GatorCountry brings you a new podcast as we preview the Florida Gators vs. Missouri game on Saturday afternoon in Columbia, Missouri.
Andrew Spivey and Nick de la Torre break down what the Gators offense with Malik Zaire starting at quarterback and what Florida can do differently this time.
Andrew and Nick also predict some games around the country, plus name three players to watch from the Gators this week against Missouri.
TRANSCRIPT:
Andrew:                 What’s up, Gator Country? Your man, Andrew Spivey, here with Nicholas de la Torre. Nicholas, game week. Friday prediction for Missouri, and breaking news. There is a game this week.
Nick:                         Yeah. Not really an exciting game, on paper, but there is a game this week.
Andrew:                 A game this week, and Randy Shannon made some breaking news on Thursday morning. Quarterback Malik Zaire will get the start. Nick, I think you and I both agree, and if not, I’m speaking for you, and you can say you disagree here. I think that we both agree that that was going to be the case. When Shannon opened up the competition, and then didn’t name a starter on Tuesday, and didn’t name a starter on Wednesday, pretty much knew Zaire was going to be that guy, or at least I did. Just because of the way it was. I think, just from the standpoint of Shannon saying, “Let’s see something different.”
Nick:                         Yeah. I wrote it. Might have been harsh when I wrote it, but you’ve seen what you get from Feleipe Franks, and it’s gotten you a 3-4 record. Like I said on Wednesday’s podcast, or Monday’s, you’ve seen what you get from Franks. Randy Shannon is, right now, whether he’ll admit it or not, auditioning for his next job as a head coach. I know what I’m getting from one guy, let’s try the other one. Let’s shake things up, and see what it gets us.
Andrew:                 Here’s my thing to you, Nick, and I think we said this as well the other day, and that is had Franks been the guy and had looked good, and everyone in the world thought he was going to be your quarterback of the future, then you keep him in there and let him continue to learn or do whatever he’s been doing this year. He hasn’t been learning, because he hasn’t gotten better. Whatever he’s been doing, you would do that. I think the world knows that Feleipe Franks just isn’t going to be that guy for the future, and, at the end of the day, you still owe it to your team. You still owe it to your program and to your university to make a bowl game, and if that’s with Zaire, you got to do it.
Nick:                         Do you think he has a quick leash? Do you think he has a long leash? What do you think we’ll see?
Andrew:                 I think he has a long leash. You don’t want an interchangeable quarterback going on here. My question, Nick, is what do they do? Do they mix it up a little bit? Here’s the thing, and we said this last year, and I don’t want people to take it the wrong way, but you can allow Zaire to run the ball and take that risk of him getting his helmet knocked off, or him having to leave the game for a play and Franks coming in, because he has played. You can run that risk, in my opinion, of letting Zaire run the ball and take some hits and all that good stuff, because you do have Franks in the wings.
Nick:                         Yeah. That’s something we got into the past, however many years, where you’re not taking advantage of Treon’s running ability, because you didn’t have anyone behind him after Will Grier was suspended. Then it was the same thing Appleby. Listen, if you got a quarterback that can run, let him run. If he gets hurt, figure it out later. If you got a quarterback that can run, let him run.
Andrew:                 D