Keep busy during Florida Gators’ bye week

By Adam Silverstein
October 2, 2009

Florida Gators fans might think the 2009 schedule was divinely created. In addition to having one of the lightest conference slates (on rotation) that I can remember, the team also lucked out with home games against the Tennessee Volunteers and Florida State Seminoles.

With quarterback Tim Tebow suffering a concussion last Saturday against the Kentucky Wildcats, it appeared as if that thought gained some credence. When else would Florida’s superstar receive an extra week to recover? While that is nice to consider, the fact of the matter is that Florida’s schedule makers just wanted to give the team an extra week to prepare for the always-tough LSU Tigers…especially when playing them away in Tiger Stadium at night.

While the bye week is great news for the Gators, it may leave some fans feeling a bit empty this Saturday. No worries – there are plenty of college football games to care about this weekend. More after the jump…


» No. 4 LSU at No. 18 Georgia – 3:30 pm, CBS: Considering the Gators schedule both teams annually, you could believe that it doesn’t matter who wins. Au contraire! Florida fans need to be big-time Tigers fans Saturday afternoon. Why? UF is already getting enough undue grief for its schedule and needs wins against opponents ranked as high as possible should they lose a game at some point this season. Potentially defeating a No. 4 LSU next week and a top five Alabama Crimson Tide in the SEC Championship (theoretically) are huge for UF’s argument (if they ever need to make one). Should the Gators lose to the Tigers (especially without Tebow), fans should prefer it be to a No. 4 ranked LSU rather than a team who just lost the week before to a one-loss Georgia Bulldogs team. It does not hurt to cover your bases.

» Arkansas vs. Texas A&M – 7:30 pm, ESPN2: Florida’s homecoming opponent, the Razorbacks were predicted by many to be a breakout team for the SEC this season in its second year under head coach Bobby Petrino. However, Arkansas has dropped its first two SEC contests 52-41 and 35-7 to Georgia and Alabama, respectively. Against a 3-0 Aggies squad, Petrino’s team has a chance to get a quality win while defeating a Big 12 opponent, both of which would benefit the Gators.

» No. 25 Georgia Tech at Miss. State – 7:30 pm, SEC Network: Former Gators offensive coordinator Dan Mullen has done a respectable job so far as Bulldogs head coach, including taking LSU to the wire (literally) last week at home. Dropping a heartbreaker has to hurt, because MSU has a tough schedule ahead including both No. 12 Houston and the Gators in the next month. The Yellow Jackets rebounded from a loss to the Miami Hurricanes with a drubbing of the North Carolina Tar Heels and are still vying for the ACC crown. It will be interesting to see how Mullen and Paul Johnson game plan for each other’s offenses in this contest.

» No. 3 Alabama at Kentucky – 12:21 pm, SEC Network: It has to suck if you are Kentucky, having to face the No. 1 Gators and No. 3 Crimson Tide in back-to-back weeks at home. Talk about a lose-lose scenario! Not only is it basically impossible for the Wildcats to pull out a victory for the second-straight week, the team loses two home games in the process. Some have suggested to Alabama head coach Nick Saban that he try to out-do the Gators by blowing out Kentucky by a larger margin than Florida did last week. I’m just interested in seeing them play a common opponent.

One Comment

  1. Gatorfox says:

    LSU@Georgia. Right answer; wrong reason. You must never root for UGA under any circumstances. For example, if the situation were reversed, and a UGA win would improve our SOS, it would still be heresy to wish for a UGA victory. You must always want UGA to lose. That is the law. Be guided accordingly.

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