3. Florida at USF
LINE Florida -28.5
ATS PICK Florida
The only possible concern here is that USF finds some extra bizzaro gear it showed last year late in the season.
The program still has yet to win a game over an FCS team since Jeff Scott took over before 2020, but the offense got into a fun shootout in a 58-46 loss to UCF to end last season, and it almost pulled off wins in high-scoring battles with Temple and Memphis.
Those were all aberrations, and none of those teams were 2021 Florida.
Think Wisconsin 49-0 over USF to open the 2019 season and most Georgia Tech’s 14-10 survival in the game right after.
There’s one other concern – Alabama is up next for the Gators.
However, while Florida might not want to show too much, and it’s certainly going to want to save the starters, there’s work to do.
The passing game has to be better and sharper after last week’s win over Florida Atlantic, and a bigger scoring punch early would be nice. The defense should take care of the rest.
Be impressed if the Bulls can get to ten points and work from there.
Here’s your fun-fact for the day – this is Florida’s first road game against a now-Group of Five program since a 38-13 win at Memphis in 1989. This one will be uglier.
Be a little grouchy with the hook on the 28, but the team that ran for 400 yards on FAU should go off. Speaking of strange road trips …