SEC Preview: Can Florida get competitive again?
It seems like it was light years ago that Florida had two Heisman contenders, was one of the most exciting teams in college football, and played in a major bowl. But in fact, it was only 2020.
Now, the architect of it all is out, and so is the quarterback, and the weapons who played alongside him.
In came Luke Napier from ULL. He told everyone that it would be a slow process. Anthony Richardson in one game over Utah got the fanbase excited again…..and that was about it for 2023, as the Gators fell to a 6-7 (3-5 SEC) record which included a loss to Vanderbilt, which you can blame on inconsistent QB play as well as a bad defense.
So what’s next? Are we gong to see a relevant Florida in the face of Georgia, LSU, Alabama and Florida State?
WHO’S GONE
Anthony Richardson was meant to be the real deal, and ‘AR’ was quality for, er, his first game against Utah. People were suddenly talking Heisman. He ended the season with 17 TDs and 9 INTs, with a lowly completion rate of 58.3 (However, the Colts saw his cannon for an arm, and picked him 4th overall). They also lost Gervon Dexter, O’Cyrus Torrence, Ventrell Miller, Justin Shorter and Amari Burney.
27 other players left for the transfer portal.
WHO’S IN
With Richardson gone, there was little depth left at quarterback. So the Gators brought in Graham Mertz from Wisconsin, who had an up/down career there. At moments he looked like an NFL QB, and at other moments he looked utterly incompetent.
But with the whole mess around Jalen Rashada and a botched NIL deal (he’s now the starter at Arizona State), Mertz is getting the keys to The Swamp against a sprightly Utah team.
People are excited about the addiction of DLs Cam Jackson (Memphis) and Caleb Banks (Louisville) after the Spring Game, and offensive linesman Micah Mazzccua (Baylor) on the offensive line (jury’s out as to whether he’ll start on Thursday v Utah).
In the 2023 class, Florida didn’t have an amazing class, but WR Eugene Wilson III is going to be a name to know this year.
OFFENSE
If the offense can stay ‘unspotty’ with Mertz and the offensive line does its job, then the Gators should be fine.
But that’s a big ‘if’. Almost the entirety of Florida’s offensive line have gone, which means that transfers and back-ups are going to have to make the jump.
The running game should continue to be a strength of the Gators. Montrell Johnson and Trevor Etienne ran for well over 1,500 yards between them, and transfer Cam Carroll (Tulane, who ran for 513 yards and had 198 yards receiving) is a great RB3. Expect a lot of pounding to happen.
As we mentioned, Wilson III should be a lot of fun to watch, while a lot is expected of WR1 Ricky Pearsall (661 yards, 5 TDs last year). Xzavier Henderson and Daejon Reynolds – the team’s 3rd and 4th best receivers – both transferred (Cincinnati and Pitt respectively), meaning that we’ll see more of Caleb Douglas and TE Keon Zipperer.
DEFENSE
Napier has brought in DC Austin Armstrong, who’ll now work as a co-DC with Sean Spencer, who’s defense was 87th in the country in terms of points per game. The Gators were poor against the rush (100th) than the pass (83rd). The rushing D gave up 29 TDs on the floor, as opposed to only 9 in the air.
The star of the show will be the awesomely-named DE Princely Umanmielen, who had 4.5 sacks last year to go with his 30+ tackles. There are hopes for sophomore Tyreak Sap on the other side.
This year on the defensive line, DT Cam Jackson comes from Memphis, where he started 13 games and continually showed that he can get behind the line of scrimmage (2.5 TFL, 4 QB hurries and a break-up).
There will be worries in the secondary. The team’s best safeties are gone, but frosh Jordan Castell will start against Utah – that’s how highly Billy Napier thinks of him.
THE SCHEDULE
at Utah – W
McNeese – W
Tennessee – L
Charlotte – W
at Kentucky – L
Vanderbilt – W
at South Carolina – W
Georgia (in Jacksonville) – L
Arkansas – W
at LSU – L
at Missouri – W
Florida State – L
PREDICTION: 7-5 (4-4 SEC)
Note: We had Florida losing to Utah, then news came through that the Utes are going to have to go with a third-string QB with their Top 2 out injured. So that changes things!
The schedule is going to be tough for Florida starting out. 3 of their first game are going to be monsters – Kentucky being one of the more underrated battles (the Gators lost by 10 last year, and if there rushing defense isn’t improved this year, it could be even worse this time around). We think they will win the ‘Surprise One’ against South Carolina. The Florida State game will be a toss-up.