Gators Online writers Zach Abolverdi and Nick de la Torre preview the Florida-Kentucky game. We break down Saturday's matchup, DJ Lagway making his first SEC start and keys to the game.
Gators Online Podcast
Ep. 108: Florida vs. Kentucky Preview | Gators Online Show
(upbeat music) - Between them. - No one. (upbeat music) - What's up, Gator Nation? Welcome into the latest Gators online show, Zach Abba Verde and Nick Del Torrey here. Back in the swamp on Saturday for homecoming Florida Gators versus the Kentucky Wildcats. The Gators looking to snap a three game losing streak in this series, still crazy. Talk about giving the history. Nick and I know it. You guys know it as well. A lot on the line Saturday, we'll get into this matchup. Key to the game, some of the storylines to follow for this week. And Nick, they had the parade on Friday. And Gator growl tonight. Not the Gator growl that we grew up on, but still going down. And then a lot of folks will be in the swamp Saturday night and seeing if the Gators can get back on track after a good effort and rocky top, but also an opportunity to get an upset that they missed. So got to get back on track Saturday. - Dustin Lynch tonight, nice country artist. I enjoy his music, but like Jerry Seinfeld, Robin Williams, you've had some monsters come as a Gator growl. Not a big parade guy, never got it. Never understood it. Didn't want to stand on the sidewalk watching cars for miles an hour. I love the Thanksgiving day parade. The Macy's in New York will turn that bad boy on while you start to get the smells of gravy and stuffing and cornbread and turkey and ham running through the house. Well, Macy's day parade, I'm off for that. But like going in real life to stand in the hot scene in Florida. - You don't stand, you sit. - And what, I mean, you're watching traffic. It is a great way to get the kids out of the house and to keep them occupied for multiple hours, which you will come to appreciate. - Yeah, yeah, we're not there yet in fatherhood. Maybe my tune will change, but for now, it's, you know, you're watching colorful traffic. Is my view on parades. - Now, if you go to be in the parade. - No, I'm good. - Like chat. - Then I'm just part of the traffic. - Yeah, well, they had, they had Shaq there. - This year, so. - So anyways, homecoming week, obviously, that brings a lot of importance. A lot of folks in town for this game, 1984 team will be honored as well. And Johnna Williams will be Mr. Two Bits. So a lot of history in the swamp on Saturday and Nick the Gators don't want to make history because as I mentioned at the top of the show, they've lost three in a row, two under Napier. And if they can't get it done again on Saturday, which they are underdogs, 2.5 points, I think, is the spread, Nick? - Yeah, well, you know, spreads are ever moving. But yeah. - But four is under, four is the underdog. - On Thursday night, it was two points. Yeah, four is minus two on Thursday night. - Okay, so this is the third straight game. They've been an underdog, second straight game at home that they've been an underdog, so. But this is bigger than this year's line in this year's game. This is, there's a lot of historical streaks at hand, Nick. You've wrote about it this week. We've talked about it before. I think some folks know the stat line, but just to remind them of how critical it is for Florida to end this losing streak against Kentucky. - Yeah, Florida hasn't had for a four game losing streak in this series since just after World War II. 1948 to 51, Kentucky won four in a row. Well, like you said, Florida, a Florida coach has never started 0 and three against Kentucky. Credit to Mark Stoops, Mark Stoops says, he may be the winningest Kentucky coach in history. He is, but may also be the winningest head coach in Kentucky history against Florida. Now, Kentucky, you think, "Hey, this game's in the swamp." Kentucky won the last time they were in the swamp. Also, Kentucky's lost their last two SEC home games. They might be ready and happy to leave. Beat Ole Miss on the road, lost to Georgia at home, played them tight, but then lost to Vanderbilt and my guy Diego Pavia might be the story of the 2024 season as of now. So it's an interesting Kentucky team. It's the same defense that you have come to hate. If you're a Florida fan watching Kentucky, the same Mark Stoops and Brad King, I think it's the same. I keep saying Brad White, like the Ole Miss coach at Florida, but I think it's Brad King. That same defense, the offense is Bush Hamden, who Florida fans might recognize that name, Zach, was the wide receivers coach here in 2012, getting his first chance to call the offense, and it is bad. Kentucky's offense is not good. We'll be interesting to kind of break that down a little bit, but yeah, it's two teams that really need to win. Mark Stoops really needs to win, and Billy Gabriel needs to win pretty much every week, you know, going forward. - Yeah, especially coming off of what was a disappointing outcome in Rocky Top, just considering the fact that they gave that game away, and had a chance to take control in the first half. They weren't able to do it. Came back to bite them in the end. And you're right. Mark Stoops has had Florida's number, Nick, really since the Mullen era started in 2018. That was his first game against Stoops, and he is four and two against the Gators since 2018. And overall, the Gators are seven and four against Stoops since he took over in 2013. But