The Sunshine Showdown Opening Kickoff: Florida at FSU

The Opening Kickoff

Florida at FSU
#UFvsFSU
Saturday, : p.m.
Doak Campbell Stadium
Broadcast Info | Game Notes

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Gators went to Arkansas three weeks ago and got manhandled. LSU played there the following week and crushed the Razorbacks. The Gators traveled to LSU a week ago and clinched a second consecutive SEC East title with the best goal-line stand in school history.

Meanwhile, LSU ran wild on Thanksgiving night to pulverize Texas A&M on the road.

Welcome to college football, 2016. As soon as you think you have it figured out, well, the game pulls one behind your back.

Kind of like the Gators, who were a heavy underdog at Death Valley. As far-flung as it seemed prior to that pregame skirmish in Baton Rouge, the Gators are now being watched closely for possible ramifications on the College Football Playoff.

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The only way the No. 13-ranked Gators (8-2) remain in any conversation about the CFB Playoff is first, win at No. 15 Florida State (8-3) on Saturday (8 p.m., ABC), and second, beat No. 1-ranked Alabama in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta on Dec. 3.

The odds are against them (yes, probably an understatement). Heck, at this point, some would take Alabama over the winless Cleveland Browns.

Still, it's fun to talk about the crazy possibilities as the turkey coma from Thursday begins to wear off.

No need to ask Florida head coach Jim McElwain about any CFB Playoff chatter. He'd probably just chuckle and ask if you drank too much wine on Thanksgiving.

But he weighed in this week on how the Gators responded after their 31-10 loss at Arkansas, winning back-to-back games against South Carolina and LSU to return to Atlanta.

"That hurt, but if you dwell on it, it's going to be there forever,'' he said. "I thought our guys learned some things from it. And it's no different than probably when you were growing up and your mom had a kettle on the stove and you wondered what that red burner was and you probably went over there and touched it and realized, 'You know what, that didn't feel very good.' So let's not do that again. Those are the lessons we learn.

"We learned that you've got to come to play. We aren't that good to be able to just show up."

In the Florida-Florida State rivalry, just showing up is never good enough.

Gators quarterback Austin Appleby knows that and Saturday will be his first taste of the rivalry.

"We've got to stay hungry. You can't exhale at all," Appleby said. "We got an unbelievable opponent in front of us. All of our goals that we set in the beginning of the season are right there for us."

Perhaps they are, but the Gators understand only with wins over the Seminoles and Crimson Tide.

And then any chatter about the Gators and the CFB Playoff gets real interesting.

"If we keep winning I don't think you can keep us out," Appleby said.

A crazy season could get crazier.

For more on the Fresh From Florida Sunshine Showdown between the Gators and Seminoles, here is The Opening Kickoff (hashtag: #UFvsFSU):

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THREE QUESTIONS WITH … GATORS QUARTERBACK AUSTIN APPLEBY

Q: Was the win at LSU the most fun you have had in football?

A: Yeah, no doubt. If you would've told me, number one, I would be at Florida, but the starting quarterback for the Florida Gators and just clinched the SEC East, I would've told you you were nuts this time last year. I'm enjoying every second of it. I love this place.

Q: What is the difference with the offensive line the past two weeks?

A: They kind of got called out. And there's a lot of guys on that offensive line that have a lot of pride, that work extremely hard, that don't get the respect they deserve, that have had a lot of criticism at them all year. They're young, they're talented, they've got a long way to go, but they're getting better every single day. And I think down the stretch in that third and fourth quarter [at LSU], they dominated the line of scrimmage. I had never seen an offensive line impose a will upon another team like I saw on Saturday.

Q: What impact has redshirt freshman center T.J. McCoy had up front?

A: T.J. is a pit bull. That dude works his tail off, and he did it all the way back in spring, did it all the way through camp. He was my center all the way through camp, so he and I work really, really well together. He's a good football player. It's nothing that we were surprised about."

