Big East Football Previews – Florida Atlantic Owls vs Florida Gators
The Florida Atlantic Owls, out of the Sun Belt Conference travel to Gainesville for an in-state matchup with the SEC’s Florida Gators this Saturday night in the season opener for both teams. Kick-off is slated for 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPNU.
Date/Time: Saturday, Sept.3 7 p.m. (ET)
Venue: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, FL
Broadcast: ESPNU
Owls at Gators lines by BetOnline.com
Point spread: Gators -35
Over/Under: 46.5
Click here for the ATS Gambling Report for this game!
You have to give Florida Atlantic a ton of credit for stepping way up in class in its opener considering it is has been listed at 12/1 odds to even win its conference. The Owls are coming off a 4-8 overall record in 2010 and were 1-3 straight-up in non-conference play.
Head coach Howard Schnellenberger remains optimistic he can turn things around after two down seasons with 14 starters back from 2010. You can expect a heavy dose of the running game behind five returning starters on the offensive line and running back Alfred Morris, who led the Owls with 928 yards rushing last year.
Will Muschamp makes his coaching debut for the new look Gators, who will roll out new schemes on both offense and defense. Charlie Weis has been brought in as the new offensive coordinator and will go with more of a pro set that better features the abilities of quarterback John Brantley. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Defensively, Muschamp will look to move more towards a 3-4 set to better use the strength of his front seven. This game could serve as an excellent dress rehearsal on both sides of the ball, to see if the Gators are ready to legitimately compete for this year’s SEC title.
Florida Atlantic won four games last season SU and went 3-9 against the spread. The total stayed ‘under’ in eight of its 12 games. Florida went 8-5 SU in 2010 and was 7-6 ATS overall and 3-4 ATS at home. The total went 7-6 overall.
These two last played one another in 2007 with the Gators rolling to a 59-20 victory as a 34-point home favorite. The total went ‘over’ the 65-point line. Florida should cruise to a comfortable win in this game, but the growing pains on both offense and defense will be evident as the final score is closer than the 35-point spread.
Betting Trends:
FLATL are 1-7 ATS in their last 8 games on grass.
Under is 7-2 in FLATL last 9 games in September.
Under is 8-3 in FLATL last 11 games overall.
The Pick: Florida State 38 vs. Florida Atlantic 10
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