The Florida Gators and Eastern Washington Eagles square off Sunday in a week 5 college football contest at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The Eastern Washington Eagles look to get back to a .500 record. The Florida Gators look to get a game above a .500 record.
The Eastern Washington Eagles have won 6 of their last 8 road games. Gunner Talkington is completing 61.2 percent of his passes for 636 yards, 10 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. Freddie Roberson and Efton Chism III have combined for 359 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns, while Nolan Ulm has 6 receptions. The Eastern Washington Eagles ground game is averaging 124.7 yards per contest, and Micah Smith leads the way with 162 yards and 2 touchdowns. Defensively, Eastern Washington is allowing 45.6 points and 539 yards per game. Ely Doyle leads the Eastern Washington Eagles with 26 tackles, Mitchell Johnson has 2 sacks and Jaren Banks has 1 interception.
The Florida Gators have won 6 of their last 7 home games. Anthony Richardson is completing 53.7 percent of his passes for 876 yards, 2 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. Justin Shorter and Ricky Pearsall have combined for 462 receiving yards and 1 touchdown, while Xzavier Henderson has 19 receptions. The Florida Gators ground game is averaging 195.3 yards per contest, and Montrell Johnson Jr. leads the way with 258 yards and 3 touchdowns. Defensively, Florida is allowing 29.5 points and 437.3 yards per game. Trey Dean III leads the Florida Gators with 36 tackles, Amari Burney has 3 sacks and Gervon Dexter Sr. has 1 interception.
The Eagles are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 non-conference games and 2-5 ATS in their last 7 road games. The Gators are 1-6 ATS in their last 7 home games and 2-9 ATS in their last 11 games overall. The over is 6-1 in Eagles last 7 games overall. The over is 7-3 in Gators last 10 non-conference games.
The Florida Gators have not been good through 4 games, and I wouldn’t expect a packed house here given the Sunday start and fresh off a hurricane that’s going to rock parts of the state. However, there’s a clear talent gap between these clubs, and we’re not going to ignore the Eastern Washington Eagles losing to Oregon, 70-14. If Florida can’t win this game going away, something is wrong. It’s the Gators in a beat down or pass for me.