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Editor’s note: This article was originally published by USA TODAY Sports and has been republished in part below.
We are very early in an admittedly strange and unpredictable season, but it’s worth asking: Does Florida have the potential to be this year’s LSU?
Two games is a small sample size, but we’ve seen enough of the Gators’ offense to know that they’re going to score and score and score and score. Though their defense is still a question mark, that was the formula LSU used last year to rampage through the SEC, setting all kinds of offensive records while allowing a ton of points until their defense caught up later on in the season.
Gators quarterback Kyle Trask is probably not on the level of Joe Burrow, but he’s played well through two weeks and there are some pretty interesting comparisons between the Florida receivers group and the deep roster of playmakers LSU had last season.
Kyle Pitts, the best pass-catching tight end in the country, had four receptions and two touchdowns in Saturday’s 38-24 win over South Carolina while Kadarius Toney had six receptions for 86 yards. Four other players caught at least one pass of more than 10 yards. Trask has a ton of options, and coach Dan Mullen is one of the best at building an offense that makes opponents cover the whole field. How good? Florida has had 21 offensive possessions this year against South Carolina and Ole Miss. Of those, 11 have resulted in touchdowns, four in field goals, three in punts and three in turnovers.
We’ll learn everything we need to know about whether Florida’s offense is sustainable at this level over the next month or so, which includes games against LSU on Oct. 17 and Georgia on Nov. 7.
But so far, they look unstoppable enough to be the favorite coming out of the SEC East — for now.
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