College Football News Preview 2020: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Florida Gators season with what you need to know.
– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Schedule Analysis
– Florida Previews 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2019 Record: 11-2 overall, 6-2 in SEC
Head Coach: Dan Mullen, 3rd year, 21-5
2019 CFN Final Opinion Ranking: 5
2019 CFN Final Season Formula Ranking: 20
2019 CFN Preview Ranking: 4
No one knows what’s going to happen to the 2020 college football season. We’ll take a general look at where each team stands – doing it without spring ball to go by – while crossing our fingers that we’ll all have some well-deserved fun this fall. Hoping you and yours are safe and healthy.
5. College Football News Preview 2020: Florida Gators Offense 3 Things To Know
– The offense still got the yards. The 2019 attack wasn’t as balanced as the 2018 version, but it was close to 2,000 yards better than the 2017 offense.
Over the last two seasons under Dan Mullen and offensive coordinators Billy Gonzales and John Hevesy, the Gators were scored over 400 points in back-to-back seasons. Before Mullen, the last time the program pushed past the 400-point mark was at the end of the Tim Tebow era in 2009.
There might not be any college football household names, but it’s going to be another good season with a whole lot of good parts in place. Now – even though it’ll take a little reworking – it’s time to be stronger than the fourth-best O in the SEC.
CFN in 60 Video: Florida Gators Preview
– Kyle Trask wasn’t supposed to be the starting quarterback once Florida football became good again. Feleipe Franks – now at Arkansas – had all the tools and the talent, and Emory Jones was the star recruit who was supposed to take the program by storm. Trask was just a guy – he was a two-star recruit coming in at the same time as Franks in 2016.
Once Franks went down last year with a leg injury, Trask stepped up and looked the part of a next-level star, hitting 67% of his throw for almost 3,000 yards with 25 touchdowns and just seven picks with four rushing touchdowns. Now he’s the unquestioned No. 1 guy, but Jones is still a great-looking prospect who’s more than just a nice No. 2.
Leading receiver Van Jefferson is gone, but Kyle Pitts will be one of the nation’s best pass-catching tight ends – he led the team with 54 grabs with five scores – along with third-leading wide receiver Trevon Grimes and veterans Jacob Copeland and Kadarius Toney.
There’s promise in the receiving corps, but it’ll be more about Trask spreading the ball around – eight different Gators caught 20 passes or more. On the way are Penn State transfer Justin Shorter and Texas transfer Jordan Pouncey, but they have to be ruled eligible. True freshman Xzavier Henderson has the talent to someday be the No. 1 target.
– The backfield lost leading rusher Lamical Perine to the New York Jets, but it has a shot at being more dangerous. Junior Dameon Pierce was second on the team with just 305 yards and four scores, but he’s got the home run-hitting ability to do more. Ready to roll is former Miami superstar recruit Lorenzo Lingard, who was declared eligible by the NCAA for this year.
Up front is a line that had its down moments, but improved as last year went on. It’s not a deep line – at least going into the season – but it will get the job done.
It wasn’t great in pass protection, but it could hammer away when needed – for the most part. Nick Buchanan is gone at center, but everyone else is expected back. There aren’t any big-time stars here – it would be nice if a true killer could emerge – but there aren’t any massive concerns.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Florida Gators Defense 3 Things To Know
4. College Football News Preview 2020: Florida Gators Defense 3 Things To Know
– Imagine how good defensive coordinator Todd Grantham’s group would’ve been if everyone stayed in one piece. The Gators still finished ninth in the nation overall and seventh in scoring helped by a fearsome pass rush. By the way, the D didn’t give up a 300-yard passing day – not to Joe Burrow or Jake Fromm – until the Orange Bowl win over Virginia.
Star CB CJ Henderson was selected with the ninth overall pick by Jacksonville, but there’s still a whole lot to like in what should be one of the nation’s best secondaries.