again, since '18, he's had the win there in 2021, and then obviously two years under Napier. So it's important for a lot of reasons, Nick. Not just kind of the trajectory of this season and coming up to really disappointing losses in different ways for these teams. Obviously for Florida to miss out on upset. And then for Kentucky to lose to Vanderbilt in that passion. And once again, you mentioned the struggles that they've had under Bush. I mean, their losses this year, a lot of it has had to do with the struggles on that side of the ball. They just failed to put up points and it really got embarrassed against South Carolina. And that was a 31 to six loss. They only scored 12 points against Georgia. And then this past Saturday, just seven, excuse me, just 13 against Vanderbilt. So they had to throw low scoring offense in the SEC at 20.5 points per game. And then if you look at that just for his conference team, so you take away some of their cupcakes, Kentucky is averaging 12.8 points per game against SEC opponents. Yeah, and if we're being honest and this all falls under the stoops tenure, but I mean, there were some other games that they easily could have won 2017 in Lexington, leaving Freddie Swain wide open in the end zone. The Gators got away with that one. The overtime game, I believe it was in 2014 with Driscoll that with the stock at zero. There's been some close calls against his team. And it's just, it's nuts to think about that they basically had for his hand. And it's really been with different coaches too. So defensively, like they're really good. And we'll get to DJ lagway, but like they're really good on defense and this has been the case every year. And you know, everybody gives credit to stoops, but this is Brad White. I mean, he calls the plays. I mean, he's obviously running stoops to scheme, but you know, Nick, you've mentioned this a bunch and it's true like a lot of, you know, great coaches that they have faced. And you know, some of the great offensive gurus that they gone against, they've, they've shut these guys down. And it's, you know, it hasn't obviously just been Florida. A lot of other, you know, guys like Lane Kiffin, obviously what they did to Georgia this year. So it's, it's going to be a challenge for the Gators without a doubt. - It's a testament to Mark Stoops because the state of Kentucky is just not going to give you enough skill position players from inside your state. And if you're the University of Kentucky, you should pretty much be able to lock down your state. Louisville might take some guys, but you should be able to keep guys home. But it's not like you're recruiting inside the state of Texas or Florida or Georgia or California. You've got to go out and in all the states around them, you're recruiting against Georgia, every team in the SEC, but then also Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, you know, back before Oklahoma was an SEC school, you're recruiting against them because you're kind of right in that bubble. And Mark Stoops to his credit was like, listen, we're going to play a different brand of football. We are going to be big and physical and both defensive and offensive lines. We're going to run the football because these are the guys that we can get. And this is how we're going to be able to compete. And it was not what offenses we're doing in the SEC at that time, but almost like Spurrier when he came to the SEC in 1990 and said, listen, I know you all want to run the ball three yards in the cloud of dust, but we're going to go five wide and we're going to throw the ball down the field and you're going to adjust to us. And teams have tried to adjust to Kentucky. I said last year, Billy Napier tried to go to Lexington and out Kentucky, Kentucky and play their brand of football and it resulted in a humiliating loss in Lexington. And I think both years, Florida has tried to out Kentucky Kentucky because I think if Billy Napier had his way, he, his team would kind of look like Kentucky or it would look like Michigan last year where you're just bullying people on the lines of scrimmage and dictating the game that way. Hopefully after two years, he's learned, hey, maybe Florida beat Kentucky 30 straight years because I didn't try to beat Kentucky by making it dirty in a line of scrimmage game and they spread it out and got their skill guys, the ball. But it's a credit to Mark Stoops for realizing it. They recruit to an identity, they develop to an identity and they play to that identity. And it's made him the most successful coach that Kentucky's ever had. - Yeah. And, you know, to that point, Nick, Florida, obviously they've got the guys at receiver to be able to do that. Now that they're healthy with Wilson and Misele and obviously you've seen what DK and Badger brought to the table. Like, Florida can do that. Lagway obviously can push it down the field and which we'll get into. Florida's not at full strength in its running background. So to be able to lean on the passing attack in this match up is gonna be something that could probably be key to success. And help DJ out. We'll get to his first start here momentarily but I did wanna mention some of the success that they've already had this season against some of the quarterbacks that they faced. I mentioned Carson Beck, they held him to 160 yards in that 13 to 12 win that Georgia had but that was his lowest that he's ever produced as a starter for Georgia. And then Jackson Darden