2024 Florida Gators Football Preview | College Football Injury News | Starting QBs

2024 Florida Gator college football preview plus starting quarterback news and other notes from across the country on good morning college football hello and welcome to episode 84 of good morning college football I'm Nicholas Ian Allen of CFB Winning Edge and campus to camp .c uh on the road again this week uh so not the most ideal recording setup I'll be honest dealing with the some Wi-Fi issues some some low speed so hopefully everything uh comes together and and runs relatively smoothly during today's show we'll do the best that we can uh but hey we're three days until the college football season kicks off with week zero four games to featuring FBS versus FBS matchups uh two others FBS versus FCS matchups a couple of FCS only games as well so a little bit of a an appetizer to the uh college football season itself ahead of a packed week one that stretches from Thursday to Monday um and with that you know coming up as soon as it is we are getting uh some confirmation on starting quarterbacks at several programs across the country we're seeing our first official team depth charts for those week zero uh teams and some updates have already been made uh you know in reference to those some changes here there uh in our CFB Winning Edge team profiles which we will use today in our Florida preview our final team preview of the pre-season uh and uh on that note if you like what you see with our team profiles our returning production database also our stat projections from cfp Winning Edge which use a three-year weighted uh average of the teams uh history in various statistical categories the head coach and offensive uh play caller defensive play caller as well uh but as a uh you know fantasy football college Fantasy Football uh company those of you who are tuned in to the campus Again YouTube channel probably more interested in those offensive numbers um but those are all available to our C2C Winning Edge and all 22 tier members also those uh week zero stat projections player stat projections are now available in the campus to Canon uh Discord C2C Winning Edge tier channels and our week zero previews our our game previews with projected point spreads for our team strength power ratings our talent Edge power ratings which uh look to isolate only the talent numbers for each program and then our prism ratings which are kind of the opposite of those Talent Edge ratings look only at Stats to get a projected scoring margin you know those things that we talk about when we're discussing team performance so all of that is available to C2C Winning Edge and uh all 22 tier members in the campus toon Discord but we will also discuss some of those numbers on a Friday show as well on in our full week zero preview but if you haven't already we very much would appreciate you giving this video a like subscribing to the campus kanton YouTube channel and also if you're not quite ready to commit to uh the C2C Winning Edge or all 22 uh tier level you can also um you know get a little bit of uh an appetizer for what campus kanton has to offer uh with a membership for as little as $2.99 per month which includes access to a ton of written content tools on the site uh stats all sorts of data um and Discord access we might not get every uh channel available we we do have some that are uh reserved for you know our different membership tiers As you move up the ladder but um that 299 per month gets you access to a ton of stuff best ball rankings cff rankings uh you know waiver wire uh discussion and and uh things of that nature so um definitely do suggest if you haven't already or you know we really do appreciate if you've decided to become a member at campus canton.com so uh let's get through a little bit of fall Camp news here uh the the biggest things few injuries going on that are going to impact uh some teams uh including Ruckers there been a bit of a buzzy team so far this fall uh expected to be very competitive in a new look Big 10 uh However unfortunately maybe the best player on the roster quite honestly certainly the highest rated defensive player in our uh video game ratings at CFB winning Ed our team strength um overall player ratings linebacker muhamad T will miss the 2024 season with a tourn ACL head coach Greg shano announced on Thursday uh T is a 97 rated player so if you think of our uh video game ratings there in infuenced by the EA Sports video games of the past they differ a little bit um over the years we've made some adjustments so uh you know players can go over a 99 overall rating uh but T still at a 97 is is certainly one of the best linebackers in the Big 10 um and a player that will be severely missed for the Scarlet Knights this season he also missed the 2022 uh season with an ACL te so uh T hopefully be uh working his way back and and get back uh to his football future moving forward because certainly uh I'm no NFL draft expert but seems like his uh level of production and and how well he has played at Ruckers when healthy seems like he's a future Pro uh most likely Georgia Tech also will be without its projected starting tight end this season Brett cther uh according to Brent key on tues Seether is going to miss the 2024 season due to a knee injury as well uh and a little bit of a surprise in the Georgia Tech projected depth chart to me