GatorCountry brings you a new podcast as we bring you our Friday prediction podcast for the Florida Gators vs. South Carolina game.
Andrew Spivey and Nick de la Torre as we breakdown the keys for the Gators versus South Carolina on Saturday in the Swamp.
Andrew and Nick also give you three players to watch for the Gators on Saturday, plus we pick several games around the country.
TRANSCRIPT:
Andrew: What’s up, Gator Country? Your man, Andrew Spivey, here with Nicholas de la Torre. Nicholas, it is a great day. We’re taping this as my Atlanta Braves just clinched the NL Wild Card Series and are going on to the NLDS to hopefully play your Marlins.
Nick: Not going to be a hater. Just going to say congratulations. Marlins got bumped. Marlins got bumped today.
Andrew: It looks pretty right now, so who knows. You said it best. What a great two-game series. Listen, I love Trevor Bauer’s series. I think Trevor Bauer is an awesome pitcher, but vlog about that, Trevor.
Nick: I think he will. He’s going to get paid big time.
Andrew: That man’s going to get paid. He’s an awesome dude. That was a great series. Playoffs in general though, outside of that first Yankees-Cleveland game and the Tampa Jays game, Game 2, has been pretty close games and have been very exciting games. Do I like the eight teams getting in? No, but it’s excitement. What better can you ask for than eight playoff games on Wednesday, and then six on Thursday? I’m all for it.
Nick: It’s been exciting. I don’t like that it’s more than half the League is in the playoffs. I think that kind of takes away from it, but they have been exciting games.
Andrew: Yeah. I’m all for it. The real reason we’re here is to talk football. Nick, when we first got ready for today’s podcast I thought the overwhelming thing would be talking about the game, but some breaking news popped up on the timeline on Thursday. Former five-star from Lakeland, DeMarkcus Bowman, is transferring.
Nick: Nobody recruits the transfer portal like Florida’s offensive staff.
Andrew: I just wrote in my mailbag that I highly doubted Florida was going to sign a back for the ’21 class. Now I’m a big liar.
Nick: It did not take long. All the Lakeland guys got on him quick. I see Gervon Dexter’s on him already. Lloyd Summerall, Keon Zipperer, all of his old teammates immediately. I’m sure they probably knew what was going on. The one report that I do not like, one report came out that Clemson has already taken him off financial aid. What’s the story there? That’s not something that you hear a lot.
Andrew: That’s what I was going to say. I think it has to be more to it than we know of, in a way, because that’s a move. Listen, I’m one of those people that if you hit the transfer portal, go ahead and transfer, because you’re already halfway out, and when you’re halfway out you’re never coming all the way back in. So, I’m one of those that I would almost say if you enter the transfer portal, leave anyway, because I don’t think you’ll ever regain the full trust of anyone. But to do that publicly, I don’t know. What’s going on there?
Here’s the thing I’ll say. In my opinion, from what I know from talking to people, I never got the full impression that DeMarkcus Bowman was ever fully sold on Clemson. He always left the door open, had to have some of his coaches kind of tell Florida, don’t recruit me, almost because DeMarkcus was scared of telling Florida no. Also, that Lakeland to Florida pipeline is just there. I just never got the full impression that he was fully committed to going to Clemson. The reports that he was homesick, I totally thought they were going to happen. I didn’t think it would be over this quick, but Florida’s happy.
Nick: Interesting, because we still don’t know what it really means, but this is a free year of eligibility. If he transfer, can he play right away? Not play right away this season.
Andrew: Right.
Nick: But can he play right away next year? I’m guessing. He’d still be a freshman.
Andrew: I don’t know. That’s an interesting take. Who knows? We’re still waiting to hear about Jordan Pouncey, and then the SEC randomly on a Wednesday night says, if you transferred in conference, you’re immediately eligible. There’s no rhyme or reason for any of this transfer stuff. Just make it legal for the first one and stop all the back and forth. Say, first time, you’re good. Transfer. Go. Do whatever you want to. Second time, don’t even send an appeal. We don’t care. We don’t want to hear it. You’re sitting there. Would you agree with that?
Nick: It’s extra silly this year to say no to people when this year doesn’t even count.
