Should the Florida Gators be UNDERDOGS against Miami?

Florida takes an NCAA best 33 game win streak in home openers into Saturday's game uh boys the last one they lost 1989 Old Miss I was at that one got him uh 24 to9 uh EMT might have sprain the KNE CH what was it yeah three picks yeah had a heck of a day so uh uh and the other thing that we when we did that round table too you had mentioned you know cuz you guys didn't have that big time home opener you know and sper kind of poo pooed it as he would because you know how coach feels well if you can't get ready for a game you got only get 12 opportunities a year you know so I get it but for the for the guys for the kids it's got to gota they got to be Juiced up and ready to roll here right no doubt I mean I I saw the stat our boy David Waters put out on Twitter the other day that Florida is an underdog and a season opener in the swamp for the just the second time since 1970 I think that speaks to your point about you know really not having played any real competition in in home openers um but at the same time I mean it it speaks to how good Florida's been during the 9s and then the Urban Meyer years and so this is a little bit of an oddity um you know Florida had a competitive game with Utah a couple years ago coming to town and and Anthony Richardson was able to throw on the Superman cape for a night and and rescue the Gators but um this feels a little different for for a lot of reasons just because of the expectation level that that surrounds this Miami Hurricane team you you look at their schedule it's not one of the more challenging schedules they play in the ACC so if they can get by this one they got a really good chance to to make a run to to get the double digit wins or more so I I I I think this has a lot of uh storylines around it not to mention the pressure that I think's on each of these these coaches but um this does it's it feels very special in town this week and I think I love the fact that Florida didn't play in week zero uh Florida played week zero a couple years ago against Miami that was kind of cool but I think getting being able to sit back and watch what happened in week zero I think will benefit Florida considerably and I think it it makes us rethink the way that we're looking at different um matchups and Dynamics in this game on Saturday you got uh when you start looking about the the the swamp and a young and not a young but he's he's young overall but he's got experience but this cam Ward character coming in here who's really talented obviously uh but I was thinking of like thinking back to like Joe burrow he wasn't as good his junior year as his senior year at LSU but you know the swamp can uh it's a different they made Bo Nick looked terrible that day it's a different place to play just those were young guys though you you lived it so give me a give me a feel for you know why why why it affects the opposition so and I obviously we know the obvious things but give me give me an idea of that that let me answer that question first it is uh one of the the most iconic venues and and and Coach Napier mentioned that in his press conference this week uh it feels like a living breathing organism on game days when you're coming out of that that tunnel um you know the the way that it's constructed below the the field like I I honestly felt like one of the reasons why we we had that advantage over Tennessee when they would come here in in late September is because even though it's hot in the South it ain't nothing like North Central Florida heat right with the the stagnant nature of the the the the breeze being under the ground there the the seats going straight up keeping the noise in the proximity of the the student section to the the visitor sideline you guys remember like the the oranges raining down on power Snell and team on the sideline you know I'm not we're not we're not advocating any of that but it's it's a uh a rockus place to play when when the students and the fans are doing their part I think coach napors um engaged the fan base well they've challenged them they they've let them know that this is not us as a team going to take on the Hurricanes this is us as a a gator Nation going to do it together and I think just kind of reminds me of the Auburn game a couple years ago when um you know I think it was Dan Mullen engaged the fan Bas and ask him to come out and and and make the swamp intimidating again I feel like that's what we're in store for now to go back and answer your other question about cam Ward I'm with you you know cam Ward's been great everywhere he's been but he hadn't played in the SEC he hadn't played play in a venue like what he's going to play in Joe Milton made his first career real Road start in an intimidating environment last year here in the swamp and looked like he never played football before I just have a hard time believing especially after I saw What DJ OU angal did everybody talking about Florida State and plugging DJ in and how great this offense is going to be we have no idea what cam Ward's going to look like in this offense we have no idea what he's going to look like with new teammates around and receivers he hadn't played with before I just think to come in start talking about him you know dominating in a place like the swamp is really naive and and uh irresponsible to some degree well it at least to my my question and you know I'll take