perhaps I just missed it but uh Avery boy who was listed as a wide receiver on the official roster uh 62 232 pounds um he's played in 24 games in his career a couple of starts he was actually listed as the number one tight end so uh Georgia Tech is uh I I you know has I I think uh one of the maybe more underrated wide receiver groups in um the ACCC maybe in in college football it's good it's should be um an exciting offense to watch the season the Saturday in Dublin against Florida State uh we'll get to see it but Haynes King uh at quarterback and Jamal Haynes returning as the starting running back running back group is in pretty good shape as well um but with Eric Singleton Malik Rutherford Chase Lane and we had Avery Boyd slotted in as a second team wide receiver uh but he is listed officially as the starting tight end Jackson Hall's transfer uh listed as the number two tight end now with Seether uh unavailable um Hall is a transfer coming in from Yale also a couple of other transfers might be in the mix for playing time uh in addition but uh Georgia Tech without its until yesterday who we had projected as our uh starting tight end for the yellow jackets uh but perhaps moving in a you know athletic uh pass catching Direction uh and curious to see how Avery Boyd steps up and and you know turns into perhaps another uh quality pass catching option in in that starting lineup for Haynes King uh elsewhere there was also injury news at North Texas Old Miss transfer defensive back isim young will miss the 2024 season due to an knee injury as well so um hate it that that we hear this sort of thing uh often you know football is is certainly uh a type of sport where injuries are are very very common and and this sort of thing happens uh more often than we would like but some significant losses I mean young was expected to be a starter in the secondary for the main green one of the highest rated players on that defensive unit and a team that um should also be pretty interesting highly competitive in the American trying to get back to a bowl game with Chandler Morris as the official starting quarterback now uh and on that note Morris was one of several quarterbacks who were named officially the starter for uh week one or or you know week zero in the case of Nevada uh right after we recorded on Monday it was confirmed some news that we had discussed uh brief ly uh previously in in you know some Nevada uh notes in earlier episodes but Brendan Lewis is expected to or you know was expected to be the starting quarterback he will in fact uh lead the wolf pack in week one against SMU Lewis began his college career at Colorado uh has been a 13 game starter overall um played 70% of snaps last season for the wolf pack uh so not completely unexpected there but uh the the competition uh and and seemingly to me his top competition for that role chubba pie the transfer from Nebraska um really just it never got off the ground because py has been dealing with a shoulder injury that is expected to uh cost him a you know fair amount of time early this year um AJ biano was also in the mix for this starting job as was a Junior College transfer Anthony griggsby Jr but uh Lewis who brings uh perhaps his his best skill is as a runner um but he'll pair with a rebuilt Nevada uh offense has three transfer wide receivers projected as or not even projected officially listed now because we have a depth chart as starters a transfer starting at tight end as well uh so a new look offense there a lot of uh uh incoming players at running back uh they moved one of their um you know more impactful or or based on Fall reports we discussed a little bit Ashton Hayes as a running back somebody who was making a lot of plays in Fall practice he's actually listed as a uh wide receiver on the two deep so curious to see what his role will be we'll get a chance to look at that on Saturday but bryndan Lewis uh officially named the starter for the wolf pack uh on Monday Baylor has tabbed DeQuan Finn the transfer from Toledo all quarterback he beat out SAA Robertson for the starting QB job for the Bears uh mostly uh that was expected could have been um a fairly close battle and during the Spring we were uh hearing more about you know those two uh splitting the Reps somewhat evenly but Finn was ex expected by most to emerge as a starter and and that has been uh made official now at Duke Malik Murphy also uh highly favored to be the starting quarterback for the Blue Devils the Texas transfer he is in fact going to uh be that top QB for Manny Diaz at the start of the Season at South Carolina Lenor sers uh got the first SNP of spring that was big news when we first heard it um got the first snap in in Fall camp and and just never relinquished uh that top spot on the depth chart he is going to be the starter for South Carolina there's been a lot of discussion we we've done it here I know it's been a a Hot Topic in uh our cff slack at campus the Canton and and elsewhere um Washington State the quarterback situation there and a lot of that has to do with these um Underdog best balls and and John matier has been someone our our team has targeted a lot taken a little bit of a risk there because it seemed like a very even uh Battle Competition with sebie eous the transfer from Bryant but mattier was named the starter for the cougs to uh begin this season uh earlier this week so good news