After beating Eastern Washington 52-17 on Sunday, the Florida Gators come in at No. 30 in The Athletic’s latest ranking of all 131 FBS college football teams. They also came in at No. 30 last week after the Gators fell to Tennessee 38-33.
The ranking makes sense from a national perspective. They catapulted into the national spotlight after a primetime upset over Utah in [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag]’s first game as coach. The expectations for the Orange and Blue skyrocketed, and their subsequent loss to Kentucky and a close win against USF brought them back to reality.
Despite losing, the Tennessee game put the team back on track. The offense found its groove and the defense seemed at least competent in stretches of the game. Sunday’s win over Eastern Washington was a step in the right direction. Rather than struggle against a squad they should beat (like in the USF game) Florida took care of business and gave the young guys on the roster some playing time.
Their next chance to rebuild their national reputation will be on Saturday against Missouri. The Tigers took Georgia down to the wire last week, giving the Bulldogs their greatest test of the season. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU, with kickoff scheduled for noon EDT.
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