Florida football season preview 2020: Record predictions, depth chart analysis, breakout players

Does Florida football have what it takes to survive the 10-game gauntlet?

While it stinks that the Gators won’t be able to play the in-state rival Florida State Seminoles this season in the Sunshine Showdown, Florida should have an otherwise exciting 10-game SEC slate. Originally, Florida was scheduled to play its six division rivals, the cross-divisional foe LSU Tigers and the Ole Miss Rebels out of the SEC West to complete its cross-divisional rotation.

But with the SEC adding two additional cross-divisional games to give us all a 10-game, conference-only schedule, Florida added a home game vs. the rebuilding Arkansas Razorbacks, as well as a difficult road date vs. the Texas A&M Aggies in College Station. Nobody is running the painfully brutal 10-game SEC gauntlet unscathed this year, but how good will Florida do in 2020?

Game 1: at Ole Miss Rebels (Sept. 26)

Florida gets the first taste of the Lane Kiffin era of Ole Miss football. We’re going to know pretty quickly if Kiffin learned anything in the last half-dozen years split between Alabama and Florida Atlantic to prove he’s worth having a coveted job the likes of being the Rebels’ head coach. Ole Miss plays alright, but a late turnover gets Florida to 1-0 on the year. Gators, 30-20.

Game 2: vs. South Carolina Gamecocks (Oct. 3)

Of course, Florida is going to want to stick to its former head coach Will Muschamp. Though none of the Gators’ players played for Muschamp, pettiness is never at a premium in the Steve Spurrier Bowl. The South Carolina Gamecocks may not be as bad as they were a year ago, but it’s going to take a modern miracle for Muschamp to get year six in Columbia after 2020. Gators, 34-16.

Game 3: at Texas A&M Aggies (Oct. 10)

With a pair of relatively easy wins at Ole Miss and over South Carolina, Florida will get its first true test of the season when the Gators take on Texas A&M at Kyle Field. Kyle Trask vs. Kellen Mond will be the selling point of this marquee game. Texas A&M will outplay Florida, but an improbable 50-yard field goal in the final seconds propels the Gators to a shocking victory. Gators, 27-24.

Game 4: vs. LSU Tigers (Oct. 17)

Momentum will be on the Gators’ side at 3-0. They will be playing with an absurd amount of confidence when Florida welcomes the reigning national champions to their place. While LSU may really like its new starting quarterback, Myles Brennan is not yet, and probably never will be, Joe Burrow. Trask takes him to task in a game that proves LSU is not a title contender. Gators, 38-21.

Game 5: vs. Missouri Tigers (Oct. 24)

At 4-0 with back-to-back wins over top-25 teams at Texas A&M and vs. LSU, Florida might start getting some serious buzz as the best team in the SEC this season. When the Eliah Drinkwitz’s Missouri Tigers come to The Swamp, they will be in a 17-0 hole mentally before the opening kickoff. This will be Florida’s most lopsided victory of the season by far. Gators, 48-14.

Bye

Game 6: vs. Georgia Bulldogs (Nov. 7, Jacksonville, FL)

5-0 feels great, but will any of it matter vs. the Georgia Bulldogs this year? Because Georgia will have already lost to the Alabama Crimson Tide, Florida will be favored in this game. Unfortunately, they will believe the hype and will have no answer for Jamie Newman, Zamir White, George Pickens and the outstanding Dawgs’ secondary. Maybe next year, Florida? Bulldogs, 35-21.

Game 7: vs. Arkansas Razorbacks (Nov. 14)

Soul-crushed after losing to Georgia for the fourth year in a row, Florida will take out its frustrations against what looks to be a toothless Arkansas team. Normally, Florida would kill a team as pitiful as the Hogs, but this is a redemption game and one Feleipe Franks circled on the calendar. Though Florida will win, Franks goes toe-to-toe with Trask. Gators, 34-30.

Game 8: at Vanderbilt Commodores (Nov. 21)

By this point of the season, Derek Mason will be on life support as the head coach of the Vanderbilt Commodores. Firing him before the end of the season will feel like a pointless endeavor. That might be nice of the Vanderbilt athletic department, but Florida doesn’t care. The Gators will do what they do to the ‘Dores all the time, as in dismantling in embarrassing fashion. Gators, 42-20.

Game 9: vs. Kentucky Wildcats (Nov. 28)

At 7-1, Florida is still alive for the College Football Playoff picture, but only barely. They need style points in the worst way. While they have historically owned the Kentucky Wildcats, it’s been different since Mark Stoops has been named their head coach. Florida will eke out a victory, but it won’t be stylish enough to move the needle in the Selection Committee’s eyes. Gators, 35-24.

Game 10: at Tennessee Volunteers (Dec. 5)

Somehow, someway, Florida can put itself in a great position to reach the College Football Playoff as an at-large team. All the Gators have to do is beat the Tennessee Volunteers in Knoxville. Tennessee has held its own in plenty of games, but hasn’t had a signature victory of the season for head coach Jeremy Pruitt…that is…until now. The Vols stun Florida. Volunteers, 24-23.

Florida Gators’ 2020 record prediction: 8-2

So here it is. Florida overachieves in some ways but underachieves in others. This was a team slated to go 7-3 with a brutal 10-game, SEC-only schedule. Florida gets impressive wins early at Texas A&M and home vs. LSU, in back-to-back games, nonetheless. However, the Georgia loss ruins their season and the Tennessee defeat suggests the Vols are soon to join the SEC East party.

Florida will not get the at-large, No. 4 seed in the College Football Playoff. The Selection Committee doesn’t even have them as one of the first two teams out. They’re going to finish the season about where they did a season ago as the No. 7 team in the country. While Florida made progress, it wasn’t enough to catch Georgia and Tennessee made enough to pull off the upset.