GatorCountry brings you a new podcast as we bring you our Friday prediction for the Florida Gators vs. Kentucky game on Saturday in the Swamp.
Andrew Spivey and Nick de la Torre breakdown where the Gators were ranked in the first college football playoff poll that was released on Tuesday.
Andrew and Nick also pick several games around the country, plus we give you three players to watch for the Gators on Saturday.
TRANSCRIPT:
Andrew:What’s up, Gator Country? Your man, Andrew Spivey, here with Nicholas de la Torre. Nicholas, we’re back. Getting ready. We’re taping this on a Wednesday, so a little ahead of time, as everybody gets ready for Thanksgiving. I know you guys will be listening to this on Friday, but happy late Thanksgiving to you guys, and appreciate everyone for listening in.
Nick:Yeah. I think we both will be asleep on the couch at this point. We normally tape on Thursday for the Friday podcast. I think we’ll be in some kind of food coma, so better off doing it today on a Wednesday than Thursday.
Andrew:Yeah. Watching some football. Got to watch football on Thanksgiving. That’s part of the tradition almost. Someone was talking about should the Detroit Lions no longer play on Thanksgiving, and I’m sitting here to myself thinking, I’ve watched the Lions from the time I was a little kid on Thanksgiving. What would football on Thanksgiving be without Lions football, even as bad as they are?
Nick:That’s not even the worst game.
Andrew:Yeah.
Nick:The Washington Washington team, the Washington football team and the Cowboys. That’s an atrocious game.
Andrew:Can you imagine football on Thanksgiving without the Cowboys? It’s the same thing.
Nick:No. It’s Lions, Cowboys. It’s tradition. The Lions, I love their uniforms. They wear those throwbacks that have like no branding on them at all. They’re just blue and silver. Love those. You get the Lions are always the noon game, or the 1:00 game. Cowboys play at 4:30. I love that they added the night game too. That’s been around for a little while now, but love that.
Andrew:It goes back to the Barry days, watching Barry Sanders play. Yeah. Some football news for the Gators, and that is the playoff poll, whatever you want to call it, came out on Tuesday, and the Gators were sixth. They were ahead of Cincinnati. That kind of surprised me, kind of didn’t surprise me. We’ll get into some of the surprises, because there’s a big surprise out there, in my opinion. I guess kind of where we all kind of thought they would be, six or seven. My biggest question, Nick, and that is if Florida wins the SEC Championship game, do they get in?
Nick:Yes. For me, in front of Florida is Alabama, undefeated. That might have been the easiest #1 pick for them to make. Then Notre Dame also undefeated. Clemson and Ohio State rounds out your playoff. Then Texas A&M gets over Florida. I think that’s fair. Head to head, beat them. Same one loss. They lost to Alabama and beat Florida. Then Florida comes in just ahead of Cinci, an undefeated Cinci. They’re undefeated, right?
Andrew:Yes. Undefeated.
Nick:And undefeated Northwestern. I think my initial reaction to it was, doesn’t matter that Florida lost to Texas A&M, because I don’t think that even if Florida was undefeated, let’s say Florida was undefeated going to the SEC Championship game, probably ranked two or three, behind Alabama. I think the College Football Playoff wants Notre Dame in. College football teams and college football as a whole has lost so much money because of Covid. Notre Dame, whether you love them or you hate them, huge massive fanbase, huge massive TV ratings. They want Notre Dame in.
I don’t know that a one loss Florida would get in over a Clemson or Ohio State. Maybe I’m wrong, but there’s a bias built into them, because it’s Justin Fields and because it’s Trevor Lawrence. I still feel like, while Kyle Trask is a good story, it’s not like the story college football expected. You know what I mean?
Andrew:Right.
Nick:I think there would be some bias and that a one-loss Florida team would get left out over a one-loss Clemson or one-loss Ohio State. But then I was quickly reminded that Notre Dame is in the ACC this year, so they have to play Clemson again.
Andrew:Right. That’s the thing too. We all expect Clemson to win the rematch against Notre Dame and go, but could it easily go Notre Dame’s way? Sure. They scored a lot of points. Clemson will be much healthier this time in the game. They’ll have Trevor and everything else back, but still that. When you look at just the overall, I think Florida will jump A&M. Yes. I do, if they win the SEC Championship game. I think the biggest surpriser to me, not that it was a huge surprise as far as, I’m trying to think of the word I’m trying to say. Not that it was a huge surprise that it shouldn’t happen at all, but that they actually did it, and that was having Clemson ahead of Ohio State. I mean, do I think Clemson’s a better team than Ohio State? Yes, I do, but you normally get the undefeated teams that stay ahead of them.