Ole Miss, they held him to just 261 passing yards which is a season low for him and not what he usually puts up in that lane kick and offense. So a lot of stuff that they do to make it difficult on the quarterback from a pressure standpoint from some of the exotic looks that they throw and they're really good across the board. You know, if you haven't seen the stats, they rank in the top 10 and three key categories, total defense where their fourth scoring defense where their ninth only given up 14 and a half points a game and then rushing defense, they're ranked 10th in the country and their 13 or their passing defense is 13th so they're good in a lot of categories. Red zone defense, they rank 18th in the country. So, and we all know that red zone gave the Gators a lot of issues in their last game. So we're gonna get into some of the lagway conversation and really all the fallout from the injuries that the Gators have coming out of that Kentucky game. Before we do that, wanna give a shout out to roeback.com, one of our new sponsors and then supplying us with some great gear this year. And the only way to describe roeback is best fit, best field. Those who aren't familiar with it, they're completely changing the game with incredibly comfortable active wear. They just released their new license game day collection and it's fantastic. Novel polo designs, clean hoodie, q-tip designs from some of your favorite schools including the four to Gators. And some of the way that they design some of these shirts and also the quality of the active wear really stands out. And you guys can take advantage of this if you are a new customer by going to roeback.com and using the code Gators20 to get 20% off of your order as a first time customer. And that's spelled R-H-O-B-A-C-K dot com. And that's 20% off of performance polos, shirts and more with the code Gators20. So take advantage of that. And we'll see what it looks like on Saturday in the swamp for DJ lagways. First SEC start, his second start this season, but that first one came against SES Stanford and no disrespect to them, but it's big boy football. And the good thing for the Gators is this isn't a guy coming off of the bench who's only really played a mop of duty as a true freshman. He's got some experience. He's been part of a two quarterback system. But now it is his show Nick because a Graham Murch is done for the year. - Yeah, and it's, you know, DJ lagway is the future. The future starts now. I think, you know, I gave Billy Napier a lot of credit. I think to me when I was getting ready for the Tennessee game and looking at numbers and talking to, you know, Eric Kane about what does Nico look like? He's like, he looks like a freshman. I'm like, well, that's on Josh Hyple. And I went back and looked. DJ lagway and already played more snaps in Florida's first five games than Nico had played the entire season last year. And I gave Billy Napier credit. You're taking, I get that DJ lagway is exciting. The ceiling is so high that he is the future. But you were taking a six year, 23 year old senior off the field who was very accurate and had earned the trust and the respect of your locker room. Who was the leader in your locker room? You're taking him off the field to work DJ lagway in, to get him live reps, to get him that experience, which will be better for the team in 2025, which by the way, you may or may not be coaching in 2025. And you're doing that for DJ lagways development and his progression. And I'd argue that Nico was the third best quarterback on the field last week. And I think that's on Josh Hyple for not getting him the experience. He looks like a freshman because he is 'cause you didn't get the experience. You insisted on going with Joe Milton to an eight and four record. So I give Billy Napier all the credit in the world for getting DJ ready and DJ will still look like a freshman. He will still throw interceptions. He will still have penalties, make mistakes. You're going to have to go through the growing pains. But it will be less because of the experience he's gotten. This isn't DJ lagways not taking his first nap and it's not gonna be his 20th snap of the season. This is a guy who's played in every single game, including the one start. So to me, you're going to have some mistakes and especially, I mean, my goodness, it couldn't have happened at a worst time in the schedule, Zach. You get Mark Stoops, then you get Georgia and Texas. So an awful time to have to turn the offense over to a true freshman. But I kind of go back to what Ron Roberts said when we asked him about the coach to helmet, in-game communication. And Ron goes, I'd much rather be coaching as an 18-year-old than some offensive coordinator. And you're going to have at least that extra level of coaching which you've had this year for DJSC heads into this. But Mark Stoops and Brad White are enjoying that they don't have some 23-year-old who I'd been really impressed, especially that UCF came. Graham Mertz and Jake Slaughter looked like an orchestra. Like they were leading an orchestra, calling out blitzes and different pressures and what UCF was doing. And I think that's kind of where you're going to have to lean more on Jake Slaughter as the fourth year of Redshirt Jr to help out the 18-year-old freshman. Because Kentucky will show DJ Lagway things that they have not put on tape. DJ Lagway will see stuff from Kentucky's defense, alignments, pressures, fronts that he has not seen