NCAAF: GATORS AND TIGERS GET TESTY
The #11 Florida Gators are six-point home chalk over the #4 LSU Tigers this Saturday night, but the most talk is about comments made by LSU lineman Ricky Jean-Francois.
This SEC matchup is just one of several high profile Saturday games like Texas (+7) at Oklahoma from Dallas. We also have Penn State giving six points at Wisconsin which is the focus of our Primetime Prop.
Namely, if you back the “Field” option in the “Player to Score 1st TD” prop for the Penn State @ Wisconsin game and it is the winning wager, your winning wager will be doubled on this specific prop up to $100. We also have the Player to Score 1st TD, and plenty of other props for that game.
The LSU quotes in question by Jean-Francois were that the Tigers were planning on hitting Florida quarterback Tim Tebow and ‘taking him out of the game’. After quickly learning that most people took those comments as bad sportsmanship, he quickly recanted and said they were trying to make Tebow ineffective and not hurt him.
Of course, if you believe that spin, then you’ve been watching far too much election coverage. The bottom line is that those quotes should have little effect to what happens in ‘The Swamp’ this weekend.
Florida is 4-1 (3-2 ATS) on the year with their only blemish a 31-30 loss to Mississippi at home. That game was inexcusable on many levels.
It’s no secret the Florida offense revolves around Tebow even though his passing numbers are down from last season. Tebow is also rushing less although he’s fourth on the team. Dynamic receiver Percy Harvin is first in receiving and third in rushing.
Harvin is expected to play in this game after missing some practice time this week with ankle issues. Still, the Gators will need other supporting players to step up if they are to win.
LSU is a perfect 4-0 on the season (1-2 ATS) but two of those wins were over North Texas and Appalachian State with their only true test at Auburn. The win at Auburn was a huge victory as it also saw the emergence of their quarterback, Jarrett Lee.
Lee was looking shaky at Auburn as they trailed 14-3 at the half. He then threw for 182 yards and two touchdowns in the second half to engineer the 26-21 win. Lee and quarterback Andrew Hatch should both play against Florida and they will try to take advantage of a young Gators defense that was victimized by Mississippi.
Having running back Charles Scott also helps. He has rushed for over 100 yards in every LSU game this season. The Tigers have a big and aggressive offensive line and running will be their first order of attack against Florida.
One more note. The home team has won the last three meetings but Florida has covered the spread each time. Last year, Florida led almost the entire game at LSU with the Tigers going ahead on a rushing touchdown with just over a minute to go to win 28-24.
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