Andrew: Right. But you know what I’m saying? Would you sign off if they came to you and said, Nick, you’re the AD of Florida, and they come to you and say, this is the rule. The second time they transfer, we don’t want to hear about it. Too bad, too sad. You’re done. Sitting out a year. One year, fine. You’re good.
Nick: You get one free pass.
Andrew: Yeah.
Nick: At any time. You can use it for no reason at all. It doesn’t matter. Coach doesn’t have to leave. You can just say, I want to leave Clemson. I’m going to West Virginia. Cool.
Andrew: Right. One time you get a transfer, you’re good. The second time, don’t come to me. I don’t want to hear about it.
Nick: I’m fine. Transfer as much as you want.
Andrew: Yeah. You know what I’m saying?
Nick: Part of me is also like, if Dan Mullen wanted to go and coach somewhere, he could leave. He doesn’t have to sit out a year. Let the kids go wherever they want.
Andrew: Yeah. I think one, and we’ve heard a lot about them wanting to do the whole one year and transfer thing. A lot of people are for that. I think I’m for that as well. I think so, for the most part. I definitely say, you’re not doing this a second time. What was the kid that was at Texas? McCoy. Went to USC, then transferred to Texas, and then went back to USC. No, bro. No.
Nick: He was at Texas for like a month.
Andrew: Yeah. No, bro. You’re not doing that. Sorry. You’re sitting out.
Nick: Flip flop, flip flop.
Andrew: Yeah. We’re not doing that. You’re sitting out.
Nick: Yeah. It’ll be interesting. Obviously, Greg Knox the running back coach, Dan Mullen I’m sure will be in on that. I wouldn’t be surprised if they hadn’t already been in contact with him, as we sit here talking at 3:25 on Thursday.
Andrew: I would say that Florida’s either been in contact with him, or they’ve been in contact with his people. For sure. Don’t think for a second that Mullen hasn’t had Lloyd or Keon or one of those guys already hitting him up.
Nick: I’m sure Knox. Who do you think will be tapped to spearhead the recruitment there?
Andrew: Knox is going to be that guy. From everything I’ve understood, and you know a lot about it as well, and that is Dan Mullen’s been kind of the guy in this whole transfer portal that spearheaded it. Let me say this, and let me try to word this the best way possible. Florida’s staff is below average, in my opinion, as a whole in recruiting, but Dan Mullen himself is a very good recruiter as a head coach. A lot of times when it’s a big-name kid, Dan Mullen just spearheads it himself. There’s pros and cons to that. You’d want your whole staff to do that, but also when you have the head coach that means more.
Having Dan Mullen do it I think is what will happen. Knox will do it, and he has a good relationship with Knox. It’ll also be interesting to see how much Brewster’s involved, because I know Brewster did some recruiting of him as well. It’ll be interesting in that, and then you can’t forget about Torrian Gray, who has that Lakeland pipeline as well, being from there.
Nick: Did you name every coach just there?
Andrew: Yeah.
Nick: Just send every coach to the house.
Andrew: I didn’t name Billy or Hevesy. That is the good thing about this staff. A lot of times it is a group effort for the most part on these guys, but usually it is Dan Mullen spearheading it, and there’s pros and cons to that, for sure. We’ll see.
Some big news came out on Wednesday. You spotted Emory Jones with a cast on his arm. I know Dan Mullen was pissed off, the best way to say it, about the news getting out. Said he’s no longer talking about injuries, everything else. Bring us up to speed on that.
Nick: I wrote a story about we were on campus. They were showing us all the initiatives and safety protocol and all that kind of stuff. They were showing us all of that at the stadium, and the team just happened to be walking to get over to go, it must have been before practice, so probably meeting before practice. Emory was on a scooter with somebody else. Couldn’t tell if it was a soft cast or a plaster, hard cast, but certainly a cast. I asked Dan Mullen. I said, I saw Emory Jones with a cast on his hand, is he available to play? Dan was not happy. I mean, if you’re a quarterback with a cast on your right throwing hand, probably going to be hard to play quarterback.
Andrew: Yeah. You and I talked about this a little bit. There was a play in the game where when he threw his hand hit Ole Miss’s helmet. We hear about that a lot happening, and sometimes it’s really bad, sometimes it’s not bad at all. You said you even went back and watched it to see. Is that kind of where you’re thinking it happened as well?