on tape. And he could have spent 80 hours this week watching film and they will show him something he hasn't seen yet. - Yeah. And that's obviously the concern and you make a great point. I mean, he gets injured, right? And has to go out there to basically take over in the second half on the road at Rocky Top, sold out night game. And you're going against a really, really talented defense. And then you come back this week. And once again, another tough top five tests. I mean, Tennessee is the number two total defense. - Tennessee, the very good defense, but it's probably like the third or fourth best defense that I could face in this four game stretch. - But I mean, but right now, but right now, nationally, I'm just, the point is, is like, it could, like, you could not, it's almost like Anthony Richardson, when he got his shot against Georgia, it was like the worst timing. And you're right, like, you have to take over at Tennessee. They're also coming back, by the way, and they have momentum. And like, they were in still our rank, the number two defense in the country. And now you come home to get your first SEC start. And now you have to go against the number three defense in the country in Kentucky. It's just like, I mean, like, what a, we could not get any harder in terms of what you're asking you're on your true freshman quarterback. And that's just how the cookie crumbles, right? I mean, it's just, I mean, they didn't plan it like this. The one thing I guess that you can take solace in is the fact that he has gotten so much experience and he's played in SEC games before. And he's had to go through a week where he took all the first team reps and he was the starter and he knew that it was his show. And again, it was against Sanford, but he's at least been through all of that. And we'll see how much that helps him on Saturday. What gives you, I guess, the most concern about Florida having to start lagway at this time against this team? And then Nick, what has he shown you that makes you think that you know what he might be able to handle this? - I'll start with the second part. He was in front of a hundred, nearly 102,000. I think they were like 15 people shy of 102,000. And let's say Florida had a good showing and there were 20,000 Gator fans there, 15. That's nearly 100,000 people that hate you and are vocalizing their hatred towards you. And at no point in kneeland, did it look like the moment was too big for DJ lagway? The moment on Saturday with 90,000 fans that love him, the moment will not be too big for him. And I think that's a credit to him, the way he prepares, to his family, the way that they've raised him. He's ready for this stage, for this spotlight mentally. Physically, he's ready. I still, you're still gonna have some errors. It's a growing process. The part that is the most concerning to me is, and you'll read this on Saturday morning, I spoke with Aidan Warner's private coach and we'll tell you who DJ lagways backup is. Aidan Warner, kid from Winter Park, parents are double Gators, lawyers, went to school at University of Florida, always dreamed of being a Gator, went to Yale, left Yale to walk on at Florida for an opportunity to be a preferred walk-on, but has no experience. And behind him, Clay Millen, minimal experience. We've seen this show before. This is 2021 when Jack Miller was hurt and Anthony Richardson didn't have an established backup. And fans were like, why isn't Anthony running? Well, Anthony hasn't heard ankle. DJ dealt with a sore ankle, a minor sprain, in fall camp leading up to week one. And what's behind him? I asked Billy Napier twice this week, and I think on Wednesday, he kind of was like, "Yeah, no, you're right." Not having an established quarterback, not having the quarterback depth you want, does make you think and consider. And we will talk to DJ about sliding, about getting out, about not taking those risks. I've already seen Billy Napier get very conservative, almost every Saturday, but I'm almost same Billy Napier, get very conservative when he knows, "Hey, if this guy that we have a quarterback goes down, we're done, it gets ugly quick." So I don't have confidence that considering these circumstances, Billy Napier is gonna go out there with an offensive game plan that's going to shock and catch Mark Stoops and Brad White off guard. I know that DJ can make plays. He can throw the ball down the field. Kentucky's gonna be without their top quarterback. I get that. I'm concerned 'cause I've already seen the conservative offense trying to protect a quarterback when you don't have depth behind him. - Yeah, and he did compare it a lot to the situation in 2022 with Richardson and Jack Miller being out all during the regular season and Kitna being the only guy they could turn to at zero experience. So it's unfortunate that this is the timing of this for Lagway, but like you said, Nick, the future is now. Before we break down the keys to this game, I do want you to share what it was like to visit with Graham Mertz this week 'cause he decided to meet with the media. I didn't have to. Could have waited until after a surgery or after the season or could have waited until pro day, but he wanted to come and address reporters, address Florida fans. And I said it on the message board and I'll say it now. It's unfortunate that he's had now two season ending injuries on the road against the top 10 team where he had the Gators up with a lead. And what that must feel