Sunshine Showdown: What to watch for between Florida – Florida State

The battle between Florida State and Florida features two Top-15 teams, but who has the edge between the Seminoles and Gators?

Recent history has not shined in Florida’s favor when the Gators played their in-state rival, Florida State. In fact, the Gators have lost four out of the last five times these two teams have faced-off.

Last season, the Gators were close to pulling an upset over their rival, but ultimately lost 24-19. This season has created an entirely new Gators team. The Gators’ former head coach, Will Muschamp, is now the defensive coordinator at Auburn.

Florida is now led by former Colorado State head coach, Jim McElwain. Coming into this season, many critics believed that Florida would have a rough season and largely lose most of its SEC games. However, reality has been vastly different from those predictions. The Gators under McElwain have created a new SEC power that has completely changed the way analysts look at Florida.

Florida State on the other hand has been a dominant juggernaut, hailing from a weaker ACC. In 2013, riding a 37-7 win over Florida propelled the Seminoles to continue their winning ways and eventual become the National Champion.

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Florida State has a top-tier coach of their own in Jimbo Fisher. This Florida State regime has produced several excellent NFL players in the past couple of seasons. Moreover, the last three quarterbacks to play for the Seminoles were all drafted in the first round.

Due to Florida State’s slew of recent success, Florida’s new coach, Jim McElwain commented, via 247Sports that “I’m sure they probably feel like they’ll jump in The Swamp and have a pretty good chance of beating us based on how we’ve been playing.”

Storylines

The past two times the Seminoles faced the Gators, Florida State won both matches (21-7, in 2011 and 37-7, in 2013). However, the Seminoles have never won three straight in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

This will be Jim McElwain’s first game against in-state rival, Florida State. It will be quite interesting to see how his Gators respond to dropping the past two games against the Seminoles.

Players to Watch

Dalvin Cook RB

Florida State has one of the country’s more dangerous running backs in Dalvin Cook. Coming into this game, Cook has rushed for 1,475 yards and 16 touchdowns. Additionally, this season, Cook broke his school’s single season rushing record, which was previously held by Warrick Dunn.

Treon Harris QB

After Will Grier was suspended for one year due to a positive PED test, the Gators decided to start former starting quarterback Treon Harris. The result of starting Harris has not been pretty, but the Gators still are collecting wins will he attempts to hold down the starting job. The Gators offense is being held back by a quarterback who is playing behind a duct-taped o-line and who has accuracy and decision-making issues.

Harris will need to be solid, but not spectacular if the Gators expect to win.

Jonathan Bullard DL

Bullard was injured against fellow Florida school, FAU. The Gators will need the injured senior, who is listed as doubtful, to play against the Seminoles as he would help shut down running back Dalvin Cook. If he is unable to play, it is not unreasonable to expect that Cook will slay the Gators defense.

Game Information

Location: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, Florida

Time: 6:30

Channel: ESPN and WatchESPN

Betting: FSU -2.5, 44 O/U, FSU -140 and FLA 120

Prediction

Ultimately, Florida has too many holes on offense to match the firepower of the Seminoles. Additionally, the Florida defensive line is too injured to stop Dalvin Cook in any shape or form.

31-17 Florida State