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Florida Gators WEEK ONE Preview & Prediction: UF vs FAU Owls · A Peek Inside Gators Football: A Show About the Florida Gators

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Like i said at least with the running backs just
• 0:01
  Speaker 1: rotate the heads you know i receiver get some guys
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: some reps because you know dallas wilson kind of injury
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: prone is someone going to have to step up so
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: it's worth doing that i think in the fourth quarter
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: next week i think it'd be a different story with
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: subs in the like entire second half but i always
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: think this week at least three quarters of starters borrowing
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: something crazy.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: Okay so forget the final score Give me three things
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: that happen Saturday night, and if they do, that would
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: make you say, like, damn, Florida is more ready for
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: Auburn than maybe I thought coming into this weekend.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Five-plus sacks from the D-line.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: Vernell houses a punt, and Philo hits 300 yards because
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: that's all three phases where you have a really strong
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: defensive line showing against an inferior opponent. Vernell gets a touchdown.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: Maybe that's his only one. But just a positive special
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: teams play, fingers crossed. And then Philo looking efficient. 300 yards,
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: probably some explosives to some of those downfield threats. Kind
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: of all three of those boxes waiting to be checked.
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: That'd be pretty big time before we get to Auburn. Okay.
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: We are going to play my favorite game. It's been
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: a whole.
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: Year since you've done this with me, Will.
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: But we are going to play more or less. This
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: segment is brought to you by PrizePix. Don't forget, guys,
• 1:19
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• 1:27
  Speaker 1: All right.
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: So first up, I'm going to Then remind you of
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: the rules here. You're going to tell me more or less.
• 1:33
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: And that's, we're going to play this more or less
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: for Jaden ball 0.5 touchdowns. More.
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: He's got to get in. Right. I mean, even, even
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: if you only guess like 12 carriers, we want to
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: see him in the second half. I have a hard
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: time believing he doesn't touch pay dirt this week. I'll
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: go more for bother. He's got to get them.
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: All right. Aaron Philo more or less than 244.5 passing yards.
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: I want to say more because what we talked about, that's...
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: I'll say more, actually. I think you can get to
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: that 250 mark because I think if they're cycling through
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: running backs, they're going to really want to keep mixing
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: in the pass for that. I think you have enough explosives.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: Like if Micah Mays pops up for 65 yards, that'll
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: help a ton. So I'll go more because I think
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: we'll have some explosives.
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: Okay. Writing that down. Eric Singleton Jr. has more or
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: less than 36.5 passing yards.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: That number seems low. I'm going to say less though,
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: even though I just said I thought it was low
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: because I think that week one, you spread the ball out.
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: Right now, you could easily catch a crosser on the
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: first play and house it and I'm wrong, but I
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: just think that with how the ball will be spread out,
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: enough running the ball, I'll say less for Singleton actually.
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: Wilson is at 41.5 yards, more or less there.
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: I might go the same logic. I think that everyone
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: just kind of you know, splitting the receptions around. You
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: mix in a bunch of pieces of the offense. I'll
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: go less for Dallas also. All right.
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: Philo, more or less than 1.5 passing touchdowns?
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  Speaker 1: I'll say more there. I think, you know, first drive,
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: you get a touchdown for Vernell. Second drive, Singleton catches his.
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: Third drive, Dallas gets his. Sort of the same deal.
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: I think that every receiver is going to get theirs.
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: So I'll go more. I think Philo can air it
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: out a little bit.
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: All right, guys, so that means we're going more on
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: the Jaden Baugh. 5 touchdowns, more on the Philo passing
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  Speaker 2: yards at 244.5, less on Singleton for 36.5 yards, less
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  Speaker 2: for Dallas Wilson at 45.5 yards, and more on Philo's 1.5
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  Speaker 2: passing touchdowns.
• 3:37
  Speaker 3: So we are going to put those in. We'll circle
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: back to this next week to.
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: See how we– Depending on the results.
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: On this.
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: Depending on the results.