like to have had to leave those games and feel like, man, if I would have finished them out, we could have won these. And what that would have done for both of those seasons, a win at Missouri and then a win at Tennessee Saturday, but that's how it played out. I still think that Graham Mertz still ought to change the opinions of him coming from Wisconsin. - Yeah, yeah. And first off, Graham has been phenomenal. You know, almost like a second coach, you know, he's a guy that if you are a sports information director, send him out there, we don't even need to be in the room. We're not worried about anything he's gonna say. This is a program guy. Graham talked to us for like 35 minutes. And I remember being taken aback a little bit by how well he was handling it. This is, you know, we're talking to him on Wednesday morning, Wednesday afternoon. And you're talking about four days after he found out that his ACL was torn and his college career was done. He played in five games. He cannot get, he cannot even apply for a medical red shirt if he wanted to come back for, you know, a seventh season. Can't even apply for it because he's played in too many games. So, but I think in his mind, it was like, listen, this is, I'm gonna be 24 before the draft. Some NFL teams give up on guys before they're 24 years old but alone draft a 24 year old rookie. And I think the biggest thing for me was after, I won't share all of it 'cause it was just, you know, kind of me and Graham talking personally. Just went up to Graham. I wanted to tell him like, hey, I don't feel like I gave you a fair shake. And I wouldn't, I didn't even throw you guys under the bus, the fan base being like, hey, neither did the fans. I was like, I don't think I gave you a fair shake, but through the last, you know, 20 games, however many it's been, through the last two years, you've really gained a lot of respect for me. I said, and I have a lot of admiration for the way that you handled yourself, handled your work, and then dealt with us in the media as well. And he said, thank you. And then as I was leaving, he goes, hey, we're gonna have a pro day. And like, that's like a four and a half, five month timeline. And I look back at him, I go, if I learned anything, it's to stop doubting Graham Mertz, I'll be there. So just a little behind the scenes story, I have a lot of respect for Graham. He's someone that, you know, me and everyone listening to this was probably like, what the hell is Florida doing going to Wisconsin to get a quarterback? They can't spell pass, they've never been interested in learning how to spell the word pass, let alone trying to throw a forward pass. If you wanted to go to Wisconsin, go get me a quarterback or an offensive lineman. Maybe a linebacker, but don't get me a quarterback from Wisconsin. I think Graham Mertz very quickly showed us, you know, that we were wrong about him. And it's been fun watching him and getting to talk to him a little bit over these past two years. And like I said, it's a tight timeline to have a pro day, but I'm done questioning Graham Mertz when he says he's gonna do something. - Yeah, and I think probably the biggest compliment that you could give him just specifically to his game and how he improved it at Florida, was the reputation that he had coming into Florida, which was an inaccurate passer who throws picks and accuracy issues, turnover issues was the storyline on him and the knock against him. And, you know, they've been well-documented, but, you know, his 2021 season, 10 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, 59% completion rate, and then at drop to 57% the following year. Now he did throw 19 touchdowns and increased his touchdown total by nine, but he went from 11 picks the year before to just 10 the next year. So still double-digit interceptions. And again, his completion percentage dropped to 57%. So Nick, along with several other college football riders and analysts and certainly the fans, didn't like those numbers. And weren't excited about, I think even had some concerns maybe about would this guy be turnover prone? Would he been inaccurate? And then he comes out last year and leads the SEC in completion percentage and also throws the fewest number of picks, which was just three. And I think all three of them were tip passes, right Nick? - I know. - I've done all of them that at least two, you know, right through Guy's hands. - So, you know, one of them was to board in hand, one of them was to Ricky at Utah. And I want to say the third one was might have been tip two. And then it's a 72.9% completion rate, just under 3000 yards. And again, finished, you know, didn't get to finish out the season at Florida State or that Missouri game. And then, you know, this year kind of hard to judge his passing numbers in terms of yards because of the two quarterback system, he did miss one game and he did miss two fourth quarters. But if you just look at the averages, he actually did improve from a year ago, just based on what he showed through the first half of the season. 