Florida football: Predicting the Gators’ second half record

Florida football’s season has been full of ups and downs to this point. Whether it be going from #12 in the country to an unranked 4-3 team, or from having a Heisman QB to a guy who struggles to be consistently accurate, Gator fans have had a wide range of emotions this fall.

The same is true for last week’s game against LSU. A back-and-forth first half turned into a 3-score LSU lead. Then all of a sudden the Gators were within 7 and picked off Jayden Daniels with a chance to go tie the game.

Then the never-controversial roughing the passer call changed the game.

Billy Napier has had a rollercoaster of a first year so far, and the schedule isn’t too easy for the second half. Let’s see if we can predict the Gators’ second-half record.

Florida football: 10/29 vs UGA

I don’t want to spend too much time on this game. I’m scared of it.

The Gators are likely to be 2 TD underdogs, if not more. UGA, although they’ve looked mortal at times this year, is the number-one team in the country, and deserves it.

With a one-dimensional offense and a defense that tucks its tail on 3rd downs, we’d need Brandon Spikes and Tebow to come out of the locker room.

I do think Florida keeps it respectable but leaves Jacksonville 4-4.

Florida football: 11/5 @ Texas A&M

A&M has looked bad this year. Really bad. They deserve credit for playing Bama close in Tuscaloosa, but the Tide are clearly not what they used to be. They beat Arkansas off of the weirdest doink of all time, and the Hogs have fallen off a cliff.

The biggest factor in this game will be playing in College Station. That midnight yell thing is weird, but those people show up for game day. AR proved that he can play in hostile environments when he went into Knoxville and almost lead the Gators to an upset.

This matchup is much more of a toss-up, and I think it will come down to the Gator defense. In a perfect world, the defense comes off a bad game vs LSU and a rough day against UGA and bounces back against a stagnant Aggie offense.

Give me the Gators in a (probable) upset.

Florida football: 11/12 vs South Carolina

The Gamecocks are not very good. They’ve been able to give the Gators some trouble in the past few years, but this is not a game we should be overly worried about.

Shane Beamer absolutely has that program moving in the right direction, but they just aren’t there yet. Spencer Rattler is still a perennial question mark at QB, and the overall talent gap between the two programs is legit.

Not to mention that after SC plays Florida, they get Tennessee at home and then go to Clemson to end the year. Maybe this will make them desperate for a win late in the year, but I think the more likely outcome is that they look ahead and don’t focus in Gainesville.

UF takes this one against SC.

Florida football: 11/19 @ Vanderbilt

Ha. Vandy.

They had a great start to the season, but have gone through an absolute gauntlet these last three weeks against Bama, Ole Miss, and Georgia. Sheesh.

This game, like the SC game, is in a convenient spot on the schedule for UF. Vandy will be in Lexington the week before Florida, and then get Tennessee at home the week after.

It’s always an advantage to be in the middle of two big games for your opponent. Not the Gators needed more help to beat the Commodores anyways.

Give me the Gators getting a win in front of all 200 Vandy fans in the stadium that day.

Florida football: 11/25 @ FSU

I hate it I hate it I hate it. I hate what I’m going to put into writing and submit to the world.

I don’t think the Gators can go win in Tallahassee. At least not right now.

The Noles are a better team than their record shows. 4-3 is a lot better when you realize their losses have been in the last 3 weeks to Wake Forest, NC State, and Clemson. They also have a pretty easy schedule outside of a game in Syracuse the rest of the way.

I just can’t trust our defense to go stop Jordan Travis and those receivers on the road. As I mentioned before, AR can handle the environment. Not sure the secondary can.

Of course, this is subject to change during game week, where I will 100% pick UF.

But for now, I have to say the Gators drop this one and end the year 7-5.

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