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Steve Spurrier hopeful Florida can regroup after bye week

IMG_6615by: Blake Alderman7 hours agoBlake_Alderman
Steve-Spurrier-Florida-Gators
Steve Spurrier speaks during the SEC legends panel with the media at the Hyatt Regency-Birmingham. (Vasha Hunt-USA TODAY Sports)

The Florida Gators had the weekend off, but the action ramps back up with the No. 9-ranked Texas Longhorns coming to Gainesville this Saturday. It’ll be the first time in nearly a month that UF takes the field inside The Swamp — their last home game came on September 6, when they fell 18-16 to USF. Sitting at 1-3, the Gators are hoping the bye week gave them a chance to regroup, reset, and heal up before facing one of the nation’s top teams.

Steve Spurrier is hopeful the time off will help Florida bounce back

Former Florida head coach Steve Spurrier joined the latest episode of ‘Another Dooley Noted Podcast‘ on Monday to preview the Gators’ upcoming matchup with Texas. Spurrier, who hasn’t been shy about voicing concerns with Florida’s offense, said the bye week could be just what the team needed.

“It’s going to be a good one this week,” Spurrier said. “We’re well rested, and hopefully we know our mistakes and areas that we can improve. Hopefully, we’ll see a different ball team out there on Saturday.”

Florida has stumbled out of the gate in 2024, but Spurrier pointed to last season as proof that a bye week can be a turning point. The Gators’ open date in 2023 set the stage for a stronger finish, and Spurrier believes this year’s team has more talent than its record suggests. Still, he said the biggest leap has to come on the offensive side of the ball.

“We’ve got the talent to maybe have beaten everybody we’ve played,” Spurrier said. “We’ve not played extremely well. Offensively, we’ve not moved the ball like we thought we were going to. Maybe we can get it back. Those off weeks can help. I’ve seen teams turn it around. We turned ours around a bit last year. Now we gotta go to Ole Miss, and Mississippi State all of a sudden is a pretty good team. We gotta play well, coach well, and see what happens.”

Florida could have an offensive weapon available against Texas

True freshman wide receiver Dallas Wilson has yet to make his season debut after suffering a foot injury in August, but Florida head coach Billy Napier revealed Monday that Wilson looked sharp in practice last week. The staff has targeted the Texas game as his potential return, giving the Gators’ offense a much-needed boost.

Wilson was one of the biggest spring game standouts, breaking records with a monster performance that had teammates and coaches buzzing. His size, combined with his ability to move, makes Wilson a big-bodied target to a passing attack that has lacked punch so far.

“We’ll see as we go throughout the week,” Napier said. “But three good days of work last week, and I thought he handled the load well. We’ll be getting the report each day in terms of what the numbers look like and where he’s at. But he feels really good and so far, so good.”

The Florida-Texas game kicks off this Saturday at 3:30 pm ET and will be broadcast on ESPN.

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