72.9% completion percentage a year ago, 76.6 this year. He averaged 8.1 yards per pass last year, 8.4 this year. His QB rating was 157 last year, it's 164 this year. So just a lot of improvement there. And then I think the one thing probably that he showed maybe the most was a show a little bit of mobility this year. Every single year, the last three years, he had had negative yardage in the rushing department. And this year, 18 carries, 56 yards. The four sacks that he had taken took away from that number. So it's probably a little bit more than that. But he had a few third down scrambles and a couple. Nobody's ever questioned the dual threatness of Graham Mertz. OK, that's also high towards ACL. That's a respect on Graham, Michael Vick Mertz. And I think one of my favorite things that came out of his media available this week was him revealing that he actually tore his ACL or started the tear process on that run for a first down. And felt it the next play after he handed it off and could have left the game. But when he heard the call to boarding him, he knew it was going to be a touchdown and said, I got to end this thing on the score. And his college career finishes with a touchdown pass. That's that's pretty cool. And again, shows his toughness, which we've seen before with the clavicle tear and the first down that he gave at Missouri. So look, the wins haven't been there. Unfortunately for the teams that he's been a part of at Florida, but for himself personally and individually, he did a lot to improve his stock. And I think earned the respect to Florida fans. And as Nick said, Florida writers and media folks as well. So unfortunately, for the Gators, they'll have him to kind of help lag away, get through the rest of the season along with the coaching staff. So a nice guy to have in his ear. But before we get into our keys to the game, I want to give a shout out as we do each and every week to myperfect franchise.net. If you're ready to leave the corporate rat race for the American dream, looking for a side hustle while working your current job, wanting to diversify build wealth and or leave a legacy. Andy can help. He's a franchise consultant as well as a franchise owner and helps people find franchises that fit their skill sets, financial requirements, time to commit and more. His services are 100% free and he's here to help. If you have any questions about business ownership, you can learn more and contact Andy anytime at myperfect franchise.net or calling or texting him at 404-973-9901. And with that, we move ahead to Saturday. And this match up between the Gators and the Wildcats 745 PM in the swamp. This game will be televised by SEC Network. Play-by-play will be Dave Neal and Aaron Murray, former Georgia quarterback, will be the analyst for SEC Network and the Gators. As we mentioned, going up against a really talented defense against Kentucky. Not so great. On the offensive side of the ball, passing offense is 121st nationally. Total offense is 116th. Scoring offense is a hundred. In and yang. This is all yin and yang. All these categories, they ranked dead second to last in the SEC or dead last. I mean, it's just-- Kentucky is second to last or last in every offensive category in top four in every single defensive. This is a Willmush chant football team. This is a Willmush chant. Florida football team. You're going to get a nasty defense. And it's going to be nasty work watching the offense. It's going to-- it's not going to be a high scoring affair. I don't think so. If you saw our score predictions at Gators online, I think three of them were in the teams. So that's-- we're taking the under, which was 42, I think, at a point. Heavy work on the under. Corey Bender is really calling for an absolute shootout, a 2720 affair, which would just be hitting me over barely. But yeah, I mean, you had 17, 16, Keith had 16, 13. I had 17, 14. I am holding-- as we keep track of our picks, I'm three and three on the year. I've missed picking Florida over Miami, picking UCF over Florida, and picking Florida over A&M. So-- You had to be different. Had to be different. Had to be different. I picked Kentucky this week. I picked Kentucky last year. Well, I mean, you're going with Vegas, right? They like the Wildcats despite them coming off the loss to Vanderbilt. Look, there's nothing to be ashamed about losing to Georgia. I think it's the loss of South Carolina. Nope. And then they went on the road to be like, OK, day. And then they're in a row, which maybe we're starting to-- there's no shame because they have another win. I think it was well. But-- and they couldn't get this game in what's at stake, but how they match up, kind of keys to the-- Yeah, I'm going to say, for me, I think Florida needs to kind of get into a rhythm offensively. And it should be a great crowd. 7.45. I know fans love the night games. You'll see us super late and tired on YouTube live after the game. So for me, it's going to be Florida's got to get into a rhythm offensively. Defensively, I think Florida has feasted on two teams who are really one-dimensional. UCF was one-dimensional because that's how they run. That's how Gus's offense is. They just want to run the football. They'll pass if they need to. Tennessee, Florida, watching that tape back and going over it, Florida took the same defense they played against UCF and said, let's do it again. Florida will be running the same defense for the third week in a row, saying, we are going to overcommit to the run. And if you beat us because you've hit a deep shot and made a long play, and Kentucky doesn't have many or any explosive plays this year, that's what Florida is going to do. We're going to sell out to stop the run, and we're going to make you beat us with Brock Vandergift's arm. And if you do that, clap it up, tip of the hat to you, but we don't think you will. And we're going to