Urban Meyer predicts LSU to win, cover against Florida

SEC play kicks off in full force this weekend, with one of the headliners being Florida traveling to No. 3 LSU, fresh off an upset loss at home to USF. The Gators were ranked No. 13 in the country but dropped out of the AP Poll completely following the disappointing defeat.

LSU opened the season strong with a 17-10 win on the road against then-No. 4-ranked Clemson, but looked like it was just going through the motions last week against Louisiana Tech. The Tigers came away with a comfortable 23-7 win thanks to a strong defensive showing, but could never quite put the hammer down on the Bulldogs.

Ahead of the rivalry matchup, former Florida head coach Urban Meyer weighed in on his prediction for the game. The Gators lead the all-time series 34-32 and won last year’s game 27-16, but Meyer is going against his former team this weekend.

“I told you this one pains me, man,” Meyer said on ‘The Triple Option‘ podcast. “That was when the old lady flipped me off as I was coming into a night game. She put the walker down, didn’t throw it away because she couldn’t walk, and then double birded me. And you hear things hitting the bus as it goes in there and one guy threw that stuff on me. So that is a nasty, rugged (place). So, what time is the game? It’s a night one. We won one game at night down there. We were 1-2 or 1-3 down there.”

A loss to LSU would sink Napier under .500 as Florida’s coach

“It’s a rugged place and they just don’t lose,” Meyer continued. “I think Brian Kelly has got it going. I’m a Gator and I am a Gator fan and don’t want to do this, but I’m picking LSU over the 9.5. Yeah, I think it’s close for a minute, but you’re gonna find out — we always use the term ‘grown a** man — what you have in that locker room, pal.”

This matchup will be extremely important for Florida head coach Billy Napier. He would sink under .500 as the head coach in Gainesville with a potential loss (20-21).

“In terms of Florida, they’ll be revealed this weekend,” ESPN‘s Paul Finebaum said on Wednesday’s edition of ‘The Rich Eisen Show.‘ “They’re at Baton Rouge (LSU). Not a good place to find yourself after losing to your not even cross-state rival. Florida this year has Florida State and Miami on the schedule. Miami is on the schedule next week, and they lose to the weakest of the three (USF).

“I did the calculation on Florida‘s 12-game schedule and USF is either the 10th or 11th best team on their schedule. If you’re doing the math on where Billy Napier will be next year, it probably won’t be at Florida.”

Kick-off for Saturday’s game between the Gators and Tigers is scheduled for 7:30 PM. The game will be shown on ABC.