Nick: No. Are you talking about like the interception? He definitely got hit, but it didn’t look like that happened.
Andrew: Okay.
Nick: I was trying to find it, and I think it was on one of the runs on his second drive. He came in and threw the interception on his first drive, and then they put him right back in there. I think it must have happened during one of the runs. At some point he just didn’t come back into the game either.
Andrew: Right.
Nick: I mean, when are you going to put him back in? You got Kyle Trask throwing the ball all over the yard, so there was really not a point where you’re like, we should probably get Emory back in there. Just let Kyle do his thing.
Andrew: Exactly. Here’s the thing for me. I don’t want to take away from if he’s not able to play, if that’s a huge deal or not a big deal. I think he’s a part of the game plan and is definitely a mixup. Good news is you do have Kyle Trask, and you’re in a game where you don’t think it’ll be particularly close that you’ll need Emory. I think you can afford to rest him this week and get that arm healed.
Nick: I think it only becomes an issue if Kyle Trask goes down.
Andrew: Right. Then you’re in major trouble.
Nick: That’s my opinion.
Andrew: Yeah.
Nick: It will give you an opportunity, actually I don’t know. I don’t think you throw in– Let me backtrack. You don’t throw in Anthony Richardson the same way that you’ve been throwing Emory Jones in the past two years. You just don’t. I think the only way we’d see Anthony is if Florida’s got a healthy lead at the end of the game.
Andrew: Right. Exactly. The only reason that is is because of the eligibility and not counting. In a normal year, you wouldn’t even see Anthony at all.
Nick: Yeah.
Andrew: I guess you would with the new four game rule that happened last year, so you would. I’m with you. I don’t think you see him much in this game, Anthony, or at all in this game really, unless it’s just a really big blowout. Then why not see him in this game?
As we continue to go on, give me some keys for you for Florida offensively against a Will Muschamp defense.
Nick: Offensively I think there’s going to a matchup against Israel Mukuamu, I think that’s how you say it.
Andrew: Don’t ask me.
Nick: Yeah. And Jaycee Horn. Gamecocks have a great leader at linebacker in Earnest Jones. He’s kind of like Muschamp’s Jarrad Davis. He’s the extension of Muschamp on the field. He’s really good. I think South Carolina with Muschamp, they always play Florida tough. Let me go back and look at these scores. The games are always close. Will and Dan are very familiar with going up against each other. This will be the seventh time they’ve coached against each other.
Andrew: Right.
Nick: I think Florida’s better than South Carolina, but Will Muschamp’s going to have his defense ready to play.
Andrew: Right.
Nick: To me, keep it going. Let Kyle and Kyle keep doing their thing. I feel like we’re back at the beginning of 2018. You said it on the Monday podcast. If you take out a 55-yard run, and you take out one more 18-yard run or a couple of the runs by Emory, Florida’s 195 yards doesn’t look very impressive. Now you’re at like 120 yards.
Andrew: Right.
Nick: I want to see you try to establish the run again. We kept saying that last year over and over again, until we were just like, stop running the ball. You can’t do it. Throw the ball.
Andrew: Right.
Nick: Week 2 I want to see you try to establish the run. Like I said, Earnest Jones, obviously, a great linebacker, but at some point you got to be able to run the ball.
Andrew: That’s the thing. Do I think Florida can win just throwing the ball? Yeah, but it’s going to make things a lot tougher with Muschamp’s defense, because Muschamp is a good defensive mind in the game. It’ll just make things tough on the year in general if you can’t develop a running game. The offensive line had some moments in the game where they were very good, especially in pass pro. They just need to get that way in run blocking and get to that next level, and this is a good game to do that. South Carolina isn’t the biggest up front or the best up front that you’re going to see all year.
Like you said, Jaycee Horn’s a good DB there. Good news is who are you matching up against? You’re going to match him up against Trevon? That’s okay. Copeland’s going to have a big game, or that’s okay, you’ll have Kadarius have a big game. Pick your poison there for Florida.