Nick:Isn’t it still weird? They’re only 4-0. It’s just such a weird year. 4-0. Undefeated, but only four games.
Andrew:I think they’re punishing them for that. I’m not saying that they’re wrong for doing that. Big Ten massively mishandled everything, but I think it’s definitely showing. You’re not playing very many games. We’re not going to reward you for that.
Nick:Yeah. Speaking of not being rewarded. Undefeated BYU at 14.
Andrew:Wow.
Nick:BYU. Someone got mad at me yesterday online, because I said BYU said, any team, any time, anywhere. Washington said, let’s play, and they were like, not that team, not at that time, nowhere. Listen to this schedule. They’re independent, so they didn’t have the opportunity to get lumped in like the SEC. Florida’s got a great schedule, because they’re playing an SEC schedule. BYU is independent, don’t have that luxury. But they could have taken, I think, some away games. The ACC allowed for nonconference games if it was in the ACC stadium. You had to agree to ACC testing guidelines and go through that, but BYU hasn’t done that.
They’ve played Navy, Army, Troy, Louisiana Tech, UTSA-that’s the University of Texas San Antonio, Houston, Texas State, Western Kentucky, Boise State, and North Alabama. And they’ll play San Diego State. Talk about a barnburner of a schedule. The committee said, should have figured it out. Here you go. You’re undefeated, and we don’t care.
Andrew:Right. Rightfully so. I hate that whole, we’ll play anybody anywhere, but no, not now, not right now.
Nick:Then you get the opportunity, and you’re like, nah.
Andrew:Supposedly it was something to do with they wanted to see where they were going to be at in the playoff thing before they did it or whatever else. Whatever.
Nick:Bet you’re calling Washington back now.
Andrew:Yeah. You better be calling them back now. I will say this though. I think they have one of the best quarterbacks in America in Zach Wilson playing for them, but you got to figure it out. You can’t play a cupcake schedule and expect to get to play with the big boys.
Nick:That is not a schedule to be proud of right there.
Andrew:I don’t think that it would have been too much different even before Covid, right? They didn’t have a ton of games get cancelled with other conferences, right?
Nick:Shoot, I don’t even know. Now I don’t even know how to look up their old one, but they didn’t even play Army. That game got postponed.
Andrew:Right. I’m saying I don’t think they had a bunch of games like against power conference teams that was just cancelled that could have hurt them. I think was pretty close.
Nick:They usually play a pretty Pac-12 heavy schedule.
Andrew:Right.
Nick:They usually play like USC and teams like that, but yeah. I mean, that’s just bad. The schedule is bad, and that’s what you get. You play a bad schedule, and it doesn’t matter if you win all nine games against nine bad teams. Sure, you’ll be ranked, but you’re on the outside looking in, big time.
Andrew:Yeah. Their chances of getting in are slim to none, if there’s even a slim chance. They’d have to have multiple things go their way to even sniff it. Jeez Louise.
Nick:To me, I think what you said earlier, getting back to Texas A&M, if Florida wins, if Florida beats Alabama, they’re in.
Andrew:Right.
Nick:Then to me the question would be does a one-loss Alabama stay in the top four?
Andrew:Yes.
Nick:Does a one-loss Notre Dame stay in after losing a conference championship? The College Football Playoff committee really puts a lot of weight into winning your conference.
Andrew:I could see this being a scenario, and I know it’s going to be crazy to some people when I say this, but I could see it being an Alabama-Florida, Notre Dame-Clemson, final four.
Nick:Ohio State’s going to run the table.
Andrew:Yeah. I don’t know. I’m with you though that there is nothing in this world the College Football committee wants more than Notre Dame to be in it.
Nick:I’m looking at Ohio State’s schedule. Illinois this week, a terrible Michigan State team, and a terrible Michigan team. Remember back in the offseason when that internal conversation between all the Big Ten teams got leaked, and Ryan Day and Harbaugh were getting heated. Ryan Day goes, we’re going to score 100 on you.
Andrew:They may.
Nick:That’s good for the rivalry. Then you watch the two teams play this year, and you’re like, oh no, he means it. They might score 100.
Andrew:I’m all for it. I want to see it. Want to see it. I’m all for it.
Nick:You’re not in the khaki gang?
