Florida vs Miami 8/24/19 - College Football Picks & Predictions

On Saturday August 24, the Florida Gators play the Miami Hurricanes at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida to kick off the 2019 college football regular season. Florida’s success will be dictated by its defense as well as how well Feleipe Franks plays under center. Solid play by Franks and the Gators offense will compliment one of the nation’s best defenses and will make the Gators a legitimate contender in the SEC East with Georgia.

Miami does not have the players it did a few seasons ago and returns from a mediocre 7-6 season a year ago. The Hurricanes have name redshirt freshman Jarren Williams as the team’s starting quarterback, but that could change as two other signal callers with experience Tate Martell and N’Kosi Perry are ready to step in if Williams is not effective. Miami’s defense is not the caliber of Florida’s but can keep the Hurricanes close the entire game. Feleipe Franks returns to start at quarterback. In 2018, Franks threw for 2,457 yards, 24 touchdowns and six interceptions. Lamical Perine returns as the leading running back from last season. Perine rushed for 826 yards and seven touchdowns in 2018. The leading receiver returning from last season is Trevon Grimes who caught 26 passes for 364 yards and two touchdowns. Freddie Swain and Kadarius Swain also return as talented wide outs.

The top quarterback returning for Miami is N’Kosi Perry who threw for 1,091 yards, 13 touchdowns and six interceptions in 2018, but transfer Jarren Williams is expected to start. The top running back will be Deejay Dallas, who last season rushed for 617 yards and six touchdowns. Jeff Thomas returns to the Hurricanes after leading Miami last season with 35 receptions for 563 yards and three touchdowns.