there if he's able to uh carry that into the season and and what we expect to be a very productive Washington State offense um you know cam ward of course put up uh really good numbers for the cougs mattier little more of a productive Runner was where his experience lies so far in his uh college career um hoping you know of course to to uh improve as a passer and and show that he's going to be uh productive through the air as well we've had a lot of discussion on the Washington State wide receiver room in fall Camp so far um but mattier getting the nod and and uh didn't sound like there was maybe much separation between he and zevi eow so I wouldn't be surprised if mattier struggles a little bit uh if we do see eous uh but it's it's uh much harder to lose a job uh if you are that week one starter so mattier um gets gets the nod at least early on Georgia Southern a little more surprising uh JC French is going to be the top quarterback for the Eagles who will take on boisey state in week one uh Dexter Williams II had been our projected starter mainly just because uh coming out of spring it sounded like he was getting um maybe just by the slightest bit the most snaps um and just some of the the coverage as we discussed at the time seemed to indicate that Williams maybe had a very very slight lead over French and David Dallas in uh you know the the last week or so there was a real uh sort of Buzz starting to build that Dallas might be the guy who ends up winning this job so French uh getting the nod officially um came as a surprise and and I know there were some you know George southern team sites that were surprised based on how they saw the scrimmages play out the uh how the the Reps were divided up between these three quarterbacks um you know there was a scrimmage on Saturday uh where uh quarterbacks you know had had uh some good moments and some not so good moments uh all three of them but um the the news coming that JC French I mean it looked like at the beginning of the season the former Memphis uh transfer who's been you know there in the system for a couple years now coming into the season seemed like he maybe had the inside track but once spring practice kicked off and a lot of the uh you know Rumblings we heard coming out of fall Camp um he seemed like maybe the the third quarterback on the list but he is going to get that week one start against boisey state in another like Washington State and there are some connections there another offense that uh should be uh pretty productive for the quarterback and and you know passing uh production certainly uh and Fa cam fer the transfer from Marshall as expected is going to get that week one start for the owls so um lots of lots of those quarterback battles mostly uh turned out as expected couple of surprises we'll keep our excuse me we'll keep our eyes out uh for other news other surprises as well we'll pass those Along on Friday if uh things happen over the next 48 hours or so before we get to that week zero preview but uh with that out of the way let's discuss the number 34 team in our uh CFB Winning Edge team strength power ratings the Florida Gators and I was a little surprised actually um that it's not that we're on the low end for Florida as far as projections Go I mean all the the sources that we've referenced throughout um this preview series uh We've we've discussed uh you know Stuart Mandel at the athletic we've discussed Athlon Sports we've uh mentioned you know the sporting news uh Mark schay body SPN um Andy Staples at on three all of those media members who are of course Very plugged in pay a ton of attention to this and and use the added uh context and insight to analyze how these teams are likely to finish none of those uh media members had Florida in a you know post spring or their most recent top 25 and understandably um and I guess I was just operating under the assumption that uh even though the you know computer-based uh projection systems like ours but you know different in in a lot of ways thought that uh maybe they would be uh you know in the same range as us low3s um but uh maybe even a little lower because you know this Florida team uh struggled last season the the talent numbers um they're still you know comparable much better than FBS average in a lot of ways uh but taking a a little bit of a a downturn over the last um decade certainly from from when Florida was consistently one of the top recruiting powers in college football and and just turned out future NFL players it's a little different now if we look at the uh you know the 247 composite ratings and and on three and Rivals that we track in Our cfp Winning Edge team profiles um nevertheless you know this is a talented team a competitive team um and the numbers certainly uh show that other projection systems are a bit higher on Florida than we are ESPN's football power index has the gator number 20 nationally beta rank has Florida at 21 the k for Ratings have the gator 22nd and ESPN's and Bill Connelly's SP Plus have uh the Gators at number 23 so all fairly significantly higher than our uh you know player based projections where we build those individual player ratings add them up um you know put them into our our roster strength ratings based on those position and unit ratings and then build those up compare or uh uh put them into the calculation with uh the team performance ratings