Andrew:No. I’m all for it. I’m cool for anybody getting embarrassed. I’m one of those jackrabbits that are on Madden, and I’m up by 30, and I’m still airing it out like Steve Spurrier did.
Nick:Okay. There was one of the Madden games where you lost points for doing stuff like that. I can’t remember what it was.
Andrew:That was the no fun Madden.
Nick:Yeah. For real.
Andrew:That was the no fun zone. That was the Big Ten football or something. I don’t know. So, like you say, you’re there. This point was brought up to me though yesterday doing a radio, and that is how much do you look at this game this weekend with Kentucky and just say, let’s say, and I don’t think this happens. I think Florida wins big this weekend, but let’s just say Florida wins 35-20. Do you look at this team differently after what Bama just did to them? We’ve talked about it multiple times. Bama had more points in the second half than Kentucky had yards. So, do you look at this Florida team differently? Does the playoff committee look at them differently if they barely beat a Kentucky team?
Nick:A couple things. One, it’s like we said on Monday. For better or for worse, you’re being compared to Alabama. I don’t know that you have to have as dominant of a performance against Kentucky that Alabama did.
Andrew:I don’t think you will have as dominant.
Nick:I think to your point though is we, you and I both, gave Florida’s defense a lot of credit, and I don’t know if you said it, but I definitely said they’ve turned the corner. Look what they’re doing against Missouri. Look what they did against Arkansas. The defense figured it out. Outside of a couple plays, like Florida was really bad in the first quarter on defense against Vanderbilt, but then figured it out and played a little bit better. Still not a good defense. I think if they have a game like that, like 35-20, I’m just like, maybe those teams that they played well against are just bad. You know what I mean? Maybe I gave them too much credit early on. I said the defense figured it out, and the defense was getting better. If you give up 21 to a Kentucky team that doesn’t have a quarterback, doesn’t pretend to throw the ball, and has a bunch of guys just getting back from Covid, I don’t know.
Andrew:Yeah. I’m with you. Like you said, for whatever it is, you’ve put yourself in this situation to be compared to Alabama, like it or not. You’re going to be. I do. I think the same way you are. I think that if you go out in this game and you lay another egg, kind of like you did in the Vandy game, and they didn’t lay a big egg. They ended up winning, but I think we’d all agree, and Dan Mullen has said it, the energy wasn’t good and everything else.
I think at some point you have to look like the team that is going to go into the SEC Championship game and put a scare, a little bit, on the Alabama offense. You’re not going to scare them much, but put a little bit of a scare of we have to do these kind of things a little bit. Just show some kind of improvement. That’s my thing. Again, I don’t think the playoff committee cares, except for that SEC Championship game. I think that’s kind of where that’s at.
Nick:Like when we had Barrett on, it was first team to 70 wins. Whoever has the ball last wins in that game. You’re going to be compared to Alabama. I don’t think you need to have, and like you said, you’re probably not going to have any team be that dominant against another team in conference, let alone in conference.
Andrew:I just think it’s so hard for a team. It’s hard for a team to be that bad two weeks in a row. I mean, I’m laughing about it. I guess it’s possible, but it’s bad for a team to be that bad two weeks in a row.
Nick:27 yards. Yeah. That’s bad. That’s one pass to Kyle Pitts.
Andrew:For real. And you got Kyle Pitts back. It’s go time. That’s where you’re at. You’re at a point in the season, and I think you would agree with me here, Nick, that it’s no more about we’re going to get better. It’s you’re either better now, or you’re not better. Period. End of discussion. You’re in Week 8 of the season. You’re either better, or you’re not. You kind of are what you are here soon.
Nick:Exactly. To me, it’ll be interesting to see, because like you just said and Dan said, he said it wasn’t that the energy was bad, but it was just like inconsistent. They’d have a good day, and then a bad day. I think there were a lot of guys, younger guys tweeting, my time, stuff like this, leading up to the game. I think they were in their mind thinking we’re just going to beat them. We’re going to beat them bad, and we’ll take a break. Hopefully you don’t have that attitude this week.
Andrew:Like Mullen said, Kentucky, for whatever reason, has played them tough lately. It’s a big game for them.
Nick:Lost to them. Something we thought would never happen.
Andrew:Yeah. One thing you do know, and that is Mark Stoops is going to have his team prepared, whether that equals them doing well or whatever, they’re going to be prepared. They’re going to be well coached in the game. Nick, Mullen has said this this week, that there are some guys that he wants to see play more. Tyron Hopper, for instance. He wants to see him play more, that kind of stuff. How much do you buy that?
