No. 1 Florida’s matchup with FIU probably won’t provide much excitement for fans, but there’s plenty at stake for the players.
Lesser-used reserves have a chance to prove they deserve more playing time as the season draws to a close.
The offense can gain some confidence ahead of meetings with Florida State and Alabama in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game.
And for the seniors, Saturday’s 12:30 p.m. kickoff is the beginning of the end of their time in The Swamp. With just two home games left, they’ll be committing everything to memory.
“I think about that every day,” senior linebacker Ryan Stamper said. “This is the second-to-last game in The Swamp, and we have four games left. It’s kind of sad, but it’s exciting at the same time.”
It’s a longshot that the Gators’ bid for an undefeated season will suffer against the Golden Panthers (3-7, 3-4 Sun Belt), but when dominance is expected, anything less can affect a team’s morale.
Florida (10-0, 8-0 SEC) is favored by around 45 points by most online betting sites and has had its way with weak opponents late in recent seasons. UF has faced Western Carolina, Florida Atlantic and The Citadel before playing the Seminoles in the last three years, outscoring them 191-39.
“We just try to focus on doing everything we’ve done in the past weeks,” Stamper said. “We’re playing FIU, but believe it or not, we’ve been practicing hard just like we have for previous games like South Carolina and Georgia.”
There isn’t much room for playing time to be earned on defense, but a few offensive players could state cases for increased roles.
Receiver Omarius Hines had seven catches against Charleston Southern and Troy but didn’t register another statistic until last week, when he had two receptions for 20 yards against South Carolina.
Freshman running back Mike Gillislee is also likely to see a lot of action. As the fourth back on the depth chart, Gillislee has rushed for 145 yards and a score on 20 carries, including the team’s second-longest run of the season, a 49-yarder against Georgia.
While those two try to earn more playing time, the clock on quarterback Tim Tebow’s UF career will be counting down. Tebow isn’t likely to make it through the third quarter, giving him less than two games left in Gainesville.
“[Tebow] realizes we have two more Gator Walks, two more times running out of the tunnel and two more times being able to play on this field in front of the greatest fans in the country,” receiver David Nelson said. “It may hit the fans hard, but it’s hitting him even harder to realize these are his last two chances.”
