Florida Atlantic Owls at No. 22 Florida Gators (-35), Total 47 |
Florida Atlantic travels to The Swamp in Gainesville and will begin the final season under head coach Howard Schnellenberger, who began the program 13 years ago, taking it from obscurity into the major college football ranks.
The Owls have met the Gators just once, dropping a 59-20 contest during the 2007 season.
Saturday’s contest is the start of an imposing schedule, featuring three teams that are currently ranked, including a trip to take on Michigan State in East Lansing.
The biggest focus during the offseason was taking care of the football, as the squad finished with a minus-9 turnover margin. It hasn’t seemed to work due to giving up the ball 11 times over the course of two scrimmages.
Predicting a straight-up victory in this contest is a major stretch due to the Owls coming in with an 0-17 record on the road against teams from BCS conferences.
Florida Atlantic is 7-17 ATS over the past two years and the ‘under’ is 14-10 in that span.
Florida begins a new era in 2011 as head coach Will Muschamp takes over for the departed Urban Meyer, as he ditched the idea of being the coach-in-waiting for the Texas Longhorns.
The Gators finished with an 9-5 record and Outback Bowl win over Penn State last year.
Muschamp’s roster is extremely young and possesses 70 underclassmen and 18 seniors.
Offensive coordinator Charlie Weis will be calling plays for quarterback John Brantley, as he comes back into the collegiate ranks after a year with the Kansas City Chiefs. He also spent some time as the front man at Notre Dame.
Florida holds an all-time record of 77-27 on opening day, including a dominating 62-6 mark in Gainesville. The Gators are also an unblemished 13-0 all-time against teams currently playing in the Sun Belt Conference.
Lines-makers are expecting a blowout and the Gators possess a 5-1 ATS mark versus Sun Belt competition, while the Owls are 0-4 ATS versus SEC opponents.