Nick: That’s because of how dynamic Florida’s offense is. I think it’s even. Maybe we’re overreacting a little bit to Week 1. They’re not going to score 51. They’re not going to have 600 yards this week. They’re playing a much better defense and a much more prepared defensive team than Ole Miss with a brand-new staff in the first week. I think Florida’s offense is dynamic, like you just said. Cool. You’re going to double Kyle Pitts? Now you’ve got Copeland, Toney, and Grimes all in single coverage, one on one. Like you said, pick your poison.
Andrew: Exactly. That’s kind of where I’m at. You think about this game in general. Are they going to get 650 yards again? No. They’re not. Is Kyle Trask going to throw six touchdowns and Kyle Pitts going to catch four? Probably not. Would it surprise me, on Pitts’ part? No, it wouldn’t. Again, I just want to see a more evenly matched, as far as rushing to passing goes. I would like to see the offensive line get a more consistent push up front in the running game and just keep Kyle clean again. Trask, that is. Keep him clean.
Defensively, Nick, what’s you got? What’s your keys?
Nick: I’m not totally sold. I think it will be how does the offensive line do. Muschamp will dial up some pressure. For me, Florida’s defense, it starts and ends with you got to figure something out. Who’s covering Shi Smith? Tore it up last week. 10 catches for 120?
Andrew: Yeah. And he was targeted a ton.
Nick: Yeah. Shi Smith and Xavier Legette combined for 14 catches on 20 targets against Tennessee for 202 yards, so there you go.
Andrew: Right.
Nick: Shi is a guy that they can kind of move wherever they want. You got torched by Elijah Moore last week. It’ll be interesting to see what Florida does there. I don’t know if Marco wants to do it. He’s already shown his versatility, but I don’t know if he wants to do it, but you might just say, you need to cover Shi.
Andrew: I think it’s a thing with Shi that the safeties are going to have to help. That was a major concern. Shi Smith went a lot across the middle last week. That was where they beat Tennessee a lot of times was across the middle, right where Florida got beat. You’re going to have to have safety help. Good news is Shawn Davis is back. You hope that helps, but it’s not going to be a one-man crew, in my opinion, stopping him. My biggest thing, Nick, with that, and I’m going to give it back to you, is just don’t let Shi Smith have those 50, 60-yard catches. If you’re going to give him a catch, make it 8 or 10, and make South Carolina. Will Muschamp struggles with putting prolonged drives together. Make him do that. Make him put 10, 15-play drives together to beat you, instead of those plays like with Ole Miss where it was two or three-play drives. Can’t have that happen.
Nick: Yeah. Will Muschamp struggles with a lot of stuff.
Andrew: Offense is offensive to him.
Nick: Yeah. Colin Hill looked good, I thought. 25 of 39, 290 yards. One touchdown, one pick last week. For me, he’s a senior, older guy. Don’t let him pick you apart. Like we said with Shi, put some pressure on him. It’s going to be interesting to see what the Swamp looks like. Still tickets left unsold. You’re not going to have that crowd noise to kind of throw the visiting team off. We didn’t hear that or see that last week, and that’s just a thing. Contain the quarterback. Contain those two guys. I think South Carolina ran the ball pretty well last week, but I’m not worried about Florida’s run defense. I think it’ll be a big game for Ventrell Miller.
I got a question for you. We saw a little bit of Amari Burney. I didn’t think he had an overly good game last week, and he’s a guy that he played 70 snaps. Amari Burney was in the game all the time, but if I told you that he played 70 snaps, you’d probably think I was lying.
Andrew: I didn’t know he played 70 snaps. I’ll be honest. I saw him a couple times on the field, but not much in the game. That does shock me. That is surprising to me, because it definitely didn’t seem like it. We expected, even from last year, him to have a much better season, because of how good he’s been in practice and stuff. Kind of went MIA for the most part.
Nick: He’s a guy that when you talk about nickel, I think he has the potential, just from an athleticism standpoint, to kind of be like an Alex Anzalone. I think that’s what Florida’s linebacking corps is missing right now. Ventrell Miller, obviously, SEC Defensive Player of the Week last week with 15 tackles, he’s not great in space. You watched him get beat once for a deep ball over the middle. I need to see some more from Amari Burney.