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: Maybe we'll have to, well, we're going to keep track
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: over the course of the season. We're going to see
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: if Will is really good at this or if I
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: lose a.
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: Bunch of money. I don't know. We'll see.
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: We appreciate PrizePix for all their support. And Will, I
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: appreciate you for joining me on here. Tell everybody where they.
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: Can follow you on social media and check out all
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: your work.
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah. I've got my own show, Tailgate Talk SEC. I'm
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: on Twitter at WillThomasCFB and on a peek inside SEC
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: football with Allie and TJ Pittenger every Monday morning. So
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: I mean, we'll be doing this all season long. Best
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: sport in the world. We're going to act like it.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: So I'm happy I could be on the show tonight
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: and looking forward to a big year.
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: I appreciate Will.
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: And I will circle back with you over the weekend
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: because we are going to have lots to talk about.
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: All right, Gator fans, we are going to move into
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  Speaker 3: one of my.
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: Favorite segments from the last couple of years. It's five
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: things that I need to see from the Gators. And
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: You know, these are just things that would make me
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  Speaker 2: feel better about Florida moving forward. And the first one
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: has got to be that Aaron Filo looks like QB1.
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  Speaker 2: I don't need 400 yards. I don't need five touchdowns.
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  Speaker 2: I want him to look confident and decisive. What I
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: am watching for is, does he get the offense lined up?
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  Speaker 2: Is he get the play in on time? Does he
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  Speaker 2: make the correct read? Is he taking what's there instead
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  Speaker 2: of forcing something? Is he avoiding disastrous mistakes? Is he
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  Speaker 2: converting on third down? Is he handling pressure? Does he
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: show some type of connection with Dallas Wilson and VB3
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  Speaker 2: and Eric Singleton? You know, Philo enters this game with
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  Speaker 2: 938 career passing yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions from
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  Speaker 2: Georgia Tech. So this is still a quarterback with a
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  Speaker 2: limited college experience. I want to come away saying, yes,
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  Speaker 2: I totally get why Aaron Philo won this job. And
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: if Tramell Jones plays, I am obviously watching for these
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  Speaker 2: things from him as well. But I need to see
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  Speaker 2: Philo show me why he is QB1. The next thing
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: that I'm going to be looking for is that the
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  Speaker 2: offensive line moves people. FAU gave up 201 rushing yards
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  Speaker 2: per game last year.
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  Speaker 3: And we have Jaden Baugh.
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: There is absolutely no reason Florida shouldn't establish the line
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: of scrimmage. And, you know, we're talking about a line
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  Speaker 2: that has several moving pieces. We found out the starting
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: lineup on Monday. We kind of knew what it was
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  Speaker 2: going to be from the week before because Summerall gave
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: us a pretty good picture. But it does have Bryce
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: Lovett at left tackle, Najee Harris at left guard, Harrison
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  Speaker 2: Moore at center, TJ Shanahan at right guard, and Mecca
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  Speaker 2: Ngorji at right tackle. This is what I want to see, though.
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  Speaker 2: I want to see push. I want to see no
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: free rushers. I want to see no communication busts. I
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: want to see short yardage dominance. I want to see
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  Speaker 2: Jaden Ball get to the second level before first contact happens. Guys,
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: Auburn is two weeks away. You cannot wait until Auburn
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  Speaker 2: to find out whether the offensive line works. I'm also
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: really interested to see how often they rotate guys in there.
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  Speaker 2: They have been, this staff has been pretty clear that
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  Speaker 2: there are, you know, three or four other guys outside
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  Speaker 2: of this, outside of the starting five that they do
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  Speaker 2: really like. And I want to know how they get
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  Speaker 2: them in there. And, you know, does it disrupt the
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  Speaker 2: flow or are we getting them good reps? And this
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  Speaker 2: is helpful. I'm going to be watching. The third thing
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  Speaker 2: I need to see is, you know, This is probably
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  Speaker 2: the matchup I'm watching the closest.
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  Speaker 3: I need to see Florida's secondary, and this is kind
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: of its first real test.
