Florida Football: 3 bold predictions vs. South Carolina in Week 5

Florida football will host South Carolina to kick off the second week of SEC play and the Gators aren’t messing around. Let’s get bold.

Fresh off a solid win over Ole Miss in the opener, Florida is looking to prove that it belongs in that College Football Playoff conversation.

The Gators’ defense struggled against a new-and-improved Ole Miss offense under Lane Kiffin’s tutelage but Florida had just too much firepower for the Rebels. They finished with 51 points and over 640 total yards but also surrendered over 600 yards. The defense needs to show up on Saturday against South Carolina in the home opener.

Florida will get a chance to take down a familiar face in former head coach Will Muschamp who is currently fighting for his job, but the Gators must not overlook this team.

Let’s get bold.

3. Gators field a 100-yard rusher

In their first game, the Gators had six players with at least two rushing attempts and one was quarterback Kyle Trask. Three running backs split time, Kadarius Toney led the team with 55 yards on two attempts from the receiver spot and backup quarterback Emory Jones also carried the ball four time for 37 yards.

No true No. 1 back stood out.

Dameon Pierce led the way in the backfield with nine carries for 54 yards and Malik Davis had seven carries for 49 yards. Nay’Quan Wright had -1 yard on four rushes and he was a non-factor in the offense for Florida.

Against a South Carolina team that surrendered just 133 rushing yards to Tennessee in the SEC opener, the Gators will have at least one 100-yard rusher. Who will it be? My money is on Pierce to lead the way, but wouldn’t be all that shocked if Davis also joined and hit the century mark.

If this offense can get consistent 100-yard games from one of those two guys, it’ll be scary.