A Deep Dive Into the Florida Gators 2020 Football Schedule - Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated-AllGators' Donavon Keiser also contributed to this article

In just under a month, the iconic words, "Here Comes the Gators!" will be uttered for the first time since December 30th, 2019.

This past Monday night, the SEC announced the final schedule for all 14 of its members and gave everyone a clear look at their possible path to Atlanta. All teams are slated to take on a ten-game, conference-only schedule in 2020.

While the Gators' road to Atlanta looks a bit different this season given the COVID-19 pandemic, the football program goes into the year with high expectations following an 11-2 performance in 2019. AllGators’ contributors, Donavon Keiser and Brandon Carroll, collaborate to give an outlook on the Florida Gators 2020 football schedule.

What is the toughest stretch the Gators will face?

Donavon Keiser: LSU, Missouri, Georgia

Although LSU loses a plethora of starters from last year's championship team, coach Ed Orgeron still cleaned up on the recruiting trail by bringing in top in-state talent and picking and choosing from throughout the southeast. LSU will once again meet the Gators in the Swamp, and I predict this matchup with be tough considering the Gators will be rebounding from a road game in College Station. 

LSU and Florida have found themselves to be notorious rivals, as each matchup comes down to the wire. Since 2004, only five games between the cross-division rivals have been decided by more than 10 points, four of which came in years where either Florida or LSU played for a national championship (2006, 2008, 2011, 2019). 

After LSU, Florida will remain in Gainesville to welcome Missouri, who has been a thorn in the side of the Gators since they joined the SEC. Quite the opposite of LSU, Missouri and Florida rarely play each other close, in eight meetings since 2012, only one time has the matchup been within 10 points of each other.

Florida gets a break after facing the Tigers at home and will travel to Jacksonville to face the Georgia Bulldogs on Nov. 7 in a must-win battle on the St. Johns River. 

Brandon Carroll: South Carolina, Texas A&M, LSU

In a year that the road to Atlanta is likely to see teams more battle-tested than ever - due to the conference-only schedule -, the season is set to see exciting matchups of powerhouses week in and week out. As a result, teams are likely to go through difficult stretches.

For Florida, the group of games that look to be the most daunting occurs from weeks two to four.

Following a week one matchup against a revamped Ole Miss Rebels team, Florida will face off against South Carolina, Texas A&M, and LSU consecutively. In week two, former Gators coach Will Muschamp and South Carolina will travel into Gainesville looking to spoil Florida's season. 

Known for yielding stingy defenses, Muschamp should have South Carolina ready to fluster Trask and the Gators offense after they face off against Georgia in week one. As a result, Florida could find themselves having to pull out a late victory over South Carolina in the same way they have been forced to the past two seasons.

Playing against a former coach is a difficult task no matter the circumstances, but it can be especially frightening when the possibility of back-to-back top-15 matchups is on the horizon.

Following their week two matchup, Florida will face off against recently-scheduled Texas A&M in order to comply with the 10-game, conference-only schedule. Traveling to College Station — an atmosphere that is usually "Home of the 12th man" — in a year that a global-wide pandemic prevents full capacity stadiums, the advantage for A&M no longer stands.

Instead, A&M will be fresh off what should be a hard-fought game against Alabama and will likely be vying to get back on track following what should be a loss to the Crimson Tide. This will be yet another a game that could come down to the wire for Florida if they don’t come out firing.

Finally, Florida returns home after what could be an emotional battle on the road to once again play with intensity on high against their yearly SEC West opponent in the LSU Tigers.

Being one of the only teams to hang in with the Bayou Bengals during their unprecedented championship run in 2019, Florida looks to regain control of the series and reign victorious against new starting quarterback Myles Brennan and a unit that could be clicking a month into the season.

Escaping with a 3-0 record over this stretch, the possibility of the Gators running the table in the East becomes even more likely.

What is a matchup that could be labeled as a trap game for Florida?

Keiser: Tennessee 

I went back and forth on this one, but ultimately I think Florida will struggle more with Tennessee than Missouri or Kentucky.

Tennessee is slowly building a program with true talent but has lacked leadership for the better part of 15 years to take them in the right direction. With the matchup coming at the end of the season, I find it intriguing that Tennessee will play an emotional game just prior to when Florida could be playing for the SEC Championship.

Luckily for Gators fans, Mullen has made it evident that he will not allow his team to lack in preparation ever since the most embarrassing loss of his tenure against Missouri in 2018. 

The Gators will be prepared for any team they face, but Tennessee will be hungry to knock off Florida for the second time in over 15 years. 