the head coach ratings which are head coach specific team performance ratings um and then gives us our our overall player rating or excuse me overall team strength rating um and we're at number 34 and and as we discussed you know a few episodes ago part of that was uh some injury news coming out of fall camp that that uh had a little bit of a hit to the of running back room um but even then we were already on the low side at number 31 I think it was before the Montreal Johnson change um where sounds like good news he's uh potentially going to be available for that week one Showdown with Miami but we still removed him from our dep chart projections uh just just for now we'll see how uh that new shakes out over over the next week or so but um I was a little surprised like I said that that our our number numbers were lower on Florida than others but uh one reason maybe for a little bit of optimism is the quarterback position Graham Merz in his second season with head coach Billy Napier and uh re reconnecting with uh shimray DK uh who was one of his top targets at Wisconsin uh earlier on the addition of Elija Badger at wide receiver uh transfer from Arizona state in the um uh spring and then of course Eugene Wilson the third Trey Wilson uh who has a very bright future um Big Time playmaker potential that wide receiver core should uh you know be a real strength and Graham Merz know I'm personally fairly optimistic uh that even though we had a good year one uh for Florida after transferring from Wisconsin there's there's the potential for him to uh be even better in year two but David hail of ESPN uh who's been an MVP of this preview series certainly giving uh quarterback tiar for all 134 FBS teams and you know a stat or a blurb about each uh you know expected starter and he mentioned uh when when discussing Merz here SEC quarterbacks that completed 70% of their throws have 20 pass touchdowns and no more than six turnovers in a season over the last 20 years Jaden Daniels at LSU last season Alabama's ma Jones and Talia tongoa uh and Mertz so pretty pretty Exclusive Company there um and and Mertz was was quite good statistically speaking last year and and U you know maybe a little shaky to uh the the trained eye at times uh but the numbers overall uh were were quite good unfortunately had an injury at the end of the season wasn't able to to finish strong but U Back and healthy and and with an improved receiving core around him think that Merz is set up for for a decent season this year so on that note let's take a look at how last season uh turned out for the Gator before we turn our attention to uh this uh upcoming year but Florida 34 in our power rankings nationally but that is 12th in the SEC um and the the big uh topic of discussion uh is of course the toughest schedule in college football um but last season 5- seven overall three and five in the SEC East they were 55th in team performance our grade for how well as it describes you know that team performed on the field we're talking uh you know statistically speaking speaking only there uh 41st in offensive team performance uh the the disappointing unit and that's been rare for Florida um seemingly for for you know most of my uh lifetime is is the defensive side of the ball slid to 80th in defensive team performance 110th againsts the pass 90th against the run and some ugly numbers if we dig into uh the details here on the defensive side of the ball scoring defense yards or excuse me points per game allowed against FBS opponents in the regular season Florida ranked 89th nationally yards per play allowed in those same uh games 122nd um also yards per pass attempt 126 so giv up way too many big plays through the air points per Drive according to Brian foro which is also uh FBS opponent only with garbage time filtered out Florida ranked 998th defensively last season uh one you know positive area uh 28th in success rate against but EPA per play 106th that EPA per play equivalent that we use is from college football data.com the offensive numbers better across the board nearly uh 61st in scoring offense 48th in yards per play 56 in points per Drive 43rd yards per pass attempt 48th in success rate and 39th in EPA per play so on net or on the margin in these categories scoring margin below 076 overall Gator outscored um understandably with a team that ended up with a losing record but outscored in FBS games uh in in the regular season which of course Florida only played regular season games last season unfortunately uh if you're a a Gator fan but um also below zero in net yards per play 92nd nationally uh real area of improvement uh for the Florida team this year you would hope uh points per drive also below zero 76 nationally 82nd in net yards per pass attempt uh net success rate much much better 29th nationally an EPA uh margin uh also a bit better but roughly FPS average 68th nationally how did it work out as far as the schedule goes um if you compare the one loss record five- seven of course and and losing uh those final five games um uh it was a disappointment started relatively well 3 and one after uh that Utah loss five- two uh before the bye after getting victories over Vanderbilt and South Carolina you can see the postgame win expectancy numbers mostly went according to plan there bit fortunate the gator uh in that uh South Carolina Victory had just a 14% chance of