College Football Betting: Florida vs. Miami

By BetOnline August 23, 2019

0 Comments

It’s the 56th meeting between the Florida Gators and Miami Hurricanes since 1938 and this time it’s the Gators that are significant favorites as the two squads open the season with a battle for Sunshine State supremacy.

From 1944 to 1987, this was an annual affair, but this match up between the two Florida-based teams is the first since 2013, a game Miami won 21-16. The Hurricanes have dominated the series since the mid 1980s, winning 8-of-10 since 1984.

But these are two teams on very different trajectories as they face off near the Magic Kingdom Saturday night and there’s a good reason that the Gators are a touchdown favorite.

The Game: Florida Gators vs Miami Hurricanes

Kickoff: Saturday, Aug. 24, 7 p.m.
Broadcast: ESPN
Location: Orlando, Fla. – Camping World Stadium
BetOnline.ag Spread: Florida -7

It’s the beginning of the second campaign for Florida head coach Dan Mullen, who surprised the pundits last season with a 10-3 finish and a downright shellacking of Michigan in the Peach Bowl, 41-15. A month before, the Wolverines were in the College Football Playoff conversation before a loss to Ohio State. The Gators silenced that conversation for good.

It had a great deal to do with the emergence of quarterback Feleipe Franks. After a shaky start to 2018, he solidified himself as Florida’s quarterback and for the final four games of the 2018 season, there weren’t many QBs in America playing better. Franks did not throw an interception after the month of October.

He has all the offensive tools at the skill positions around him to succeed, led by senior running back Lamichael Perine and wide receiver Van Jefferson, both back after leading the team in rushing and receiving respectively.

The Hurricanes surprised last season too, but not in a good way. They finished 7-6 and head coach Mark Richt decided he’d rather spend 2019 on his couch instead of on the sidelines. They’re breaking in a new head coach, Manny Diaz, their former defensive coordinator and a new starting quarterback, Jarren Williams.

Williams appeared in all of one game as a true freshman and still has his redshirt status. This is a big game and a stout defense to make a legitimate debut. He’ll have some help with Deejay Dallas in the backfield, the team’s second leading rusher last season and Jeff Thomas at receiver, the senior vet was threat to transfer in the offseason, but decided to stick it out with the ‘Canes.

Florida’s defense is loaded with upper classmen and talent, with seniors starting at five of the 11 positions. Those that aren’t seniors, guys like C.J. Henderson and Jabair Zuniga, will be playing in the NFL in 2020 anyway as high-round draft picks.

Arguably the Hurricanes’ best player is on the defensive side of the ball in linebacker Shaquille Quarterman. He’s a four-year starter at middle linebacker and has been a tackling machine the whole way, never once recording fewer than 82 stops and last year put 14 players down behind the line of scrimmage with five sacks to go with it.

THE PICK

The cupboard wasn’t bare for Diaz in Miami, but there’s no question that Florida has a distinct advantage in personnel. They also have the momentum from a strong finish in 2018 and a quarterback who’s bounced back from adversity to become a potential All-SEC player. I like the Gators and the spread.