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THREE STORYLINES

The Florida-FSU rivalry is one that has been cyclical in nature over the years. The Gators won nine in a row from 1968-76, FSU won four in row from '77-80, the Gators won six in a row from '81-86, FSU won four in a row from '87-90 and then Steve Spurrier and Bobby Bowden slugged it out for a decade. Since the Gators won six in a row from 2004-09, FSU has won five of the last six. If history holds, the Gators are due to regain an edge.
It's Senior Day at Florida State and the Seminoles can do something no other senior class in school history has done: finish 8-0 against Florida and Miami. The Seminoles can't think of a better way to go out at Doak Campbell Stadium. The Gators can spoil the party by sending out those seniors with a loss in their final home game.
Can the Gators follow up their momentous win at LSU with an upset of FSU? The outlook – at least for fans and media -- heading into next week's SEC Championship Game against Alabama will vary greatly depending on the answer to that question.

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THREE PLAYERS TO WATCH

Let's start with the player considered by most as the best in this year's matchup – FSU running back Dalvin Cook. The Gators must find a way to limit his effectiveness much like they did a week ago against LSU's Derrius Guice and Leonard Fournette.
Gators junior cornerback Quincy Wilson picked off a pass in Florida's last trip to Tallahassee and continues to rate as the top pass defender in the country based on the metrics used by Pro Football Focus.
Seminoles starter Deondre Francois leads all freshmen quarterbacks in passing yards per game (271.8) and if Florida limits Cook in the run game, Francois will test its secondary.

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THE QUOTE FILE

"He's had a great mentor. I think Marcus Maye has had a great impact on this guy [in that] it isn't just about being a good player -- it's about doing the little things to help you become a great player. And I see him doing that." – Gators head coach Jim McElwain on freshman Chauncey Gardner, who will play more at FSU with both starting safeties – Maye and Nick Washington – injured
"It's a confidence booster. It's a character booster. I mean, everything above. It's a great tribute to the coaching staff and the players that they stood up and made those two plays." – FSU coach Jimbo Fisher on Florida's goal-line stand at LSU
"This game is like no other. Playing against guys you grew up with, you know, playing against in high school, they want to beat you just as much as you want to beat them so you know it's going to be a heated game." – Florida junior receiver Brandon Powell on FSU matchup
"Y'all trying to bait me. I can't do it. I can't say it. Listen, they really told me to be careful with my words so I can't do it. I can't say anything." – FSU defensive end DeMarcus Walker to reporters asking what it feels like to raise a Gator head after three wins in a row in rivalry
"In my opinion, he's the best back we'll face. What we have to do is not let him do what he likes to do, and that's hit the edge and get going." – Gators defensive lineman Jordan Sherit on FSU running back Dalvin Cook

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INJURY REPORT

OUT: LB Jarrad Davis (ankle), DB Marcus Maye (broken arm), LB Alex Anzalone (broken arm), DB Nick Washington (ankle), DE Bryan Cox Jr. (leg), QB Luke Del Rio (shoulder), C Cameron Dillard (knee); WR C.J. Worton (ankle). DOUBTFUL: OL Martez Ivey (leg); DL Justus Reed (undisclosed).

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CHARTING THE GATORS

Florida is in the middle of at least a three-game stretch of facing ranked opponents. In two seasons at UF, head coach Jim McElwain is 2-5 against ranked teams, his biggest victory at LSU a week ago.

A glance at those games:

OPPONENT/DATE	RESULT	NOTE
No. 3 Ole Miss (Oct. 3, 2015)	Gators W 38-10	QB Will Grier 24 of 29, 271 yards, 4 TDs
At No. 6 LSU (Oct. 17, 2015)	Gators L 35-28	UF's first loss after 6-0 start under McElwain
No. 14 FSU (Nov. 28, 2015)	Gators L 27-2	Florida nearly shut out for first time since '88
No. 2 Alabama (Dec. 5, 2015)*	Gators L 29-15	Derrick Henry 44 carries, 189 yards
No. 14 Michigan (Jan. 1, 2016)**	Gators L 41-7	Wolverines roll up 503 yards on offense
At No. 14 Tenn. (Sept. 24, 2016)	Gators L 38-28	UF's 21-0 lead gives way to 38 in row by UT
At No. 16 LSU (Nov. 19, 2016)	Gators W 16-10	Goal-line stand earns victory on final play