make you show us that you can. That's why I think it's going to be a low scoring game. Kentucky hasn't shown the ability with Brock Vandergift, a former five-star former Georgia Bulldog, to hit explosive plays. He's averaging less than 200 yards a game through the air. Kentucky, with Bush Hamden's offense, has really no identity. So I think for Florida, the key is going to be get ahead of the down and distance, stay ahead of the chains, give DJ yardages that he can handle and come up with a game plan that also protects him, because you're going against two of the better defensive minds in the SEC, who are drooling over the fact that there is a 19-year-old, 18-19-year-old kid running the offense that they're going up against. So to me, it's going to be make things manageable for DJ and stay ahead of the sticks. You don't want to get into second and 15, third and 20. So play smart, clean football and help DJ. Yeah, number two defense in the country last week against Tennessee. Number three defense in the country, Saturday against Kentucky. And then, like you mentioned, Nick, in a couple of weeks, he'll get Texas, which is not only ranked number one nationally, they're ranked number one in total defense. Jess, at least George is not in the top five this year, like they usually are. They're ranked 27th right now, but that's still nothing to say. OK, nice break in Jacksonville. Nice break in Jacksonville against the Georgia defense. Oh, man. Oh, man. Yeah, I mean, I think Red Zone is going to be so key in this game just because that's what Florida really costs them. The game at Rocky Top and Kentucky is really good in a lot of categories, and one of them is Red Zone defense. And because you're going to have DJ Lagway and the difficulty that's going to come with some of these looks, and I think things that they'll try to throw at him inside the 20, like it's just one, it's going to be critical before we get Red Zone opportunities and be able to drive the ball first and foremost. But then once they get inside the 20, you have to score. And Florida had done really well prior to the Tennessee game. Like their Red Zone offense, they'd scored on 100% of their Red Zone trips in the previous four games against FBS opponents. So the only time that they didn't score was against Samford and with Lagway. Now, one of those scores was Jane Baugh fumbling into the end zone. That won his fault, but to me, that's just-- I'm sure they did a bunch of Red Zone work this week coming off of last week's game. I think trying to do well up front, you would think usually against Kentucky that that might be something difficult to do. But Florida, for the most part, has done a pretty good job protecting the quarterback. They haven't given up a lot of sacks. That is one thing that Kentucky is not off the charts in with their number of sacks that they've gotten this year. So they got to keep DJ Lagway's jersey clean. And then they got to get after Vanda Griffith. Florida had three sacks against Tennessee last week. All of them came on that one drive where they had back to back to back sacks. And they got to try and, I think, affect the game there. And then to me, another thing, and I wrote about it at Gators Online, Nick, is just-- I think about big plays. I think about that was a 75-yarder that they gave up to Ray Davis last year. Florida's given up a lot of big plays so far on defense this year. And I think that is one way that you're going to allow a Kentucky offense, which does not score a lot of points in which has struggled to find some successes. If you are going to give up some big plays, if you're going to give up some third and longs, that is going to give them life. And that is something that Florida has struggled with. 32 plays of 20-plus yards. That ranks 106 nationally. So that's something that can't happen. Yeah, well, last year, Ray Davis-- and listen, Florida had enough of Ray Davis at Vanderbilt even before he got to Kentucky. But Ray Davis is kind of a home-run hitter, and I'm going to butcher this name, so I apologize to him as Demi Sumo Carnegie Bay. The guy's over at KSR just calling them DSK. DSK has been their lead back, Kentucky's lead back, Kentucky ranks in the top five nationally and rushing success rate. But they only have five yards of 20-plus. So it's kind of more of that picking up four, picking up five, picking up seven. You're not getting these 10-plus, 20-plus yard rushes, but you're getting a consistent, almost like an annoying neighbor knocking on your door. Just knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock. They're not going to pound, but they will just steadily knock on your door until you answer. That's been the best thing they've done on offense. Yes. Well, they're certainly not throwing the ball. They will run it successfully. But we know Florida's struggled to fit in the run. Not lately, but they have. Not lately. And that's kind of why I think it's going to be so low scoring, and because Florida, when facing offenses that are multiple, Texas A&M could run it and throw it. When facing Miami, who could run it and throw, it had a quarterback who could run. Struggled when they faced KJ Jefferson, who might be as accurate as you and I, maybe a little more accurate than you. But certainly, I've got the pinpoint action. Whoa, whoa, whoa, I can throw now. You can throw farther than me. I'll give you that. I don't have the arm strength. The last two offenses have been one-dimensional. And