FLORIDA GATORS 2024 GAME BY GAME PREDICTION - COLLEGE FOOTBALL

all right it's time to get back to these preview and uh prediction videos for all these teams for the 2024 college football season uh going game by game and giving you a winner and a loser for every single week we've done a bunch of teams already there's a playlist called 2024 predictions I think we've done maybe 15 of them or whatever whatever the number is feel free to click back and check out some of my thoughts on those other teams but up today is the Florida Gators and look if I wanted to I could make this a really quick video I could just go well Florida's going to be terrible again they've had three losing seasons in a row Billy nap never had a losing season their schedule is brutal they don't have nearly the talent or the depth to compete in the SEC and they're staring down the barrel of what is likely to be a Fourth Street losing season Florida's terrible have a great day I I could easily uh just come on here and do that and honestly that would probably save a lot of time and accomplish the same thing but we're going to attempt to do this video the same way we always do all right Florida Gator Billy Napier heading into his third year as head coach down there he's 11 and4 in his time at Florida losing seasons in both years there 5 and last year ended the season on a five-game losing streak and no all five of those losses weren't to Great teams one of those losses was at home to Arkansas another terrible team with a coach on a hot seat so no signs of things improving at least down the stretch you know sometimes you can start bad and get better as the season goes along and maybe that provides optimism sometimes you have great recruiting and maybe that provides optimism and while Florida this time last year was hot on the recruiting Trail for this past Year's class that class fell apart down the stretch they did did manage to hold on to uh that the defensive lineman LJ McCrae and the quarterback DJ lagway but the majority of that class fell apart and when you look right now the recruiting is just absolutely in the toilet I think they're next to last in the SEC just barely above Vandy down in the 50s or 60s nationally in recruiting just not a lot of positive signs in Gainesville now I'm just pointing out the obvious here call me a hater or what is SC Georg is his favorite team of course he thinks Florida nobody thinks Florida is any good it's just reality okay Vegas has their win total at about five for this year they're likely to uh be about to have their fourth straight losing season uh Billy Napier responsible for two of those fired Dan Mullen in 2021 after a losing season Napier takes over in 2022 losing season and then last year 2023 losing season going five and seven losing the last five like I mentioned you got to go all the way back to the 1970s to find a Florida Coach that started his tenure at Florida with back-to-back losing SE uh Seasons 1979 in 1980 you got to go all the way back to the 1940s to find a Florida Coach that had three straight losing Seasons something that uh appears likely to become a reality here for Billy Napier uh in 2024 but we're going to go through the schedule game by game let's look at the offense and the defense what do they have coming back what did they add is there a way uh look it's possible some of the teams Florida plays end up being maybe not as good as we think they will be and it's also possible Florida ends up being a little better and they find a way to get Bowl eligible to have a winning record we're going to go through the schedule game by game and kind of figure out what the chances of that are let's take a look at the offense and the defense the offense of course starts with quarterback Graham Merz and if you're looking for a bright spot on Florida whether it's last year or some optimism optimism heading into this year it would be quarterback Graham Merz uh I crapped all over Graham Merz last off season I didn't like him at Wisconsin lot he was terrible a lot he La lacked playmaking ability no explosive plays and while they didn't set the world on fire at Florida no one was mentioning him you know in terms of Heisman or anything like that I think he far exceeded everyone's expectations what he was able to do at Florida in what was let's just face it a pretty bad team Graham Merz was kind of a bright spot he led the SEC in terms of completion percentage he completed 73% of his passes 20 touchdowns again that's not a highman number but 20 touchdowns to only three interceptions so he takes care of the ball he doesn't make uh mistakes he he he puts the ball where it needs to be and he completes a very high percentage of his passes uh now the wide receiver that was the beneficiary of a lot of those passes un fortunately for Florida is gone off to the NFL and I'm of course talking about Ricky peol they're going to replace him with uh Eugene Wilson and this is where you kind of start to shake your head a little bit at Florida fans when Graham Merz came in they gave him the number 15 no one's had the number 15 since Tim TBO now look I'll be the first to admit that Graham Merz was better last year than I thought he would be he's not the same Stratosphere as a player like Tim TBO but some of these Florida fans they you know hype it up that way and now you got this this wide receiver Eugene Wilson which look he's good he's quick he's fast uh he can he