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  Speaker 2: FAU throws the ball a lot, and they are incredibly quick-paced.
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  Speaker 2: Ben Hanks III is starting. Cormani McLean and Javari Flowers
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  Speaker 2: are at the other corner. Kanye Clark is at star.
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: Bryce Thornton and DJ Coleman are at safety. And listen,
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  Speaker 2: this is the number one passing offense from 2025. Like,
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  Speaker 2: I agree with Summerall that I don't love this matchup.
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  Speaker 2: This is a totally new secondary, and you get a
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  Speaker 2: pretty big challenge right out the gate. And I don't
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  Speaker 2: care if Florida Atlantic throws for 250 yards. They are
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  Speaker 2: going to throw the ball constantly. So that yardage is
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  Speaker 2: going to be high. But what I don't want is
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  Speaker 2: receivers running uncovered, communication breakdowns, safeties, busting assignments, 50-yard touchdowns,
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  Speaker 2: cornerback's panicking with the ball in the air. I don't want,
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: you know, Veltkamp to have huge connections. I would rather
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  Speaker 2: he complete 10 and 12 yard passes.
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: Don't give him the 60 yard bomb.
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  Speaker 2: The fourth thing I want to see is I want
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  Speaker 2: pressure and I want takeaways. I think that the opportunity
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  Speaker 2: is going to be there on Saturday. Veltkamp will give
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  Speaker 2: you chances. He threw 17 interceptions last season. The team
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: as a whole threw 20. Florida needs to make him uncomfortable.
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  Speaker 2: I am watching Jaden Woods and LJ McCray and Cameron
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  Speaker 2: James and Brendan Bett and Jeremiah McLeod, and I want
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  Speaker 2: to see the blitz packages from Brad White. Florida only
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: produced 20 sacks over 12 games last season.
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  Speaker 3: I think that needs to change.
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  Speaker 2: And when Veldkamp gives Florida a turnover opportunity, dear God, please.
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  Speaker 3: Catch the football. This shouldn't just.
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: Be a bend, don't break game. Against an offense that
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: has turned it over 29 times last season, Florida needs
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: to create some havoc. And honestly, if they can't create
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: some havoc against FAU, I kind of have some questions there.
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: I need to see whether or not Florida can make
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: that happen. And then The last thing that I am
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: so interested in watching, I know this is going to
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: shock absolutely none of you, is the special teams. Patrick
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: Durkin is handling kickoffs and field goals. Alec Clark is
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: our punter. He's also our holder. Carter Milron is the
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: long snapper. We got London Montgomery back as a kick returner, VB3. Meanwhile,
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: FAU is legitimately dangerous in the return game.
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: They were the number.
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: Three team in the nation in punt return average last year.
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: Semra himself actually pointed to FAU's special teams as something
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: that Florida really needs to respect. So no busted coverage.
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: No blocked kicks. I want clean snaps and holds. Make
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: the field goals you're supposed to make. And dear Lord,
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: please do not kick Messer a returnable punt if you
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: don't have to. And I'm going to give myself a
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  Speaker 2: bonus because this is week one and I'm making these
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  Speaker 2: rules up as.
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  Speaker 3: I go along.
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  Speaker 2: My bonus is I need to see some clean football.
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  Speaker 2: And this may be actually what I care about the
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  Speaker 2: very most. We've got a new staff, new quarterback, new
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: offensive system, new defensive system, new specialists, new communication. I
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: want this game to look organized. That means the right
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: number of men on the field, no wasted timeouts because
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: personnel's wrong, no substitution chaos, no delay of game penalties,
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: no stupid special teams penalties, no false starts coming out
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  Speaker 2: of a timeout, no busted assignments because somebody didn't get
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  Speaker 2: the call, no procedural nonsense. This has been the single
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: biggest frustration for Florida football for the last four years.
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: I want John Summerall's fingerprints to show up Saturday night.
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: The easiest fingerprint to identify in week one is, does
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: this team look like it knows what it's doing?
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: That doesn't require five-star talent. That is coaching.
