Save Money. Stay Away from the Vols.

As you can tell from my avatar I am bias. With that said I never bet on or against the Gators. I never like to mix emotions with money. Most of yourpicks look good but I would stay away from the VOLS.

 

The Vols have a very talented back in Arian Foster who rushed for over a 1,000 yards last year against tough SEC defenses. Crompton is garbage at QB (They will be lucky to get 50% of the production they got from Ainge last year). Florida's front seven has been dominant against the run this year and will continue to do so. Te front 4 of the 4-3 features eight guys who rotate in without losing a step. Marsh and Dunlap are physically freaks of nature on the line even though they are young they have recieved enough reps to play great so far.Then there is Cunningham who was player of the game against Miami and was in the backfield on a regular basis. So if Foster makes it past that d-line he encounters upcomming first round draft pick Brandon Spikes and the rest of the hard hitting Gator linebacking corps. Spikes the leading tackler from last year did not play against Hawaii but lead the Gators in tackles against UM. With Miami's o-line averaging around 310 pounds they were only able to produce 1.6 ypc against this front seven. I expect the vols to do slightly better but not much. This will force Crompton  to attempt to beat the Gators through the air (Good Luck). Florida's young secondary was thrown in last year to learn on the field and they did so. Two true freshman started in the secondary last year (Joe Haden at Corner and Major Wright at Safety) ahead of guys who had been there. They Gators were burned alot last year because of the inexperience, however, it lead to the ultimate result that this secondary geled and bonded because of the heat theytook. The young secondary was incapable of producing turnovers last year but with a year under their belt as a unit they had two pick six's against Hawaii and expect more big plays. Between Haden, Wright, Pierre-Louis, Jenkins, and Black there is a ton of speed, a secondary who was placed under enourmous scrutiny last year but came out as a cohesive and experienced unit. They will give Crompton Fits. Look for at least two INTs.

 

Now for the Gator offense. Anyone who follows the Gators know they have a history of showing as little of their offense during the first two games as they can possibly get by with. UF opens their SEC schedule against Tenn the 3rd game of every year. This will be they game you see the gator offense of last year. The first two games have been  about just getting by and not giving Tenn game film to study the offense. This game will be the defending Hiesman winners comming out pary against a bitter rival ( Tebow is a local guy from Jax who's mom, dad, and brother attended UF, his idol growing up was danny wuerfell, he bleeds orange and blue and hates Tenn).

 

Now for the real difference maker in the game. PERCY HARVIN!! This guy is the real deal. He had surgery on his heel in the off season. He did not play against Hawaii. He only got about 5 touches against Miami (used mostly as a decoy). Expect 15-20 touches against the Vols and 150-200 yards combined rushing and recieving. Not to mention with UF running the spread offense he is a player who must be accounted for at all times and spreads the d-fense like no one else in the country. He will be playing on Sunday next year but if he would have stayed healthy his freshman and sophmore years he would have won the Hiesman instead of Tebow last year and people would be hyping him like they did Reggie Bush( missed at least three full games first two seasons).

 

The only way the Vols stay in this game is if Urban Meyer and Dan Mullen make terrible playcalling and clock management decisions (which they are notorious for doing). The talent and experience level for the Gators make this one a rout.