Florida Gators vs. Mississippi State: How to watch, channel, streaming

Can the Florida offense match its play against Texas? Will the defense get its groove back coming off its worst showing of the season? Which DJ Lagway will show up, and will the Florida Gators QB get the protection he needs from an up-and-down offensive line?

These are some of the questions entering Saturday’s game between the Florida Gators and Mississippi State Bulldogs at the Swamp. But this one is the biggest: Will this be Billy Napier’s final game as UF coach?

Napier, now in his fourth season in Gainesville, is just 21-23 and 11–16 in SEC play. Florida enters this game at 2-4 overall, 1-2 in the conference following last week’s 34-17 loss at then-No. 5 Texas A&M. MSU is 4-2, 0-2. The Bulldogs won just two games a season ago and much improved.

“We’re excited to be back at home this week, playing in front of our fans,” Napier said. “It’s a huge week for us as a program. Obviously, Homecoming is a big deal, and I think it’s important that we educate our guys relative to who they represent, who came before them. Got a lot of alumni coming back, former players coming back, so a responsibility there to do it the right way.”

How to watch the Florida Gators vs Mississippi State Bulldogs

Date: Sat. Oct. 18
Time: 4:15 p.m. ET
Location: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Steve Spurrier-Florida Field (88,548), Gainesville, Fla.
TV: SEC Network
Stream: Cox 68/1068[HD], DirecTV 611 [HD]
Radio: SiriusXM Channel: 190 or 208 [Gator Network]

On The Call — SEC Network

Play-by-Play: Dave Neal
Analyst: Fozzy Whitaker
Reporter: Morgan Uber

On The Call — Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD

Play-by-Play: Sean Kelley
Analyst: Shane Matthews
Reporter: Tate Casey

Betting Lines

BetMGM, On3’s official partner, lists Florida as a 9.5-point favorite (-110 for UF). The over/under is 50.5 (-105 for UF). The money line is -350 for the Gators and +280 for Texas A&M.

Gators-Bulldogs game notes

*Florida is 2-4 against the spread this season.

*Florida is undefeated (10-0) when scoring 22 or more points since the 2024 season. Per BetMGM, that’s tied for the best in FBS football. Meanwhile, UF is is 1-7 (.125) when allowing 22 or more points during that stretch.

*The Gators lead the all-time series with Mississippi State, 35-19-2. The teams have faced each other only five times since 2005, and UF is 4-1 in those games. The one loss came in 2010 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium when Dan Mullen’s Bulldogs beat Urban Meyer’s Gators, 10-7.

*UF is 19-8-1 vs. Mississippi State at home. Prior to the 2010 game, the Bulldogs hadn’t won in Gainesville since 1965—Steve Spurrier’s junior season at UF.

*The Gators are coming off the first four-game stretch against all top-10 opponents in school history and they are the first to do this in college football since 1968 (Northwestern, Illinois).

*The Gators rank just 98th nationally in total offense (348.2) and 106th in scoring (22.3). Against FBS opponents, however, the scoring average is far worse, at 15.8.

*UF last scored 30 or more points in an SEC game Oct. 19, 2024 when they beat unranked Kentucky 48-20.

*Three of Florida’s remaining five games after are against AP Top-11 opponents.

*The Gators have won four straight home games in conference play dating back to the 2024 season. Three of those wins were against ranked teams.