Florida football: 3 reason the Gators will beat Kentucky in Week 5

Florida football will travel up to Lexington to take on the Kentucky Wildcats this Saturday, and both teams are in need of a win to prove they could be second-place contenders for the SEC East.

Florida has not beaten Kentucky since 2020 and the Wildcats are looking to beat the Gators three times in a row. The fact that Kentucky has the ability to do that is incredibly surprising. Just in 2018, Kentucky broke a 31-year losing streak to Florida.

Florida is ranked 22nd (according to AP poll) and is 3-1 (1-0 SEC) with their only loss to Utah in Week 1 and defeating Tennesse soundly two weeks ago 29-16. Kentucky comes in 4-0 (1-0) with their best win against a Vanderbilt team that is average at best. It is hard to gauge how good Kentucky really is since they have yet to play good competition and the lowly competition they have played, they have slightly struggled with.

If I told you Kentucky was in a one-possession game with Eastern Kentucky in the second half, you would have thought I was lying. However, that’s what Kentucky does. They struggle with EKU and then beat a ranked Florida team at home the very next game. We have a better grip on Florida just based on the competition it has played so far. The Gators lost to Utah by 13 but also beat Tennessee at home by 13, so take that however you want.

Florida has proved they can at least hang around or even beat good football teams, but they may not be able to compete with elite company. However, Kentucky this year is not elite company, at least so far.

It will be a tight contest but based on Kentucky’s early-season struggles against bad teams and Florida’s win over Tennesse, the Gators will likely win the matchup this Saturday.

Florida will travel to take on Kentucky this Saturday at 12 p.m. ET at Kroger Field.

Here are three reasons why the Gators will defeat the Wildcats.