Florida vs. South Carolina: Pick, prediction, spread, odds, football game time, watch live stream, TV

Football

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Image Credit: Michael Nash

An underwhelming season has turned forgettable for the Florida Gators, which have nothing left for which to play other than bowl eligibility. Florida is in contention for neither the College Football Playoff nor the SEC, but the easiest portion of its schedule is upcoming as its four remaining opponents have a combined record of 14-18 this season. That begins Saturday when the Gators hit the road to take on a South Carolina Gamecocks team trying to find its footing under a new coaching staff.

Florida enters with plenty of questions, most of them surrounding head coach Dan Mullen who once again made the wrong kind of waves in his last couple of media availabilities. Mullen entered the season with positive momentum despite a tough finish to the 2020 campaign but now finds himself on the hot seat for the first time in his UF career. Though Mullen is not in danger of losing his job this season, the heat is ratcheting up given the Gators are 4-7 in their last 11 games and 2-7 against Power Five opponents in that span.

Questions about Mullen’s decision making, namely with his quarterback position, are running rampant as the development he proved capable of achieving with Kyle Trask and even Feleipe Franks to some degree is not evident with Emory Jones and Anthony Richardson this season. Speaking of Richardson, the redshirt freshman who started his first career game last week against No. 1 Georgia may not be available as he recovers from a concussion. Jones, the redshirt junior, is expected to start and play the entire game.

What will go down Saturday when Florida visits South Carolina? Let’s find out.

Tale of the tape

Injuries and absences

Questionable (5): QB Anthony Richardson (concussion), WR Trent Whittemore (knee), WR Rick Wells (undisclosed), OL Ethan White (ankle), DL Daquan Newkirk (undisclosed)
Out for season (3): LB Ventrell Miller (torn biceps) CB Jaydon Hill (knee), DB Kamar Wilcoxson (knee)
Notable inactives (?): To be announced before kickoff

Viewing information

Date: Saturday, Nov. 6 | Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Location: Williams-Brice Stadium — Columbia, South Carolina [77,559]

TV: SEC Network (Taylor Zarzour, Matt Stinchcomb, Alyssa Lang)
Live stream: SEC Network | SiriusXM: 380 | Radio: WRUF, TuneIn
Live updates: @OnlyGators on Twitter

Game notes

» Florida is 29-9-3 all-time against South Carolina with a 12-7-1 edge on the road and three straight wins in the series with victories in five of the last six meetings.
» Under Mullen, Florida is 24-5 when scoring first, 27-3 when leading at halftime, 29-2 when leading after the third quarter, 23-1 when allowing 20 points or fewer and 25-2 when outrushing its opponents. The negative marks in those last two statistics have come this season to Kentucky (both) and Alabama, respectively.
» UF is 7-10 when being outrushed by an opponent and 6-7 in games decided by 10 points or less.
» Florida is 6-10 against ranked opponents (2-4 vs. top five teams, 4-7 vs. top 10 teams) and 25-5 against unranked teams under Mullen. It is also 12-1 against nonconference opponents.
» The Gators have scored 24+ points in 32 of their last 37 games.
» Florida’s 483.7 yards per game ranks seventh among Power Five teams, and the team’s 3,512 total yards are the second-most through eight games since 1991.
» UF’s 400 yards rushing in Week 1 vs. FAU were the most under Mullen and the most for any FBS team this season. The Gators are sixth nationally with 242.6 yards rushing per game, and their 1,941 yards rushing through eight games puts them on pace for one of the top rushing totals in program history.
» Florida is one of two FBS teams nationally (Alabama) that has not lost to an opponent that finished the season with a losing record since 2004.
» UF has scored in 418 consecutive games, an NCAA record.

Prediction and analysis

Spread: Florida -20 | O/U: 52

As I’ve said the last few weeks in this space, it’s impossible to get a handle on this Gators team from an against-the-spread perspective. Florida’s lost games it should win outright and played close games in expected blowouts with a bit of everything in between. The truth is that no one would have expected the Gators to be sitting at 4-4 (2-4 SEC) through eight games this season unless there was a disastrous string of injuries to the team, and that is not the case.

Florida is 3-5 ATS this season with its only covers at home against Alabama, Tennessee and Vanderbilt. Don’t get it twisted: South Carolina is a bad football team still finding itself under a new coaching staff. The Gators do have a talent advantage, but this is still a road game in what could be a rowdy environment. Florida has defeated four of the five worst teams it’s faced this season by 21+ points but all of those came within the Sunshine State while UF still had plenty for which to play. The Gators defense should have success slowing down the Gamecocks to keep this under.

2021 records: ATS picks 1-7 | O/U picks 4-3-1

Odds and ends

» Florida will wear traditional white jerseys, blue pants and orange helmets.