The Florida Gators will be hosting their first home game of the season against the South Carolina Gamecocks. Florida is coming off a road win over the Ole Miss Rebels in which their offense scored 51 points. South Carolina comes into this game after dropping their home opener to the Tennessee Volunteers. With that, it is time to take a look at the Gators vs Gamecocks preview.
The Gators offense was clicking on all cylinders but the defense had a rough performance against the Rebels. The secondary was missing some key players and it showed with how easily Ole Miss was able to throw the ball downfield.
Gators vs. Gamecocks Preview
South Carolina is looking to rebound after a tough home loss to Tennessee. The Gamecocks has also had their struggles against the Gators historically. Florida has a 28-3-9 record over South Carolina. The Gators have also won four out of the last five against the Gamecocks. Here is the Florida Gators vs. South Carolina Gamecocks game preview.
South Carolina Gamecocks
The South Carolina Gamecocks come into the Swamp to play SEC rival, the Florida Gators. The Gamecocks led by their head coach, Will Muschamp, who’s in his fifth season as South Carolina’s head coach.
The South Carolina offense will also led by their graduate transfer quarterback Collin Hill. When the Gamecocks hired Mike Bobo to be their offensive coordinator, Hill followed him to South Carolina. Hill is very familiar with Bobo as he was Hill’s head coach at Colorado State.
In his first game of the season, Hill completed 64.1% of his passes for 290 yards, a touchdown and an interception. His top target in the game was wide receiver Shi Smith. The senior wide receiver had ten receptions for 140 yards and a touchdown. Their lead rusher was Kevin Harris as he had 13 carries for 55 yards and a score.
On defense, the South Carolina Gamecocks had their struggles against Tennessee and will even after a tougher matchup against Florida’s offense. The Gamecocks have two top cornerbacks in Israel Mukuamu and Jaycee Horn. Defensive lineman Kingsley Enagbare had a great first in which he recorded nine tackles including 2.5 tackles for loss and two sacks.
Linebacker Ernest Jones was their lead tackler last season and look good in first game of the season. Jones leads the Gamecocks with eleven tackles including nine solo tackles. Former five-star defensive tackle Zacch Pickens is another player that can make an impact on this defense.
Florida Gators
Dan Mullen and the Florida Gators had a good of a start as you can ask for offensively. Redshirt-senior quarterback Kyle Trask had a career game as he completed 30 out of 42 passes for 416 yards and six touchdowns. Trask was able to pick apart the Ole Miss defense and spread the ball to eleven different pass catchers.
Trask’s favorite target during the season opener was his star tight end Kyle Pitts. The junior out of Pennsylvania went off as he recorded eight receptions for 170 yards and four touchdowns.
Senior wide outs Kadarius Toney and Trevon Grimes also performed well last week. Toney had five catches for 59 yards and a touchdown. Toney also leads the Gators in rushing for 55 yards on two carries. Grimes had three catches for 64 yards and scored on a back shoulder touchdown pass.
While Florida threw for over 400 yards, the Gators also rushed just under 200 yards. Junior Dameon Pierce had nine carries for 54 yards. Tampa native Malik Davis had seven carries for 49 and also had three receptions for 33 yards.
The Florida Gators defense didn’t have the performance many were expecting out of them. Ole Miss’s offense found ways to expose Florida’s defense that was down a couple of key players.
There were a few players that did play well against the Rebels. Linebacker Ventrell Miller was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week with 15 tackles, thirteen solo tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack. Former Georgia transfer Brenton Cox made his Florida debut as he recorded eight tackles with a sack and pass breakup which led to an interception.
Five Players to Watch: South Carolina Gamecocks
- CB Israel Mukuamu
- WR Shi Smith
- LB Ernest Jones
- QB Collin Hill
- DT Zaach Pickens
Five Players to Watch: Florida Gators
- QB Kyle Trask
- LB Brenton Cox
- TE Kyle Pitts
- CB Kaiir Elam
- WR Kadarius Toney
Five Predictions:
- Kyle Trask throws for over 275 yards and three touchdowns.
- Shi Smith leads the Gamecocks in receiving and scores a touchdown.
- Florida’s defense records four sacks.
- South Carolina’s defense forces at least one turnover.
- Florida Gators beats South Carolina Gamecocks 41-20.