winning according to college football dat.com uh and if you were to replay that game with the same box score 100 times a thousand times Florida's probably going to lose that game a lot more often than it did but um you know after that uh after that Victory things did not go well um three losses where Florida was you know pretty much outplayed uh By a large margin statistically speaking even that overtime loss against Arkansas the box score indicated that Florida had just an 8% chance of winning that game um much closer the last two weeks and and Florida uh had opportunities to upset Missouri and Florida State statistically speaking actually outplayed both the Gators and the simal 82% in that loss to Missouri 88% in the loss to Florida State where it was significantly uh Limited at the quarterback position um you know Florida was of course playing without Merz as well um but those two games could have been Florida victories and as a result we add up all these postgame win expectancy numbers and this Florida team could have been maybe should have been a six- win team uh nevertheless didn't get it done where it matters the most in the the final score um and and came up short of 500 came up short in that instate rivalry game against Florida State but if you're trying to look on the bright side think optimistically say okay this this Florida team was a little bit better than its record would indicate uh this season with Florida coming in and and we're going to uh now share our returning production database uh Florida brings back a lot of you know its core pieces from that team uh 22nd nationally in returning production uh this is adjusted for incoming transfers if we were just looking at Raw data who's coming back who's not from last season Florida would rank 20th in returning production in that scenario they would have ranked 26th in offensive returning production 32nd on defense but when we adjust for incoming transfers uh those numbers change a little bit Florida 34th in offensive returning production 29th in defensive returning production Merz is a big part of it uh came up a little bit short of 3,000 passing yards but uh as hail David hail pointed out that completion percentage uh very very high 72.8% uh not necessarily the most aggressive as far as attacking down the field just 6.7 average depth you know 6.7 yards in average depth of Target but uh took care of the football really well 20 touchdowns three interceptions and 8.1 yards per pass attempt there's certainly uh some room for improvement there but not terrible by by uh most measures the running uh running back room and and rushing production losing Trevor ATN definitely stung and seeing him transfer to Florida um even more or transfer to Georgia I should say even more so but Montreal Johnson Jr back unfortunately not fully healthy due to an injury suffered uh in early fall Camp uh but trayon web the other running back with over a 100 yards couple of touchdowns on uh 26 carries last season uh and we're hearing some positive uh spring Buzz about jacobe Jackson there's some thought that he might actually emerge as uh the top running back if Johnson's not able to go week one or or if he's limited so we still have trayon web as we'll get to as our projected starter but um Jackson could end up taking on that role um but hopefully again if you're a Florida fan Johnson will be uh back and and available um and if so should be in line for a pretty heavy work workload uh with you know etn moving on and and those two having shared that uh you know shared that workload uh for for the vast majority of last season you think that Johnson's going to be in a position to uh capitalize with with at and not not being available Ricky peaw uh moving on to his pro career he'll be missed was targeted 88 times 54 catches 970 yards and four touchdowns but the additional of Elijah Badger uh covers up a lot of uh that um you know another Arizona State transfer but Badger uh targeted nearly a hundred times didn't quite work out uh didn't lead to huge numbers for the sunnd Devils but still 65 catches 7133 yards and three touchdowns Eugene Wilson who was the target for a lot of those short throws just 2.8 yards average at the Target Target um hopefully he'll be used a little bit more downfield this season but understand wanting to get him the football as quickly as possible and see what he can do with it six touchdowns led the gator last season 61 catches just behind piol on the team leaderboard but uh hopefully he'll be able to turn that into or if he's you know targeted a similar amount catches a similar amount um hopefully we'll see a little bit more in the yardage total uh than the 538 he had last year shimray DK was limited but the Wisconsin transfer um has a a strong connection with merts and last year uh in limited action and and you know fairly limited uh production when he did get his hands on the football could create big play 17.3 yards per catch tight end RLS Bingham maybe flying a little bit under the radar at the tight end position but can be a productive uh pass catcher Montreal Johnson can uh catch the ball out of the back field as well had 30 receptions last season on 41 targets the offensive line losing two full-time starters to transfer uh isn't usually uh a good thing Richie Leonard the fource going to be starting for Florida State this season most likely uh Micah MZ masua uh moving on as well uh the rest of the offensive line you know there was there was a bit of shuffling there was some players unavailable for for uh chunks of last season uh bringing in two players with uh starting experience is potentially key Devon Manuel Brenan kinshaw uh coming in as well CAW Dixon excuse me um Florida hopefully a little bit more consistency on the offensive line in 2024 defensively top two tacklers return uh Jordan Castell at safety Shamir James at linebacker bringing in DJ Douglas who was productive through the transfer portal but um defense hit a little bit harder by players leaving via transfer at least just terms of um experienced players you know at the high end um Scooby Williams Jaden Hill princ Ley uh moving on as well Miguel Mitchell so that that hurts a bit but with that Florida defense being um you know the the weaker of the two units statistically speaking you could maybe make an AR argument that uh perhaps Florida could benefit from um maybe some addition by subtraction in some ways uh getting back to our team profiles here as I mentioned the the Raw Talent available for the Gators still ranks you know quite well 23rd in average 247 composite rating among offensive players top 10 nationally number eight among defensive players 16th in those average uh 247 compos ratings across the entire roster that's similar with the other recruiting sites as well 19th and average Rivals rating 15th and average on three rating uh but when we adjust for experience in production we do see a little bit of a a step in the wrong direction as far as the rankings go for the Gators 30th in roster strength 40th in offensive roster strength uh and 20 second uh on the defensive side of the ball but uh this you know Gators uh starting lineup again quarterback position if Graham Merz is able to play as well as he did last year statistically speaking maybe even a little bit better um then this has the potential I think to to be a very very solid offense if montro Jack Johnson excuse me is is back and um available for the majority of the Season even if not week one um then this unit will be even better the offensive line did rank 74th in our o line performance ratings last season so that needs to improve and and the level of experience uh is is lacking just a bit with only three full-time starters back but um nevertheless still have personally fairly optimistic uh expectations for Florida offensively and defensively similar to some other teams that we've discussed in the past uh you know LSU Falls in this category to even a more extreme degree because uh that LSU defense was one of the worst in the country last season but also a top 10 uh unit as far as most of the talent ratings go in roster strength Florida as you can see there's still some players highlighted with injury concerns Justice Boone Shamar James think they're both going to be back and and uh full speed we just haven't removed those designations yet um but injuries were a bit of an issue at the end of last season there have been some bumps and and bruises uh in Spring and in Fall Camp as Wellman mlan dealing with uh an eye injury and and not sure that according to to some of the you know beat reporters the former five star and Colorado transfer not really expected to contribute much this season he's actually walking on at Florida as you may know um nevertheless uh you know there there's Talent on hand and and he's certainly part of that um but if the defensive line you know that that is an experience Center for this fla defense uh plays well well then then this team is going to be uh dangerous in the SEC you know they were 70th in defensive line performance last season getting Boon back as an edge Defender adding George gums and Joyce slackman the transfer from pen um that's going to help as well and and you know anybody who pays close attention to the SEC knows the defensive line is is key uh pretty much across the board but uh two full-time starters return in the secondary Jason Marshall Jr Jordan k still we're projecting a couple of transfers coming in to join them as starters but uh getting down to you know the the the most important piece of it how does this schedule play out it is the toughest in college football number one in our strength of schedule ratings number one just about every other strength of schedule measure that I've seen uh the win total uh projection posted by uh DraftKings is is uh 4 and a half which seems incredibly low for a team that uh you know some of the the smartest uh projection models in the country has the top 25 team um but Florida's going to be at a disadvantage far more often than not uh in terms of you know Talent experience production um all of that when they're facing this this difficult level of schedule my Miami is certainly vulnerable not uh a team that always takes care of games where they are projected as the favorite but uh you know we do have the Hurricanes even in the swamp favored um in week one if Florida's able to pull off an upset there that would be potentially a game Cher for uh the gator this season for Billy Napier and his hot seat status um but that is that is about as big of a week one matchup as we will get from a just overall how is it going to shape the season uh potential one of Florida's next you know the SEC opener against Texas A&M they have a pretty big week one matchup as well