Yes, the Florida Gators went to the SEC Championship for the first time in four seasons last year. They had their first Heisman Trophy finalist in 12 years. They played in a New Year’s Six bowl for the third straight year. However, the team finished the campaign with a three-game skid, including a loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship, followed by a flat bowl game. They have to replace Kyle Trask with Emory Jones at quarterback, and so it will be interesting to see if the Gators can trend back upward and push Georgia in the SEC East — or whether they will continue that small tailspin.
We have some predictions about Florida football that may help you plan out your online college football betting for the whole season.
NCAA News: 5 Fearless Predictions about Florida Football in 2021
Kaiir Elam will lead a vastly improved defense
Elam is the Gators’ lockdown corner, an All-SEC player who started every game for a defense that was dreadful all around against the pass. He has already been named a pre-season All-American and is getting buzz as a first-round pick in the next NFL draft. With Elam’s leadership and another year of experience for many of his peers on that side of the ball, the Gators shouldn’t give up nearly as many big plays, which will allow the offense more room for error.
Expect more balance from the Florida offense
Not only is Kyle Trask gone from the team, now backing up Tom Brady with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but so are two of his favorite targets. Kyle Pitts and Kadarius Toney both were first-round selections in this year’s NFL draft, and the next men up (Xzavier Henderson, Trent Whittemore and Jacob Copeland) are not rated nearly as highly as the players they are replacing. The good news is that Emory Jones is much more mobile than Trask was and can extend plays with his feet — or get big yardage on designed runs. Dameon Pierce, who led the Gators in rushing last year, is back at tailback.
Emory Jones pushes 1,000 yards in rushing
If you’re wondering if Dan Mullen can coach dual-threat quarterbacks, look at what Tim Tebow and Dak Prescott were able to do in the college game — and what Prescott has been able to do for the Dallas Cowboys. The offense this season will rely on the suspense that opponents feel with Jones under center. He can gain on designed runs, or he can scramble if he can’t find open targets down the field. That will keep defenses engaged with the run instead of settling back into dime packages, which should leave him more opportunities to send the ball down the field.
Rely on a win total of 9 (or even 10) for the Gators
The defense will be improved; after all, the depth and talent among the front seven, along with a solid group in the secondary, will help the Gators avoid some of the awful plays they gave up last season. Remember — they lost by three at Texas A&M last year, and they lost a barnburner against LSU. Both of those losses would likely have been wins with this year’s defense, and they hit eight wins a year ago. The Gators’ toughest games are a home date with Alabama, a trip to LSU and their neutral-site tilt with Georgia.
Florida’s ball security will improve
In 2020, the Gators had 19 turnovers — after coughing it up 18 times in 2019 and 14 times in 2018. As gifted as Kyle Trask’s arm is, he had a tendency to throw pick-sixes at just the wrong time. In the last three games, the offense turned it over eight times, with a -5 differential. All three of those games were losses. Moving to a more balanced offense should mean fewer turnovers as the interception count goes down, and greater ball security means fewer high-stress possessions defending a short field.
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