No. 6 Florida will hold its annual senior night in The Swamp on Saturday when it plays host to reigning national champion LSU in a revenge game following last season's classic game in Death Valley. The Gators are coming off a 31-19 win in a rivalry game vs. Tennessee on Rocky Top, while the Tigers are licking their wounds after getting thrashed by Alabama 55-17 in game that, let's be honest, wasn't even as close as the score indicated.
Gators quarterback Kyle Trask and tight end Kyle Pitts are both putting together Heisman Trophy campaigns, and good showings on Saturday night will go a long way toward getting them to virtual New York City as finalists for college football's most prestigious individual award. The Tigers are running out the clock on what has been the worst national title defense in modern college football history. However, an upset over the Gators would rock the college football world and give Ed Orgeron and his team something to build on going into the offseason.
Florida leads the all-time series 33-30-3 and the teams have traded wins and losses over the last four years. Will that trend continue and see the Gators come out on top or will the Tigers pull off the massive upset and end Florida's College Football Playoff hopes? Let's take a closer look at the storylines and matchups to follow before making some expert picks both straight up and against the spread.
Storylines
Florida: It's safe to say that, at this point, Trask and the Gators are going to light up opposing defenses on a weekly basis no matter who the opponent is. They lead the nation in passing offense at 376.7 yards per game and Trask leads the nation with 38 touchdown passes. He is one of nine quarterbacks who are averaging over 10 yards per attempt (10.1). The biggest question facing the Gators is offensive balance. They rank 11th in the SEC in rushing offense (126.22 YPG) and eighth in rushing yards per attempt (4.12). That won't cut it in the long run. Why? Because one of the ways to put up a fight against Alabama next week is by keeping its offense on the sideline, and a stable running game is the way to do that. Expect the Gators to focus heavily on the ground game on Saturday.
LSU: The Tigers an absolute mess. Let's be honest, that might be an insult to messes around the world. Freshman tight end Arik Gilbert chose to sit out the rest of the season earlier this week, and the program self-imposed a one-year bowl ban stemming from NCAA violations that were announced earlier this year. Simply put, it's quitting time in Baton Rouge. The offense has been a disaster after Myles Brennan's injury, the defense has been exposed all season long and it's hard to create a scenario in which things change this weekend.
Viewing information
Date: Saturday, Dec. 12 | Time: 7 p.m. ET
Location: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium -- Gainesville, Florida
TV: ESPN | Live stream: fuboTV (Try for free)
LSU at Florida prediction, picks
The simple solution is usually the right one. It's Occam's razor. Florida's strength all season has been its passing offense and LSU's weakness has been its passing defense. Gators coach Dan Mullen knows this. Expect the Gators to build a big lead through the air early, grind it out in the second half in an attempt to get right in the running game and cruise to an easy win over a broken Tigers team. Pick: Florida -23
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