Week 5: Ole Miss at Florida

After last week’s victory over Tennessee, Florida will have to avoid a letdown against pesky Ole Miss. The Rebels are coming off a difficult 23-17 loss to Vanderbilt, where they dominated the stat sheet, but were hindered by six turnovers. If the Gators get past the Rebels and Arkansas, it will setup a huge SEC showdown with LSU in Gainesville on October 11th.

The Florida offense hasn’t been hitting on all cylinders, but that’s alright with coach Urban Meyer. The Gators have been able to save wear and tear on Tim Tebow and are content to win with a well-rounded effort from all sides of the ball. Tebow and the passing game should continue to improve, especially as Percy Harvin continues to work his way back into the mix. Although the Gators may rank 54th in rushing offense, there are plenty of options to lean upon. Emmanuel Moody provided a spark against Tennessee and the speed of Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey will break a few big plays this season. Not to mention, the Gators still have Tebow to use in short yardage situations. The Rebels will get a boost from defensive end Greg Hardy, who has battled a foot injury this year and made a limited appearance against Vanderbilt.

The Ole Miss offense has plenty of young talent, but they have to get better production from Jevan Snead. The sophomore has struggled in his last two outings and will need his best game of the year to knock off the Gators. The talented Rebel backfield features a trio of backs in Cordera Eason and freshmen Brandon Bolden and Enrique Davis. The Rebels will be running against the 15th ranked run defense, which puts a lot of pressure on Snead’s shoulders to get the offense moving and keep the Gators on their heels.

Notes:

This will be the 23rd meeting between Florida and Ole Miss. The Rebels hold the series edge at 11-10-1 and have a 5-3-1 edge in Gainesville. However, the Gators have won 18 of their last 19 SEC home openers.

Florida linebackers Ryan Stamper (ankle) and John Johns (throat) were injured against Tennessee, but are expected to play against Ole Miss.

The Gators are the only team in college football to not have a turnover this season. They rank second in turnover margin at + 9.

Key Player (Rebels) – Jevan Snead, QB

After last week’s four interception game against Vanderbilt, it’s pretty clear Snead is still growing as a quarterback. In his first season as a starter, the sophomore has six touchdowns to seven interceptions and 844 passing yards. Snead needs to take much better care of the ball and not put his defense in short field situations.

Key Player (Gators) – Emmanuel Moody, RB

Urban Meyer’s plan to reduce the hits on Tim Tebow has worked relatively well through three games and the emergence of Moody should help this offense even more. Moody showed flashes against Tennessee and should continue to take on a bigger role in this offense as the season progresses. Rushing production has been a big question mark for the Gators, especially since the last running back to top 1,000 yards in Gainesville was Ciatrick Fason in 2004.

Florida by 24