Fired Up

Fired Up Saturday:  Florida Gators vs Oregon State Beavers in Las Vegas Bowl

GatorTimSports

The Florida Gators (6-6) will play their last game of the season against the Oregon State Beavers (9-3) in the Las Vegas Bowl today at Allegiant Stadium, Paradise, Nevada.  The Gators will be double-digit under dogs in this matchup, which is disappointing, but expected. 

Several key players have opted out of playing in the Las Vegas Bowl including Gator’s starting quarterback Anthony Richardson.  To fill this void, Florida Coach Billy Napier has opted to give the keys to the offense to third-year sophomore Jack Miller III.  Miller was an Ohio State transfer and this will be his first collegiate start. 

I’m expecting RB Trevor Etienne to get the bulk of the carries to help offset Miller’s expected rough start.  The defense will face the back-up quarterback to Oregon State, which may be to their advantage. 

Regardless of the outcome, though, I am just hoping for a competitive game and a chance for our returning players to get some experience and extra reps before the start of next season.

Even though the Gators are the underdog in this fight, I’m picking them to win with a final score of 21-17 and give Coach Billy Napier a winning record for his inaugural season as head coach.

The game is expected to start at 2:30pm ET, Saturday, December 17 and televised on ESPN.