For the second straight season, the No. 23 Florida Gators started off with lowered expectations only to have those quickly raised following wins against less than stellar opponents. Despite struggling in the first week against UMass, a dominant win against a Kentucky team that has quit on Mark Stoops has propelled the Gators into the Top 25. The Gators now get a chance to pad that ranking in College Football Week 3 against one of the worst programs in football, the North Texas Mean Green.
This contest in Week 3 of the college football season will go down Saturday, September 17, 2016, at 7:30 p.m. ET at Steve Spurrier Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU.
College Football Odds at BookMaker.eu
Florida -37
North Texas +37
Over/Under 49.5
Odds Analysis
Florida opened as a 36-point favorite and that number has ticked upwards but not by a considerable amount considering the spread. Over the past four seasons, the Gators are a paltry 6-14 ATS as a home favorite and they will be looking to go against that trend.
Coaching Angle
If you’re a former Texas Tech quarterback, you can find work as an offensive coordinator. Following the successes of Kliff Kingsbury and Sonny Cumbie in installing the Air Raid at Texas Tech, again, and TCU, any former Red Raider quarterback with a pulse has been getting asked to get into coaching. That’s why new North Texas coach Seth Littrell rolled the dice with Graham Harrell, despite his youth and relative inexperience.
Prior to becoming the OC at North Texas, Harrell was an outside receivers coach at Washington State under Mike Leach and his hire was somewhat surprising. Thus far, Harrell has proved the doubters wrong and the Mean Green offense looks a lot better than it has in seasons past. They are averaging over 400 yards per game, but will find it tough to move the ball against a Florida defense that is much faster than they are.
Look Ahead Game
After taking Kentucky to the woodshed, Florida had to at least start planning ahead to its showdown next week against Tennessee. The Gators have won 11 straight over the Vols, but have had to mount impressive fourth-quarter comebacks in each of the last two seasons in order to keep the winning streak alive.
The rivalry isn’t the only reason the Gators are probably looking past North Texas. UF and Tennessee are two of the three teams that can win the SEC East, so winning this one is crucial for either team’s hopes to get to the SEC Title Game. This is the first time in four seasons that Florida has played a nobody prior to this game and will use the extra time for preparations.
Free ATS Pick
Don’t expect Florida to show much against North Texas with Tennessee on deck. The Gators are better than the Mean Green across the board and should only need a couple touchdowns in order to ensure a victory. Florida’s defense should have its way with North Texas all night long.
The big key here is to make sure everyone stays healthy for the rivalry game next week. Jim McElwain undoubtedly wants everyone healthy for a road trip to hostile Neyland Stadium and won’t let his starters play too long here.
North Texas isn’t expected to score much according to the oddsmakers, but Florida isn’t known for lighting up the scoreboard either. The Gators just want to come in and take care of business and save everything for the following week in what will be a crucial game. Florida will jump out to an early lead in the first half, but won’t keep the pedal down in the second half and that will allow North Texas to cover the number.
College Football Odds: Gators 37, Mean Green 7
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