can run he can catch he can run after the catch he's he's a really good player but they're comparing him to Percy Harin but Percy Harin is probably one of the best five football players to ever come out of the University of Florida I remember a quote from uh Pete Carrol of all people he used to be the coach at Southern cow spent a lot of time in the NFL of course with Seahawks uh and he ended up with Percy Harvin in the NFL and he was asked one time uh a few years back who the best football player he ever uh coached was without hesitation he said Percy Harvin and uh Pete Carroll has coached some pretty good football players you go back to his time at Southern cow with Reggie Bush in that mik Matt Leonard and and even on in the in into the NFL I'm I'm just telling you I I like Eugene Wilson I I think he can have a Good Year I I think Merz and and in that Napier system will find a way to get him the ball whether you're talking about downfield for explosive over the top plays hitch passes just to get him the ball in space jet sweeps or reverses whatever they're going to find ways to get in the ball and I think you'll have a good year comparing a player that your average college football fan can't name and and look that's what Eugene Wilson is I know all the Florida fans know who he is and again I I I'm telling you right now I think he's good I'd take him on my team he's not Percy Harvin um he's just not running back is another area where Florida uh lost some in the portal of course uh their uh running back last year etn transferring to rival Georgia now all of a sudden the Florida fans are trying to tell you he was the second best running back on their team when they've spent the last two years telling everybody he was the best running back on the planet now Montell Johnson is still there and he's good too um I the issue I've talked about this when it comes to Clemson okay Clemson had will Shipley last year and then they had mafa and mafa was a great alternative and change of pace to what uh will Shipley did and so when you look at their overall numbers you go oh well mafa had more yards per carry and he had this and he had that it it's it's harder to do that when you're the main guy the same can be said for Montell Johnson I think he's really really good how good will he be without etn that remains to be seen he's not the Home Run threat that etn is he's a he's a Bruiser He's A pounder I again a guy that I would take on my team I like Montrell Johnson not here to tell you he's not any good just like I told the Clemson fans not telling you mafa is not any good but there's a reason why most programs now have a a one-w punch at quarter or at running back in a lot of cases even a third running back um every running back on your team becomes better when you have other running backs you can put in to give them breaks change of Paces things like that so again I'm not here to tell you Mont Johnson's not good but it's in no way a positive that Florida lost etn no in no way is that a positive that's a net negative to Florida's running back room losing etn uh so we'll see how that goes this year offensive line this is the one area on Florida if you were going to pinpoint one area on Florida's offense that has got to get a whole lot better in 2024 and what we saw in 2023 it would be the offensive line the offensive line wasn't great in 2022 but in 2023 it was horrendous they allowed 22 more sacks last year than they did the year before now some of that is because you had Graham Merz this last year who's not nearly as mobile whereas before you had Anthony Richardson so some of that maybe can be accounted for but 22 more sacks in the previous year is not good they also ran the ball for about 1.7 yards less per carry in 2023 than they did in 2022 and again that was with both etn and Montell Johnson Totten to rock the offensive line has got to get a whole lot better they' brought in some transfers to help out there they're left tackle Austin Barber he's got to stay healthy something he's had a hard time doing so far but that's the one area on Florida's offense that has got to get a whole lot better in a hurry uh if they're going to find a way to make a bowl game this season over on the defensive side of the ball not good last year at all uh during that five-game losing streak to end the season they gave up 39 points per game never mind the fact that their offense wasn't ligh in the world on fire I don't care how good your offense is if you're giving up 39 points per game you're not going to win much of anything I mean Lincoln rley has one of the best offenses on the planet every single year and why can't they win anything no defense 39 points per game that boy that's bad and hard to do uh led to a lot of coaches being fired on the defensive side of the ball they flipped a lot of the coaches around over there brought in some new faces new defensive line coach new secondary coach uh uh when you look at the defensive line for Florida in 2023 couple of bright spots Collins and uh is the guy's the name Cersei I'm drawing a blank on the second guy's name but anyway they're both sophomores this year they played a lot last year you see players a lot of times make a big jump from year one to year two I'm talking playing time year one to year two the jump could happen from your sophomore to your junior or your Junior to your senior season if if if your first year playing was your sophomore