Sports Illustrated’s one player to watch for Florida in Las Vegas Bowl

This running back isn’t just the player to watch, he’s likely the future of Florida football.

Florida football closes out the 2022 campaign on Saturday afternoon against the Oregon State Beavers in the Las Vegas Bowl. The two teams come into the game in completely different states of affairs with the Gators limping over the finish line carrying a .500 record while OSU looks to close out a fine season that has them sitting at No. 16 in the Coaches Poll and No. 17 in the AP Poll.

With a handful of players sitting out or otherwise missing the bowl game the Orange and Blue will go into battle with a short-handed roster — particularly at the quarterback position, where third-stringer [autotag]Jack Miller III[/autotag] is expected to make his first appearance on the year. But it is not the man under center who carries the most intrigue entering the matchup.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Johnson recently published his list of players to watch on each bowl team, focusing on one particular member of each squad. For Florida, true freshman running back [autotag]Trevor Etienne[/autotag] stood out as the athlete most likely to open some eyes. Here is what he had to offer on the Gators’ backfield beast.

You may be familiar with the older Etienne brother, Travis, who starred at Clemson and is currently starting for the Jacksonville Jaguars. But his younger brother Trevor Etienne is every bit the live wire that his sibling was.

Anyone who has watched UF this fall has seen glimpses of brilliance in the young running back’s game, giving many the impression that the younger brother of the former college standout and current NFL starter represents the future of Florida football. Etienne will get his chance to display his talents in front of a national audience in Sin City.

The 2022 Las Vegas Bowl is set to kick off inside Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Dec. 17 at 2:30 p.m. EST with ESPN2 carrying the television broadcast and the Gators IMG Sports Network covering the radio broadcast.

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