College GameDay podcast gives Florida little chance to upset LSU

LSU is preparing to host Florida in a monster Week 3 showdown. Before all the action gets underway on Saturday, ESPN’s Pete Thamel and Rece Davis made their predictions on the latest episode of the College GameDay podcast.

“I really don’t think we need to spend a lot of time on this one, because I think LSU takes it,” Thamel stated. “Honestly, I would’ve picked LSU even if Florida had executed the three-minute offense and just ground out the clock to beat USF in an unspectacular way. But yeah, I don’t see Florida going into Baton Rouge and rebounding here.”

Evidently, Davis isn’t giving the Gators much of a chance either: “Now, LSU’s offense hasn’t really exploded yet,” Davis responded. “Week 1 at Clemson, that was a tough environment against a good defense, and it was the first game. LSU hasn’t gone off offensively.

“I don’t think they will Saturday night either, but I do think they’ll do more than enough to win — because LSU’s defense has been dominant and should continue to be stifling against the Gators. I’ll take LSU to win that one — and win it handily.”

As the duo alluded to, we already saw LSU go up against an offense plenty of people had high expectations for in Week 1. Clemson came into the opener with Cade Klubnik and a lethal wide receiver group. They walked out with under 300 total yards and only 31 on the ground. LSU held them at bay for all four quarters.

Evidently, both analysts see a similar result playing out against Florida. Even though Gators quarterback DJ Lagway garnered a ton of attention during the preseason, with his name showing up in Heisman Trophy discussions, LSU seems to have found its stride on defense, and that might be enough.

From a Florida perspective, head coach Billy Napier‘s hot seat would only get warmer with another loss. Losing to USF completely threw a wrench in the season plans, bringing back a ton of doubters. Beating LSU may change the tune in favor of Napier. However, Thamel and Davis are picking the Gators to have a tough night.

Kickoff from Baton Rouge is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET. It’s tough to find a college football venue better than Tiger Stadium during a night game, even if the result may be a forgone conclusion for some of the sport’s top analysts.

— On3’s Griffin McVeigh contributed to this article.