J but they played last year to sophomore this year uh we we'll see how much better uh they look at safety they've got Jordan Cantrell he comes back I think he led the team in tackles last year he had like 60 tackles last year he's back so I think that's a bright spot and then the secondary overall I feel like could be a strength for Florida but they're going to have to stay healthy again something that they've had a hard time doing in the secondary uh Devon Moore injured last year he's back expected to start at one of the corner spots and of course across from that you got four-year starter uh Jason Marshall no real questions about him again he's not going to win the award for the best corner or whatever but a ton of playing time within the SEC four-year starter there Jason Marshall looking pretty good in the secondary I think for Florida they also brought in some transfers and things like that to uh to help in the secondary I think it's I mean if you want to try to find a strength the Florida's defense probably the secondary is it going to be one of the best five or 10 secondaries in the country probably not but they're experienced and if they can stay healthy I think it'll be a bright spot for Florida um for Florida defensively uh defensive end Justice uh justice Boone uh is back from knee surgery as is uh linebacker uh the Shamar James is that his name anyway uh two players back from knee injury now look you hear a lot of this from Florida fans when you talk to them about last year's well this guy was out that guy was out and this guy was out and this guy got hurt now we brought in this guy that's if all of that works out I think Florida can have a good defense if these two guys coming back from knee injury can play like they played pre- knee injury great uh if if the people that have struggled to stay healthy can stay healthy great if these freshmen that played last year can make a significant jump in year two great Florida have a good de you're counting on a lot of things happening uh that are nowhere close to a guarantee of actually happening in order for Florida to field a good defense it's it takes a leap of faith that freshman LJ McCrae he's probably going to have to play whe whether he starts or not we'll see but Florida doesn't you know some of these schools they sign these five-star kids and then they don't play their first year and then people are going like this guy must not be any good he's not playing he was a five star and he's not playing a lot of these schools sign a five star and they're behind two other five stars on the depth chart as why you might not see them in the first year that's just not the case at Florida uh not a whole lot of five stars floating around campus down there in Gainesville it's going to be hard to keep LJ McCrae off the field true freshman interior defensive lineman we'll see how quick he can adjust to sort of the physicality and the speed of Big Time college football coming in his first year out of high school but he's got a ton of talent there no question about it all right it's time to put Florida's schedule up on the screen we're going to go through it game by game I'm going to give you a winner and a loser for every single week and we'll see if Florida can avoid a fourth straight losing season all right one of the biggest games uh early in the season one of the most talked about games this off season the Florida vers Miami game these are two instate Rivals I guess although they don't play very often at least not anymore in my in my mind for something really to be a rivalry it needs to kind of be a yearly thing to me I look everybody's got their own definition of what a rivalry is no matter what you want to call the Florida and Miami game it's a bitter game you got kids on these uh teams that knew each other from high school and and in some cases longer than that it's it's it's always a a sort of uh chippy type of game when when when when Miami and Florida get together and I would expect that to be the case again this season lot of expect expectations for Miami and in terms of pressure to win this game I think all the pressure is on Miami they've been picked to win the ACC and be a potential playoff contending team this year Florida has become basically an afterthought in any conversation about winning conferences or making playoffs it's just a team that just doesn't get even get discussed when that topic is brought up it's going to be a lot of pressure on Miami to win this game I think this will be a close game I think a lot of people will come away from this game surprised at how close it is but I do think Miami gets the win here I just think they're more talented I like their coaching staff a lot more than I like Florida's coaching staff and uh a Florida and Sunbelt Billy start the season 0 and one uh with a tough close loss to Miami I didn't they get a little bit of a break in a schedule that really doesn't provide any at all they host Samford they should get this win Samford has put a scare into a couple of SEC teams over the last few years but you know Florida will get this win at home they're one in one and then in comes Texas A&M uh Texas A&M a talented Team new coaching staff very underwhelming and disappointing the last several years under Jimbo Fisher but Mike elos there to turn it around he was at Duke last year prior to that he spent time at Texas A&M as a defensive coordinator I really really