there's some others out there but um that that Florida Miami matchup is is uh you know could say close to a a must-win for uh both sides there but um should Florida should get you know a fairly easy win against sford in week two um but then you know getting into SEC play with Texas A&M that's going to be tough even though again that game is at the swamp so Florida does have an opportunity uh you know does have winnable games against quality opponents in the first three weeks by getting those opponents you know hosting those games at Florida field Miami and Texas A&M uh though Florida's Underdog in both of those matchups by less than a touchdown um and and definitely um a winnable game those those upsets would not be absolute Shockers if if Florida's able to to go two- one or maybe even three and0 in those first three games getting Mississippi State in Starkville you know that's that's definitely a tougher draw but early in the season probably when you want to get this Mississippi State team UCF we've discussed our numbers are higher on UCF than probably anybody else out there um but as far as the you know that Miami game goes and and how that will play into Billy Napier's future and Florida's season as a whole that UCF game might be even more important that is a game that Florida just cannot lose I think for um uh you know the the perception of this program in in the State of Florida uh and the history there Tennessee always a uh matchup where you could go either way the gator traveling to Knoxville going to be difficult we do have Tennessee as a slight favorite also have Kentucky as a slight favorite our numbers like the wild cats this season but both of those games once again all three of those games are very winnable they are in uh within Striking Distance for Florida even though we do have the gator as a projected Underdog in all three uh get that extra week off as usual to prepare for Georgia number one team in the country as far as the pollsters go coaches poll AP Top 25 number two in our projection so understandably uh expectations fairly modest there we have the Bulldogs favored by two touchdowns and that's just the start of maybe the most brutal stretch that any team will face in college football Texas LSU Miss Florida State to finish we've got the Gators as uh double digit underdogs in four of those five the game against LSU at home and and also get oh miss at home um create some opportunities for uh an upset but man this schedule it is it is about as as brutal as any uh that I remember since we started this in in 2018 uh CFB Winning Edge and and maybe even you know prior to that uh this this there are no easy FBS opponents um even sford at the FCS level we've seen be competitive uh in in games against uh you know tougher competition so um Florida we do have projected to go over that four and a half win total the market uh and the odds makers seem seem to expect five wins at this point the odds this morning at DraftKings were minus 155 on the over for uh Florida to to get that fifth win but um can they get to six and and and would that be enough to save Billy Napier's job I think it's definitely possible um especially if uh you know this team stays relatively healthy we we talked about the the wide receiver core we talked about the offensive weapons the the optimism around Merz and I think you know the expectation that Florida is going to be a bit better defensively I I do think that this Florida Gator team is going to um scare a lot of you know I I don't think they're going to get blown out in those five uh you know games uh in in late October and and November that that final five weeks I think that this team is going to be highly competitive might even pull off an upset or two along the way and if so uh it's it you know they will have earned that bowl uh game opportunity if if they're able to get that six win because no team in college football faces a tougher schedule according to our ratings and and I think according to most uh just just you perusing through all the schedules you would you would certainly uh this one sticks out as as maybe the toughest out there so that's going to do it for us today for uh our 34th team preview I think it's going to be our last one we we might um depending on how next week shakes out um maybe we'll be able to squeeze in a West Virginia preview but I'm expecting for the most part we're going to be talking news we're going to be talking uh you know previews and our projections for week one uh but on Friday we are going to have that week zero preview we'll pass along any other news we get as far as injuries starting quarterbacks anything else you need to know um uh then but uh for now if you haven't already we very much would appreciate a like on this video for subscribing to the campus YouTube channel for uh trying us out becoming a member for his little as $2.99 per month um and then also of course if you're interested in the 22 and C2C Winning Edge tiers uh where you can get access to these team profiles returning production database our stat projections our week zero projections are out um we'd love if if uh you'd be interested in that as well so uh hope everyone has a great rest of the week we will be back on Friday to preview week zero the first college football games of the Season until then I'm Nicholas and Allen of CFB wining Edge and campus canton.com and take care