Florida Gators Key Matchups vs. Oklahoma Sooners
Florida’s upcoming bowl game with Oklahoma will serve as more of a preview for 2021 that will serve as an endpoint for a historic, but disappointing 2020.
On one hand, it’ll be the end of the Kyle Trask era (presumably) in Gainesville. The fifth-year senior is set to finish off a season in which he broke the school record in passing yards with 4,125 yards and touchdown passes with 43. Trask has played himself into a potential top-50 pick in the upcoming NFL draft. If he returns to Florida after this season, it’ll be very surprising.
Add Trask’s final game to a plethora of player opt-outs, Jacob Copeland missing the game because of COVID-19, and a lot of faces who haven’t gotten much action this season will get their chance to make impressions heading into the 2021 spring season.
All that being said, Oklahoma legitimately has more motivation and more to play for, and more cohesiveness roster wise entering the Cotton Bowl.
With that being said, Florida should still expect to win their third straight New-Years-6 Bowl. If that’s how Dan Mullen will begin his tenure as the Gators head coach, here are the matchups that will decide the game.
Florida's linebackers vs. QB Spencer Rattler's scrambling
The Florida linebacking core will be tested in the open field greatly with Rattler. The redshirt-freshman has incredible arm-talent, but he’s elusive when he gets out of the pocket. He’s rushed for five touchdowns this season, and has made numerous plays on the ground to bail the Sooners out of numerous third-down situations.
This will put lots of pressure on the Gator linebackers, particularly Mohamoud Diabate. He’s been tasked with being the spy in games this season, and has performed well there. He’s second on the team in solo tackles with 30, and has six tackles for a loss this season. He’s incredibly fast moving sideline-to-sideline, and showed that ability against Kentucky when he was assigned to spy Terry Wilson.
Rattler isn’t as fast as Wilson, but Rattler is a far superior passer, and this makes it tougher to spy. Rattler won’t just scramble to run, he’ll scramble to suck up defenses and hit crossing routes behind the linebackers that bite on him approaching the line of scrimmage. This will make it important for Diabate to commit to staying in coverage or attacking Rattler quickly, and not hesitate in making that decision. If Rattler can’t influence the defense with his feet, it significantly takes away from his game, and the Sooner offense.
Gators offensive line vs. Sooners front seven
Oklahoma is much improved defensively this season compared the years they made the College Football Playoffs. Defensive coordinator Alex Grinch transformed the unit into one of the best in the Big-12, and the 19th best in the country.
The success of their defense starts with their front four, as they only allow 90 rush yards per game, good for second in the nation. They held the country's second-leading rusher Breece Hall to under 100 yards in the Big-12 title game, and it carried them to their sixth straight conference title.
Not only is their run defense superb, but their pass rush is elite as well. The Sooners rank sixth in the nation in sacks per game, averaging just under four a contest. The unit is led by Nic Bonitto and Isaiah Thomas, who combined have accounted for 15.5 sacks this season.
With all this being said, the Florida offensive line will have its hands full. Florida hasn’t been able to run the ball all season, and that’s been well documented. The Gators only average 120 yards on the ground this season, and have only averaged over five yards a carry in two games this season. A change to younger personnel could help.
Redshirt freshman Ethan White and Michael Tarquin, along with true freshman Josh Braun have shown to be capable run blockers in limited playing time this season, and are more traditional “maulers” as opposed to the more pass-blocking friendly unit the Gators currently employ. Combine that with the current unit struggling as of late, they’ve allowed a combined nine sacks over the last two games, and the unit is going to have to turn its game around.
Florida's underclassmen skill position players vs. Oklahoma's secondary
As mentioned prior, Trask will be without his top-four pass-catchers Wednesday. One thing that will be severely missed is the chemistry Trask has with Kyle Pitts, Trevon Grimes, Kadarius Toney and Copeland. This can’t be replicated, no matter how talented the underclassman pass catchers are. However, Trask has shown to have significant chemistry with one receiver who is playing: Justin Shorter.
Shorter has 23 catches for 246 yards and three touchdowns, and has shown to be a capable possession receiver and jump-ball target. He’ll immediately be elevated to a top-three wide-out role with the opt-outs.
Xzavier Henderson is also a guy to watch for. Henderson is the highest-rated receiver that Mullen has recruited at Florida, and has seen significant reps as a true freshman, even with the deep wide receiver core. He had only eight catches, averaged 17 yards a reception and scored his first career touchdown versus Arkansas.
His speed coupled with his high football IQ should make him a fantastic receiver for the Gators going forward, but the Cotton Bowl is the place to establish himself as a top option for 2021. Particularly, if quarterback Emory Jones gets significant reps. If Jones is going to be the 2021 starter, then it’ll be important for him to see a good amount of playing time to build confidence for himself, and show he can be the guy that leads the Gators next year.
