The SEC East race is suddenly back to being wide open, following the win by Missouri over Georgia last week. The Tigers don’t get any rest, as they prepare for a ranked matchup with Florida on Saturday.
- When:
Sat., Oct. 19th, 2013 @ 12:21pm ET
- Where:
Faurot Field, Columbia, MO
- Who’s Favored?
Gators by 3.5 ~ 44 o/u @ BetOnline
- More Info:
Missouri went into Athens and defeated No.7 Georgia last week, though admittedly it was against a very depleted Bulldogs squad with many injuries. The Tigers got up 28-10 at halftime and managed to hang on in the end and pull off the upset. Missouri is the only undefeated team in the SEC East, and along with Alabama they are they only unbeaten teams remaining in the entire SEC.
That will be challenged Saturday at home against the No.22 Florida Gators. It also got more difficult because the Tigers will be without their starting quarterback James Franklin, who was injured late in the fourth quarter against Georgia. Franklin separated his shoulder and will be out several weeks.
Florida can sympathize with Missouri, as they also lost their starter a few weeks back. But back up Tyler Murphy has been even better, so they might have taken a step up. The Gators dropped to LSU last week which was their first SEC loss of the season.
In spite of the loss, Florida still controls its own SEC East destiny. A win over Missouri would set the Gators up nicely to challenge Georgia and South Carolina later in the schedule.
For the Tigers, this will be the best defense they have seen all year. The Gators are stout against the run and the pass, and will make it tough on the Missouri offense all day long.
Don’t expect many points to be scored in this one. Instead, expect a good old fashioned SEC matchup of old, where the first to 20 points might win.