Miami Florida Line

Written by Jack Jones

All eyes in the state of Florida will be tuned in to ESPN on Saturday, September 6th at 8 PM EST when the Hurricanes invade the Swamp to take on the Gators. It’s been a long time since the Gators have tasted victory in this series, not winning since 1985 after six straight losses. However that might changes this year as the early line shows Florida as a 21.5 point favorite with the total being set at 51.5.

The Florida Gators were definitely impressive in their opener against Hawaii last weekend, taking care of the Warriors to the tune of a 56-10 final. Miami didn’t leave much doubt in their game against Charleston Southern either, winning 52-7 which was the highest point total for the team in almost three years.

The Miami offense gave their fans something to be happy about as they beat up an inferior team last week. In 2007 Miami didn’t get past the 37 point mark one time, but the Canes put up 21 in the first quarter alone. The ground game was good for 224 yards on six yards per attempt as the total offense ended up at 416 yards. Five of Miami’s touchdowns came on the ground with a balance of output from Javarris James, Shawnbrey McNeal, and Graig Cooper. Robert Marve will be back for this contest, even though Jacory Harris played well last week in his absence. Marve will be making his first start and it is highly anticipated after missing the entire last season due to injury and the first game of this year with a suspension stemming from a fall arrest.

Defensively the team was quite impressive as well, limiting Charleston Southern to only 49 rushing yards and 77 through the air. Spencer Adkins was named the ACC Co-Defensive Lineman of the week after racking up two sacks.

Tim Tebow got a lot of help from his supporting cast, something he couldn’t count on a year ago. Tebow only threw 14 passes, completing nine for 137 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for 37 yards but broke his 14 game streak of at least one rushing and one passing touchdown, which was an NCAA record. The Gators ran at will over the Warriors, racking up 255 yards. The reliance on the run was in part due to the absence of the speedy Percy Harvin, who was out with a heel injury sustained in the spring.

Hawaii lost so much on offense from a year ago it’s tough to tell if Florida’s defense was just that good, or the Warriors were just that bad at moving the ball. Hawaii had only 241 yards of total offense, 60 on the ground and 181 through the air while committing six turnovers and giving up four sacks.

We expect the atmosphere of this game to be absolutely electric. A national audience will be watching, along with nearly every single football fan in the state. Florida has national title aspirations and this game will be a nice first test to see where this team stands. There will be a lot of big games for Florida this year, and they need to prove themselves in this first one with a decisive win.

Predicted Score: Florida 35, Miami 14

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