USA TODAY Sports unanimously picks Volunteers over Gators
The Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers will clash on Saturday, but the experts at USA TODAY Sports aren’t giving the Orange and Blue much of a chance to come out of the SEC East clash victoriously.
All six experts — Scooby Axson, Jace Evans, Paul Myerberg, Erick Smith, Eddie Timanus and Dan Wolken — picked the Volunteers to win this week, which would all but doom Florida in the race for the SEC East crown. The loss to Kentucky hurt UF’s chances already, but two losses would make a win over Georgia moot.
The good news is that Florida has won 16 of the last 17 matchups in this series and that linebacker Ventrell Miller could return. The bad news is that Tennessee looks like a legitimate top-10 team so far and has the home-field advantage. The Gators haven’t played a game on the road this season either, so it’s fairly reasonable to go with Volunteers here.
There’s also the Anthony Richardson issue to consider. While it’s well-accepted that he is one of the most talented quarterbacks in that nation, Richardson hasn’t performed to the standard expected of him over the last two weeks. If the Gators are going to prove the experts wrong on Saturday, their offensive leader needs to play more like he did in Week 1 against Utah.
If Richardson shows up and Miller is healthy to lead the defense, Florida could pull off the upset.
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