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Ricky Pearsall reveals Florida has series against Florida State circled on the calendar

On3-Social-Profile_GRAYby:On3 Staff Report07/19/23
Florida Gators receiver Ricky Pearsall against Texas A&M
COLLEGE STATION, TX - NOVEMBER 05: Florida Gators wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (1) looks for running room after making an early second half pass reception during the football game between the Florida Gators and Texas A&M Aggies at Kyle Field on November 5, 2022 in College Station, Texas. (Photo by Ken Murray/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Florida finished the 2022 season 6-7, the second straight year the program had finished with that record. And after taking back the annual series against Florida State in recent years, Florida fell in a hard-fought contest last fall.

It was the first win in the series for the Seminoles in five years. You can bet the Gators are already itching for revenge.

“I’m speaking from Florida, but Florida State’s obviously the one that we have circled,” receiver Ricky Pearsall said at SEC Media Days. “I feel like every guy in the locker room has that game circled.”

In the series against Florida State, it was the Seminoles who won the last meeting 45-38 in a thrilling shootout between two top-notch quarterbacks.

While it was Florida’s Anthony Richardson who emerged as a top-5 NFL Draft pick, it was Florida State’s Jordan Travis who took the victory in Tallahassee, Fla. Travis was instrumental in the win, escaping contain and making several key plays on third down.

Finding a way to stop him will have to be high on the priority list for the Gators, who are likely to enter as significant underdogs against an anticipated top-10 Seminoles squad.

Pearsall’s also looking forward to another game outside of the series against Florida State.

“Another game I have circled is LSU, too, as well because my old quarterback Jayden Daniels goes there,” he said. “It’ll be fun. He plays this cool guy. He’s really a good cat. He’s an open book, in my opinion. Not a lot of people know that about him.”

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Both Pearsall and Daniels went to Arizona State before transferring to their respective SEC schools. Daniels won last year’s meeting 45-35 in Gainesville, Fla.

Securing a win in either of those two games that Pearsall has circled won’t be easy. Both opponents will likely be top 10 teams this fall.

Most prognosticators aren’t very high on Florida, either. Most win total projections have Florida somewhere between five and seven wins. That’s obviously a substandard season by Gators standards.

But Pearsall and his teammates remain confident, eyeing that series against Florida State.

“We don’t really listen to the outside noise to be honest,” he said. “I feel like it’s all about the guys in the locker room. As long as we’re controlling what we can control it’s going to carry us.”