Florida vs Kentucky NCAA Football Odds
The Florida Gators and Kentucky Wildcats are set to face off Week 5 in an early SEC showdown. Kentucky is coming off of a 27-13 loss to the No. 7 Louisville Cardinals, while the Gators most recently defeated the Tennessee Volunteers 31-17.
Florida (2-1, 1-0 SEC) @ Kentucky (1-2, 0-0 SEC)
Saturday, Sept. 28, 7:00 PM ET @ Commonwealth Stadium
Moneyline: Florida -475, Kentucky +375
Spread: Florida -12.5
O/U: 45.5
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The problem for Florida is that it lost Jeff Driskel, the team’s starting quarterback, during last week’s contest.
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This week it will attempt to insert a new man behind center, Tyler Murphy.
Florida
Nobody is ever going to claim that losing your starting quarterback is a good thing. Florida is no exception to that notion, but following a shaky start for Jeff Driskel, Tyler Murphy has a chance to pick up the slack.
In his first-ever collegiate experience, Murphy threw for 134 yards on 8-of-14 passing, and he tossed for a touchdown without a single interception. Stats aside, the junior showed that he can smoothly run an offense. He made plays with both his arm and his legs, as he also rushed for 84 yards and another score.
Luckily for Murphy, he has a stellar defense to help take the pressure off of him in his first start. The team is allowing just 14.7 points per game, which is the 19th-best mark in the country. Kentucky has an incredibly balanced offense, which means Florida will have to be on its game and ready for anything on the defensive side of the ball. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Kentucky
As much as it sounds like a disadvantage for Florida to be playing its backup quarterback, having Murphy on the field throws a serious wrench in the Wildcats’ game plan. The junior is a different model of quarterback than Driskel, and any game planning that originally went into this game is essentially out the window (when it comes to defending the QB).
Defensively, Kentucky must be ready for the dual-threat attack. The Wildcats have to find the perfect balance of putting pressure on the quarterback while not being too liberal with the blitz, ultimately exposing open field for Murphy to run.
Offensively, Kentucky must be creative with its play calling if it hopes to take down an impressive defense. As balanced as Kentucky has been on offense, the attack hasn’t always led to scores. It’s averaging 26.7 points per contest, which is only good enough for 76th in the nation.
A good defensive performance is going to be important for the Wildcats, but the problem is that Florida is used to low-scoring battles. It does not have a prolific offense, which means fewer points actually benefits them at this point.
Kentucky must find lightning in a bottle when it comes to the offense. It likely won’t find enough points to leave victorious, but with 12.5 points being the spread, the Wildcats just might come away with a win against the spread.
Score Prediction: Florida 20 – Kentucky 13
