Florida football can’t overlook hungry South Carolina team in home opener

Florida football is coming off of a strong road win at Ole Miss in their season opener. Can the Gators keep the momentum rolling when they face USC?

The Florida Gators turned heads in their opener after their offense had a fantastic outing in Oxford. This week, they will face a scrappy South Carolina team who is coming off of a heartbreaking loss to Tennessee.

Florida has historically dominated this series, including a current two-game win streak. Another interesting note between these SEC East rivals is that South Carolina’s Will Muschamp was a former head coach for the Gators, so that always provides an extra facet of intrigue.

As mentioned, the Gators are rolling off of a 51-35 win against Ole Miss on Saturday and are ranked No. 3 in the AP Top 25.

In contrast, the Gamecocks return to action after a devastating loss against ranked Tennessee, where a late botched punt return cost them a chance at winning the game. Things will not be any easier for Muschamp’s squad this week as they head to the Swamp, where it will be difficult to win, no matter the crowd size.

Despite coming away with a loss, South Carolina showed some promise last week. Unfortunately for them, Florida is looking like the hottest team in the country. Will the Gators be able to defend their home turf and move on to 2-0?

Date: Saturday, Oct. 3
Time: 12 p.m. ET
Location: Gainesville, Fla.
Venue: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
TV: ESPN
Live Stream: WatchESPN

Keys to Victory

At the end of the day, this is Florida’s game to lose and this shouldn’t be too tough of a task for the Gators. However, they cannot afford to overlook the Gamecocks and pay for it when the clock hits zero.

If the offense performs remotely close to the level they did last week, this game will be out of reach for South Carolina. The Kyle Trask-Kyle Pitts connection has looked lethal so far, and when these two are going, there’s not much that can stop this team.

One concern from the Florida win was their defense, which gave up 35 points to Ole Miss. This isn’t to write off Lane Kiffin’s new project, but one could say that the UF defense played down to their opponent. There were moments that the Gators played sloppy defense and gave up big plays that allowed the Rebels to stay within striking range.

In order to come out with a win, Dan Mullen’s team needs to not underestimate a sneaky South Carolina team. I wouldn’t be too worried, as the Gators should be able to handle this one.

On the other hand, South Carolina is gonna need to play their best game of the season. We know that they are capable of this, as their upset win against Georgia last year comes to mind.

It was a bit of a surprise when Collin Hill was named the team’s starting quarterback over previous starter Ryan Hilinksi. Hill had a solid first game, completing 25-of-39 attempted passes, two of which were touchdowns. However, he did have a rough pick-six in the first half that set the Gamecocks back. Errors like this simply cannot be made this week if they want to get the upset win.

Defensively, South Carolina will likely have their hands full. Trask had an unreal opener, throwing for 416 yards and six touchdowns. The Gamecocks will have to get pressure on him to prevent another field day for the quarterback. Shutting down Pitts will be another obstacle for South Carolina. Pitts is such a versatile player, as he can essentially do anything he’s asked of, making it that much harder for the Gamecocks to prepare.

Betting Odds

Odds courtesy of The Action Network

Point Spread: Florida -17.5
Over/Under: 57.5

Prediction

South Carolina showed last week that they have upside, but it likely won’t be shown very well this Saturday. They are simply gonna have to execute a flawless game in order to win, and I just don’t see them pulling this off. I personally don’t see this being a blowout, but the Gators should be able to pull off a two-score win in their first game in the Swamp in 2020.

Final Score: Florida 38, South Carolina 17