It starts with the return of Marco Wilson – who can work just about anywhere – to likely be the team’s top corner. The safeties are going to be terrific around Shawn Davis, an NFL-sized senior who’ll once again be one of the team’s top tacklers.
– Of course it hurts to lose next-level pass rushing talents like Jonathan Greenard and Jabari Zuniga, but the team got through last year with the two banged up way too often.
The Gators need former Georgia transfer Brenton Cox to be a hybrid pass rushing factor on the outside, and for junior Zachary Carter – who tied for second on the team in sacks and tackles for loss – to become even more productive. Kyree Campbell and Marlon Dunlap are strong presences on the inside to work around.
– Gone is leading tackler David Reese – he led the way with 94 tackles – but junior Ventrell Miller returns after finishing second on the team with 55 stops. He’s not huge for the inside, but he can move. 233-pound junior James Houston is a bit more of a thumper.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Top Florida Gators Players
College Football News Preview 2020: Top Florida Gators Players
Best Florida Gators Offensive Player
QB Kyle Trask, Sr.
An argument could be made that Kyle Pitts belongs here as one of the nation’s top tight ends, and the hope is for a wide receiver or one of the good running backs to rise up into a star, but Trask rose up into the main man for the attack.
Good in practices and in his limited time, he was seen as a nice option in case something happened to Feleipe Franks, and then something happened to Feleipe Franks.
The 6-5, 239-pound Trask stepped in when Franks went down for the year hurt, and he took off hitting 67% of his passes for 2,941 yards and 25 scores with four rushing scores. He had no problems keeping his cool in big situations, and he proved to be a solid decision-maker who could push the ball deep.
2. TE Kyle Pitts, Jr.
3. WR Trevon Grimes, Sr.
4. RB Dameon Pierce, Jr.
5. RB Lorenzo Lingard, Soph.
Best Florida Gators Defensive Player
S Shawn Davis, Sr.
Take your pick of several Gators for this spot – and for the top five list. There might not be too many nationally known names, but there’s a whole lot of All-SEC and next-level talent on what’s going to be another great D.
So why Davis? The 5-11, 185-pound future NFL starter could’ve left early with his speed, versatility, and the ability to bring the really, really big pop. He might not be all that huge, but he’s an intimidating tackler. He finished fourth on the team with 51 tackles with three picks as part of the safety mix.
2. LB Ventrell Miller, Jr.
3. CB Marco Wilson, Jr.
4. DE Zachary Carter, Jr.
5. DT Kyree Campbell, Sr.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Florida Gators Keys To The Season
College Football News Preview 2020: Florida Gators Keys To The Season
Biggest Key To The Florida Gators Offense
Don’t forget about the running game. The emergence of Kyle Trask and the efficiency of the passing game made it easy to bomb away in came after game – the Gators threw for 300 yards or more eight times.
That’s fine, and there’s no reason not to trust Trask with moving the attack, but considering how good the defense and special teams should be again, when the ground game works, forget it – the Gators win.
Dan Mullen’s 2018 team was about as balanced as possible – 2,776 rushing yards, 2,771 receiving. Trask might not provide a whole lot of mobility, but when you have a passer who was good enough to help the offense throw for close to 4,000 yards, you use him.
However, it was hard to pound out key drives to take control of the LSU game that was there to grab. It wasn’t for a lack of trying – Florida ran a season-high 40 times – but it wasn’t effective enough. It struggled even more in the loss to Georgia with just 21 rushing yards. The O only hit the 200-yard mark twice – once in the layup against UT Martin, and once in the Orange Bowl against Virginia.
Florida is 11-0 when it runs for 200 yards so far under Mullen. Over the last six seasons the program has won 19 straight when it got two 2000 and is 23-1 overall with the only loss coming to South Carolina in 2014.