like the Mike eloh hire at Texas A&M I don't necessarily think that's going to translate to a bunch of wins for Texas A&M in year one there and if you look at what Florida has done positively in the last two years under Billy Napier there's not a lot it's hard to find but one of the things they have managed to do in each of the last two seasons is win a game in September that nobody thought they were going to win if you go back to two years ago they hosted a top 15 Utah team and beat them at home you go back to last season Tennessee comes in after the season they had had the year before Tennessee was off to another hot start last year they show up in Gainesville and Florida beats them I think this Texas A&M game this season is that game for Florida I think they find a way to beat Texas A&M and if they're going to get Bowl eligible they've got to win one of these two games against Miami and Texas A&M they cannot drop them both I don't think they do I think they beat Texas A&M they're 2 and one didn't they have their first road trip of the Season against SEC opponent Mississippi State not a lot of teams in the SEC pick to do worse than Florida but Mississippi state is one of them uh another team with a brand new coaching staff and not a whole lot of talent I think Florida goes on the road and gets a win at Mississippi state they're three and one oh my God everybody was wrong Billy Napier does know what he's doing uh do you come out of that you have a bye remember we have two by weeks this year because there's an extra Saturday between the start of the college football season and Conference Championship Saturday so everybody gets two by weeks this is the first one for Florida they headed into their first bye 3 and one disappointing loss to Miami but I think Florida fans given way they've done the last couple of years and the way people have talked about Florida heading into 2024 I'm willing to bet most Florida fans would take three in one heading into that first bye that's where the good news ends unfortunately for Florida coming out of this bye there are no breaks on this schedule other than the second bye uh which we'll get to in a second um this might be the toughest eight games in a row I've ever seen anybody play the last five games is getting all of the attention and I get it you look at those last five games Georgia Texas LSU Old Miss Florida State all of those teams are ranked in every single top 15 poll you can find right now and the majority of those teams are going to be ranked in the top 10 when those games are played at the end of this season but you can go even further than this coming out of this bye Central Florida another in State opponent new to the power five central Florida this game means way more to Central Florida than it does to FL it would mean everything to Central Florida to knock off Florida doesn't matter that Florida's bad or you know might not do well in the SEC or their record whatever it happens to be doesn't it matter to Central Florida it's still Central Florida beating Florida Gus maon is to coach there he's no stranger to coaching in big games he's got KJ Jefferson at quarterback now that he brought in from Arkansas who look again not a guy that's going to be winning any High trophies and no he is not Cam Newton so those that are saying that Gus maana coach of course coached Cam Newton back at 2010 one of the greatest Seasons we've ever seen from a quarterback in the history of college football KJ Jefferson is the same type of player as Cam Newton he's a similar build to Cam Newton he's nowhere near as talented so I'm not even no one such suggest that he is but I think he's going to be able to run that Gus Ma on offense this is a very dangerous game for Florida here for perception purposes and I don't think it goes Florida's way I think they lose this game and that means five games into the season they've lost two games to instate opponents Miami and now Central Florida I ain't Miami sitting at three and two they come out of that they got to go on the road at Tennessee I I know they beat him last year I know they've beat him something like 17 of the last 19 years whatever whatever it is I I Florida has beaten Tennessee they're not beating this Year's uh Tennessee team in Knoxville not H now if this game was in Gainesville given the way things have gone for Tennessee away from Knoxville maybe you look at Florida to pull an upset at home not on the road I I I just don't see it I don't think Nico is winning 19 Heisman never losing a game and winning seven national championships like Tennessee fans do but I do think he's going to be able to run that Josh hyp offense more efficiently and and and better than Joe Milton did last year Tennessee's defense is also very underrated doesn't get talked about enough they've got one of the best fronts in the SEC if not the entire nation I think Florida's going to have a hard time moving the ball and I obviously I think they're going to have a hard time stopping Tennessee from moving the ball this game could be a blowout I think Tennessee uh wins Big at home uh that's Florida's third loss they three and three uh after that Tennessee game another absolute must win at home against Kentucky now it used to be you didn't even have to spend 5 Seconds thinking about this Florida Kentucky game it wasn't that long ago Florida was sitting on a 31 32 game winning streak whatever it was against Florida