Andrew: Right. Let’s see that and see more, hopefully, of Wingo this week and see more of Tyron Hopper this week. See those guys we heard about guarding those guys on 3rd down. Nothing against Ventrell Miller. It doesn’t do anything for me watching Ventrell Miller guard a receiver or tight end in space. It just doesn’t. To me, it’s crazy. Just don’t even do that.
Nick: Please don’t let him get lined up one on one against Shi Smith. That would not end well.
Andrew: Yeah. You know what I’m saying? It just doesn’t. There’s just no sense in it. Just shouldn’t do it. That’s the best way to say it. Just don’t do that.
Nick: What else do you think? How else do you see this game going? Huge spread.
Andrew: What’s the spread?
Nick: It was at 17. I’m seeing the updated. Go ahead though.
Andrew: My biggest thing was just to see this defense show us last week was a fluke. Let us all see that this is a defense that we all thought it was going to be, a defense that for the most part is going to be really good, is going to be a strength of this team. The secondary just show, listen, what happened last week was a mess up. That’s not who we are. That’s not what we’re about. Just play a better game overall.
Continue to get pressure. That’s the biggest thing, I think, is put pressure on Colin Hill. Force him to make mistakes. This team will give you mistakes. Colin Hill will give you mistakes. Force it. Force them into being a one-dimensional team, because you shouldn’t be able to run at Florida, as big as their defensive line is, as good as you are at the linebacker position. Force them to throw the ball. You think for the most part that this game will be a game that South Carolina’s going to be playing from behind in, so get them into that passing game, and then turn your horses loose and let them go on the thing.
My biggest thing too is if this is a close game, you can’t allow the big play. A big play for South Carolina and get their defense riled up, could be a turning point in the game. Do I think it will be? No, but that would be a key. Like I said before, make them go 12, 13, 15-play drives. Don’t think they can. If they do, give them an applause. I don’t think they do it more than once.
Nick: They put up a respectable 394 yards in Mike Bobo’s first game as OC for them. Familiarity there too. I mentioned familiarity between Dan and Will. There’s familiarity with, Mike Bobo and Todd Grantham were at the same staff at Georgia. Interesting chess matches when you’ve got coaches that were on the same staff together and went up against each other every day in practice, and then coaches who have played against each other a ton.
Andrew: Right.
Nick: The spread right now is 17.5, but the Gamecocks are 1-3 against Florida during Muschamp’s tenure. The average margin of defeat in those losses is just 9.3 points. It’s typically close games.
Andrew: Wasn’t last year raining or something though?
Nick: I can’t remember what last year was. It was. It was raining up there last year. I remember that. Almost ruined a pair of shoes.
Andrew: I thought it was like bad weather, and so kind of chalk that up. Overall, it has been a close game between the two of them. Again, on paper it should not be close, but as we always say, the game is not won on paper. It’ll be a game where Florida’s going to have to come out and do what they’re supposed to do. When you look at the talent, Florida’s just so much deeper talent wise than South Carolina in the game. I think that this is a game that you could clean up some stuff and get ready. You got to go to A&M next week. That’s a decent A&M team. I still don’t know how good they are.
Nick: We’ll see what A&M looks like after having to play at Bama this week.
Andrew: That’s what I’m saying. I think they’re a decent team. Do I think they’re great? No, I don’t. I think they’re a decent team. It’s still on the road. Again, it won’t be a big crowd, but you want to get some things cleaned up in this game. You definitely want your defense. You don’t want to have back to back games of your defense getting just routed, because then it’s going to turn into is this the norm for us and everything else. Again, with Shawn Davis back and a couple other guys back, you should be better. I just want to see that. Make my eyes believe what I heard all summer wasn’t a lie.
Nick: Listen, if I’m wrong, I’ll eat crow on Sunday when we tape the podcast. Florida’s defense is not going to look like it did against Ole Miss.
Andrew: Yeah.
Nick: This is not that kind of offense, and I think that was an aberration of just the first game, missed tackles, and the defense just needing some time to catch up. That’s not what Florida’s defense is going to look like this season and not what it’s going to look like Saturday. If I’m wrong, you can say that I jinxed it, but not going to be wrong.
Andrew: That’s the thing. Any other keys before we start picking some stuff?
Nick: No. No keys. I think it’s like we said last week. It’s a game where if you just go out and handle your business, you’re a better team.
