The first true test of the year comes next boys and girls, when the Gators come to town. Glad it's a night game, but this rivalry seems to be back to where it was last decade with this game. Matchups. Quarterback This one is a push as far as I'm concerned, maybe an edge goes to Harris because of his mobility. We have seen defenses give Florida some trouble when they aren't balanced. Kentucky so far did the best job against them, the key for LSU will be the same thing that they key for Florida will be, make the quarterback beat you throwing the football. I look for Harris to have some big runs, as Josh Dobbs ran for over 100 on this defense as did Hurd for Tennessee. Zone read will work for LSU if they choose to do so. Running back LSU is clearly deeper and the 1 for LSU is the best in country, advantage LSU. Pound the football, wear out the defense, now that Guice has established himself as some lightning to Fournette's thunder, it will be hard to imagine Florida being able to stop this rushing attack for 4 quarters. Wide Receivers LSU is more talented, but will they be able to get out of their own way. This will be the toughest matchup for the Tigers because Florida has the best defensive backfield in the country. Hargreaves is a shut down corner. I see this as a push because while LSU has more talented receivers, it's going to be tough sledding for them. Tight ends Our tight ends are glorified linemen, so I'd give the edge to Florida in the passing game, and LSU in the running game. Offensive line LSU's offensive line is dominant in the running game. However they still have underperformed in pass protection, they were better against South Carolina but they will need to bring their A game. Florida has 19 sacks on the year and have given up 10 sacks. Can LSU pass protect? That's the question. Defensive Line Florida has a better line, but they still have to stop LSU's running game, so I think the edge goes to LSU. They have some players, Bullard and Bryan Cox Jr can play. Will Bower be back? Can Arden Key be disruptive like he was against Mississippi State? Can LSU stop the run and force Florida to be 1 dimensional? Godchaux is gonna have to bring it, so is Key, Neal, and LaCouture. This unit must play well. Linebacker LSU's weakest unit on defense. While Beckwith and Jones have played well against the run, neither have played that well against the pass, they will be responsible for tight ends and Florida's backs catching the ball out of the backfield, something that Florida does a lot. Jake McGee TE and Kelvin Taylor RB are both good at catching the ball. This unit will have to play out of its mind on Saturday. I think Beckwith, and Jones are better than Morrison, and Anzalone, but Florida plays better as a unit. Edge to LSU because they still have to stop LSU's rushing attack, something I don't think they can do. Defensive Backs Well, this year Florida is DBU. Mainly because of the outstanding play of Vernon Hargreaves. Teams are averaging 204 yards a game, and a little over 6 yards a completion on Florida. They haven't played as talented a corp of wide receivers as LSU though. Ole Miss was the best offense they faced but Ole Miss can't run the football. Edge to Florida on this one, but I look to LSU to have its best game in the secondary this season because Jalen Mills will be back. Having Mills in the game instead of Thomas makes LSU's secondary light years better. Mills is a much better coverage guy than Dewayne Thomas, and having Mills back not only makes the secondary better, it makes the entire defense better. Special Teams Florida could suck at special teams and still be better than LSU here this season. Wholesale changes need to be made. Keehn isn't punting well, LSU can't cover kicks. Florida's punter is averaging 45 yards a kick, however they really haven't returned anything over 40 yards this season. LSU needs to figure this shit out and soon because you can't spot a good team field position on every kick. Edge easily goes to Florida. Coaching I'm giving the edge to Les and company because I can't give it to a first year coach there even though he has a track record and has been a head coach before doesn't matter. X factor Death Valley at night and a freshman quarterback starting. This Grier kid has never seen anything like what he is going to see Saturday night, Death Valley, where dreams come to die. It can do things to young quarterbacks and Death Valley will be rocking. What say you panel....
Haven't watched FL this year, but our passing game will likely be needed to play good and not turn the ball over. Our defense has not been able to shut down even average teams, so that's a little troubling against a coach who can pass well. Our special teams will make things extra hard on us if they don't step it up. But Fournette is a game changer. I expect a similar performance to what we saw against SC, with the passing game doing pretty well while the running games pounds. I'm afraid Harris could throw a pic or two, which would cause Les to become more conservative. I hope Les gets involved and rights the STs enough so they don't cost us this game. And I hope the D continues to be good enough and get enough key stops. Somehow I think we play our best game of the year, at least relative to UF's current acclaim. I think Fournette will help bring em down a peg.
No doubt. So far the passing attack of everyone we have played has pretty much been to look to see who is being covered by #13 and throw it to him.
Turnovers. We need them and they get them. Could make or break this game. Ain't scared of these gators though. Watching them against a remarkably soft mizzou offense showed me their defense is not all world. Their d did get them a score on a TO, but off a ball harris would not throw. Otherwise, the gators scored real early and got shut down by statistically, a shitty mizzou d on the road. keep them to 7 or less in the first quarter and we can manage a win in our house. Fans gotta bring it, this is Florida.
Beckwith may be a stud in run-stopping but he is a liability in pass coverage. There are linebackers who can do both, that is their job or they would be linemen.
No, anytime you have a linebacker having to go 1 on 1 down the field, it is a miss-match. Its a fact. They are best utilized sitting in a zone. We frankly run to much man and are lost in zone coverage. Basically, its coaching.
