Three Opposing Players to Watch in Gators vs Miami

The Florida Gators are set to face the Miami Hurricanes in an in-state matchup on Saturday. The fourth-ranked team in the country comes with key talent to keep an eye on. One of them is a player the Gators have long become familiar with.

Let’s look at three opposing players to keep an eye on during the matchup down south.

Carson Beck, Quarterback

He’s the player most are going to think of first, and for obvious reasons. Might as well start with him.

Beck transferred over the offseason from Georgia to Miami and was immediately the presumed starting quarterback, succeeding Cam Ward. He’s been off to a strong start, completing 79.3% of his passes for 821 yards and throwing seven touchdowns to just two interceptions.

He’s played against Florida twice and won both of them. However, he got into trouble in the second bout. The Gators' defense gave him fits, picking him off three times and nearly a fourth time.

The Gators' defense should have the confidence to do it again after their performance against LSU last week.

Mark Fletcher Jr., Running Back

Fletcher is coming off a 120-yard performance with two touchdowns against USF last week. His stats overall for the year are impressive, seeing him average 6.6 yards per carry and already picking up four scores. He can also be a receiving threat with four catches for 45 yards.

However, two of his top performances have come against USF and Bethune-Cookman. In the opener against Notre Dame, he still rushed for 66 yards and an impressive 4.4 yards per carry. The toughest opponent he’s faced held him to the fewest yards.

It provides promise for Florida, if they don’t underestimate him, that they can keep him at bay. That being said, that was Week One. He could be warmed up now, making him a bigger headache for the Gators than he was for the Fighting Irish.

Akheem Masidor, Defensive Lineman

With how the Gators' offense has struggled, at least one defensive player needs to be highlighted.

Masidor picked up 1.5 of his two sacks against Notre Dame in the season opener. He’s shown already this season that he can cause trouble for a bigger program. It doesn’t matter if the Fighting Irish are 0-2. They were still in the national championship game last season, and both teams' losses were close.

A missed tackle here or there could have made the difference, and that can be the case against Florida, too.

The Gators need to be on the lookout, especially since quarterback DJ Lagway has struggled against FBS teams out of the gate.

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