The Florida Gators head into Knoxville to take on the Tennessee Volunteers in an SEC match-up on Saturday, September 24th. The game will begin at 3:30 p.m. ET and will be televised for your viewing entertainment on CBS. Lee Corso and the crew will be featuring the game on ESPN’s College GameDay. As of now, the Volunteers are -7 favorites and the over/under is 43.5.
Florida Gators:
The Gators have dominated the Volunteers over the last decade of football between the rival schools. Florida has looked good so far this year but their offense will be tested when their starting quarterback, Luke Del Rio came up injured in last weeks contest.
The Gators will look to their senior back-up quarterback Austin Appleby to replace Luke Del Rio in Saturday’s game. The new face under center doesn’t have the arm that Del Rio has, so Florida will turn to its ground game to move the chains. That might not be a bad thing, because the Tennessean front seven have struggled out of the gate.
Florida uses a plethora of tail-backs to move the ball on the ground. Jordan Scarlett, Mark Thompson and Lamical Perine have combined for almost 100 carries in 2016. Together, they have chalked-up over 500 yards and five touchdowns. The trio should see an elevated workload against the Volunteers on Saturday.
When the Gators decide to throw the pigskin around, they will rely upon Antonio Callaway and Brandon Powell to find some open space. Collectively, the two wide-outs have 27 catches for 237 yards and four scores.
Florida’s strength so far this year has been its terrific defense. They will have to be razor-sharp while contending with the Volunteer’s duel-threat quarterback. Jordan Sherit, the Gator’s outstanding defensive end will look to disrupt the Volunteers offense by putting pressure on the signal-caller. Jalen Tabor, will try to take advantage of this and make some big plays out of the secondary.
Tennessee Volunteers:
The Volunteers have barely squeaked by lesser competition in 2016. They survived Appalachian State’s upset attempt and let Ohio stick around for almost three quarters of football. It’s time for Tennessee to live up to the pre-season hype and perform well against a proven SEC powerhouse.
Tennessee’s offensive leader Josh Dobbs looks like he might have shaken off the early season rust with his performance against the Ohio Bobcats last weekend. Before that contest, Dobbs had only posted three touchdowns and two picks with a little over 250 yards passing. The talented athlete answered the call when it counted last week, and had 262 yards of total offense and three scores.
The Volunteers rely on big tailback Jalen Hurd to grind things out between the hashes. So far this season, he has carried the ball 65 times for 270 yards and two trips to the end-zone. It won’t be an easy day for the durable back but he must find away to keep the Volunteers balanced against a feisty Gator defense.
Wide receiver Josh Malone is off and running in 2016. Josh Dobb’s favorite target has reeled in nine catches four a little under 200 yards and four touchdowns. Preston Williams has pitched in another eight catches for 70 yards.
The Volunteers have been average at best on the defensive side of the ball. They have gotten the job done, albeit against teams that do not have a lot of firepower. Tennessee’s Linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin will need to make his presence felt. Reeves-Maybin will get his opportunities because of the porous play from the Volunteer’s defensive line.
Trends and Notes:
The Gators are 9-1 ATS in their last 10 road games.
The Gators are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 meetings in Tennessee.
The Volunteers are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 conference games.
The Over is 19-7 in Volunteers last 26 games in September.
Game Prediction:
The atmosphere for this rivalry will be electric with College GameDay coming to Knoxville to highlight the contest. Florida will need to take control in the trenches to relieve pressure on their new quarterback. Tennessee’s defense has struggled up front so this match-up could decide the outcome.
The Volunteers will look to pound the rock with Jalen Hurd and take full advantage of Josh Dobb’s ability to scramble for large chunks of yardage. The offensive line will need to keep him upright so he can hit his play-maker Josh Malone for some big gains.
Although Tennessee hasn’t been anything like they were predicted to be on offense, they still have their starter under center for this one. The defensive advantage goes to the Florida Gators and they should be able to minimize the damage considering they might be on the field quite often on Saturday.
This is a tough game to predict with an over/under set so low (43.5). The Volunteers should be able to make a few more plays that convert into points as the game drudges onward, but the Gators are better in the trenches on both sides of the ball. Florida keeps it close in an ugly game against a foe they have dominated in the past.
Florida Gators +7
