Predictions: Will Florida beat LSU on Saturday?

When this game was delayed from Oct. 17 to Dec. 12, it appeared to be an advantage for LSU. Its quarterback, Myles Brennan, had suffered an injury, and a young Tigers team that had to replace most of its starters from a year ago would have more time to grow.

Well, things haven’t really gotten better since then. Brennan still hasn’t returned (and likely won’t this season), and in his place, true freshman T.J. Finley has been average, at best. He has five touchdowns and five interceptions on the year, and now LSU will roll with another true freshman.

Four-star recruit Max Johnson makes his first start, and though he’s performed better in the action he’s seen than Finley, asking him to topple one of the nation’s top teams in his first start is a tough ask.

Luckily, he faces a UF defense that is far from elite. It’s slowly improving, but against a true freshman last week in Tennessee’s Harrison Bailey, it gave up several big plays. If the Gators can’t slow down an LSU offense that has struggled for months, it’s hard to imagine they’ll be able to stop Alabama next weekend.

But LSU likely won’t fare well in a shootout. Its passing defense is the SEC’s worst, and UF quarterback Kyle Trask should have no problem stringing together another big game.

The Tigers are having a down year, and they’ve already self-imposed a bowl ban. They don’t have much to play for at this point, and it’s hard to imagine they’ll have the juice to pull off the upset on the road.

Florida has sort of sleepwalked through the last three games, and it’s very likely some of that malaise will be present tonight. But this LSU team matches up very poorly with the Gators, and UF should be able to build up some momentum heading into the SEC Championship.