Nick:To me the way Kentucky plays this is a big week for linebackers. Not just running sideline to sideline, but you got to be able to fit your run gaps as well. So, to me it’s a big week for Ventrell Miller. I think Dan has said he’s expecting to get James Houston back. It’s just tough. We’ll see if he’s going to put his money where his mouth is. He said he’s going to talk to Todd and that he wants more rotating. I want more rotating on defense. We said it, and I hope we get to see a little bit more of Tyron Hopper. I would like to see more Trey Dean, because I think Trey Dean can be great in the run game as a safety.
Andrew:I know who I’m not interested in watching play this week at safety. He’s going to close his eyes and run through there and say, hey, am I going to find anything today or not? That’s what we’re going to do. I think we’ll call missed tackles for him a few times in the game this week. Jeez Louise. Whatever.
Here’s my thing for Hopper. This really isn’t Tyron Hopper’s game, as far as running up and making a ton of tackles in the gaps, that kind of stuff. He’s more of a cover guy, so is this the perfect game to get him in? Probably not. But you got to get experience somewhere.
Nick:Yeah. Thought he looked good. Thought Josiah Pierre looked good too. Let me see them both.
Andrew:Can’t be no worse, can they?
Nick:No. Let me see them both.
Andrew:Yeah.
Nick:Listen, I thought Kentucky was going to be much better than they are. I was talking them up all offseason.
Andrew:You was on that train.
Nick:I drank that blue Kool-Aid, man, and I’m feeling sick now.
Andrew:You’re starting to sound like, what’s homeboy’s name up there? That crazy dude we got on the podcast. Matt Jones. You’re starting to sound like him. Every year he was calling Kentucky National Championships in football.
Nick:I have not gotten like that.
Andrew:He said like five years in a row, this is our year. This is our year. We’re going to beat them Gators.
Nick:He probably said it 28 years in a row, man.
Andrew:Probably so. Matt Jones. Lordy, Lordy. This is a game, like you say, it should be out of hand. You should see a lot of Emory. You should see some of those young guys play. It’s just, as crazy as it is, you need to see what some of these young guys can do, even though it is Week 8. You kind of know what your starters can do, and a lot of them are not very good. They’re just not.
You need to see what some of those guys can do. I do want to see more Jaydon Hill. I do want to see more Trey Dean. I know people are picking on Rashad Torrence for his one mad play, but give me some more Rashad Torrence at safety too. I want to see some more Princely. He’s a guy that’s shown me he can get to the quarterback. Right now, the other guys have shown that they can get to it a little bit, but they’re either getting tired as the game goes on or something. I want to see that. I need to see some guys give me some minutes. You better get some pass rush on Alabama. That’s just all it is. If you let Mac Jones sit back there forever, Mac’s going to have a big game. That just is what it is.
Nick:You’re not really going to get a great preview the next two offenses you play, three if you include LSU, to get ready for Mac Jones, that’s for sure.
Andrew:Yeah. Thing that I heard this morning. I was watching SEC Now and Roman Harper. Listen, Roman’s an Alabama great, and he toots the Crimson Tide and everything else, but he was talking Najee Harris, and he said he thought Najee was a guy who was left out of the Heisman consideration and is a guy who should be up there. I’m sitting here to myself thinking, what are you talking about? I go back and look at his numbers. He has 16 touchdowns on the year, Nick. He’s on pace to beat Derrick Henry’s records that Henry had when he was a Heisman, if you extend it out to 13 games.
I think that is what could be scary for this team. They get so off balance at times. Can you stop the run and the pass in the same game? Like you said, you’re not going to really have to worry about that, because this week you basically don’t have to stop the pass. There is no passing game. Then you go to Tennessee. Guarantano is going to throw pick sixes all day long. I mean, where are you preparing for that? When I saw that stat, I was like, wow. That’s a good point.
Nick:Yeah. Kentucky has six passing touchdowns this year. 105 completions, which is the worst in the SEC.
Andrew:That’s two games for Kyle.
Nick:Yeah. Kentucky’s already played eight games, too. I mean, they’re averaging what?
Andrew:About 12. About 12 completions a game.
Nick:Quick math. Yeah. Only 177 attempts. Not even trying. Kyle Trask has had, no, he didn’t have a six-touchdown game, but he’s almost had as many touchdown passes in a single game as Kentucky has had all year.
Andrew:He did have a six-touchdown game, against Vandy, right? I mean, Arkansas, right?
