Florida Gators: Predicting Every Regular Season Game in 2023

Game 7: Florida Gators @ South Carolina

Last Meeting: South Carolina 6-38 Florida

The last two games of this series have really upped the rivalry despite neither of the games being particularly close. In 2021, South Carolina would beat Florida 40-17 in what felt like the end for Dan Mullen. Dan Mullen would last two more weeks, but most of the fanbase and Dan Mullen himself seemed to check out after the South Carolina game. In 2022 Florida would return the favor by beating the Gamecocks 38-6. South Carolina fans would get upset that the official Florida football Twitter account would post a graphic showing defensive lineman Desmond Watson stiff-arming South Carolina QB Spencer Rattler after recovering a fumble. 2023 should see a closer game than the last two.

South Carolina will be bringing back Spencer Rattler. And while he was good in 2022 for South Carolina, he didn’t quite hit the same numbers as he did for Oklahoma as a redshirt freshman in 2020. That probably says more about the talent around him than it does about him as a quarterback. South Carolina finished 8-5 in 2022 with top 10 wins over Tennessee and Clemson to end the regular season. However, South Carolina allowed nearly 200 yards on the ground per game, and if that trend continues in 2023, Florida could run away with this game. For now, I think Florida wins a tight one in Columbia.

Prediction: Florida 35-31 South Carolina

Game 8: Florida Gators vs Georgia (N)

Last Meeting: #1 Georgia 42-20 Florida (2022)

While Georgia has blown out nearly every team they’ve faced on the way to back-to-back national championships, the Florida-Georgia games have been close…at least for a little bit. In 2021 Florida looked like they were going to go into the half down 3-0 against the Bulldogs. However, in the last 2:22 of the first half of his first-ever career start, Anthony Richardson would fumble on his own 10-yard line, throw an interception on his 34, and throw another interception on the 50-yard line. In 2022 Georgia got out to an early before Florida closed the gap to eight in the third quarter. Georgia would eventually shut the door on the Gators and win by 22, but these games are a lot closer than the final score would indicate.

In 2023, Georgia will need to replace journeyman turned Heisman finalist and two-time national champion Stetson Bennet IV. It’s looking like Carson Beck will get the nod to lead the offense and he’ll have plenty of talent around him thanks to Kirby’s recruiting.

Brock Bowers returns as the best receiving threat in the nation. The running back duo of Kendall Milton and Daijun Edwards should alleviate the early season pressure from Beck. And the offensive line will be among the best units and the nation.

With five defensive players taken in the draft, normally I would say this would be a rebuilding year. But to Georgia’s credit, they don’t rebuild, they reload. It can be expected to see a small drop off from their defense just like we saw from 2021 to 2022 but this team still has talent galore.

This is not a game the Gators can expect to win coming into 2023. IF the Gators do win, it will, without a doubt, be the biggest win for Florida football since beating Georgia in 2020. The Gators might be able to keep it close for a half by running the ball and burning clock, but Georgia should walk away with this one without much fuss.

Prediction: Georgia 38-21 Florida

Game 9: Florida Gators vs. Arkansas

Last Meeting: Arkansas 35-63 Florida (2020)

In 2021 Arkansas went 9-4 before coming back down to earth with a 7-6 record in 2022. KJ Jefferson will be back for his senior season after throwing for 2,648 yards, 24 touchdowns, and just 5 interceptions in 2022. They will also bring back running back Raheim Sanders after he rushed for 1,443 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2022. The big problem for Arkansas is that they are losing their top four receiving threats to the NFL and to the transfer portal. The leading returning receiver is running back Raheim Sanders. If a few freshmen and transfers don’t step up, this offense could struggle mightily in 2023.

Their defense was a big reason they went 7-6 in 2022. The unit ranked 101st in scoring, giving up 30.6 PPG. Their 2023 recruiting class ranked 26th in the nation according to 247Sports, but they only brought in to defensive players that were four stars or higher. While they did work in the portal, they also lost a lot of players to the portal. I don’t really expect this Arkansas defense to make a huge jump. Their season will rely heavily on their offense.

This is a game that Florida needs to win. It comes right in the middle of games against Georgia and LSU, but it’s the perfect trap game. Florida is the more talented team, and they should win this one, but I just don’t have a good feeling about it, considering where it is on the schedule. Flipping the Arkansas and Vanderbilt games would have been nice, but Florida football drops their first home game of 2023.

Prediction: Arkansas 28-27 Florida