Andrew: Right. Just got to, like you said, go out and handle your business. Do what you’re supposed to do, and continue to improve. That’s the key for any team, in my opinion, is if you come out, and you do what you’re supposed to do, and if you’re a championship team, you’re better Week 2 than you were Week 1. Again, I think that this team has that aspiration. I think they have the talent to be that. Go out there and do that.
Nick: Love it. Ready to get some of these picks?
Andrew: Let’s do it. You want to pick games first, or you want to pick players?
Nick: Let’s do games first.
Andrew: Bad week, you say.
Nick: Not a great week. We got a couple games. I think the one that I’m really looking for and the one that Gator fans should be listening to and looking at is Auburn and Georgia. Georgia’s got to play Auburn and Alabama. Right? They play Alabama?
Andrew: Yes. In two weeks? I think two weeks. Two or three weeks.
Nick: If you’re looking at the East and trying to win the East, Auburn knocking off Georgia this week does a heck of a lot for you.
Andrew: Right.
Nick: Huge game to be watching.
Andrew: I think both teams have something to prove. Which team is for real, and which team’s maybe not for real? Remember, Auburn played Georgia very close last year. Should be a good game. Bo Nix has done well. We’ll see. See what Georgia is, and JT Daniels is scheduled to go. We’ll see how real or fake the hype is.
Nick: At Auburn this week, then they go Tennessee, then Alabama, at Alabama too.
Andrew: I’m going to go Auburn this week.
Nick: Man, I have to think about it. I’m going to go Georgia. I think this could be a really fun entertaining game. I’m going to go Auburn with you.
Andrew: Okay. I just think Auburn’s a better team, and Auburn returning guys compared to Georgia. Auburn. Who we got next?
Nick: TCU at Texas. Is Texas back, or does Texas trip up?
Andrew: TCU’s been under quarantine a lot, so give me the Longhorns.
Nick: TCU lost 37-34 to Iowa State. Texas is #9. I think this is a game that we see that Texas is, in fact, not back.
Andrew: I don’t think they’re back, but I think they win.
Nick: I’m going to go with TCU.
Andrew: Okay.
Nick: Next game. Arkansas, the Fighting Feleipe’s, at Mississippi State and the air raid pirate offense. Air pirate? Can we call them that?
Andrew: Whatever air pirate is. Give me the old concussion guy, Mike Leach.
Nick: I think Arkansas is going to struggle, but we’ll probably pick their game every week. I’m going to with the Fighting Leaches over the Fighting Feleipes.
Andrew: Yeah.
Nick: Ole Miss at Kentucky. Both teams 0-1. Did we both pick Kentucky last week, or just me?
Andrew: Who’s Kentucky got?
Nick: Ole Miss at Kentucky. Kentucky’s at home.
Andrew: Joey Gatewood’s first game after getting eligible. Give me Kentucky. And, no, I picked Auburn last week.
Nick: Oh, you did? I picked the upset. I’m going to go Kentucky with you. If Kentucky burns me two weeks in a row, I’m done with you. You’re dead to me. Dead to me.
Andrew: Get ready.
Nick: The only other game we got this week would be South Carolina at Florida, so we’ll do our players first.
Andrew: Okay. You get to go first.
Nick: I’m obviously going Kyle Trask.
Andrew: I’m going to turn it around. I’m obviously going Kyle Pitts.
Nick: We might have to start doing like you can’t pick the same players two weeks in a row.
Andrew: We might just have to say no Kyles.
Nick: Yeah. It’s literally going to be Pitts and Trask every week.
Andrew: Almost like the fight for David Reese was two years ago, because he was an automatic going to lead the team in tackles.
Nick: Yup. It was, I’m going to get a win, because he’ll have 15 tackles.
Andrew: Y’all chime in and let us know how we can play this. I’m going with Pitts.
Nick: I’m going to go Malik Davis. I think I saw what I needed to see from him last week.
Andrew: Okay.
Nick: Just the confidence, the way that he plants and cuts and runs and moves. I think he looks like he’s back. It wasn’t lip service when Dan Mullen said it. I think, obviously after looking at what Florida was able to do through the air, Muschamp will be ready for that and will try to do what he can. They’ve got a decent secondary. They’ll try to do what they can to slow down that passing attack. I think Malik Davis gets into the endzone this week.
