Florida Football: Can Gators put recent struggles behind them in Cotton Bowl?

Oklahoma and Florida football will meet in the Cotton Bowl on Wednesday night and here’s how to watch, plus keys to victory and a final prediction.

After different results during conference championship week, the Cotton Bowl means a lot for both program. Not only for the short term, but for the future with chances of CFP.

For Oklahoma, it was a less than desirable beginning to the 2020 season. After blanking Missouri State, the Sooners would lose back to back games against Kansas and Iowa State. The defense was just as bad as it’s been the last three seasons and Spencer Rattler was making costly mistakes late.

It looked like a continuation, when Oklahoma faced off against Texas. Rattler had multiple turnovers and was benched for Tanner Mordecai. The rest was history as Rattler led the Sooners to a triple OT 53-45 win over Texas.

Since that point, Oklahoma has ran the slate and did so in dominant fashion. Only one game was a single digit win and included four wins by more than 17.

Rattler has gotten more comfortable within the offense and the defense had it’s best seven game stretch in a long time. The key for the Sooners has been takeaways as they have forced 15 on the season, which is a much better than number than last year, when they had 11 through 14 games.

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The last time this defense faced an SEC team, it didn’t go over so well. The defense is expected to keep Florida out of the end zone more so than LSU did just a little under a year ago.

For Florida, it was a year of excitement and relevancy. However, toward the back half of the season, it was more so nail-biting losses and head shaking decisions.

After dropping an instant classic in College Station, Florida would get the ball rolling a few weeks later against Georgia. Florida thumped the Bulldogs and would start a run of six straight wins.

In a early December game, CB Marco Wilson made one of the biggest mistakes of the CFB season and threw a shoe, forcing a 15 yard penalty. It would set up LSU a field goal and in the fog, LSU would crush Florida’s chances at a CFP appearance.

Florida would score 46 points and 408 yards on Alabama in the SEC Championship game. However, it was not enough as Alabama would win, 52-46. Kyle Trask has had a Heisman like campaign, with all of his numbers slightly edging last year’s winner, Joe Burrow. Trask has thrown for 4,125 yards and 43 touchdowns, to just five interceptions.

However, this is going to be an uphill battle, to say the least. Both Kadarius Toney and Kyle Pitts have elected to sit for the Cotton Bowl, in preparation for the 2021 NFL Draft. Toney was the Gator’s go to Wide Receiver, with 984 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns. Toney also rushed for 161 yards and a touchdown.

For a good period of time, Pitts was getting legitimate Heisman conversation, after dominating for portions of the season. This included a 170-yard, four-touchdown performance against Mississippi State. As well as 129 yards and a touchdown against Alabama.

The hits would continue to pile for Florida’s pass catchers as it was announced Monday that Jacob Copeland tested positive for COVID-19. Copeland had 23 catches for 435 yards and three touchdowns.

Florida’s defense has not been very good and that doesn’t bode well against an Oklahoma offense that is playing their best football of the season. Brenton Cox leads the D-Line, with 10 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks.

Kaiir Elam leads the secondary as he has a pair of interceptions and a team leading, 11 pass deflections on the season. The pass deflections rank best in the SEC and 3rd in all of College Football.

Here’s how to watch the Cotton Bowl between the Sooners and the Gators.

Time: 8 ET

TV: ESPN

Venue: AT&T Stadium

Stream: ESPN+

Keys to Victory

For Florida, finding a way to stop the Sooners rushing game will be important. They average a little over 150 yards per game on the ground, but do not have a lead rusher. TJ Pledger and Rhamondre Stevenson have just a little over 450 yards on the season and Rattler has been more of a thrower than expected.

Rattler’s play has drawn comparisons to Baker Mayfield, as he improvises and finds time in the pocket, before making a decision. Keeping him at bay, while limiting the duo running backs will be a major key for Florida.

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A key for Oklahoma is not creating self-inflicting wounds. Although the defense forced three turnovers in the Big 12 Championship, the Sooners were not perfect. They were penalized eight times for 60 yards.

Majority of there defensive stops have come from turnovers and still give up their fair share of big plays. The Sooners still gave up 392 yards against Iowa State, but shut down Breece Hall. The Big 12 Player of the Year had just 79 yards on 23 carries in the rematch.

Limit the mistakes with penalties and it should give the Sooners a good chance at winning. If not, Trask will make them pay, regardless of limited receiving options.

Prediction

A part of Quarterback’s success is the supporting cast around him. That’s the reason why Philadelphia Eagle fans are still optimistic about Carson Wentz. In a situation like this, Trask is without three of his top four targets. Even with the Sooner secondary being undersized, they are an experienced unit.

That experience will give Trask some issues and have some struggles. Marvin Mims should be set to have a big game, especially with Marco Wilson sitting out. The Sooners win and finish 9-2 and plenty of experience returning for 2021.