and and this is a game that's played every year so this isn't like they won 30 Games over a 100e period I mean they beat Kentucky 33 times in a row 33 years in a row or whatever it was 30 31 whatever it was since then Kentucky I believe has won three of the last five maybe even four the last six um and it's kind of flipped this series on its head at least over the last four or five years but this game is at home for Florida it comes before a byy week it becomes right it's right before that that that brutal five game stretch that everybody's been talking about for months now I think Florida finds a way to get this win um this is probably the game I'm least confident in um when it comes to picking just Kentucky has had their number but you know there's an unknown at quarterback for Kentucky and Brock Vandergriff a kid that transferred from Georgia I I like Brock Vander Griff's potential I like his skill set I like his size like his abilities but the reality is just never saw him play he was buried on the depth chart at Georgia and you know he's a big physical athletic guy Canon for an arm can run around Kentucky does this you know uh QB for higher situation every year they brought in uh uh Devin what's his name last year before that it was uh the guy from Penn State I mean it's just every year they're bringing in another quarterback in a portal they're trying it again this time with Brock Vandergriff Kentucky is telling us that they've got the best receiver core they've ever had again it seems like we hear that from Kentucky every year then the season ends and you can't name one of their receivers I ain't Florida finds a way at home to get a win here against Kentucky and in in a must-win situation here and then comes that by week and then you come out of that now before we get into my prediction for these last five games let me say something about Billy Napier what I think may happen to him a lot of speculation is he going to get fired uh will he get fired if he does get fired when will it be according to the predictions that I've got so far here Florida will be sitting 1 2 3 four and three heading into their second by week There's a 0% chance in my mind that if that's accurate and Florida is 4 and three heading into that second bye there's no chance he gets fired before the season ends um even if they come out of that bye and get blown out by Georgia they're going to be four and four I I mean at that point you're not firing nap here they would have to lose this Texas A&M and or the Kentucky game which I have them winning I don't think they're losing to Mississippi State and I don't think they're losing to sford right so those are two wins that are as close to guaranteed wins as you're going to get on this schedule they could lose to Texas A&M they could lose lose to Kentucky I've got them winning which puts them at at 4 and three if they lose one of those games they're three and four if they lose them both they're two and five if they're two and five heading into this bye before the Georgia game before that last five game stretch if they're two and five and they lose to Kentucky I could see Florida firing Billy Napier the Sunday after the Kentucky game now this would be early in the season I get but we're seeing coaches fired earlier in the season all the time now because of the the the timetable with recruiting has been moved up to December and and some transfer portal window stuff so it wouldn't be the strangest thing we've ever seen but whatever they decide to do in the meantime which usually they promote a a coordinator or a current coach on the staff to interim head coach so again this is assuming that they're two and five I I don't have them being going two and five in the first seven I've got them at 4 and three and which case I don't think Napier is getting fired but if I'm wrong and they're two and five cuz people always ask me about this if they're two and five heading into that bye I think they fire Napier the Sunday after the Kentucky game I think they promote somebody from within to interim head coach it gives that person and the new staff two weeks to keep try to keep the team together heading into this last five gam because you have a byee it just seems like a convenient time to just go ahead and Usher Napier out the door especially if the recruiting class stays in the toilet like it is now there would be no real reason to keep him a lot of times you worry if I fire my coach in October or November what's going to happen to my recruiting class well Florida doesn't appear to have much of a recruiting class if they're two and five I would not be surprised if they fired bil and apier the Sunday after this Kentucky game giving the new coach two weeks to sort of bring the team back together uh for that Georgia game and then heading down this last five game stretch but again that's all hypotheticals based on what their record might be heading into this second bye all right let's get back to the predictions out of the by week they play Georgia neutral site every year in Jacksonville well I say every year they're going to renovate that stadium and they're going to have to play uh are they what what are they doing are they doing uh Orlando and Atlanta every anyway uh they're not going to go They're not going to do home and home which what they should anyway they're not beating Georgia Georgia will beat them Georgia has owned Florida Georgia's beat them