Texas vs. Florida will be a battle of big humans, but one Gator is the largest in college football

The Texas Longhorns like big humans in the trenches. Turns out, the Florida Gators do too.

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Over 50 players whose listed weight is over 300 pounds will be on Campbell-Williams Field on Saturday morning when the No. 5 Longhorns battle the Gators in Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

Big humans has long been one of Steve Sarkisian’s philosophies when recruiting players to man the trenches. His often repeated tagline is that Southeastern Conference teams possess the type of players up front that can move others with a considerable amount of weight behind them, while deploying skill players with elite top-end speed. Sarkisian has his roster looking just like he wants and seemingly right at home in the SEC, as all five of his O-line starters — left tackle Kelvin Banks, left guard Hayden Conner, center Jake Majors, right guard DJ Campbell, and right tackle Cam Williams — all check in at over 300 pounds. Even the sixth man in Cole Hutson is above that three bills threshold.

The same holds true for his defensive linemen. Alfred Collins and Vernon Broughton are both 300+ pounds. So too are interior regulars Bill Norton, Alex January, and Jermayne Lole.

While big humans are common in the SEC, the Longhorns are technically outnumbered in terms of the amount of people who weigh more than 300 pounds this Saturday. The Gators have 29 to the Longhorns’ 25. Sarkisian spoke Monday about how scouts and attendees alike may be in awe of the size of the competitors taking the field on Saturday.

“This will be arguably one of, if not the best looking team in our conference,” Sarkisian said. “They’re big. They’re long. They’re athletic.”

He’d later add, “They’re a good looking football team. It’s going to be challenging because they’re physical at the point of attack. They’ve got good length.”

The likely starting five O-line for the Gators goes, from left to right, 314-pounder Austin Barber, 321-pounder Knijeah Harris, 308-pounder Jake Slaughter, 345-pounder Damieon George Jr., and 322-pounder Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson.

Along the defensive line, the Gators trot out 342-pounder Cam Jackson and 325-pounder Caleb Banks.

But the largest human on the field works behind them on the depth chart. Sure, there’s 351-pound Michai Boireau and 307-pound D’Antre Robinson. Even the comparatively diminutive Brien Taylor Jr. sees snaps at 274 pounds.

There’s no one on either roster, or even in college football, quite like Desmond Watson. His No. 21 is usually reserved for skill players, but there won’t be any mistaking Watson for running back KD Daniels on Saturday as Watson is listed at a jaw-dropping 449 pounds.

Watson is almost assuredly the largest player in college football. Texas fans may be reminded of Baylor’s Laquan McGowan from a decade ago, a 6-foot-7, 410-pounder who rushed for two yards against the Longhorns in their 2015 win over Baylor.

Even he is outweighed by Watson by almost 40 pounds.

Sarkisian has some familiarity with Watson, as he explained Thursday.

“I recruited him in high school,” Sarkisian said. “I remember vividly going to Armwood High School with (Jeff) Banks, seeing him in person. I was like, wow, that is a really big person. The thing about him is he’s got suddenness. He’s got quickness. He’s not a guy who just stands there and puts his arms out and two-gaps the center. They call movements. They call pressures with him. I think that’s one of the things that can cause you issues.

“It’s like trying to go to hit somebody, you’re winding up and you’ve got to hit this guy, and you think he’s a stationary target and he’s not. Then, he gets on an edge and gets a tackle for a loss.”

It’ll be a challenge for the Longhorns offensive line, as Sarkisian explained.

“I think we’ve really got to trust our fundamentals and techniques in this game because he’s not the only big guy. Naturally, they’ve only got one guy over 400 pounds but they’ve got plenty of 330, 340 guys on that interior defensive line that we’re going to have to contend with.”

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Similar applies on the Gators offensive line when facing the Texas defensive tackles. And both rosters boast starters and depth that are set to cause some big collisions on Saturday.

Texas 300-pounders (25)

Name	Position	Height	Weight
Connor Stroh	OL	6-7	350
Sydir Mitchell	DL	6-6	350
Andre Cojoe	OL	6-6	340
Bill Norton	DL	6-6	335
Cameron Williams	OL	6-5	335
DJ Campbell	OL	6-3	330
Neto Umeozulu	OL	6-4	330
Nate Kibble	OL	6-3	320
Hayden Conner	OL	6-5	320
Kelvin Banks	OL	6-4	320
Alfred Collins	DL	6-5	320
Jake Majors	OL	6-3	315
Brandon Baker	OL	6-4	315
Trevor Goosby	OL	6-7	315
Alex January	DL	6-5	315
Jermayne Lole	DL	6-3	315
Daniel Cruz	OL	6-3	310
Cole Hutson	OL	6-5	310
Connor Robertson	OL	6-4	310
Vernon Broughton	DL	6-4	305
Aaron Bryant	DL	6-2	305
Melvin Hills	DL	6-3	305
Robert Sweeney	OL	6-5	300
Malik Agbo	OL	6-4	300
Jaydon Chatman	OL	6-4	300

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Florida 300-pounders (29)

Name	Position	Height	Weight
Desmond Watson	DL	6-5	449
Sebastian Scott	DL	6-2	354
Michai Boireau	DL	6-4.75	351
Damieon George Jr.	OL	6-6	345
Kamryn Waites	OL	6-8	343
Cam Jackson	DL	6-6	342
Enoch Wangoy	OL	6-7	330
Caden Jones	OL	6-7.5	327
Caleb Banks	DL	6-5.75	325
Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson	OL	6-7	322
Fletcher Westphal	OL	6-8	321
Knijeah Harris	OL	6-3	321
Devon Manuel	OL	6-7	319
Bryce Lovett	OL	6-5	317
Noel Portnjagin	OL	6-5	314
Austin Barber	OL	6-6.25	314
Jason Zandamela	OL	6-2.75	313
Mark Faircloth	OL	6-4.75	309
Mark Pitts	OL	6-6	309
Christian Williams	OL	6-4.25	309
Jake Slaughter	OL	6-4.5	308
Mike Williams	OL	6-5.75	308
D’Antre Robinson	DL	6-3	307
Connor Homa	OL	6-2.25	306
Marcus Mascoll	OL	6-4.75	306
Roderick Kearney	OL	6-4	305
Jamari Lyons	DL	6-3.5	304
Chase Stevens	OL	6-3	302
Joey Slackman	DL	6-3.5	300