Saturday NCAA: Troy (0-1) at No. 1 Florida (1-0)
Trying to think of reasons that Troy might cover the WagerWeb.com 36-point spread at No. 1 Florida on Saturday:
*-The Gators could possibly be looking ahead to next week’s game with Tennessee and how much they want to embarrass new Vols coach Lane Kiffin.
*-UF coach Urban Meyer says Troy has more NFL talent than “several” SEC schools.
*-The Trojans scored 31 points when they visited Gainesville in 2007 and were up 31-3 last year at LSU before losing.
I am all out of reasons. This same Troy team was beaten soundly by average MAC team Bowling Green last week. And Florida defensive coordinator Charlie Strong said he only used three different defenses against Charleston Southern in the Gators’ season-opening 62-3 rout last weekend. No vanilla schemes this week.
“You’re facing a better team,” Meyer said. “You’re facing better personnel. You’re facing an offense that’s very explosive and a real talented defense,” Meyer said. “Last week we went into the game with just a couple defenses – you’ll see the whole defensive package. Offensively, you saw very minimal option. The spread-option game, you’re going to see a lot of that this week. We’re kind of letting it go this week.”
The Trojans did average 32.8 per game last season using their version of the spread offense and RB DuJuan Harris rushed for 1,077 yards. Troy put up 336 yards of offense in a 59-31 loss to UF in 2007.
“They like to go empty a lot, they throw the ball a lot and that’s going to force us to change our defense up a little bit,” Gators safety Ahmad Black said.
Florida has won 11 games in a row since that shocking home loss to Ole Miss last year. A win Saturday will tie the school record for consecutive wins, set in the 1995 season, when Florida won the first 12 games of the season.
With a huge game, Gators QB Tim Tebow could break an unthinkable record for a quarterback. He has 44 career rushing touchdowns, which is tied for 4th most in SEC history. Georgia’s Herschel Walker is No. 1 with 49. Tebow has also thrown at least one touchdown pass in 29 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the nation.
Bet on college football at WagerWeb.com
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...