Nick:Was that six? I thought it was five.
Andrew:I thought it was six. It was one of the two. But yeah, their passing game is kind of like Florida’s running game. They just know that they don’t have to.
Nick:He had two six-touchdown games. Six passing touchdowns against Mississippi and six against Arkansas.
Andrew:Mississippi was way too long ago. Way too long ago. Couldn’t remember that.
Nick:Yeah.
Andrew:That sounds like an eternity ago during the Covid era. What’s that?
Nick:I said, when was that? That feels like it was in March of 1976 now.
Andrew:For real. Yeah. Like you said, they don’t care to throw the ball, because they know they can’t. The biggest question you have going into this is how much do you pad Kyle Trask’s stats hopefully? You hope to continue to pad those. You look at some of these new Heisman rankings that are coming out here daily, and Kyle’s now leading the race in 90% of them. A lot of them have it not close. I was looking at something that ESPN had, and I don’t know who votes on these ESPN polls, but Trask had 60 of the 64 first place votes.
Nick:That’ll get you a trophy.
Andrew:Yeah. Like I said, I don’t know who is those 64 people, if any of them even have votes or anything else, but to me that’s a telling sign that so many. It’s not like it was 35-25 or anything like that. That’s a wide margin. 60. That’s a wide margin.
Nick:I mean, even Vegas. Vegas has made him a huge favorite to win. Let me see this. I’m trying to see where they used to be. Right now, Kyle Trask is -140, so that means you got to put $140 down to win $100. No. That’s wrong.
Andrew:No, to win $1, right?
Nick:I’m an idiot. I can’t think right now. Anyway, the next closest to him is Mac Jones at +300, which means if you bet $100, you win $300. That’s what it is. If you bet $100 on Kyle Trask right now, if you bet $100 on Kyle Trask to win the Heisman, you’ll win $40.
Andrew:Okay. Yeah.
Nick:Brain fart.
Andrew:A lot of people are saying that even if he was to lose to Bama and have a good game, he’d still get it. To me, I’ve said, and now it looks like I’m probably wrong, but I had kind of said whoever won the SEC Championship game would probably win the Heisman. I guess now I’m looking stupid, which what’s new? Still, it’s interesting. It just kind of shows how far Kyle Trask has really come in the last few weeks. I guess too, it also hurts that a guy like Trevor Lawrence hasn’t played now in a month. Justin Fields only has four games. BYU is over here playing the deaf and the blind. That does help, but to run away with it like that.
Nick:It just seems like everything is kind of falling into place, right?
Andrew:Yeah. The thing that sucks though, and it sucks for so many people, I mean, the guy is probably not going to get to enjoy, well he’s not. He’s not going to get to enjoy the perks of it, the media tour in New York, going to the Statue of Liberty, doing all the things with all the Heisman candidates that you get to do that entire week. That’s going to suck.
Nick:That’s an experience of a lifetime.
Andrew:Yeah.
Nick:You get to walk on stage. Think about it. That’s one of the coolest things I think is they get everybody up on stage. You’ve got guys who won the Heisman in the ‘60s and ‘70s up on stage. It’s the most prestigious award in college football, and you’re sitting in the stands, you’re sitting in your seats in the audience, and you’re just looking at these guys. You hear your name called, and you’re like, wow, I am in this fraternity of all these great players, Hall of Famers, all kinds of people. Now you’re not going to get that. Now you might be on a Zoom call with a couple of them, but I don’t think you’re going to get those guys from Army and Notre Dame.
Andrew:Gale Sayers.
Nick:I don’t think Gale Sayers is hopping on Zoom.
Andrew:I was going to say, I don’t think Gale Sayers is hopping on their either and saying, hey, Kyle. Maybe just maybe.
Nick:Jeez. Gale Sayers died, Andrew. We should not have said Gale Sayers.
Andrew:When’d he die? This year?
Nick:He died in September. I didn’t even hear it.
Andrew:Snap. I didn’t know that. I didn’t. That sucks.
Nick:Well, we’re idiots.
Andrew:Yeah. That’s one of the most famous running backs of all time. I mean, still, when you think of some of those other guys that are up there. And even just from your own, Tebow gets to walk up there. Spurrier gets to walk up there. Danny gets to walk up there. All those guys that you’ve looked up to get to go up there. I’m sure Kyle being a Texas guy that Vince Young, those guys. Not Vince. Reggie Bush. Watching Reggie beat Vince. I’m sure that would have been a big moment for him as well. Sucks though.
