Jacksonville State @ Florida preview
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
After narrowly escaping its homecoming game with a dramatic, last-second win over Louisiana-Lafayette, No. 7 Florida welcomes Jacksonville State to Gainesville in its home finale. The Gators needed a blocked punt returned for a touchdown with just two seconds remaining to take down the Ragin’ Cajuns last week and lost starting quarterback Jeff Driskel to an ankle injury. Driskel won't play against the Gamecocks, with Jacoby Brissett set to start. Under Brissett, Florida is likely to employ far less of the read option than it would with Driskel, though Trey Burton is a good bet to see significant snaps out of the Wildcat formation.
TV: 1 p.m. ET, ESPN3. LINE: None
ABOUT JACKSONVILLE STATE (6-4): The Gamecocks will bid farewell to 13 seniors in their season finale – a class that ranks third all-time in Jacksonville State’s Division I history with a 30-14 record. JSU employs a quarterback duo in Marques Ivory and Coty Blanchard – a pair that has each thrown for more than 2,000 yards in their career, making the Gamecocks the only FCS squad with such a distinction. Senior receiver Alan Bonner set the school record and tied the Ohio Valley Conference mark with five touchdown receptions against UT-Martin two weeks back. Bonner’s 20 career touchdowns rank second in school history behind Joey Hamilton (22). The Gamecocks average 430.9 yards of total offense.
ABOUT FLORIDA (9-1): The Gators rolled off seven straight wins to start the season before a 17-9 loss to No. 11 Georgia to close out October, and Florida has struggled to squeak out a victory in each of its two games since. It took a late Brissett strike to Quinton Dunbar just to tie the game last week against Louisiana-Lafayette. As overtime seemed inevitable, Loucheiz Purifoy’s blocked punt was scooped by Jelani Jenkins and returned 36 yards for the game-winning touchdown. The Gators leads the SEC in pass defense efficiency and have a conference-best 15 interceptions.
EXTRA POINTS
1. Jacksonville State is 1-4 all-time against SEC opponents and 4-15 overall against FBS teams. The Gamecocks took down Ole Miss 49-48 in a double overtime thriller in 2010.
2. With a win, Florida will become just the third Gators team in school history to go 7-0 at home in a season.
3. The Gators rank third in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 12.9 points per game.
PREDICTION: Florida 30, Jacksonville State 16