By Anthony Caruso III
Publisher
The Florida Gators (10-3) will face the Michigan Wolverines (9-3) in the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl. They’ll kick off at 1 pm on ESPN from the Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida.
This is a match-up featuring two first-year head coaches at their respective schools. Jim Harbaugh is at Michigan after coming from the San Francisco 49ers in the National Football League.
Jim McElwain came to Florida after being the Colorado State Rams head coach.
The Gators will defeat the Wolverines, 21-0. This is according to our whatifsports.com simulation.
The Gators had the ball for 33 minutes and 55 seconds. The Wolverines had it for 26 minutes and 5 seconds.
Florida had 381 yards of offense, while Michigan had 296.
Gators used two quarterbacks as Treon Harris started and went 17-of-30 for 230 yards and two touchdowns. Josh Grady came in and went 3-of-3 and 30 yards.
Graduate transfer Jake Rudock went 20-of-45 for 207 yards and five interceptions for the Wolverines.
De’Veon Smith had 58 rushing yards for Michigan. Drake Johnson had 16-yards, while Rudock had 13-yards and Sione Houma had a yard.
Jehu Chesson had 65 receiving yards, while Jake Butt had 53-yards and Amara Darboh had 45-yards. Grant Perry had 23-yards and Smith had 22-yards, while Drake Harris had -1-yards.
Kelvin Taylor, who announced this will be his final game with the Gators, had 107 yards and a touchdown. Jordan Cronkite had 29-yards, while Harris had -15-yards.
Brandon Powell led the Gators receivers with 63-yards, while Antonio Callaway had 56-yards and Demarcus Robinson, who has been rumored to go to the NFL Draft as well, had 43 yards and a touchdown. Taylor had 30-yards and Jake McGee had 28-yards and a touchdown, while Valdez Showers had 22-yards. DeAndrew Goolsby had 18-yards.
The Gators defense came up huge with five interceptions with all five by the defensive backs. Vernon Hargreaves III, who will be playing in his final collegiate game, had two interceptions. Jalen Tabor, the corner opposite the All-American, had two interceptions, and safety Keanu Neal also had a pick.
The Wolverines defense had five sacks. Tom Strobel, AJ Pearson, Chris Wormley, Willie Henry and Ryan Glasgow had the sacks.
It was a defensive effort for the first half, as each team was held scoreless. However, in the third quarter, Robinson caught a 12-yard touchdown reception from Harris for the 7-0 lead.
Then, also in the quarter, Taylor scored on a two-yard run for the 14-0 lead.
McGee, the graduate transfer, whose playing in his final game with Florida, had a three-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter for the 21-0 lead.
Follow Anthony: @alcaruso3 on Twitter | Anthony Caruso III on Facebook
Follow us: @CapSportsReport on Twitter | The Capital Sports Report on Facebook