Biggest Key To The Florida Gators Defense
Keep up the pressure into the backfield. It helped to have Jonathan Greenard and Jabari Zuniga, but 22 Gators came up with at least one tackle for loss last season and 17 registered a sack.
The 49 sacks the defense generated marks the first time the program got to the 40-sack mark since 2015 in one of the most productive pass rushing seasons in school history. There were just two games when the D went sackless – LSU and Georgia. The only two losses.
In the first two seasons under Dan Mullen, there was only one other time the Gators failed to come up with a sack – the loss to Kentucky early in 2018. In the two other losses in 2018, there was just one sack in each of the two games.
Overall, the Gators were just okay on third downs and there were a few strange lapses over the season, but lead the SEC in sacks again, and everything will be okay.
Key Florida Gators Player To A Successful Season
OT Stone Forsythe, Sr.
It’s not that the 6-7, 329-pounder was bad at left tackle, but he wasn’t dominant and wasn’t consistent. It would make the puzzle of the front five a whole lot easier to put together if he cranked up a great camp and secured the job, otherwise he’ll be moved to right tackle, and then comes the audition for the gig on the left side.
The starting five from the end of last year was okay, and it’s full of veterans. However, there’s going to likely be some switching around to find the right center, so again, if the tackles are set early on, it’ll take off some of the pressure.
Key Game To The Florida Gators Season
Georgia, Oct. 31 (in Jacksonville)
It has only been a three-game losing streak for the Gators in the series, but in that time the balance of power in the East shifted over to Athens with Georgia playing in three straight SEC championships.
The matchup in each of the last two seasons was effectively the SEC East title game. Considering the rest of the SEC schedule isn’t all that bad, don’t lose the road game at Tennessee early on, don’t trip in any of the landmine games, and a home loss to LSU doesn’t become the end of the world … if there’s a win in Jacksonville on Halloween.
– Florida Gators Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2019 Florida Fun Stats
– Opponent Punt Returns: 7 for 9 yards
– Red Zone Scores: Florida 46-of-54 (85%) – Opponents 23-of-35 (66%)
– 4th Quarter Scoring: Florida 128 – Opponents 43
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Florida Gators Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
1. College Football News Preview 2020: Florida Gators Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
CFN in 60 Video: Florida Gators Preview
It seems like a million years ago now, but the 2017 Florida Gators went 4-7.
At the time, the prevailing thought was that the program just needed some tweaking and not a total overhaul when Dan Mullen took over for Jim McElwain, and that was certainly true with 21 wins along with two major bowl victories in his first two seasons.
But McElwain got Florida to the SEC Championship in 2015 and 2016.
Welcome to life in the SEC. You can be really, really fantastic and have absolute jack-squat to show for it.
Oh sure, winning an Orange Bowl and a Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl so far under Mullen weren’t without their charm, but it’s not like going to the College Football Playoff – which Florida has never been to – and it’s not like at least playing for the SEC title.
There’s no question that Mullen and Florida have been phenomenal – there’s NO beef with two straight double-digit win campaigns – but he has to bust through the hard ceiling.
He has the team and the schedule in place to do it.
Set The Florida Gators Regular Season Win Total At … 10
Bet at BetMGM Win Total Line: 10
This isn’t a perfect team. It needs several receivers to step up, the offensive line has to be stronger, and the defensive line could use the young parts to be great, but it’s as rock-solid in every way as any team in the country.
There’s no Alabama on the schedule like Georgia has to deal with – and that’s on the road – and not playing Auburn and Texas A&M this year could be a big deal.
There’s the annual date against LSU, but at least that’s in Gainesville. The SEC road games? At Tennessee, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt. All things considered, that’s as manageable as it gets in the SEC.
Assume a split against LSU and Georgia, and assume a misfire somewhere – like the Missouri loss in 2018 – with South Carolina a possible sandwich date between Tennessee and LSU, and that date in Knoxville a potential concern.
Even so, expect a third straight season of at least ten wins.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– Schedule Analysis