Nico really struggling. Does not look like a five-star. And again, I put that some of that on Josh Hypel. But this is another one-dimensional offense. Until Brock Vandegreff proves to you that he can win a game with his arm. Kentucky's a one-dimensional offense. So that's why I think Florida's offense. Defense will have continued success. That's going to be a different story next in two weeks against Georgia, certainly a different story against Texas. When you get back to these offenses that can win games and move the ball both on the ground and through the air. But I think Florida's defense has a good game this week because Kentucky is the last two opponents, a team that only does one thing well offensively. Yeah. And one thing that we didn't get into talking about the injuries. But I think this is not only key to the game, but a big question mark for Florida is who's going to start our running back? We know that this is DJ Lagway getting his first career in the SEC start, but we don't know who's going to start our running back. The injury report will come out Friday night. By the time you guys are listening to this, that news will be out. So we should have some clarity. I do not expect Montreal Johnson to play on Saturday. So it sounds like Trion Webb has progressed and done stuff in practice to where he could be cleared. And if he is, I think he gets to start. If not, you're probably looking at Jaden Paul making his first start, which two true freshmen starting in the backfield for the first time in the SEC against the number two defense in the country is not a recipe for success. But Baugh has made some progress throughout the course of the year, which has earned him more playing time. We've saw steadily he's gotten more snaps. So he could get the nod on Saturday, Nick. If it's him or Webb, it'll be their first career start. Yeah, Thursday the players have a questionable Montreal Johnson, Trion Webb, Bryce Thornton, Aisa Turner, Rocco Underwood, your long snapper who, going back, you know, watching the Tennessee, and David knows it, Bert made the last snap on the P.A.T. So who's going to be your long snapper, Rocco Underwood? They might have to tell him, like, hey, man, on punts, need you to stop going down and absolutely laying people out now you're enjoying yourself and we're having to go to our backup long snapper. So a little less football out of your Rocco and then Austin Barber. I've heard nothing that would make me think of Austin Barber if you're out of this game. So those are the six questionable guys and it would be Aisa Turner can get on the field and you wrote this week's act that Jordan Castell said, listen, no, no, no, no, no. Aisa will be back. Yeah, no questions. Did not tell us when, but he said he will be back. Turner is a guy who was, you know, has not played since the season opener, the sixth year senior who started five years at Washington and we thought would make Florida's secondary winner. Word that he tours ACL at play. I mean, so the fact that that's I mean, if he's coming back, he didn't do that. So Friday nights, you know, we will see and then 90 minutes before kickoff, which my goodness, 90 minutes is 745, please, please Disney. No, the one time we'd like a night game for you and I personally would be in Austin. And they're like, you know what, make that 11 a.m. local 11 a.m. local. And I'm like, oh, no, the one time I want night games on the road. Yes, yes. But listen, it was an awesome atmosphere for that UCF game. Tom Petty slaps different at night. So it should be a great crowd in Florida, like we said earlier, looking to end a losing streak to Kentucky words. I've never uttered before this week. Well, actually you uttered them last week because they did or last year, because they did have a losing streak. Yeah, words I never thought I'd utter until. Dan Mullen, the billing API took over. Hmm, well, we'll see what happens. Both teams coming off losses to the SEC schools in the state of Tennessee. And but those losses look very different. They are not created equal. So we'll see how it plays out on Saturday night in the swamp. Before we get out of here, want to give a shout out to Prairie Dental Center. But if you are looking for dental work in town, the doctor is a UF grad whose practice in games will for three decades and develop a deep understanding of how to diagnose and treat various dental problems along with advanced skills and knowledge to provide better care to his patients. If you're having dental concerns or just need to cleaning Prairie Dental Center offers a wide range of options to meet your needs, give their office a call at 352-373-3431. Tell them Gators online sent you and your new patient exam will be free. That will do it for us this week. Uh, we will see you guys Sunday morning, Sunday at late Saturday night and or Sunday morning. Yeah, I don't think that we'll be going live on YouTube until after midnight. So I hope you guys hang around and stay up for us. If not, you can catch it when you wake up in the morning, but we'll be covering it as we always do at Gators online, the big recruiting weekend in town. So Keith and Corey will have you guys covered on that front as well. And Nick and I will see what happens between the Wildcats and the Gators. Homecoming baby. Enjoy the parade. Alright, we'll see you guys on Saturday night for Nick Deltory. I'm Zach.
Gators Online writers Zach Abolverdi and Nick de la Torre preview the Florida-Kentucky game.