5 things you need to know about the Florida Gators

The rollercoaster season continues for this Kentucky football team. Home losses to South Carolina and Vanderbilt were obvious low points. However, This is still the same team that led Georgia until the final minutes and rallied to beat Ole Miss. Discipline and concentration seem to be bigger problems than talent on the field. Over the years, and even this season, coach Mark Stoops' teams seem to play their best football when their backs are against the wall. That's certainly the state of affairs this Saturday in Gainesville. A win over the Florida Gators would set things right and put the Cats on the path to bowl eligibility. Meanwhile, a loss could potentially send the season into a tailspin.

After losing 31 consecutive matches between 1987 and 2017, Kentucky has won four of its last six games against the Gators, including three in a row. Coach Billy Napier is in a bind and another home loss to the Wildcats could shake things up. Neither of the two head coaches in this duel should feel particularly comfortable with their current status. However, getting over .500 and securing a second SEC win is guaranteed. The other will face another week of intense scrutiny from his fan base. This is a very important, potentially season-saving swing play for both programs.

As always, We've got everything you need before the game here at Kentucky Sports Radio dot com for kickoff at 7:45 p.m. (Eastern Time) on SEC Network between the Kentucky Wildcats (3-3, 1-3) and the Florida Gators (3-3, 1-2). If you haven't already, you need to dive into Adam Luckett's scouting report. This is your in-depth preview for football nerds. If you're looking for a more superficial look at what awaits you on Saturday evening, this is the place for you. Let’s dive into five things you need to know about the Florida Gators.

Backup quarterback in the mix

For the second time in a row, Florida Gators quarterback Graham Mertz is out due to injury. Now DJ Lagway has officially been handed the key to the crime. The true freshman was one of the top five prospects in the class of 2024. Lagway came to Gainesville with extremely high expectations and a lot of hype. He will now get the chance to showcase his abilities as QB1 for the Gators.

Lagway gives Florida greater vertical presence, but Mertz's trade-off was efficiency. He averages over 10 yards per attempt and completes a very respectable 65.3% of his passes, but also has four interceptions and has been sacked over 5% of the time. The true freshman threw a game-winning touchdown in last weekend's near surprise in Tennessee. However, he also threw an interception. Winning the turnover battle will be critical to the Kentucky defense's success Saturday night in The Swamp.

Talented wide receivers help in the passing attack

True sophomore Eugene Wilson III had seven catches for 50 yards in Week 1. He then had six catches, 141 yards and a touchdown in a Week 2 win over Samford. However, he was sidelined for three weeks due to an injury before returning against Tennessee. The 5'10″ speedster had 61 catches for 538 yards and six touchdowns as a freshman last season. Now that he's healthy again, he'll likely be a target for DJ Lagway.

In addition to Wilson III, Elijhah Badger and Chimera Dike are tied for the lead for the Florida Gators with 19 receptions each. Badger is a transfer from Arizona State with 28 targets and a team-high 376 receiving yards. In his last two seasons with the Sun Devils, he had over 1,500 receiving yards and caught ten touchdown passes. Dike is a Wisconsin transfer with 353 yards rushing and two scores this season. He totaled just under 1,500 yards in 44 games for the Badgers. All three primary receivers have great playmaking ability, which Lagway will likely unleash even more as a quarterback.

Explosiveness and lack of finishing are the headlines of the Gators offense

There is no denying the explosiveness that this Florida Gators team showed at the start of the season. That could potentially grow even more with rookie DJ Lagway at quarterback. Through six games, the Gators' 9.1 yards per dropback are 10th-best in all of college football. They produce explosive plays through the air on over a fifth of pass attempts. Under coach Mark Stoops, Kentucky's defensive mantra was “bend, don't break.” That will certainly be put to the test Saturday night in Gainesville.

While Florida has managed to move the football forward and create big plays, they have struggled to finish drives. That's why they're still only 3-3 this season. The Gators' offensive line has allowed a havoc rate of 14.2%, which ranks 121st nationally. That should be music to the ears of Kentucky's very talented defensive front. Additionally, they convert on just 37.9% of third downs, which is 87th in the country. Their red zone conversion rate of 68% isn't necessarily bad, but it probably needs to be better to break their losing streak against the Cats.

Florida's defense continues to hold them back

It's been a revolving door of defensive coordinators for coach Billy Napier and the Florida Gators. This is his fourth time in four years starring with Auburn's Ron Roberts. The result has not been a top-25 defense since 2019. It appears this group will be no different.

Florida allows its opponents to convert on 41.8% of their third-down opportunities, which ranks just 86th in college football. Outside of this one statistical category, they're not really bad anywhere, but it's hard to find a clear strength. Yards per play (5.32), success rate (40%), yards per drop back (6.54) and yards per rush (4.52) are very average at best. The most important thing for Kentucky will be finishing drives. After scoring zero points on three red zone drives against Vanderbilt, including one inside the one-yard line, the Cats must capitalize on scoring opportunities to win on the road.

Size in the front creates some chaos

If the Florida Gators defense is going to have success against Kentucky, it will start at the point of attack. A pair of huge defensive tackles eat up a lot of space up front to allow for some chaos. The Gators wreak havoc on 12.1% of snaps, just outside the top 50 nationally, while generating a 32.2% pressure rate. Again, this hasn't necessarily translated into much overall defensive success, but it's at least something the Big Blue Wall can be aware of on Saturday night.

Caleb Banks and Cam Jackson are the two biggest names on Florida's defensive line. These two are true giants, weighing 1.80 m and 1.95 m and 1.80 m and 140 kg respectively. Meanwhile, Tyreak Sapp and George Gumbs Jr. lead the Gators in pressures and tackles for loss. The attention that Banks and Jackson draw up front certainly helps open things up for everyone else on defense. Kentucky needs to be consistently successful on the ground and make a few timely, explosive plays through the air to keep the pass rushers honest. Like many other games, this one could ultimately come down to fighting in the trenches.