Rece Davis picks Florida State to win, cover against Florida

Eyes from across the nation will fall on The Swamp on Saturday to see if No. 5 Florida State is still the team that many thought they were all season without QB Jordan Travis or if Florida plays spoiler and opens up a spot in the race for the College Football Playoff. That includes those of Rece Davis.

The Seminoles will come to Gainesville as a 6.5-point favorite over the Gators per FanDuel. Meanwhile, the over-under for the rivalry matchup in The Sunshine State is currently at 49.5 points.

How to watch No. 5 Florida State vs. Florida

Time: 7 p.m. EST
Channel: ESPN, FuboTV (streaming)
Location: Gainesville, Florida

As Davis said during the ‘College GameDay Podcast’, this is the moment for the ‘Noles to show how real they truly are. Following the unfortunate injury to Travis, everyone wants to know if they’re going to be just as much of a contender with Tate Rodemaker at quarterback.

“It’s a resume-reel game – not only for Rodemaker but for Florida State. The committee will, and should, be closely watching what Florida State is without Jordan Travis,” said Davis. “He’s responsible for the most touchdowns in Florida State history, total offense of over 10,500 yards – that tops the charts. He has got all kinds of other records. There are giant shoes that Rodemaker is going to fill.”

However, the home team is also going to have to make a change at quarterback. Graham Mertz broke his collarbone in their last game at Missouri. That has left the job up to another backup in Max Brown.

With that being the case for the Gators as well, Davis isn’t sure that those circumstances will help them be able to pull the upset.

“Florida has issues at quarterback as well,” pointed out Davis. “I’m going to say that Steve Spurrier is not walking through that door to rotate three quarterbacks in by the play like in ’97 when they ruined things for Florida State.”

The other teams in the playoff race are going to hope that Florida State takes their first loss, or at least looks less capable, without Travis at QB1. However, Davis isn’t expecting that to be the case as, with his pick, he has the Seminoles finishing the regular season with an undefeated record while also managing to cover against Florida.

“I just don’t think the Gators have the juice to do it. So I’m going to take Florida State and lay the points,” said Davis.