percentages on 3rd down conversions.

Andrew:​The thing with it is if you’re 3rd and 3, not only are you preparing for the throwing game, the passing game there, but you also got to remember Zamir White, James Cook, McIntosh are still in play, and that’s where this team gets into problems, simply because they don’t stay fundamentally sound. I think that was the best-case scenario for them against Missouri was they were in situations where it was 3rd and medium or 3rd and long to where it was almost guaranteed pass plays. When you go back and look at the A&M game, it was a lot of either/or, and that’s when you saw the breaking of the 10, 15-yard runs on 3rd and 2, 3rd and 3, 3rd and 4. That’s where this can’t go, because I think you can put the bets in Vegas right now. If it’s 3rd and 3, probably more times than not Georgia’s going to try to run the ball.

Nick:​Absolutely. Here’s a question then. If Florida wins the coin toss, which they haven’t in a couple weeks, I guess a couple games. Can’t say a couple weeks. Only one game in the past couple weeks. If Florida wins the toss, any doubt in your mind that Dan says, we’re taking it, we want our offense on the field first?

Andrew:​No. He’s taking the ball.

Nick:​You’ve got think, we’re going to take the ball. We’re going to drive down, and we’re going to go up seven.

Andrew:​Yeah. 100%.

Nick:​If we get a stop, we’re going to go drive down, and now we’re up 14 in the first. Good luck. I think no doubt in my mind. If Florida wins the toss, Dan Mullen says, give me that football. Kyle, go hit Kadarius. Go hit Kadarius and the other Kyle 15 times. Let’s go down this field and score.

Andrew:​Yeah. If you’re a Florida fan, you love it. You want to see that aggressiveness. There is nothing better in a rivalry game to come out and put your foot on the throat and say, we got this. We’ve already won this game. That’s what you want. Again, I think that Dan will do that, and I think you’ve seen that from him in big games where he takes the ball. Like you said too, you want that opportunity to go up big. You would hope by halftime you got a comfortable lead.

​You get Stetson Bennett down, you get this Georgia team down, that’s where you want them. I know that’s to say that in any game, but it’s even more important. You don’t sweat it as much when you’re down, if you’re Florida, from an offensive standpoint. Now, defensively, you sweat it big time.

Nick:​Right. You just said, and it’s right to say, you always want to get up big, but this Georgia team is not built to come back like that. If Florida makes it to a game against Alabama, we’re not going to be like, Florida’s got to get a big lead early, because Alabama’s not built to come back. No. Listen, Alabama will score 70 points any given week. So, it’s not every single week. It’s just when you look at some of these teams, they’re not built to do that. Georgia’s not built with Stetson Bennett as their quarterback to overcome a 14, 17, 21-point deficit. They’re not coming back from that.

Andrew:​Right.

Nick:​Without turnovers and defensive scores.

Andrew:​Right. I think when you look at Ole Miss, they’re built for it.

Nick:​Ole Miss can come back. For sure.

Andrew:​You look at A&M. Athletically, yes, they’re built to come back from it. We didn’t know from a position of confidence if they could, because they were a team that when they get down they’ve kind of fallen off big time in recent years. They’ve shown that to us. The thing I want to see is go up big, and not necessarily go up big, but go up by 10 points and see what happens. See if you can get them into that, because your defense is a defense that needs to play ahead, needs to play with some confidence. See one or two punts go up in the air for this defense and watch what happens. Any final thoughts, Nick? If not, we’ll go into pick some games and pick some players.

Nick:​I know we’re probably going to be running up against the clock. We’ll have to kind of rush through our picks and players, but I wanted to say I think this is a big legacy game for Dan Mullen, for the entire coaching staff. You don’t want to start 0-3. This is a huge legacy game for them. I think for some guys too. I said to Kyle Pitts yesterday, this is probably your last chance to beat Georgia. He goes, I don’t know if it’s my last chance. I’m like, listen, they’re talking about you being picked in the top ten. You go get your money. Go get your money, bro.

Andrew:​If not, I’m going to find out if you’ve had Covid, and if Covid’s affected your brain thinking.

Nick:​This is a big legacy game. Nobody wants to go out. You talk to any player, nobody wants to go out with a losing record against a rival, no matter who it is. If you’re a junior on this team, and you’re not planning to come back for your senior year, you’re going to have a losing record against Georgia for your career unless you win Saturday. Kyle Trask, he’s been here long enough that I think he’s got a win. He does have one win. His freshman year they beat Georgia.

Andrew:​Right.

Nick:​But Heisman. You’re talking about the Heisman race now. This is the game when you talk about did a guy have a Heisman moment.

Andrew:​He’s got two moments.

Nick:​This is chance to have Heisman moments.

Andrew:​He’s got two moments probably. This game and the SEC Championship game. The rest of them you’re going to be expected to put up big numbers. Yeah. You always say, where’s the Heisman moment? This could be your Heisman moment here. Again, is this defense going to be as good as it is? No, but let me just tell you, these backups for Georgia are better than a lot of other teams.

