Gators Online Gameday predictions: Florida Gators vs. Utah

SALT LAKE CITY — For just the third time in nearly four decades the Florida Gators will open a football season in a true road game. Florida and Utah will meet at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City to finish a home-and-home that began in classic fashion last season in Gainesville.

Gators Online staff writers Zach Abolverdi, Nick de la Torre and Corey Bender, and Keith Niebuhr, will pick every game this season and we will keep track of our staff picks and predictions as the year goes.

Gators Online picks the game

Corey Bender

Although Graham Mertz has been fairly inconsistent to this point, the Gators’ running back duo of Montrell Johnson and Trevor Etienne should keep the defense guessing and open it up for Mertz and the passing game. I expect both backs to flash against the Utes.

However, traveling out to Salt Lake City to play a top-15 Utah program is a difficult task for any program. That is especially the case in week one and against a Florida team that is replacing key starters at numerous positions.

Mertz’s experience should definitely be an asset when the Gators go into hostile territory; however, it might all come down to the success of the offensive line. The Gators went through a major makeover in the trenches after last season and the group needs to answer the bell in order for UF to have consistent success offensively. I see this matchup coming down to the last few drives.

Prediction: Utah, 27-23

Zach Abolverdi

This is a difficult matchup to predict because of Utah’s quarterback situation. If starter Cam Rising had never been injured in the Rose Bowl and was full go for this game, I’d pick the Utes to win. But with his torn ACL, the amount of practices he has missed and uncertainty about his readiness to return, I’m tempted to go with Billy Napier’s team. I doubt they will lose if backup quarterback Bryson Barnes has to start in place of Rising. 

Unfortunately for the Gators, I expect Rising to play and they’re dealing with their own injury issues. Starting center Kingsley Eguakun and defensive lineman Chris McClellan are both questionable and UF’s line of scrimmage depth will take a hit if they’re out. Florida could have eight new offensive starters and nine on defense. That’s a lot of newness for a team opening on the road against the back-to-back Pac 12 champion with 14 total starters back. 

Prediction: Utah, 24-21. 

Keith Niebuhr

Predicting the winner in an opener such as this isn’t easy. Because no matter what a team did the previous season, no matter how much talent is returning, success one year doesn’t always continue to the next. Each team is its own entity.  But on paper, Utah looks like the better team entering this game. And the Utes have lots of guys that fit into the category of, been there, done that. In other words, Utah has lots of knowns.

Florida, not so much. The Gators have a new quarterback, new faces on the offense line, several key transfers newcomers and multiple true freshman on the two-deep of the depth chart. So basically, there are less knowns. Can Florida win? Yeah — with a ball control offense that has a few chunk plays plus an opportunistic defense that creates turnovers. It’s not far fetched. But If all things are equal and Utah quarterback Cam Rising is close to 100 percent, the home team could be tough to beat.

Prediction: Utah, 24-20

Nick de la Torre

For me, this game comes down to Cam Rising. When Rising is healthy I think he’s a top ten quarterback in the country. Last year, on the road in a hostile environment, he completed 68.8% of his pass attempts for 216 yards, a touchdown and an interception late that sealed the game. Rising also added 91 rushing yards on 13 yards per carry. He has the ability to pick apart defenses with his arm but his legs extend plays and drives.

When the game kicks off, it will be just 242 days since Rising tore his ACL. Even with advances in that surgery and rehabilitation, it’s an aggressive timeline. The decision is Rising plays or doesn’t play will come down to Utah’s doctors. Even if he is cleared to play I don’t think he’ll be the same Rising we saw in Gainesville.

The Gators’ defense will dial up pressure and I think Florida’s offense will be able to score behind the rushing of Montrell Johnson and Trevor Etienne enough to come out of Salt Lake City with the win.

Prediction: Florida 27-20

Tracking the picks

Game	Bender	Abolverdi	Niebuhr	de la Torre
Season Record:	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0
Utah	Utah	Utah	Utah	Florida
McNeese
Tennessee
Charlotte
Kentucky
Vanderbilt
South Carolina
Georgia
Arkansas
LSU
Missouri
Florida State