The Gators will look to become bowl eligible this week as they welcome Eastern Kentucky to the Swamp for Senior Week. Florida has seen their share of distractions this week with fans and media being critical of their late-game collapse to South Carolina, costing them any shot at Atlanta for the SEC Championship, and eventually the dismissal of their head coach later in the week.
The announcement was that head coach Will Muschamp will step down at the season’s end, meaning he will finish up by coaching the final two games against Eastern Kentucky and defending National Champion Florida State. Muschamp is 27-20 in nearly four years at Florida, including a mere 17-15 in SEC play.
The players are sticking behind their coach and will likely play their tails off to send him out a winner. Eastern Kentucky will provide them with an opportunity to send him out a winner in his final game at the Swamp, but it won’t be an opponent they will simply roll out of bed and beat.
Eastern Kentucky is a 9-2 FCS squad out of the Ohio Valley Conference with an impressive 5-1 road record, including a victory over FBS opponent Miami of Ohio. Florida is a much tougher opponent than Miami of Ohio, but with all of the distractions surrounding the program, the fact that they are only 5-4 this year, and the fact that they were beaten by then FCS opponent Georgia Southern just last November are all reasons why the Colonels should be optimistic heading into this game.
The Colonels are led by senior quarterback Jared McClain, who has thrown for 22 touchdowns and rushed for another 18 in his four-year career. He completed 13 of 20 passes for just 91 yards and an interception last week. Because of that, the Cincinnati transfer Bennie Corey saw playing time and had good success, completing 11 of 16 for 264 yards and a touchdown. He may see playing time this week as well, with an eye to the future. The Gators will need to be prepared for both guys.
As far as playmakers go, junior Kentucky transfer Dy’Shawn Mobley stands above the entire Eastern Kentucky offense. He is coming off a monster game last week where he carried the ball 40 times for 224 yards and five rushing touchdowns. He also caught four passes for 100 yards and another touchdown. The Gators will need to know where Mobley is at all times and really try to limit his success as much as possible. J.J. Jude, Jeff Glover, Devin Borders, and Taylor Miller are all names to watch as well when Eastern Kentucky has the ball. Theron Norman is a standout defensive back.
The Gators will have freshman Treon Harris under center for his third start. Harris has completed 33 of 56 passes for 565 yards and four touchdowns in his limited action so far this season. He has started to look more comfortable as his reps increase and this should be the perfect game to get him even more comfortable with the offense. Expect Kurt Roper to call more shots deep and really see what Harris has with his arm against an inferior opponent. The coaching staff has nothing to lose at this point, so they have more reasons to open up the play calling.
The running game should also be prominently featured in this game as it has been all season. Matt Jones (148 carries, 761 yards, 6 touchdowns) and Kelvin Taylor (91 carries, 499 yards, 5 touchdowns) have given the Gators one of the best two-headed running back tandems in the country. Florida averages just over 200 yards rushing per game and should have little trouble topping that number this week.
On the outside, Demarcus Robinson (39 catches, 566 yards, 5 touchdowns) has seen his numbers come down a bit from the start of the season but him and Quinton Dunbar (14 catches, 219 yards) are looking to bounce back and close out the season on high notes. Expect both men to try to take advantage of the EKU secondary.
The Gator defense will try and get back on track after being forced into some tough positions last week thanks to blocked kicks on special teams. The unit will look to lead the club as it has the entire four years under Muschamp and really emphasis his strengths as a coach on his way out the door.
Add it all up, and the Gators have the clear advantage in this one. The announcement of Muschamp’s departure probably couldn’t have come at a better time. Eastern Kentucky appears to be the perfect opponent and the sixth win should get the Gators bowl eligible no matter what happens in their finale against Florida State.
Eastern Kentucky @ Florida kicks off at noon on the SEC Network.
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