Nick:​I’ll have a story up about that. I don’t think it’s something that the coaches and the players are thinking about, but I don’t think I’m off on saying that this is a legacy game for the Gators, for Dan Mullen, for some of these players.

Andrew:​From a standpoint of do you really want to be the Mark Richt of football? Guess what, that story’s coming.

Nick:​Yeah.

Andrew:​That story’s coming if you lose. Nick, let’s go through. Let’s pick some games. Pac-12 starts this week.

Nick:​We got six games on our docket here.

Andrew:​Pac-10, Pac-12, whatever you want to call it.

Nick:​Welcome back. The first time I’ve seen a surprise onside kick to open the MAC season. Let’s bring back midweek action.

Andrew:​Our boy, Jimmy Mac goes out and gets a win. Nice to see him. A lot of guys on that staff. Our guy Charlie Frye calling some plays. Kevin Barbay over there. Tim Skipper’s out there. Good to see those guys win.

Nick:​Fire up, Chips.

Andrew:​That’s right. Good to see them win.

Nick:​Pac-12 returns this week. We’re not picking any of the games, but welcome back to the guys out West. First game, starting with a couple Friday night games. #11 Miami, Friday night on the road at NC State.

Andrew:​Your program’s supposed to be back, and you’re playing on Friday night.

Nick:​Well.

Andrew:​Who you got?

Nick:​I’m picking Miami, but weird things happen at NC State. You remember, #1 or #2 FSU loses up there. Weird things happen up there against the Wolf Pack.

Andrew:​What’s the spread?

Nick:​What?

Andrew:​What’s the spread?

Nick:​I didn’t even look that up.

Andrew:​I’ll go Miami. I was trying to see if there was a good spread, so I could say I picked against Miami for the spread.

Nick:​Miami’s a huge favorite.

Andrew:​It’s a 10-point spread. 59 over and under. I’ll still go Miami, unfortunately.

Nick:​Double Miami. Another Friday night game. #9 BYU going over to #21 Boise State.

Andrew:​Give me the fighting Steve Youngs.

Nick:​That’s two picks in a row for both of us. I don’t know if BYU is for real. Eric texted me one or two Saturdays ago asking me if BYU is for real. I’m like, I don’t know. Maybe.

Andrew:​Yeah. I’ll pick them, but I don’t think they’re for real.

Nick:​#23 Michigan reeling off of a loss to Michigan State last week. They go face Michael Penix, Jr. and #11 Indiana. Is Indiana for real? How bad are Jim Harbaugh’s khakis? Andrew, discuss.

Andrew:​They’re bad, but Indiana is not good either. Let’s just pump the brakes on Indiana. Indiana is still Indiana, in my opinion. As much as Jim Harbaugh and Michigan suck, they win this game.

Nick:​I’m going Indiana.

Andrew:​Okay.

Nick:​I’m going with Michael Penix, Jr. Let me see. What was the spread there? Michigan, I’m guessing that they are going to be favored, right? Michigan’s favored in this game.

Andrew:​I’m sure.

Nick:​Yup. Money line, Michigan’s banged up. Indiana’s banged up. Gosh. I’m still going with them. I couldn’t find it. I’m still going with them. We got to move on. Big week for #1 Clemson at #4 Notre Dame. If you want an eight team playoff, call this round one. You’ve got #1 versus #4, and #8 versus #5 later on in the day. Clemson without Trevor Lawrence. DJ ukulele. I’ll never be able to pronounce his last name. Maybe in a couple years. DJ Uiagalelei quarterbacking the Tigers on the road facing Notre Dame.

Andrew:​They’re six-point favorites.

Nick:​Clemson is a six-point road favorite.

Andrew:​By the way, Michigan is a three-point favorite in the game.

Nick:​Michigan’s a three-point favorite, so I’m taking the upset.

Andrew:​Yup. I’m doubling down. Upset city. Fighting Irish win. Clemson’s really banged up defensively as well. I don’t think it matters, because I think they’ll probably still end up going to the playoffs, but Clemson falls here. I don’t like Notre Dame. I don’t think Notre Dame’s great. I think if you’re a Florida fan, you’re rooting for Clemson, for sure, in this game.

Nick:​You’re not going to jump Clemson, but you could jump Notre Dame by beating Georgia.

Andrew:​Yeah. You look at some of this. Justin Ross, questionable. Frank Ladson’s questionable in this game. Let’s see here. They just got guys that are questionable all over the place for this team. Just not good if you’re Clemson.

Nick:​Okay. I’m going to go Clemson. I’m just going to pick the #1 team in the country, pick them to win. After picking the same two teams first, now we got some separation here. This one, for you, Andrew. South Alabama at #15, how weird does this sound, #15 Coastal Carolina. We’re not talking baseball.

