Florida v. Louisiana-Lafayette

by Arnaldo

Cupcake: the team you pay to balance the schedule.  The team you should have no problem beating.  They're as soft as a cupcake.  As I've mentioned before, there's always a balance in schedules to tiptoe the line between having a favorable schedule and impressing the BCS voters with quality opponents.  Your conference will do the bulk of your schedule for you, but that still leaves four weeks of out of conference teams to schedule.  Florida enjoys its season-ending rivalry with Florida State, which leaves three open weeks.  In weaker conferences, teams must schedule more talented opponents to counteract their weak schedule, while SEC teams can schedule any FBS or FCS team it desires and no voter will look down on it.

Louisiana-Lafayette is 5-3 overall and 3-2 in the Sun Belt Conference.  They lead an efficient pass attack with QB Terrence Broadway who just came off a 373 passing, 87 yard rushing performance against Louisiana-Monroe, winning 40-24.  Don't be impressed however, the best defense the Ragin' Cajuns have faced this year has been Oklahoma State, who has the 56th overall best scoring defense.  Florida has the 3rd. 

The Match-up


Passing the ball - The Gators went out against Missouri with all the intentions of establishing a passing game.  When that veered them south, Muschamp had to rely on Gillislee and the run game to move the chains, but with three-fifths of the starting offensive line at least partially hurt or missing, and against a surprisingly tough Mizzou defense, it became easier said than done.  The Gators were shut out in the first half and barely broke a hundred yards passing the whole game.  Driskel needs to improve and receivers need to make plays, nothing's changed, but now is the time to improve two weeks away from a trip to Tallahassee.

Health - A major factor in the close game against Mizzou were injuries.  Matt Elam, Mack Brown, Andre Dubose, James Wilson, Xavier Nixon, Lerente McCray, Jonathan Halapio, and Caleb Sturgis all left the game injured.  Luckily, all are expected to return except for back-up running back Mack Brown.  Fellow back-up to Mike Gillislee, Matt Jones will be splitting his carries and has already done a great job throughout the season.  Expect less than normal playtime for a lot of these stars to ensure a full recovery for FSU, with the obvious exception of kicker Caleb Sturgis, who was sorely missed last Saturday as Brad Phillips missed two critical field goals.

Return practice - The Gators' special teams is starting to gain national recognition as one of the best.  This being said, Florida has yet to return a single punt or kickoff for a touchdown this season, something that has been missing since the Brandon James returns of the Urban Meyer era.  With Andre Dubose returning, but perhaps not 100% this week, it's time for him, Omarius Hines, and De'Ante Saunders to at least work on gaining substantial yardage on returns.  We all know how valuable field position is in the SEC (especially with a less-than-phenomenal offense) and the returns don't exactly match Kyle Christy's punts.

Secondary - Louisiana-Lafayette is a pass-oriented team and last week, we all learned how pass-oriented teams fare against the Gators.  Mizzou QB James Franklin threw four interceptions last week in a stunning display of defense from the secondary.  Expect big performances from Matt Elam, Jaylen Watkins, and Loucheiz Purifoy to accompany a healthier defensive line with the return of Lerente McCray and fully recovered Sharrif Floyd (SEC co-defensive lineman of the week) and Dominique Easley.


Homecoming in the Swamp - Even numbered years always just kinda fizzle out in Gainesville.  These are the years when we play FSU at Tallahassee, typically ending the season at home with an FCS opponent.  Last week's attendance claims to have been a few hundred under capacity (90,496) but anyone at the game, or even watching at home, could tell you it was not the Swamp.  The bubble-bursting loss to Georgia has taken a lot from the Gator faithful but the time for mourning has passed.  It's homecoming in Gainesville this weekend and the Swamp should be actually full, even for a 12:21 p.m. kickoff and regional SEC Network coverage with alumni ready to cheer on the Gators.  Let's pretend we're playing LSU again, tailgate early, stay late, and revamp the Swamp.

Arnaldo's prediction:

Florida 40 - Louisiana-Lafayette 3