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: That is the thing that Phil Troutwine refers to when
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: he says no talent things.
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: Do the things you're supposed to do.
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: I am so excited and interested to see how clean
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: this game is. And you know, Those were the five
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: things I need to see, but now I'm going to
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: give you my three keys to the game, and I'm
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: going to give you my score prediction, and then we're
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: going to go ahead and get out of here. I
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: think the number one key for me is run the
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: damn ball. Jaden Baugh and Florida's offensive line versus a
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: defense that allowed 201.3 rushing yards per game. Make FAU
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: prove that they've fixed that. If Florida is averaging five
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: or six yards per carry, everything else gets easier.
• 12:19
  Speaker 3: Play action.
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: Philo has an easier time adjusting. Florida's tight ends could
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: maybe get the ball. There's explosive plays. Every single thing
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: is made easier by Florida's ability to establish a strong
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: run game. And while I totally think you get aggressive
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: with Philo and you test some of those wide receivers,
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: I also want to see what this offensive line can
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: do for ball, what kind of holes they can open
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: for him, because they're really going to need that in
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: two weeks at Auburn. My second key to the game
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: is to make Veltkamp pay for his aggressiveness. He is
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: going to throw the ball. This is an incredibly aggressive
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: and fast offense.
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: They're going to throw it a lot.
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: FAU averaged 49 pass attempts per game last season. Now,
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: Florida does not necessarily have to stop every completion, but
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: are they pressuring him? Are they tackling immediately? Are they
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: keeping explosive plays from happening? And I think most importantly,
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: is the secondary taking advantage of interception opportunities when they
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: present themselves? My last key is one that I think
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: we've seen happen at Florida Field before. We saw it
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: last year with USF. Don't give FAU life. That's the
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: upset formula. It's a blocked punt or a blown coverage
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: or a turnover inside your own 20, a kickoff return,
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: a fourth down conversion, suddenly that 27-point underdog believes. Florida's
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: job is to make this boring. Get up 14-0, then
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: make it 21-3. Then make FAU throw against a pass
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: rush while the swamp gets loud. Do not let an
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: inferior team hang around long enough to believe that it belongs.
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: When you do that, things like the USF upset last
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: year happen.
• 14:21
  Speaker 3: So those are my three keys to the game.
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: I don't think that there is a number that Florida
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: needs to win by, but I do think we need
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: to see growth. I think there's going to be things
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: we can look at that we're going to say, man,
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: that is a lot different than it was last year. And,
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: you know, I don't think the result is really a
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: question on paper. But what Florida looks like getting to
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: that end result is important. And FAU is good enough
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: offensively to test the exact area of Florida's defense that
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: we have had questions about this whole offseason. They're also
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: bad enough against the run that we should be able
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: to establish an offensive identity early. And they're aggressive enough offensively,
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: and dangerous enough on special teams that they will punish
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: Florida if the Gators come out sloppy. So for me,
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: Saturday isn't just about starting 1-0. It is our first
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: chance to see whether John Summerall's Florida Gators actually look different.
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: And that is what we should be looking for in
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: week one.
• 15:29
  Speaker 3: It's time for me to give my score prediction. I
• 15:32
  Speaker 3: am going to go with 52, 10.
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: I actually think that that 10 points probably comes a
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: little bit later in the game.
• 15:39
  Speaker 3: Um, I think we rotate a lot.
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: I think that this is a great opportunity to let
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: a lot of guys get some reps and, and kind
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: of solidify some of these lineups and make sure we
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: really do have the pieces where we want them. Because again,
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: In just a couple weeks, September 19th, Florida heads to
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: the plains for a really big SEC opener road test.
• 16:02
  Speaker 3: Lot is on the line. So there's two weeks to
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: kind of figure it out.
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: I'm looking at you guys' comments in here, and I
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: appreciate all of you for being here. And make sure
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: you join us every Wednesday at 8 o'clock. Make sure
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: you're following me on X, and you are subscribed to
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: this channel. I appreciate you all being here. As always,
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: go Gators.