No. 6 Florida will be trying to keep its current hot streak alive Saturday night in The Swamp when it plays host to an Arkansas team that has been one of the more pleasant surprises in college football this season. The Gators are fresh off an emphatic victory over rival Georgia that established them as the front-runner in the race for the SEC East title. Meanwhile, Arkansas clawed back from a double-digit, second-half deficit to stun Tennessee last weekend.
Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman will not coach on Saturday night after testing positive for COVID-19 on Sunday. Defensive coordinator Barry Odom will serve as the interim head coach in his place. Odom was the coach at Missouri from 2016-19.
Florida has beaten Arkansas in nine of the 11 matchups all time. However, the Razorbacks did top the Gators in their last meeting in 2016. Will the Hogs continue that run and their remarkable start or will the Gators get the better of this cross-divisional matchup in Gainesville. Let’s break down the matchup and make picks straight up and against the spread.
Storylines
Florida: Star tight end Kyle Pitts will not play after suffering a concussion last week against Georgia. Coach Dan Mullen said he’s also not expected to play next week. That means Kemore Gamble — who caught a touchdown last week after Pitts’ injury — will serve as the primary tight end. The offense shouldn’t miss too much of a beat thanks to the play of star quarterback Kyle Trask. The redshirt senior has 22 touchdown passes through five game — which is the same number ex-LSU quarterback Joe Burrow had during his first five games of last season.
The Gators defense was atrocious on third downs during the first three games of the season, but held Missouri to 3 of 15 and Georgia to 2 of 13 over the last two weeks.
Arkansas: It’ll be the homecoming of ex-Florida quarterback and current Razorbacks starter Feleipe Franks, who lost his job to Trask after Franks got injured last September. The senior graduate transfer from Crawfordville, Florida, has thrown for 1,428 yards, 14 touchdowns and three interceptions while adding 174 yards on the ground in the Kendal Briles offense. The biggest change for the Hogs this season has been limiting big plays on defense. They rank third in the SEC in defensive yards per play at 5.16 after finishing 13th last season (6.54 yards per play).
Viewing information
Date: Saturday, Nov. 14 | Time: 7 p.m. ET
Location: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium — Gainesville, Florida
TV: ESPN | Live stream: fuboTV (Try for free)
Florida vs. Arkansas prediction, picks
Arkansas is 6-0 against the spread this year, and it’ll make it 7-0 this week. This game just screams let down for the Gators. Pitts’ injury has dominated storylines, but coming down from the high of winning a big rivalry last week coupled with the Hogs’ toughness — especially in the trenches — will make this an ugly, old-school slugfest. Give me the Gators to win, but the Razorbacks to cover. Florida 30, Arkansas 17 | Pick: Arkansas +17.5
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