Florida running back makes joke about Alabama game point spread

Florida running back Dameon Pierce has jokes prior to this weekend’s matchup between the Florida Gators and Alabama Crimson Tide.

With the Alabama offense’s explosiveness, Pierce was pleasantly surprised by the two-touchdown spread for the game.

“Only 15 points? They’re being nice to us, ain’t they?” said Pierce. “I mean, Bama’s beating everybody by 20-plus.”

Evidently, Pierce is amused by the multi-score spread for the matchup. Even though Alabama’s offense is scary, Florida features a multitude of ways to score the football. 

Moreover, Pierce himself has been a touchdown machine in 2021. In the Gators first two games of the season, the running back has scored three touchdowns on just 11 attempts.

However, Florida Atlantic and South Florida aren’t exactly on the same level as Alabama. Still, Pierce is getting a kick out of the huge underdog status of his squad.

Florida QB injury update

While Pierce has been a touchdown machine, quarterback Anthony Richardson has been an electric factory for Florida. After drawing comparisons to Tim Tebow, it’s been tough for head coach Dan Mullen to keep Richardson off the field.

Unfortunately, the quarterback suffered a hamstring injury in Florida’s win over South Florida. Luckily, it doesn’t seem to be something that’s too serious.

Earlier this week, Mullen said that Richardson is receiving treatment on his hamstring. Additionally, he’s expected to practice this week.

Richardson entered the season as Florida’s backup quarterback, with Emory Jones manning the starting role. However, Richardson has shattered expectations to start the season, emerging as a star off Mullen’s bench and leaving fans wanting to see more.

In Saturday’s matchup with South Florida, the redshirt freshman quarterback broke loose for a 70-yard touchdown run, but he appeared to be holding his hamstring as he crossed the goal line. He did not return to the game after sustaining the apparent injury, which was later diagnosed as mere hamstring tightness.

In Florida’s 42-20 win over South Florida, Richardson became the first FBS player in the last 25 seasons to rush for over 100 yards, pass for over 150 yards and complete every pass he threw. Impressively, he did it all as the team’s backup quarterback.

Nick Saban on Florida’s two-QB system

Ahead of their matchup, Alabama head coach Nick Saban discussed the two-quarterback system Florida has been implementing.

“Excellent coach, he does well of utilizing the personnel that he has,” Saban said of Dan Mullen and the Florida Gators. “They have some really talented players … both quarterbacks, using the two-quarterback system, are very capable passers, as well as making plays with their feet, whether it’s quarterback runs or play-action passes.”

Saban has a point. If the Crimson Tide are to cover the gigantic spread this weekend, they’ll have to shut down the Gators offense.

On3’s Simon Gibbs contributed to this article.