The 11th ranked Florida football team looks to stay in the College Football Playoff hunt Saturday when it travels to play at South Carolina at noon.
Florida (8-1) has already clinched the SEC East but needs in a win to stay in the chase for a possible berth in the College Football Playoff. South Carolina (3-6) playing for interim coach Shawn Elliott since the departure of Steve Spurrier, has played better of late but still has lost its last two SEC games to Texas A&M and Tennessee in close games that came down to the end of the game.
Florida could be hurting on the defensive line for this game as Joey Ivie is out and Jonathan Bullard is “highly questionable” with an injury although sources say he could still play a few snaps in the game. If Florida is lacking at depth at defensive tackle, you could see freshman CC Jefferson move in from defensive end to play a few snaps inside.
While Florida’s defense has played solidly for most of the season, the Gator offense has sputtered some of late, especially last week in a sloppy 9-7 win over Vanderbilt when Florida committed four turnovers. South Carolina is not rated highly in most defensive categories in the league under new defensive coordinator and former Gator defensive coordinator Jon Hoke so we’ll see if Florida’s offense responds with a better game.
This is the final SEC game and road game for Florida in the regular season; next week UF will host Florida Atlantic.