clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Florida vs. Vanderbilt, South Carolina: Predictions reviewed

Our worst fears didn't come to pass! High fives all around!

By Andy Hutchins
Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports

We failed to review our predictions for last week's Vanderbilt game, and so we've got two weeks of predictions to review here.

First, our Homecoming predictions, which were very, very wrong.

  1. Florida will score in the first quarter.
    Wrong. Nope.
  2. Florida will stop Vanderbilt on its first defensive possession.
    Wrong. NOPE.
  3. Tyler Murphy will throw for more than 150 yards.
    Right. Murphy threw for 305 yards, which feels even weirder when I write it two weeks after the fact.
  4. Murphy will also rush for more than 25 yards, not including sacks.
    Wrong. Murphy gained 18 yards rushing, but lost 62 (!!!) on sacks.
  5. Kelvin Taylor will have at least one rush of more than 30 yards.
    Wrong. Taylor's long on the day? 10 yards.
  6. Taylor will average better than four yards per carry.
    Wrong. Florida's line and its early deficit helped limit Taylor to 3.6 YPC.
  7. Taylor will not be the only Florida player to average more than four yards per carry.
    Right. Technically, this was correct! (Valdez Showers was the only player to average even 4.0 YPC; he had one carry for four yards.)
  8. Quinton Dunbar will finally make a touchdown catch.
    Wrong. Sigh.
  9. Gators receivers will combine for more than 10 catches.
    Right. By my count, 23 catches, which is phenomenal.
  10. Ahmad Fulwood will have at least three catches.
    Right. Exactly three.
  11. Florida's defense will allow more than four yards per play.
    Right. Florida loses by 17 at home while giving up 3.3 yards per play. Ugh.
  12. Dante Fowler, Jr. will record a sack.
    Right. A half-sack still counts.
  13. Florida's secondary will make a big play in the first half.
    Wrong. Nah.
  14. Cody Riggs will lead Florida in tackles.
    Wrong. The ONE TIME Antonio Morrison does it...
  15. Jarrad Davis will play in the first half.
    Right? I'll check to make sure, but I'm almost positive this happened.
  16. Joey Ivie will play on the defensive line.
    Right. He's listed on the participation report, though he did not record a statistic.
  17. Patton Robinette's passer rating will be under 120.00 on the day.
    Right. 89.90 is not good.
  18. Vanderbilt's offense will not have a play of more than 40 yards.
    Right. Then again, it didn't really have 40 yards to gain on most plays.
  19. Johnny Townsend will produce fewer than two touchbacks on punts.
    Right. Just the one.
  20. Florida's field goal kickers will not be perfect on the day.
    Right. Which makes the prediction for the Carolina game funnier.
  21. A Florida cornerback will make a big play on special teams.
    Wrong. Don't know why I keep predicting this, even though it gives me three guys (Roberson, Hargreaves, Purifoy) for the space of one.
  22. Florida's announced attendance figure will be ridiculous.
    Wrong. Announced attendance was 88,004. Were there ever that many people there? Nah. Was it a ridiculous number? Don't think so.
  23. Florida will win the time of possession battle.
    Right. It was close: 31:00 to 29:00.
  24. Florida will take back a lead.
    Wrong. Haaaaaaaaa.
  25. Florida will win.
    Wrong. Ugh.

Predictions for Florida vs. Vanderbilt: 13 of 25 right, 52 percent. Season To Date: 115 of 225 right, 51.1 percent.

And now, our 25 predictions for Florida's first game as a losing team in more than 20 years, reviewed just before Florida's second game as a losing team in more than 20 years, and definitely showing how much I just copy last week's predictions over.

  1. Florida will not receive the ball to begin the game.
    Wrong. WHY DO I EVER HOPE!?
  2. Florida will not score in the first quarter.
    Wrong. Florida went up 7-3 with Kelvin Taylor's first-quarter touchdown.
  3. Skyler Mornhinweg will take the overwhelming majority of Florida's snaps at QB.
    Right. I would say "all" counts.
  4. Mornhinweg will not have any rushes of more than five yards.
    Right. He should not run, and did not run.
  5. Kelvin Taylor will have at least one rush of more than 15 yards.
    Right. He had two, actually, both for touchdowns.
  6. Taylor will average under four yards per carry.
    Wrong. Taylor posted an excellent 4.6 yards per carry.
  7. A Florida player will have a rush of more than 25 yards.
    Right. Taylor's second touchdown run covered 27 yards.
  8. Quinton Dunbar will finally make a touchdown catch.
    Wrong. Sigh.
  9. Gators receivers will combine for more than 12 catches.
    Wrong. So very, very wrong. Mornhinweg only completed 10 passes.
  10. Ahmad Fulwood will have at least four catches.
    Wrong. Fulwood had two.
  11. Florida's defense will allow more than five yards per play.
    Right. And it actually gave up 6.0 yards per play, but played well. Weird night.
  12. Florida's defensive line will have fewer than three sacks.
    Right. Just two, and one was a coverage sack Connor Shaw conceded.
  13. Florida's secondary will make a big play in the second quarter.
    Wrong. The closest thing? Jaylen Watkins making a good open-field tackle short of the sticks on third down ... followed by Carolina converting on fourth down.
  14. Jarrad Davis will lead Florida in tackles.
    Wrong. Michael Taylor and Brian Poole.
  15. Vernon Hargreaves III will not make an interception.
    Right. Been a while for VH3 after his white-hot start.
  16. Ronald Powell will make a major error.
    Wrong. Powell was excellent all night.
  17. Connor Shaw will throw for fewer than 200 yards.
    Wrong. Just barely made it, at 213.
  18. Mike Davis will run for more than 100 yards.
    Wrong. Davis had 54 yards when he left due to injury.
  19. Johnny Townsend will have a punt of more than 47 yards.
    Right. Townsend boomed a 51-yarder.
  20. Florida's field goal kickers will be perfect on the day.
    Wrong. Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha dammit.
  21. A Florida defensive back will make a big play on special teams.
    Wrong. Really few opportunities on special teams in the game.
  22. Florida will never lead.
    Wrong. And happy to be wrong.
  23. Florida will win the time of possession battle.
    Right. It was close: 31:01 to 28:59.
  24. Florida will lose.
    Right. Well, at least I was right. Anyway...
  25. It will not be close.
    Wrong. ...I'm so glad to have been wrong about this.

Predictions for Florida vs. South Carolina: 10 of 25 right, 40 percent. Season To Date: 125 of 250 right, 50 percent.

Star-divide

Andy Hutchins is Alligator Army's managing editor. Follow Alligator Army on Twitter and Facebook.

More from Alligator Army: