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Some may call it a trap game.
Certainly, UF’s contest tonight against Arkansas won’t provide the same challenge as last week’s win against Georgia, which gave the Gators the inside track toward an SEC East division title.
But at the same time, Florida isn’t looking past the Razorbacks. Easily one of the biggest surprises in the SEC (and the entire country), Arkansas is vastly improved in Year 1 under first-time head coach Sam Pittman.
UA hadn’t won a game in conference competition since 2017 before this season, but now the Razorbacks sit at 3-3. Graduate transfer quarterback Feleipe Franks has been a big reason for that.
Franks is someone Gators fans are very familiar with. The signal-caller started in Gainesville from 2017 to the beginning of the 2019 season, when he suffered a season-ending injury. He transferred to Arkansas at the conclusion of the regular season last year.
In his six games in Fayetteville, he has 14 touchdowns to just three interceptions, asserting himself as one of the SEC’s top passers. He runs a fairly one-dimensional offense, but it’s been enough for the Razorbacks so far this season.
Franks and company will almost certainly be able to put up some points against a Gators defense that has struggled throughout the season against talented offenses.
But that’s not the biggest concern for Arkansas. Instead, they’re worried about containing Florida’s record-setting offense led by quarterback Kyle Trask, who runs the most productive passing game from a Gators team in nearly 20 years.
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Trask has 22 touchdowns in five games and has thrown for an SEC-record four touchdowns in his last five games. Even Georgia, one of the league’s most talented defenses which is filled with blue chips across the field, couldn’t contain it.
It’s hard to imagine that a middling Arkansas defense that ranks toward the bottom of the SEC will be able to.
UA has improved mightily this season, and this game should be much more competitive than most Gators fans thought when it was announced as one of the expanded interdivisional games over the summer.
But Arkansas isn’t built to beat a team like this, especially on the road. Franks connects on some big plays and has a nice day statistically, but Florida’s offense will eventually overpower the Razorbacks.
Prediction: Florida 45, Arkansas 24
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