Nick:Yeah. Listen, it won’t suck if you win it, and then you get to come back in 30 years and show your grandkids your statue next to Steve Spurrier and Tebow. That certainly won’t suck. You won’t have those same experiences of being there in person, but certainly won’t suck to have a statue in front of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
Andrew:Exactly. Nick Saban has Covid, Nick. This time it’s for real.
Nick:This time it’s for real, and couldn’t happen at a worse time. Iron Bowl.
Andrew:Poor guy. I say poor guy. Anybody who gets it I feel bad for them, but still just to get it in this game. This is the biggest game. This is your season for Auburn. Overall, jeez Louise. It is 2020.
Nick:What a wild time.
Andrew:What a wild time.
Nick:What a wild, wild time.
Andrew:I guess that could throw a wrench in some things.
Nick:It could. Your boy Sark. I know you loved him when he was coaching your Falcons. Your boy Sark is going to be dialing up plays. He’s in charge of operations this week.
Andrew:Come on now. Come on now, Bro. Come on now. Get out of here. Gus does find a way to win this game.
Nick:You say he does.
Andrew:No. No, he does, like in the past. He finds a way to win this game. That’s the only reason he has a job right now.
Nick:Because that gets him that contract extension.
Andrew:Yeah. That’s the only reason he keeps his job. Man, this is some off the thing, and just realized our former Gator Lamical Perine is going to the IR with a high ankle sprain, ending his season.
Nick:That’s what happens when you tape live. Get live news.
Andrew:There you go.
Nick:Heal up, LP.
Andrew:Yeah. I mean, that could throw a wrench in some things, Nick. What if Auburn wins? Then it’s a situation where definitely whoever loses the SEC Championship game is out. Interesting.
Nick:One loss Alabama. Then that would be tricky, because Alabama would then have to play, who do they get after the Iron Bowl?
Andrew:It’s Arkansas. Or it’s going to be LSU most likely. Then it’s going to be Arkansas the 12th. That’s looking like the scenario that’s going to happen.
Nick:They Auburn, and then Arkansas right now scheduled on the 5th.
Andrew:Right.
Nick:You’re saying they’re looking like they’re just going to flip flop and LSU on the 5th, Arkansas on the 12th. Then Florida would play LSU on the 12th.
Andrew:Right.
Nick:LSU-Alabama would be on the 5th. Got you. Okay. You don’t think they would stumble up again, but a two-loss Alabama would not be in the College Football Playoff.
Andrew:No. But again, I don’t know. It could throw a wrench in some things. Auburn seems to do it.
Nick:Figure it out.
Andrew:Let’s go pick some games. Let’s pick some games. Not a great schedule, right?
Nick:Not a great schedule. A lot of rivalries though.
Andrew:How weird is it with no Florida?
Nick:It’s so weird, because it should be this week. This should be Florida-Florida State. It’s Iron Bowl week. It’s Egg Bowl week. It’s just weird. Now this whole Nick Saban thing is a huge wrench into that week. We do have a big top 25 matchup. Probably Notre Dame’s biggest test that’s not Clemson. Notre Dame travels to Chapel Hill to play UNC.
Andrew:I think North Carolina is so overrated.
Nick:You think they get exposed this week.
Andrew:Yeah. I think it’s ugly. Sam Howell is having a good year, but as a team, no thank you.
Nick:I’m with you. Golden domers for me as well. Back to our two Notre Dame picks. This one is personal for me. The war on I4. UCF at USF.
Andrew:This has got to be like a 40-point spread, right?
Nick:Let’s pull it up. I’m going UCF, of course.
Andrew:I mean, I am too. I was looking at some stats this week. #1 scoring offense. They’re getting a ton of possessions and tons of plays, so the defense must not be playing well at all either. UCF wins. USF has had a rough year.
Nick:It’s a 25-point spread. UCF is the 25-point favorite. Dylan Gabriel having a great season. We talk about Kyle Trask. Gabriel has already thrown for over 3,000 yards and 26 touchdowns with just three interceptions. He’s second in the country behind Trask with touchdown passes. Little lefty. Little lefty can sling it.
Andrew:What happened to the kid that got hurt? Is he back?
Nick:No.
Andrew:He’s not back.
Nick:I don’t know what’s happened to him.
Andrew:I thought he was back, but I couldn’t remember.
Nick:Look at this. As I’m looking up the stuff on UCF, out for UCF, Parker Boudreaux. Blast from the past in recruiting for you there.
