Florida vs Oregon State prediction, game preview, odds, how to watch. SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl, Saturday, December 17, 2022
Florida vs Oregon State SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl Prediction Game Preview
– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak
Florida vs Oregon State How To Watch
Date: Saturday, December 17, 2022
Game Time: 2:30 ET
Venue: Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, NV
How To Watch: ESPN
Record: Florida (6-6), Oregon State (9-3)
– Sign up and live stream college football on ESPN+
Florida vs Oregon State SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl 5 Things To Know
SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl Prediction, What’s Going To Happen, History
– It’s the first Power Five vs Power Five matchup of the bowl season, and both teams have a whole lot to prove. Florida is trying to avoid a losing season under first year head coach Billy Napier, and the program needs to close strong after dropping two straight to close the regular season.
Oregon State comes in rolling on a three-game winning streak taking down six of its last seven games. That’s all great, but it’s the nine-win team against the .500 club. It’s the College Football Playoff’s No. 14 team vs one that lost to Vanderbilt. The expectations are on to beat the SEC team. Jonathan Smith was just given a nice new contract worth over $30 million, and now …
– Oregon State has to win one of these bowl things after clunking in last year’s LA Bowl. It was stopped by Utah State 24-13 in the program’s first bowl appearance since the 2013 Hawaii. How special is this? The Beavers are 1-3 in bowl games since beating Pitt 3-0 in the 2008 Sun Bowl, and a win would give them their first ten-win season since 2006.
– Let’s just say the last two bowl games didn’t go well for Florida. The team was missing most of its parts in the rough blowout loss to Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl to close out the 2020 season, and last year it suffered the indignity of losing to UCF 29-17 in the Gasparilla Bowl.
– The Las Vegas Bowl could use some fun. Last year’s 20-13 Wisconsin win over Las Vegas was technically close, but it was hardly gripping, the 2020 game was canceled, and before that five of the six games and ten of the previous 12 were decided by double-digits.
– Not only is this the first meeting between the two programs, but this is the first time Oregon State faced an SEC team since losing to LSU 22-21 to open the 2004 season – Missouri was in the Big 12 when the two played in 2006.
Including the Fiesta Bowls in Tempe, this is the furthest west the Florida program has been since losing to Troy Aikman and UCLA in the 1987 Aloha Bowl in Hawaii. It beat the eventual Pac-12 champion Utah in the opener. That was the first game against a current Pac-12 team since losing to Washington 34-7 in the 1989 Freedom Bowl.
CFN Bowl Expert Picks: Dec 16-19 | Dec 20-27
Why Florida Will Win The SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl
The running game should still be okay.
The Gators will be missing star QB Anthony Richardson – he caught NFLitis and opted out – but most of the other key parts are around for the offense. The offensive line won’t have guard O’Cyrus Torrence – also preparing for the next level – but overall it’s good enough to pound away for the combination of Montrell Johnson and Trevor Etienne.
Oregon State’s run defense has been terrific all season long, but it shouldn’t take much to get control in this. The Beavers lost in two of the three games when they allowed 160 yards or more, and Florida has only been held under that four times.
Can Jack Miller get the job done? The former Ohio State Buckeye has talent, he’s more of a pro-style passer than Richardson, and the Gators are getting help from the time off with the receiving corps getting bay more options.
The Florida offense should work, but …
Why Oregon State Will Win The SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl
Yeah, you don’t get better by losing Anthony Richardson.
He’s a special talent with the upside to potentially be a top ten overall pick as the wild card in the 2023 NFL Draft – think a potentially faster Josh Allen with a little bit of time. He’s not alone. Five Gators so far have opted out, and all hands need to be on deck to deal with this Beaver team.
It’s not flashy, but it’s rock-solid with a balanced offense, a great O line, and a defensive front that might not generate much of a pass rush, but holds up well against the run – OSU finished second in the Pac-12 against the run.
Steady matters in this. Florida’s defense is miserable at coming up with third down stops, the run D sometimes doesn’t show up, and Oregon State should be able to pound away.
The Beavers are 8-0 when running for over 175 yards. Florida allows 176 rushing yards per game and is 2-5 when allowing 175 or more.
SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl Prediction, What’s Going To Happen, History
