Ohio State prediction time
After being around Will Muschamp and the Gators all week in Jacksonville, I’m very tempted to say that Florida’s football turnaround will begin in the Gator Bowl. But there’s one thing preventing me from going that far. That lousy offense than cannot sustain drives or score points.
I do think that the Gators will be a much better team in 2012. We’re just going to have to wait until September to see the improvement.
This 2011 team is what it is, regardless who calls the plays or who the Gators are playing or where they’re playing.
UF certainly is good enough to beat an Ohio State team whose offense is every bit as inept as the Gators. The big difference is OSU quarterback Braxton Miller. He’s a true freshman who has struggled at times, but he can be a game-changer with his ability to turn negative plays into big plays with his athletic ability and strong (if not always accurate) arm.
The Gators really don’t have a game changer on offense, and it’s one of the reasons the offense has been mired in a slump since the fifth game of the season.
Florida’s defense has gotten better over the course of the season and has a great deal of confidence after holding Florida State to less than 100 total yards in the season finale. The defense will keep the Gators in this game.
The offense, however, is not good enough to win it. It’s been the story of this six-loss season.
Prediction: Ohio State 13, Florida 10.
Robbie Andreu has been The Sun’s college football beat writer since 1993. He covered every game of the Steve Spurrier coaching era. The only game he’s missed since he has been in Gainesville is the 2006 Florida State game in Tallahassee. He happily stayed home for that one because of the imminent birth of his second child. Before coming to The Sun in March of 1993, Andreu worked for the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel for 10 years, covering a variety of sports, including the Miami Dolphins, the Miami Hurricanes, professional golf and baseball (playoffs and World Series). He also worked in Clearwater and Bradenton. He graduated from UF in 1977.
Gators still suck. Two in a row by FSU, and counting.
by Jack
And Jack you are 2 out of 8 since 2004…and your team is still 9-4…what did you have? a whopping 95 yds of offense? So who sucks?
by MB
Robbie…don’t you wish you had pick the Gators to start their turn around with this game??
by MB
Jack-the-quack! You guys have had to take advantage of UF hurting themselves! UF beat FSU 6 in a row, I believe and it was beat downs in most of them! UF’s down time is over and things will start getting back to Gator dominance. You will need to save the video from those 2 games, because Brantley won’t be there to help you guys. You won’t want to see the video from the future games.
by Gi-Gator
Great post Gi
by MB
Robbie was right about the lack of game breakers in the offense, but oddly enough, those same players are game breakers on special teams. Thank goodness. But don’t thank Weis.
by Lizardgrad89