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The Southeastern Conference’s 2020 fall football season is fast approaching with just over three weeks until the opening kickoff despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Along with the SEC, the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big-12 will also get their seasons underway on a Saturday not too far in the distant future.
As we get closer and closer to that date, questions begin to arise about how the season may look. Pontificators will do as they are wont to and give predictions on how the schedule will play out, as we have seen around the media already. Sports Illustrated took a stab at this inquiry on Tuesday as its staff put together a roundtable assessment of each school’s team.
Here is what Zach Goodall, publisher of Allgators, had to ask about the Gators this fall.
Will Florida be able to replicate its pass-game success from a year ago, as Kyle Trask enters a season as a starting quarterback for the first time since his freshman year of high school?
Stepping in for the injured Feleipe Franks, the Gators finished with the nation’s No. 16 passing offense with Trask at the helm. Five key contributors, all having caught at least 20 passes in 2019, are now in the NFL, leaving Trask with several high-potential weapons—and also loads of inexperienced depth—at wide receiver. Tight end Kyle Pitts offers a huge boost, but Florida will depend on Trevon Grimes, Jacob Copeland, Kadarius Toney and others to take a big step forward in Dan Mullen’s spread offense.
Mullen appears confident Trask can overcome the loss of veteran production, noting his “graduate-level” progressions last week. Without a spring camp amid the pandemic, however, Trask and his young weapons missed key time to jell. If that lost time proves pivotal, Florida will know early on: The Gators face the reigning No. 29 and No. 31 defenses in the nation—Texas A&M and LSU, respectively—back to back in Weeks 3 and 4.
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