Andrew: I’m going to go with the 251 boy, Mr. Kadarius Toney has a big week again. I think this is a game where he can get some yards. I saw enough out of him last week to say I can trust him to do everything you want to do as a true athlete. Give me the 251 boy.
Nick: All right. I’m going to say we both cannot pick Ventrell, because we’re going to get 15 tackles. You’re going to get a win, so you got to go somewhere else. I’m going to go with Shawn Davis. Hopefully he doesn’t hit somebody in the head early on. He was obviously very upset with being thrown out. I can’t imagine. You feel probably like a caged animal just waiting for football to start, and you play six plays, and they say, you’re out of here. I can only imagine how motivated he is this week. Like I said, he’s a guy that could come down and play in the box. Listen, Will Muschamp’s going to run the ball, so I think he’ll get some big tackles, and I think he’s ready to play.
Andrew: I’m going to go opposite of you and say that I think Brenton Cox gets a couple sacks in the game. They’re going to be behind in the game. Pin his ears back, go get him. I think Brenton Cox will have a couple sacks, create some pressure, maybe help us both get a win. Maybe he gets some pressure and Shawn Davis gets a pick.
Nick: He looked like he was running on empty towards the end of the game.
Andrew: Yeah. Year and a half off.
Nick: It makes sense. You can be in shape. He’s obviously in great shape, but probably not in football shape. It’s hard to get there.
Andrew: Right. We both are going to pick Florida, so that’s a big thing. What was the spread again?
Nick: We’re picking Florida. We both think Florida’s winning the game, but we’re picking against the spread. 17.5. Florida is given 17.5.
Andrew: What’s the over-under?
Nick: I didn’t even look at the over-under.
Andrew: 17.5. I don’t think Florida covers.
Nick: That’s a lot of points.
Andrew: I don’t think Florida covers in that, so I’m going to say Florida wins but doesn’t cover. The over-under …
Nick: 57.5
Andrew: What is it?
Nick: 57.5.
Andrew: 57.5. I’m going to say neither team covers. I’m going to say neither one covers. They don’t get 57 combined, and Florida doesn’t win by that.
Nick: I’m going to pick South Carolina with the points and go over.
Andrew: Okay. There you go.
Nick: Score 35, 40 points a game.
Andrew: Even if it’s 35-21, you lose.
Nick: That’s true. I’m going under.
Andrew: Here’s the thing.
Nick: Math is not my strong suite. I hoped right off that train.
Andrew: I mean, I think Florida wins.
Nick: Right off that train.
Andrew: 17.5 points is a lot.
Nick: Didn’t even wait for it to slow down.
Andrew: That’s a lot of points. 17.5-point win is a big deal in the SEC.
Nick: I don’t think these teams are even close. I don’t think these teams are close on paper, if you look at it. Florida’s a far superior football team to South Carolina. It’s just that’s a lot of points.
Andrew: Yeah. And these teams play each other close. Nick, tell everybody where they can find us. We’ll get out of here, and we’ll see everyone on Monday as we recap another Gator win in the Swamp. Look forward to hearing your analysis on the Swamp. You’ll be the only one going in, one per person this year in the press box. You’ll have to bring the scoop to us on how things went. Tell everybody where they can find us, and we’ll see everyone on Monday.
Nick: Congratulations again on the Braves.
Andrew: Go Marlins.
Nick: My former Marlin, Marcell Ozuna, big pimping of the homerun.
Andrew: I love it.
Nick: Stopping halfway, taking a selfie. I love it.
Andrew: I’m cool with it. Like Freddie Freeman said.
Nick: If a Reds player would have done it to you, you would have hated it.
Andrew: Probably so.
Nick: Hated it.
Andrew: Probably so. But Trever Bauer did the chop, and I’m okay with it, because when you shove like he did, I’m okay with it. Dude, you were doing it, so you get the respect. I’m okay with it.
Nick: All right. www.GatorCountry.com for all your Florida Gators 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 appreciate it. We’ll see everyone on Monday. As always, chomp, chomp and go Braves.
Nick: You stay classy, Gator Country.