GAINESVILLE, FLA- Following an ugly 31-28 win against South Florida in week three, the Florida Gators (2-2, 0-2 SEC) traveled to Knoxville in preparation for their week four game versus the No. 8 Tennessee Volunteers. Despite being 10-point underdogs, the Gators flipped the script and stuck with the Volunteers for the majority of the game, before losing 33-38. Although Florida dropped out of the AP Top 25 Rankings and are 0-2 in SEC conference play, Sophomore Quarterback Anthony Richardson and the Gators’ offense looked much improved against Tennessee than against No. 7 Kentucky or South Florida in the past two weeks. Fortunately for Florida, the Gators will return to The Swamp in week five, as they will play the struggling Eastern Washington Eagles (1-2, 0-1 Big Sky)*.
*Due to the possible threat of Hurricane Ian on Southern Florida, the week five game between Eastern Washington and Florida will be rescheduled to October 2nd (Sunday), instead of October 1st (Saturday).
Review of Florida’s Week Four Loss Against No. 8 Tennessee
After enduring two poor performances in week two versus Kentucky and week three against South Florida, Richardson rebounded with his best game of the season in Knoxville. Despite the tight loss to Tennessee, Richardson completed 24 of 44 pass attempts for 453 passing yards and two touchdowns, both career-highs for the Sophomore Quarterback. Of the seven different receivers that Richardson completed passes to, Junior Receiver Justin Shorter led the Gators with seven receptions for 155 yards, while Arizona State Transfer Ricky Pearsall (5/103/1) and Keon Zipperer (3/62/1) each recorded touchdown receptions. Even though Florida’s rushing attack wasn’t as dominant as in previous games, Richardson still found success, recording 62 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns on 17 rush attempts. Richardson’s breakthrough impacted Florida’s entire offense, as the Gators notched a season-high 594 total yards of offense (453 passing, 141 rushing).
As expected, Florida’s defense was unable to stop Tennessee’s explosive offense, led by Heisman candidate Hendon Hooker. Just one week after guiding the Volunteers to a 63-6 win over Akron, Hooker continued his dynamic play against the Gators, completing 22 of 28 pass attempts for 349 passing yards and two touchdowns while also running for 112 yards and a touchdown on 13 attempts. It’s worth noting that Hooker received productive play from his running backs, as Jabari Small (19/90/1) and Jaylen Wright (10/25/1) combined for 115 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 29 attempts. Even with the absence of Cedric Tillman, Hooker was able to rely on Bru McCoy (5/102/1) and Ramel Keyton (3/69/0) throughout the game. In a game where Florida was able to keep up with Tennessee’s offense, the Gators’ defense failed to help pull out the upset in Neyland Stadium.
Review of Eastern Washington’s Week Four Loss to Montana State
After suffering a 14-70 beatdown to the No. 13 Oregon Ducks in week three, the Eastern Washington Eagles returned from their week four bye to play Montana State, one of the top teams in the Big Sky Conference. As expected, the game between the Bobcats and the Eagles was tightly contested, but Eastern Washington was unable to keep up with Montana State, and ended up losing 35-38. Although it was Eastern Washington’s second loss of the season, the Eagles didn’t play bad against the Bobcats, as shown by Quarterback Gunner Talkington’s and Runningback Micah Smith’s respective statlines. First off, Talkington had another impressive game in his final season with the Eagles, throwing for 201 passing yards and three touchdowns on 16-26 passing. Likewise, Smith anchored Eastern Washington’s running game, recording 114 rushing yards and two touchdowns on just 13 rush attempts. Despite only being on offense for 21:24, Eastern Washington’s offense moved the ball well against a solid Montana State defense, recording 349 yards of offense.
In spite of their offensive output, Eastern Washington’s defense wasn’t able to shut down Montana State when they needed to. To be specific, Eastern Washington struggled to contain Montana State’s rushing attack, as the Bobcats notched 355 rushing yards as a team, highlighted by Junior Quarterback Sean Chamber’s 160 rushing yards and two touchdowns along with Elijah Elliot’s 156 yards and one touchdown. What’s more impressive is the Bobcats ran the football 60 times, compared to throwing the football twelve times. Montana State’s “run-first” offense gave the Bobcats control of the game, as they were on offense for 38:36 minutes, compared to Eastern Washington’s 21:24 seconds. In addition to this, Eastern Washington committed five penalties for 60 yards while also turning the football over twice against an average Montana State offense. If the Eagles want a legitament chance to pull off the upset versus the Gators in The Swamp, they must minimize simple mistakes such as the aforementioned ones against Montana State.
Game and Betting Information for Eastern Washington vs Florida
Game Information
- Location: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, Florida
Date: Sunday, October Second, 2022 - Kick-Off Time: 12:00 P.M. ET
- TV: SEC Network, ESPN+
- Game Spread: -31.5 Florida
- Point Total Over/Under: 71.5
- Moneyline: South Florida +2,000, Florida -10,000
- Football Power Index (FPI): Favors Florida at 97.9%
Betting Information
- Florida is 0-5 ATS in their last five home games following a straight-up loss.
- Florida is 1-8 ATS in their last nine non-conference games.
- The Gators are 1-6 ATS in their last seven home games.
- The Point Total has gone Over in ten of Eastern Washington’s last ten home games after allowing less than 170 yards passing in their previous game.
- The Point Total in Eastern Washington’s last four non-conference games has hit the Over.
Ten Facts to Know for Eastern Washington vs Florida
- While Eastern Washington isn’t known for producing professional football players, 2022 Offensive Player of the Year and Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp did go to Eastern Washington, catching 428 passes for 6,464 yards and 73 touchdowns from 2013-2016.
- Sunday’s game will be Eastern Washington’s first game ever in the state of Florida and the first game against an SEC school.
- This is the second time in school history that the Eagles have played two Power Five teams in the same season, (Played Oregon in Week Three).
- Despite beginning the 2022-2023 season off with a 1-2 record, Eastern Washington is ranked No. 18 in the latest FCS poll
- After playing Eastern Washington in Week Five, Florida will play six consecutive SEC-Conference games, including games against No. 1 Georgia and No. 17 Texas A&M.
- Due to their slow start, Florida is sixth in the SEC East, only ahead of South Carolina. Fortunately, Florida has four games remaining against SEC East opponents, including a week six matchup against Brady Cook and Missouri.
- Through four games, Florida has seen its offenses produce modest results, averaging 27.2 PPG, 414.2 YPG, 219.0 PYPG, and 195.2 RYPG.
- Meanwhile, Eastern Washington is averaging 28.3 PPG, 252.5 TYPG, 159 PYPG, and 93.5 RYPG.
- Both Florida and Eastern Washington have been quite successful when attempting fourth-down conversions. So far, the Gators are 8-11 (72.3%) on fourth-down conversions, while the Eagles are 4-5 (80.0%).