Florida certainly has its hands full this weekend. No. 1 Alabama comes to the Swamp for the first time in 10 years, and the Gators face arguably their toughest regular-season test since coach Dan Mullen took over in 2018.
UF are heavy underdogs in this game, and with its struggles on both sides of the ball, not many are giving it a chance. That includes CBS Sports’ Barrett Sallee, who predicted the Crimson Tide would win on Saturday by a wide margin.
Are you kidding me? Alabama is only laying 15.5 points? That’s just disrespectful. Florida’s offense is a mess and running up against the Alabama defense at the worst possible time. Crimson Tide quarterback Bryce Young won’t be fazed by the Gators defense. Expect him to hit big play after big play thanks in part to Florida defensive coordinator Todd Grantham’s remarkable ability to call blitzes at the worst possible times. Pick: Alabama (-15.5)
Sallee is right that, on paper, this isn’t a very advantageous matchup for the Gators. It’s hard for any team in the country to match up against Alabama, and Florida will need to solve its offensive woes sooner rather than later if it’s going to remain competitive in this one.
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That may not matter if the defense hasn’t taken a major step forward, though. It’s been hard to evaluate through two weeks considering neither FAU nor USF posed much of a challenge offensively. Facing Alabama and the red-hot Bryce Young will be an entirely different beast.
NEXT: The X-Factor