Florida Football: Expert predictions for Gators v Charlotte 49ers game
The college football season continues to roll along with Week 4 already upon us. For Gators fans, it has been a bit of an up-and-down campaign already, facing a heart-breaking defeat in Week 1 to the Utah Utes before a redeeming upset win over the Tennessee Volunteers in the SEC opener.
Next up for the Orange and Blue are the Charlotte 49ers, an American Athletic Conference member, who arrive in Gainesville with a 1-2 record and an underwhelming program overall. The two schools have never met before on the collegiate gridiron.
Ahead of the Week 4 matchup, the Gators Wire crew assembled to provide their expert opinions on what to expect this coming weekend. The composite score prediction shows a great deal of confidence in the Gators from across the board — which is to be expected with an opponent of the upcoming caliber.
On paper, Florida is clearly the better team, but more importantly, the Gators have begun to coalesce on the field as witnessed against Tennessee. Expect the Orange and Blue to find the endzone plenty of times while the defense suffocates the overmatched Niners’ offense, with Billy Napier and Co. cruising to 3-1 on the season.
Florida 51, Charlotte 16
Florida’s running backs might be in for a big day against Charlotte. The 49ers were terrible against the run when they faced Maryland two weeks ago, and Florida’s tandem of Trevor Etienne and Montrell Johnson Jr. is only just starting to heat up. It wouldn’t be surprising to see both men hit the 100-yard mark, and Treyaun Webb should get some carries in the second half if all goes well.
Defensively, things have been… good so far, which is incredibly weird to write considering the lackluster performances we’ve seen on that side of the ball over the past couple of seasons. I’m not expecting a shutout, but the defense shouldn’t give up more than 14 points.
There’s simply too much going right for the Gators right now for me to predict a sudden collapse. I think Florida takes this one convincingly.
Florida 41, Charlotte 14
I think the Gators finally found out who they are against Tennessee. They should stick to the ground and let Mertz complete his simple throws which should be able to create big plays against a weak defense like Charlottes’s. Etienne had his big game against Tennessee, so I’m calling for an all-time performance from Montrell Johnson Jr. who’s due for an explosive run and his offensive line should be able to supply him with plenty of open doors.
The defense should be super fun to watch this week and I’m not expecting a good day for the 49ers. The Gators might’ve started to crack when Tennessee’s Joe Milton started to find his deep routes, but I don’t think Charlotte is capable of capitalizing on those kinds of opportunities against an SEC opponent like Florida.
If I were a gambling man (which I am), I’d be booking a Florida defensive touchdown and a score from Ricky Pearsall and Johnson Jr. Oh, and a Joey Smack field goal.
Florida 45, Charlotte 16
Florida may have a little bit of a hangover and Charlotte has some dangerous players. The biggest question is the offensive line in the first half with two starters suspended. It would be nice to have another game where the Gator fans can relax (like McNeese) but Charlotte is another level up.
Florida 35, Charlotte 16
Last week’s victory over Tennessee went about as well as it could for the Gators. The first half was one of the best performances of the Billy Napier era. The game plan was executed perfectly: get the Tennessee offense off the field quickly and maintain possession by running the ball.
It’s really indicative of what Napier wants the Gators to look like this season, and when the offensive line plays like it did Saturday and your backfield consists of Trevor Etienne and Montrell Johnson (in that order, if Billy will hear me out), you can play an effective ball-control style of offense.
While the Utah game was ugly, the last two outings for the Orange and Blue have inspired a lot of optimism for the Florida fan base. Looking ahead, Florida’s schedule doesn’t get really difficult until after the bye week. Charlotte (Home), Kentucky (Away), Vanderbilt (Home), and South Carolina (Away) are all win-able games if the Gators play like they did against McNeese State and Tennessee. A 5-2 record going into the Georgia game would be a tremendous show of progress for Billy Napier and the program’s health as a whole, with 6-1 not completely out of the question.
It all starts with Charlotte, though. And I expect the Gators to take care of business. Saturday’s game should look very similar to the game against McNeese State. I expect the offense to pick up where they left off against Tennessee and the defense to continue to be aggressive and get off the field quickly. A fresh defense is an effective defense, and that should be the priority this Saturday.
Florida 35, Charlotte 7
The Gators Wire staff unanimously picked the Gators to win big over the 49ers, with the largest margin of victory coming from Adam with a 35-point difference and the smallest from Pat who had a 19-point difference between the two teams in their respective final scores. Nonetheless, it looks to be a one-sided affair for the Orange and Blue that will cover the spread and land over the betting lines.
Florida 41, Charlotte 14
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