Carroll: Ole Miss

Before the schedule was announced, I saw this matchup as trap game material and I think that notion can be expanded upon with it now being their week one matchup. Traveling to Oxford for the first time since 2007, the Gators look to rekindle a rather back-and-forth rivalry throughout its storied history.

With John Rhys-Plumlee entering his second year as the starter at Ole Miss, the dual-threat star is a player that presents matchup problems for a defense that has historically struggled to defend against quarterbacks who frequently rush the football.

In a year that sees Florida’s leader on defense yet to be seen, due to the loss of David Reese II, the Gators could struggle to stay in position against Plumlee — who totaled over 1,000 yards on the ground as a freshman — and find themselves allowing unnecessary yards and scoring plays to keep the Rebels close until the end.

In year one of the Lane Kiffin regime at Ole Miss, expect to see a rejuvenated Rebels team that will bring to the field confidence and swagger as they hope for better times ahead of them where the football program is concerned.

Similar to what transpired last season with Miami when the Gators faced off against them in a week zero matchup, unpredictability could spell trouble for a Gators team that could find themselves in an early-season nail-bitter while trying to find a groove for the 2020 season. 

If you had to pick one, what is the key game for Florida to reach their full potential?

Keiser: Georgia

No surprise here. Florida must finally get over the hump when facing their SEC East rival in the Georgia Bulldogs. The talent gap has been inching closer and closer, and Mullen now has his guys in his system for year three of his tenure. 

It is now time for Florida to beat the new-look Bulldogs. Georgia could struggle with two solid, but unproven QB transfers in a new system under offensive coordinator Todd Monken, who have both had their fair share of trials and tribulations as well as a lack of spring camp with UGA. Southern California transfer, J.T. Daniels missed the majority of last season with an injury, so Jamie Newman is widely considered the favorite to start at QB for the Dawgs. 

Florida now has players who are able to compete with the four and five stars that Georgia constantly has, on top of a coaching advantage over Kirby Smart and his new-look staff that has yet to gel on the field. 

Carroll: Georgia

In a year that Florida is expected to compete for the SEC East title, it would be naive to say the World’s Largest Cocktail Party isn’t the game that makes or breaks their season. As the prominent contenders in the East over the past two decades, Florida-Georgia games have produced many classics to this point and expect this year to be no different.

After going 0-2 in his first two seasons against Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs, Dan Mullen is in prime position to the lead the Gators to a victory in Jacksonville in year three.

Following two top-ten performances by each team in 2019, valuable production was lost by both the Gators and the Bulldogs.

For Georgia, losing starting quarterback Jake Fromm, running back Deandre Swift, two NFL-bound offensive lineman, and leading wide receiver Lawrence Cager offensively, the Gators have a chance to take down the team that has had a stronghold on the SEC East for the past few seasons.

Meanwhile, Florida will move forward without the bulk of its production at the wide receiver position but doesn’t have to undergo the same complete overload that Georgia does.

With the gap between these two teams being close, Florida needs to take advantage of returning their starting signal-caller to the field, while Georgia will—without a doubt—trot out a first-year Dawg to their starting unit with either Jamie Newman or J.T. Daniels.

Not only can this game be critical for the Gators' success in 2020, but it holds larger implications for the future of Florida football as this is their window to close the aforementioned gap on the talented Georgia program.

Final Expectations:

Keiser: Coach Dan Mullen and his staff understand that this is his window of opportunity to take back the SEC and he will stop at nothing to take back control of one of the most difficult divisions in all of college football. 

Mullen has been pushing his players harder than ever this past offseason and camp and they know what the goals of the program are. In a recent video posted on the Florida Gators Football YouTube page, Mullen addressed the team in the stadium and started off a strong statement, referencing the numbers hanging on the stadium walls, 1996, 2006, and 2008. 

"I wanna put another number there and another number over there" said Mullen, pointing at the SEC Championship and National Championship plaques. 

I expect the Gators to win the SEC East and truly contend in the SEC considering how open the conference is this season. I'd also expect Florida to be in the playoff talk, with a chance to make a run at a National Championship as long as they take care of their business within the dominant Southeastern Conference. 

Carroll: Following their Orange Bowl victory over Virginia in late December, the Gators have been held high expectations for the 2020 season.

Despite a change in schedule and an alternate landscape of the college football world in the upcoming season, those expectations have not changed.

Florida is entering their window to take that next step into being a championship contender in both their conference and in the nation. With the loads of talent that has been accumulating on the roster since Mullen arrival, anything less than a trip to the SEC Championship is considered to be a failure of a season.

Florida is in prime position to win now, and at least winning the East with a chance to take home the SEC Championship against the West’s representative should be the standard UF is held to this season.

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