Andrew:There you go. That’s a big one. Who we got?
Nick:We both get UCF. Iowa State at Texas, another ranked matchup.
Andrew:Where’s it at?
Nick:At Texas.
Andrew:Texas just isn’t very good. Iowa State’s already got two losses too. Give me Texas.
Nick:Andrew Spivey on record saying Texas is back.
Andrew:No.
Nick:I’m going with Iowa State in the upset.
Andrew:Okay. What is Texas now ranked?
Nick:I had it. I think they’re 16, 17.
Andrew:That’s what I was thinking. Yeah. I still take Texas.
Nick:17. Right behind Wisconsin.
Andrew:Okay.
Nick:Egg Bowl. The pirate versus Lane.
Andrew:The pirate versus Lane. Definitely Lane.
Nick:Yeah. Mississippi State has been rough.
Andrew:They did play Georgia tough though.
Nick:They played Georgia tough, but listen, Ole Miss is going to score. Mississippi State is going to have to keep contain. I don’t think they can.
Andrew:I don’t know, Ole Miss’s defense is bad. Their defense is bad. Their defense is bad too, but yeah. Give me Lane.
Nick:Iron Bowl.
Andrew:What’s the spread? Do you have that in front of you?
Nick:Nick Saban-less. I don’t know. Let’s see and see how much it’s moved. Iron Bowl spread. They might have taken it down.
Andrew:That’s what I was beginning to wonder is if they even took it down. Let’s see. 24.5 is what I have. No. It’s still 24.5.
Nick:That’s what it came out as.
Andrew:It’s still 24.5. Still 24.5.
Nick:I would have thought they would either have taken it down or there would have been some kind of swing with the news about Saban.
Andrew:It only dipped to 24. I don’t know. 62.5 is the over-under. Alabama is going to cover. I mean, they’re not going to cover. Excuse me. They’re not going to cover. I don’t think they cover, but Alabama and Auburn are going to score 62.5 points. You can bet your bottom dollar on that one. But Bama wins.
Nick:All right. I thought you were going to go with the Gus bus.
Andrew:Hell, no.
Nick:We both pick Bama.
Andrew:Do they cover?
Nick:No. I don’t think they will.
Andrew:I don’t think they will either. This is too close of a game. Just the two teams hate each other. Like I said, love him or hate him, and I’m not a Gus fan, but he does find a way to keep this game close and sometimes sneak out wins. We’ll see. That’s it? That the last one?
Nick:Yeah. Kentucky-Florida. We’ll do our players. I’m interested to see what is Saban’s record versus Auburn?
Andrew:Four losses, I believe.
Nick:Wow. 8-5.
Andrew:Five. Okay.
Nick:He is 255-66-1 overall. 164-23 at Alabama. 164-23.
Andrew:And five of those are against Auburn.
Nick:Five of those are Auburn. Yikes.
Andrew:All right. This is my week to pick players first. Right?
Nick:You’re up.
Andrew:Because it should have been last week, but we didn’t get it. We don’t get Trask. We don’t get Pitts. That’s okay though, because I think the guy that’s going to get to benefit the most from Pitts is Mr. Kadarius Toney. 251.
Nick:You’ve been going to that well, and it keeps paying off for you. I forget, can I do Ventrell or no?
Andrew:Yeah. You can do Ventrell. I don’t care.
Nick:I’m going with Ventrell. Like I said, and we talked about it, Kentucky doesn’t even pretend to throw the ball. It’s a big game for the defensive line, big game for the linebackers. You’re going to need your safeties to come up and hit too, because Kentucky is going to run. They’re big. They’re physical. Their offensive line is just like long, just big, big dudes. Don’t want them getting to the second level and getting your hands on your linebackers. I think it’ll be a big game for Ventrell. Hopefully the shoulder is all right.
Andrew:If you’re going to do that, then I’m going to go with another defensive lineman. I’m going to go Zach Carter.
Nick:Nice pick. I want to pick like a Kyree Campbell, but I don’t know if he’ll show up in stats. A senior, season starting to come down to the line. I’m going to go with him, but we’ll have to be fair when we do it on Saturday. I’ll be watching him closely, because I don’t think it’ll show up in the stats, but I think it’s a big game for him.
Andrew:Okay. If you’re going to go that, I’m going back to the offensive side of the ball. I’m going to go with 15. Copeland.
Nick:Man, I want to go Grimes or Shorter, but do they have a down week because Pitts is back? I’m going Grimes. STA pride.
