Riding high after toppling Ole Miss, the Gators must now survive a hostile SEC road test against a motivated Tigers squad eager to derail Florida’s playoff momentum.
The rankings for college football will more or less sort themselves out by early December, though there will be plenty of nitpicking about who deserves to be in the 12-team College Football Playoff bracket.
Florida's opponent in Week 5, Missouri, received a lot of buzz for being ranked as the No. 25 team in the country after losing to Mississippi State last week. The Gators can't complain, as they stand to add another ranked victory to their resume if they beat Missouri on Saturday. (Maybe that was the whole point behind the Tigers' ranking?)
The Gators have received a major boost in the rankings in recent weeks. They were unranked before beating Auburn 44-39 in Week 3. They jumped up to No. 21 before destroying No. 4 Ole Miss at home in Week 4.
Now, the No. 8 Gators are somewhat in the shoes Ole Miss was in last week, going on the road to play an SEC opponent a week after earning a big win at home. Is Florida primed for an upset on Saturday?
Bill Connelly of ESPN named the Gators as a potential team to be upset this weekend.
Connelly noted that Mizzou at least slowed down Bulldogs quarterback Kamario Taylor last week in the first half. Florida has not been stymied yet on offense, and quarterback Aaron Philo could be challenged on Saturday.
While the passing game has had to lead the team just yet, the running game could put the Gators ahead early, as it has in the first four games. Running back Jadan Baugh is looking every bit like the first-round pick he was expected to be during the preseason.
Baugh has rushed for 600 yards and 11 touchdowns on 83 carries. Mizzou will have a hard time making him a non-factor. The Tigers' best hope is to at least slow him down.
If not, Mizzou will drop out of the rankings, maybe not to return for the remainder of the season.
The Gators defense showed improvement against Ole Miss last week. It'll be interesting to see how they do against a Missouri team that is averaging 418.8 yards per contest this season.
After being Ole Miss, Florida has earned the respect of its SEC foes for the rest of the season. Look for the Tigers to have strong motivation to be the first team to hand Jon Sumrall a loss at Florida.
But I'd expect Sumrall has something up his sleeve for this one.