something like eight of the last nine years or something like that uh that Trend will continue uh Florida just doesn't have whe whether Napier is there or not whether they're five and three or two and five none of that matters they're not winning that Georgia game the same can be said the following week on the road at Texas having to play Georgia and Texas in back toback weeks is just brutal and neither one of these games is at home I I I mean the Georgia game is not a road game it's a neutral site deal in Jacksonville but they got to travel to Jacksonville to play Georgia travel to Austin Texas to play Texas I mean the combined score of these two games it could be like 100 to 20 this is not going to be a pretty two- game stretch for Florida no matter what what happened in the seven or eight games before that they're losing both of those then LSU comes to town I'm not on the LSU train I don't understand the LSU hype they were terrible last year defensively they appear at least to me to have done almost nothing to address that at least playerwise they brought in some new coaches nus me at quarterback he's looked good when he's played in a backup role behind Jaden Daniels but I don't care how good he is he's not going to give them what Jaden Daniels gave them last year we talking about 5,000 yards 40 something touchdowns a Heisman TR he's not getting anywhere near those numbers I don't understand the hype around LSU this year I don't they they I think the Vegas win total on them is n and a half Hammer the under there I think Florida beats LSU this is another Florida rival uh rivalry series that has gotten out of hand in recent years LSU has won something like seven of the last 10 against Florida and they play every year it's a home game for Florida um they're going to be happy to be back home after two bad losses in a row away from home with Georgia and Texas I'm giving a lot of benefit of the doubt here and again if I am wrong about my first half of the season I've got Florida at five and three first eight um or or whatever it four and three the first seven if I'm wrong about that and and B and they're two and five instead and Billy Napier has been fired after the Kentucky game then no they're not beating LSU they'll they'll ship it in and lose it the rest of the Eason but I'm going to I'm giving Florida the benefit of the doubt here I'm giving them a win against LSU late in the year here's the thing I find it hard to believe Florida's going to lose all five of those in a row and then I look back and realize well they lost their last five games last year against teams not as good as this so I I don't know but I I'm I'm I'm giving Florida the benefit of the doubt here I think they get a win at home against LSU not the case the following week against Old Miss I think Lane kein who I think should be Florida's next coach I don't want him to as a Georgia fan I don't want Lane kein anywhere near Florida I think Lane kein would be an absolute home run at Florida but that's a different video for a different day I think Old Miss comes into Gainesville puts on a show whips Florida and then unfortunately the next week on the road at Florida State again I I don't think Florida state will be as good as they were last year I still think they're going to be really good a top 15 team contending to win the ACC and make the playoffs and they're way better than Florida I think Florida totes Andel on the road and Tallahassee that puts Florida at 5 and seven now I've been taking calls and reading comments from y'all since January that Florida's going 2 and 10 3 and N I've got them at 5- seven the the Florida fans can get mad at me if they want to they can Stomp The Ground they can punch the air whatever they need to do I think five- seven is a pretty fair look at what Florida could potentially be in 20124 again try to find more than five wins and keep in mind I'm giving Florida the clear benefit of the doubt on two games Texas A&M and LSU Kentucky I think I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt there too that's three wins right there that could go the other way I'm airing on Florida's side there as far as games that I've got Florida losing that they could potentially win Miami Central Florida those would be the two that stand out I I don't think they're beating Georgia Texas Old Miss or Florida State no matter what Tennessee I don't I don't see it either so maybe I guess you know I could be wrong about the Miami loss and the central Florida loss and if I'm right if I'm wrong about those two but right about everything else they'd be seven and5 so I guess that's what I would call the ceiling for Florida in my opinion S and5 I think the floor really is about 2 and 10 maybe 3 and N I've got him at 5 and seven uh appreciate you watching make sure you check out the other prediction videos again I've done a whole bunch of these a whole series of them we're going to keep them going right up until the start of the college football season so subscribe if you're new if you're not I post this pointless barely watchable college football content year round do a call-in show every Tuesday and Thursday night today's Tuesday tune in tonight 900 p.m. we'll talk some college football but I do appreciate you watching uh let me know am I right or wrong what's your record prediction for Florida and most importantly don't forget to let me know down below how stupid I am have a good morning