Florida Gators vs. Florida State Seminoles Preview

The Florida Gators regular season is coming to an end. They’ll play their final home game this Saturday. The Gators will host the Florida State Seminoles in their season finale and Senior Day. Both of these teams are coming off bye weeks. Florida is 9-2 trying to finish the season on a high note. The Florida State Seminoles come into the Swamp with 6-5 record. Here is the Florida Gators vs Florida State Seminoles game preview.

Looking at the Seminoles

Florida State comes into Gainesville, Florida led by their interim head coach, Odell Haggins. FSU fired their old head coach, Willie Taggart, after losing to Miami earlier this month. The Florida State offense will be led by their redshirt-sophomore quarterback James Blackman. The Sunshine State native QB has had a solid season as he’s completed 64.2% of his passes for 1,945 yards. He also has 16 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

Junior running back Cam Akers is the lead back for the Seminoles with 1,042 rushing yards. He has 13 touchdowns on 214 carries. Akers also has 28 receptions for 223 yards and four receiving touchdowns. Wide receiver Tamorrion Terry is the biggest receiving threat. Terry leads the Noles in receiving with 44 receptions for 892 yards and eight touchdowns.

On defense, the Seminoles have struggled this season allowing 27.5 points per game. Florida State will be without their top defensive player as defensive tackle Marvin Wilson is out for the season with a hand injury. Junior defensive back Hamsah Nasirildeen leads the Seminoles in tackles. Nasirildeen has 96 tackles on the season with two tackles for loss, a sack, two interceptions, and three forced fumbles.

Redshirt-freshman Amari Gainer has been one of FSU’s most productive defensive players. Gainer has 56 tackles with six tackles for loss. That includes three sacks and two forced fumbles. Junior cornerback Stanford Samuels III has also had a nice season with 55 tackles. With that, he has two interceptions and six pass breakups.

Florida Gators

As we continue with the Florida Gators vs. Florida State Seminoles preview, we move our focus to the Gators. The Florida Gators will look end the season with a win against their in-state rivals as they’ll be led by their head coach, Dan Mullen, who’s in his second season as Florida’s head coach. The Florida offense will be led by their redshirt-junior quarterback Kyle Trask. The Texas native quarterback has been sharp this season as he’s completed 66.8% of his passes for 2,293 yards and 21 touchdowns and six interceptions.

Florida will need to get something going on the ground as they’ll look to Lamical Perine to have a big game in his final game in the Swamp. Tight end Kyle Pitts leads the Gators in receiving with 46 receptions for 566 yards and five touchdowns. Redshirt-senior Van Jefferson has 38 receptions for 480 yards and four touchdowns. Wide receiver Freddie Swain has also been big this season with 30 receptions for 434 yards and five touchdowns.

The Gators defense looks healthy again with Amari Burney and Jabari Zuniga expected to play against the Seminoles. Senior linebacker David Reese leads the Gators in tackles with 83 tackles on the season. He also has 4.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, and a fumble recovery.

Louisville graduate transfer Jon Greenard has been the Gators defensive MVP this season. Greenard has 46 tackles with 12 tackles for loss, six sacks and eight quarterback hurries. Safety Shawn Davis continues to produce with 44 tackles, three interceptions, and three pass breakups. Another safety Donovan Stiner has been playing really well as of late. Stiner has 28 tackles including a team-high four interceptions and a tackle for loss.