Andrew:I almost said that I was going to go Nay’QuanWright. That was my runner up pick.
Nick:I’m already sitting here looking at my players and thinking, probably not winning this week. I don’t feel good about it.
Andrew:Well, that’s going to happen.
Nick:I have been in a rut picking players.
Andrew:This makes up for my atrocious picking of teams this year. Put the two of us together, we’d win a lot of money in Vegas.
Nick:Or lose, depending on which ones you pick.
Andrew:All right. What’s the spread on the Gators?
Nick:Florida was a 23-21 point favorite against Kentucky.
Andrew:Here. I can tell you real quick.
Nick:Depending on where you go it’s between 23.5 and 21.5.
Andrew:Let’s see here. 23.5 is what I have here on ESPN. Let’s just pick it off of that.
Nick:23.5. Yup.
Andrew:Okay. Florida covers.
Nick:I’m going Florida covers as well.
Andrew:Florida covers.
Nick:Here’s the thing about Kentucky. If you’re a defensive coordinator, your goal is to make somebody one-dimensional, and then attack them. They become predictable. Kentucky comes into this game, and they’ve done that for you.
Andrew:Yeah. 100%. They’ve told you, we can’t throw the ball. I don’t even know why they bring a quarterback. Why don’t they just go wildcat?
Nick:I think they do. They just don’t call it that.
Andrew:Yeah. I guess that is true. Who? Lynn Bowden has got to have a ton of rushing yards.
Nick:Right? Let me see. What’s their rushing offense? Not even that great.
Andrew:No. It’s not that great. They had 28 yards of total offense in the second half, Nick.
Nick:That’s not good.
Andrew:28 yards. Florida does that in one drive.
Nick:Not good. Terry Wilson has got 73 carries for 339 yards, four touchdowns.
Andrew:Yeah.
Nick:Kavosiey Smoke. One of the best names in college football.
Andrew:Him or Smoke Monday.
Nick:I like Kavosiey. Like that. Smoke Monday, another great name.
Andrew:I mean, he’s pretty fast too.
Nick:Yeah.
Andrew:I think that’s a requirement though. Don’t get that name. Had a pick six for 100 yards against Tennessee for Auburn. Nick, tell everybody where they can find us. Oh, real quick, if you haven’t yet, and you’re listening to this, having our Black Friday special on the site. So, if you’re thinking about it, have any ideas about it, come check us out now. If you are a current member, and it’s time to renew, hit us up. If you’re ready to renew, hit us up. It’s a good deal. Lot of cool stuff. Our man David Bowie makes a bomb calendar every year that comes with it. It’s really cool. Lot of good stuff that comes with, so check us out.
Nick:If you’ve ever been on the fence, now is the time. You’re never going to get a cheaper price to get on Gator Country. One quick note, aside from that, you brought it to my attention. Now I’m seeing the quote from Derrick Mason. Derrick Mason confirmed Vanderbilt women’s soccer player Sarah Fuller may handle the football team’s kicking on Saturday. He said, Sarah is an option. She seems to be a pretty good option. It’s believed she would be the first female player in a power five conference, and maybe Division I. I know there’s been some women that have played in smaller divisions, but I think this would be the first in D1, definitely the first in the SEC.
Andrew:Yeah. I think it would be in D1. That’s what I was looking at earlier from someone saying that. They said the same thing. They thought to their knowledge it would be the first one in Division I. Pretty cool. Let’s see it. Nick, tell everybody where they can find us. We’ll get out of here. See everyone on Monday. Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving and getting ready for a big game.
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. @NickdelaTorreGC. He’s @AndrewSpiveyGC. Everyone, if you’re listening to this on Thanksgiving, happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy your time with your loved ones. Be safe. Gobble, gobble.
Andrew:That’s right. Don’t have a Dan Mullen plate though. That makes me sick. Don’t even talk about it.
Nick:I have to. Now that you brought it up. I wasn’t going to, but you brought it up. Dan Mullen basically makes like a garbage bowl. Just like everything that you would eat he kind of just mixes it all together and eats it. It’s all going to the same place. It might taste weird if you get like gravy in your sweet potatoes or something like that.
Andrew:Just makes me sick thinking about it. It does. Makes me sick thinking about it. That’s nasty. Like that KFC thing where they just mix everything together. Makes me sick. Guys, we appreciate it. As always, go Braves and chomp, chomp.
Nick:You stay classy, Gator Country.