Ole Miss at Florida Odds

Written by Jack Jones

Florida looked impressive last week in their SEC-opener against Tennessee, winning 30-6. Now the Gators will host their first conference game of the season when the Rebels from Mississippi come into Gainesville. With Sportsbook.com listing Florida as a 22.5 favorite against the spread, it appears the experts think that the team’s early season dominance will continue on Saturday.

The difference in this Florida football team from last year has been the effort put forth by the defense. When the Gators won the national title in 2006, the defense was ranked in the top 10, but last year their numbers paled in comparison, giving up 80 more yards and 11 more points per game than their national champion counterparts.

It seems like this year’s Florida team has regained their magic. The Gators currently rank fifth in the nation with only 213 ypg allowed, and opponents have scored a mere 6.3 ppg so far. After three games Florida has a plus-nine in turnover margin. And, those numbers haven’t come exclusively against weaker opponents either. Last week Florida took on Tennessee and forced three turnovers, two of them while backed into the red zone.

Tim Tebow is sure welcoming the change. Last year it was a one man show, and while it allowed him to become the first sophomore ever to win the Heisman Trophy. In his first season as the starter, Tebow had 23 rushing touchdowns and 22 passing.

However, Tebow wants to win another national championship, and that is going to take the kind of team effort the Gators are putting together in 2008. It’s no longer a one-man show as Tebow has only 489 yards and five passing touchdowns this year, compared to the 835 yards, eight passing touchdowns and five rushing touchdowns he had through three games in 2007. He hasn’t even ran for a score yet this season.

First year head coach Houston Nutt could have surprised everyone if it weren’t for two heartbreaking losses and the team came into this game at 4-0, but at 2-2 that has to be better than most were expecting out of the Rebels. Ole Miss should have beat Wake Forest on the road, but a last second field goal led to a two point loss. Then last week, despite nearly double the total yards of Vanderbilt, Ole Miss lost by six to the Commodores. The problem is that game was turnovers, with quarterback Jevan Snead being picked off four times and the offense losing two fumbles.

Snead started the season off on fire when he threw for six touchdowns in the first two games, but against Samford and Vanderbilt he threw six picks without reaching the end zone once. He’s going to have to do a better job against this improved Florida defense or else the Rebels might not even get on the board.

Nutt has matched up against the Gators three times as the head coach of Arkansas, and has yet to win against them. He’s going to have his hands full trying to notch his first win in Gainesville, where the Gators are 21-1 under Urban Meyer.

Football Score Predictions: Florida 35, Ole Miss 14

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