*SEC Championship Game; **Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl

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10 QUICK HITTERS

This is the 19th time in the rivalry that both the Gators and Seminoles are ranked in the top 15 of the AP Top 25 poll when they play. FSU owns a 10-7-1 advantage.
Gators quarterback Austin Appleby needs 185 yards passing to reach 1,000 for the season, which would make Florida the only FBS school to have two 1,000-yard passers in each of the last three seasons. Injured Luke Del Rio has thrown for 1,358.
A matchup to watch is Florida's offensive line in pass protection against FSU's defensive line. The Gators rank second in the SEC in fewest sacks allowed (15 in 10 games) and the Seminoles lead the country in sacks with 41, led by 13 from defensive end DeMarcus Walker.
FSU starting left guard Kareem Are has been ruled out of Saturday's game due to a concussion. Sophomore Cole Minshew expected to start for second straight game.
Gators running back Jordan Scarlett, who rushed for 100 or more yards for the third time this season in last week's win at LSU, needs 94 yards to reach 1,000 for his career. A sophomore, Scarlett has 906 career yards on 174 attempts (5.2 per carry).
Florida's kicking game continues shine as kicker Eddy Pineiro is now 16 of 20, including 3 of 3 from 50 yards or more, and punter Johnny Townsend is averaging 47.8 yards per kick and has 23 punts of 50-plus yards.
FSU will honor former player and longtime athletic department official Monk Bonasorte by wearing "MB 42" helmet stickers, Bonasorte's initials and jersey number. Bonasorte passed away on Sunday morning after a battle with brain cancer.
Gators receiver Antonio Callaway could use a big game as his numbers in the first five games (20 catches, 371 yards, 18.6 average, 2 touchdowns) outweigh his totals in the last five games (17 catches, 174 yards, 10.2 average, 0 touchdowns) despite his absence in the North Texas game due to a quad injury.
UF freshman linebacker David Reese now has 43 tackles on the season after 23 in the last two games. He is just 13 from matching injured teammate Jarrad Davis (56) for the team lead.
The Gators lead the all-time series against FSU 34-24-2 and have a 13-12-1 edge in Tallahassee.

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THE OTHER SIDE

How much respect does Gators coach Jim McElwain have for Florida State junior running back Dalvin Cook?

"This Dalvin Cook guy is the most explosive player in all of college football,'' McElwain said. "You can just look at his plays, both running and catching. He's a special, special player who is going to play a long time at the next level."

McElwain wasn't blowing smoke. He said he enjoys watching Cook play on film, just not as much as the week the Gators must prepare to face the 5-foot-11, 213-pound Heisman candidate.

Cook became FSU's all-time leading rusher a week ago with a 225-yard performance at Syracuse, breaking the record by Warrick Dunn (3,959 yards) that stood for 20 years. Cook now has 4,166 career yards and needs 435 to eclipse the ACC's all-time record (4,602) set by N.C. State's Ted Brown from 1975-78.

In two games against Florida, Cook has rushed 50 times for 327 yards (6.5 average) and two touchdowns. A look at Cook's record-breaking run last week at Syracuse:

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WHAT THEY'RE WRITING

How the Gators climbed back into the College Football Playoff picture by Matt Baker of TampaBay.com.
Gators should follow blueprint it used at LSU to defeat FSU writes Sam Khan Jr. of ESPN.com.
Are FSU receivers up to challenge against Florida defensive backs is question posed by Corey Clark of Tallahassee.com.
Gators O-line peaking at right time writes Nick De La Torre of GatorCountry.com.
Gators teammates look up to defensive end Jordan Sherit writes Graham Hall of GatorSports.com.
Will Florida score more than two points against FSU this time? Question asked by Jason Kirk of SBNation.com.
Five Florida-Florida State games Gators fans can be thankful for via Dan Hancock of GridironNow.com.

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BOTTOM LINE

Another game, another opportunity to make a huge statement for the Gators. They did it last week at LSU with a game-saving goal-line stand to clinch their second consecutive SEC East title. Few gave them a chance. Perhaps a few more like the Gators in this one, but the Seminoles remain the solid favorite playing at home and with five wins in the last six meetings between the schools. Rivalry games are always the most difficult to predict. Emotions are high and motivation runs rampant. I wrote earlier this week about how both programs are 18-6 since the start of last season, a sign that perhaps Florida is gaining ground on the Seminoles, who have dominated the rivalry in recent years. It won't be easy and probably won't be pretty, but the Gators are riding a wave of momentum after the road win at LSU and I like another upset on the road.

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