Florida hosts FAU to open season

How to watch or stream

Time: 7:30 p.m. ET

TV: SEC Network

Stream: WatchESPN

Line: Florida -23.5

Total: 52.5

After what has felt like years of hype and anticipation, it’s finally time for Emory Jones to take the reins as the starting quarterback of the Florida Gators. Jones, who committed to Ohio State before flipping to Florida in 2017, has felt kind of synonymous with head coach Dan Mullen since joining the program a month after Mullen was hired. In the time since, Jones has watched Feleipe Franks and Kyle Trask run the show, appearing sparingly as a backup or change of pace, but now the time has arrived for Jones to be the guy. Jones provides Florida with a dual-threat option at quarterback for the first time in quite a while, and that can be a great element to add to any offense.

The departures of Trask, Kadarius Toney, and Kyle Pitts could very well lead to Florida being a team that runs the ball more this year than we had seen in the past. Jones has good speed, and what’s more, Florida returns its top four rushers from last year (Dameon Pierce, Malik Davis, Jones, Nay’Quan Wright). FAU’s rush defense finished just outside the top 50 last year at #51, allowing 4.2 YPC, so Saturday could be a nice test for the Gators’ ground game.

FAU’s defense was good last season but it’s offense was near the bottom of the NCAA. It’s hard to imagine that changing too much as the bulk of their skill players return for another season.

Fans will likely remember last time FAU visited Gainesville, in which they took the Gators to overtime before Florida pulled out a 20-14 win. Hopefully for the sake of Gators fans, the team does not put them through another scare like that again this week.