off the orange and blue glasses here for a second is the right team favored I you know crystal ball and Napier's progress is you know measurably pretty pretty close one of them's at home one of them has an experienced quarterback you know in in the element yeah on paper though along those lines Chris on paper isn't Miami better on paper yet and then we'll let you ultimately answer a question Chris and yet Miami may be favored but if you look at like the analytics power index percentage you know the chance of winning they're the F you know says Florida 58% so that seems like a Vegas thing more than a football thing to my point remember the Vegas line is designed to you know tap into the the field of the public markets to try to you know get even betting on both sides I think everybody I talked to I'm so tired of hearing from from friends of mine that are outside of the Gator fan base that tell me oh is your coach on the hot seat you guys are going to have a hard time winning six games this year you know what I I've been around this team in the spring I've been out to practice multiple times this fall I've watched scrimmages this is not last year's team this is not the feel around last year's team this is not the talent of last year's team this is not the inexperience of last year's team there's new coaches around as well this has a very different feel and and when I came on Coach Napier sound was talking about how excited he is to go play the watch his team play like he genuinely likes this team and I know a lot of people talk about being optimistic and what they want to see but I i' I've talked to him a bunch since the uh the spring and I I legitimately feel like this is a team that he feels like is a lot different and I I think they they kind of relish being the underdog it's the same storyline everywhere you go is just how bad Florida is well you're your basis of how bad Florida is is based on last year it has nothing to do cuz there's very few people that have had access that I've had to seeing what this team looks like in 2024 it really is such a you know All or Nothing game though isn't it I mean it's just so much I mean it is going to be the highest of highs or the lowest of lows I think coming out of that game and it'll be a great challenge uh regardless of what happens for them going forward and they're going to have to get used to this because they play so many of these type games throughout the season it is a great warmup to the season yeah unlike Florida State playing a conference game in week one this one does not matter as much you can say I guess if you honestly it matters a ton to Miami because I talked about their schedule like if they don't win this game if they if they if they weren does a 10 and two Miami team get in that that that you know doesn't win the ACC and loses to you know say Clemson and and and Florida I I I don't know if that that same resume would would hold weight with committee that like it 10 and two in the SEC um but it it's a great tone Setter for the season it also is a you know one of the keys to Florida having the kind of year that that they need to have a bounceback season they got seven home games you got to win your seven home games you got you got to win those at least six of those home games and you have to to win early because the season gets more challenging in the second half of the Year this Miami game falls into both of those categories before we let you run Chris doring Our Guest as he is each and every Tuesday what surprised you mostly about the uh FSU Georgia Tech game most of the folks that we've talked to talk kind of the trenches were shocking you know that we were just couldn't believe Georgia Tech took it to FSU that that was the the surprise to me the overall physicality you know you would say for the totality of the the afternoon that it was Georgia Tech that was the more physical team you I I do think I think Florida State defensively is better than what they showed but I also think maybe they don't know who they are yet as a team I think Georgia Tech Credit brck ke brck ke did a great job of of putting together a game plan that played to the strength of who his team were and to to reiterate to them this is who we are all season long we're going to run the football we're going to be more physical we're going to play great defense and and that thing looked nasty early on I mean Florida State goes right down the field and scores credit the Georgia Tech for being able to not only come back and answer that score with one of their own right but also you know making some adjustments to make it much more difficult you know would Florida State score uh 13 points the rest of the game after you know having the touchdown the two-point conversion so I just I think at the end of the year we'll look up and and Georgia Tech will be a better team than what we thought they were going to be heading into last week great stuff as always man appreciate you so much Nobody Does it Better Than Chris doring and he joins us each and every Tuesday we appreciate you Chris thank you Chris get it going yeah go talk to you next week the d report every every Tuesday morning hey guys Taylor doll here thanks so much for checking out our 1010xl Florida Gator page you're looking for more Florida content subscribe now but if you're looking for some professional football NFL content head over to our 10 10xl Jaguars page [Music]