Florida football: The Gator defense vs. Florida State’s offense

It’s not likely to be the same kind of showdown between Florida football and Florida State we are used to seeing.

They are wounded and Florida football has an opportunity to take full advantage.

And, by wounded, I mean they just aren’t that good.

Of course, I refer to Florida State, Saturday’s opponent for No. 8 Florida football at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

See, in the past, you could expect an explosive offense followed by a stout defense from the Seminoles. But this season has produced neither explosiveness nor stoutness.

Really, in all honestly, there is just nothing spectacular about Florida State. However, that doesn’t mean Florida football can rest on its laurels and take the night off.

We’ve mentioned it before: There is a lot riding on this game if, for nothing else, pride in finally defending The Swamp against the Seminoles.

Here, we will look at the Florida State offense and match it up with the Florida football defense:

Seminoles’ offense

One thing to consider when it comes to Florida State: Their offense ranks No. 8 in the ACC in overall production.

Remember, that’s the ACC.

The Seminoles average about 30.2 points per game this season, just a point ahead of Miami — who actually beat the Seminoles by 17 earlier this year. If you don’t remember that, Willie Taggart sure does.

What the Seminoles do well is pass the football — for that, they are ranked third in the ACC behind Clemson and Wake Forest.

Quarterback James Blackman is seventh in the conference in yards per game with 194.5. However, his pass efficiency is 147.4 — for the record, Florida quarterback Kyle Trask has a QBR of 158.

Blackman has thrown for 1,945 yards and 16 touchdowns this season and his favorite target has been Tamorrion Terry.

Terry has 892 yards receiving with eight touchdowns — by far the leader for Florida State. In fact, there’s not another Seminole receiver ranked in the top 25 in the ACC.

Running back Cam Akers does a decent job running the football as he has collected 1,042 yards this season along with 13 touchdowns.

But, one thing to keep in mind is that, outside of Clemson, defense in the ACC is horrible. Clemson has given up an average of 9.8 points per game. The next closest team: Miami who has given up 19.4 points per game.

There is a huge disparity between Clemson and the rest of the conference in just about every team statistical category.

The bottom line is Florida State hasn’t faced a defense like what they will face in Florida football, sans their loss to Clemson.

Florida defense

With Jabari Zuniga cleared to play, the Florida football defensive line is completely healthy.

And, they get to feast on a Florida State offensive line that ranks near the bottom in total offense and sacks given up — that’s in the country, not the ACC.

To be sure, Blackman will test the waters by throwing the football, but the Florida secondary should be up to the task. The Gators lead the SEC with 15 interceptions this season — led by Donovan Stiner’s four along with Marco Wilson and Shawn Davis who have three interceptions each.

Of course, they also lead the SEC and are ranked high nationally in sacks, with 38 on the season.

Nationally, the Gators are ranked 12th in total defense, giving up just 303.5 yards per game. They are 20th nationally against the run, giving up an average of just 110.5 yards per game. They are also 7th in the country in scoring defense — giving up 14.2 points per game.

And that’s with a Southeastern Conference schedule that includes No. 2 LSU and No. 4 Georgia.

Having Zuniga and Jonathan Greenard back to anchor the defensive line spells trouble for Florida State as their offensive line is weak, to say the least.

Essentially, you have the 7th-best scoring defense in Florida football taking on the 62nd-best scoring offense in Florida State.

No. 8 Florida will host Florida State at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.