Andrew:​Not a chance in hell. The Jaguars win this game. Steve Campbell’s ass hat couldn’t win if he was given the 2006 Patriots. Are you kidding me? Come on.

Nick:​If you can’t tell, Andrew is not happy with the football coach at his alma mater.

Andrew:​Bozo should have never got the job. Thankfully, praying he gets fired. That would be good. Guess what? I don’t care if he knows, so tweet at him. I don’t care. Don’t care.

Nick:​Let’s go pick some players. I think I’m first this week, because it’s an even week.

Andrew:​Go ahead.

Nick:​Or is an odd week? We’ve lost control of all this. I think I’m first. What are our rules again? No Kyles?

Andrew:​Wait, it is an odd week. It is an odd week. It’s Week 5 for us.

Nick:​You picked first Week 1. Five? I’ve lost control.

Andrew:​It’s my turn here.

Nick:​You picked first last week too.

Andrew:​I think you went first last week.

Nick:​Go ahead.

Andrew:​It doesn’t matter. He’s from the city. 251.

Nick:​I already wrote it in. I don’t know if they know. You’ve got to say it for them, but I already know.

Andrew:​It’s all KT time, baby.

Nick:​What are our rules? We’re not taking Pitts or linebackers either?

Andrew:​You can take the linebackers. It doesn’t matter. Does 51 have Brandon Spikes game this week?

Nick:​I don’t think so. I mean, it’s going to be one of those weeks. I’m going to go with one of the guys I said in terms of this means more to him. I’m going to go Dameon Pierce, and I hope it doesn’t bite me.

Andrew:​So basically I need to pick Nay’Quan.

Nick:​I guess. Hope it doesn’t bite me, because I can’t figure out the way they’re rotating their running backs. I’m going to go with Dameon Pierce.

Andrew:​Okay. I’m going to go with a defender. No, I’m not. We did not go with a defender last week, and the defense played well. I can’t watch bad football. I’m not going to do that whatsoever. I’m going to go with a fellow receiver, and I’m going to go with 15.

Nick:​Okay. I’m going to go Brenton Cox.

Andrew:​Okay. Here he goes again. Bad week.

Nick:​Brenton Cox. With Kyree Campbell coming back in, and I know Zach Carter will be out for the first half, but I think you’ll still be able to put Brenton Cox and leave him where he was last week. I don’t think it makes sense. You just find somebody to fill in for the first two quarters for Zach. Brenton Cox. Huge motivation week for him. Going to Georgia, obviously it not shaking out, not being great for them there. Let’s see what you do against your old team.

Andrew:​You got to go with a defender here, so they’re just going to have to get mad. Kaiir Elam. He’s got to get a pick.

Nick:​He was not complimentary of himself yesterday. He’s got eight pass breakups. He’s having two PBU’s a game through four games.

Andrew:​He’s probably pissed off because he got called for a PI that was about as stupid as stupid could be.

Nick:​We’ll see what the referees look like Saturday too, right?

Andrew:​Jeez. If you were to design a covering a receiver and put it on a highlight film to show people how to do it, KaiirElam’s playing on Saturday would have been on there.

Nick:​Yeah.

Andrew:​Who you got? Who’s your last pick?

Nick:​My last pick is going to be Shawn Davis. I think if we’re not talking linebackers I got Shawn as a guy that can come down, play in the box, and someone who missed last week. Will be back this week. I think he’ll be a big part in stopping that running game.

Andrew:​If Trey Dean’s able to play, I don’t even need to see Shawn Davis in the football game. I’m just being honest.

Nick:​You’re over it? You’re done with him?

Andrew:​I’m good. Good without it. Nick, we got a few seconds left on this. What’s the point spread? Three now?

Nick:​I think it was down to 3.5 last I checked, which was Thursday morning.

Andrew:​Okay. Go ahead. Make your pick.

Nick:​I got Florida. I talked myself into what Barrett said to us on Wednesday. I’ve got Florida, and I think they win by double digits. I don’t think those double digits are 21, but I think they win by 10 or more.

Andrew:​Okay. I don’t think that it’s 21 either. I haven’t fully convinced myself on a score either way yet. I obviously have Florida winning the game, and I think the game is won easily for the most part. I haven’t decided on a score yet, but Florida wins.

Nick:​That’s two picks for Florida. I think it’s a huge game this week.

Andrew:​Huge game. Nick, tell everybody where they can find us. We’ll get out of here. We’ll see everyone on Monday to hopefully talk about a win.

Nick:​www.GatorCountry.com for all your Florida Gator news. The podcast is there in audio and transcript form. You can find the podcast wherever you listen to podcasts. Just search Gator Country. Hit 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 will be back on Monday to hopefully talk about the win. Hope you guys enjoy the game on Saturday. I know we will be. We will talk to everyone then. As always, go Braves and chomp, chomp.

Nick:​You stay classy.