After recording a fantastic double-digit winning record in their first season under head coach Dan Mullen a year ago, the Florida Gators will be looking to take another step forward in 2019 to challenge for the SEC East title and hopefully, both, the SEC Championship and a berth in the four-team College Football Playoff.
If you’re a collegiate football lover and betting enthusiast that is looking to cash in on the Gators all season long, then you need to gather as much pertinent info on the SEC title hopefuls as possible. Thankfully, that’s where I come in with my 2019 season betting guide on Mullen’s playoff-hopeful squad.
Let’s get started.
Florida Gators 2019 College Football Season Betting Guide
Betting Statistics
- ATS: 10-3 (W-L) / 9-4-0 (ATS) / 4-3-0 (Home) / 5-1-0 (Away) / 8-4-0 (Grass) / 1-0-0 (Turf)
- O/U: 8-4-1 (W-L) / 4-3-0 (Home) / 4-1-1 (Away) / 7-4-1 (Grass) / 1-0-0 (Turf) / 55.0 (Total)
Not only did Florida win 10 games last season in Year 1 of the Dan Mullen ear, but the Gators capped off their eye-opening season with an emphatic 41-15 beatdown of Michigan in the Peach Bowl while posting a bankroll-boosting 9-4 ATS mark that included a nearly unblemished 5-1 ATS mark on the road. Florida also played over their O/U total eight times, including an identical four times at home and on the road.
2018 Team Leaders
- Touchdowns: Lamical Perine (8)
- Rushing: Lamical Perine (826)
- Passing: Feleipe Franks (2457)
- Receiving: Van Jefferson (503)
- Interceptions: Chauncey Gardner-Johnson (4)
A year ago, now, senior running back Lamical Perine rushed for a team-high 826 yards and eight touchdowns while now, senior signal-caller Feleipe Franks passed for 2,457 yards with 24 touchdowns and just six interceptions, although he completed just 58.4 percent of his passes. Now, senior wide receiver Van Jones led the Gators in receiving yards and found the end zone a half-dozen times while fellow current senior defensive back Chauncey Gardner-Johnson racked up a team-high four interceptions.
Offense
- Total Yards: 487.7 / Rank 39
- Passing Yards: 213.5 / Rank 83
- Rushing Yards: 215.2 /Rank 26
- Points Scored: 35 / Rank 22
- Field Goal %: 90 / Rank 5
The Gators had one of the best offensive seasons in recent memory by finishing 2018 ranked 39th overall, 83rd in passing, a stellar 26th in rushing and encouraging 22nd in scoring (35.0 ppg).
Defense
- Total Yards: 338.7 / Rank 25
- Passing Yards: 178.9 / Rank 12
- Rushing Yards: 159.8 /Rank 58
- Points Allowed: 20 / Rank 20
- Field Goal %: 73.9 / Rank 65
As good as they were on offense last season, Florida was a tad better on the defensive side of the ball in closing out the 2018 campaign ranked 25th overall, a stupendous 12th against the pass, 58th against the run and eye-opening 20th in points allowed (20.0 ppg).
Outlook
While the Gators must find four new starters on the offensive line that made a combined 141 starts, Feleipe Franks looks poised for his best season ever and both, Lamical Perine and Van Jefferson are both future NFL performers. Florida also has a widely-respected head coach in Dan Mullen that knows how to pull off big upset wins against the SEC’s top-tier programs, so there’s that as well.
More importantly, the Gators also return seven starters from their standout defense from a year ago, plus several backups that are now experienced and ready to take over for the team’s departed starters. Florida has a pair of future NFL performers in cornerbacks CJ Henderson and Marco Wilson and they should simply be better on both sides of the ball as they move further into the Mullen era.
Unfortunately, the Gators won’t sneak up on anyone after last season’s breakout campaign, not to mention the SEC championship hopefuls have a handful of difficult matchups at home against Auburn and Georgia and two more tough road dates at Kentucky and LSU.
Three regular season losses (which I’m predicting) would leave the Gators with nine victories although I think they could potentially get back to 10 victories in 2019. A step backwards in the win-loss column won’t necessarily mean Florida’s program is taking a step in the wrong direction, but I’m a realist and I believe nine wins are the best Gators fans and betting backers can hope for this coming season.
