No. 7 Auburn (5-0, 2-0) travels to The Swamp Saturday to take on No. 10 Florida (5-0, 2-0). The Tigers will take on Florida in Gainesville for the first time since 2007.
Auburn leads the all-time series 43-38-2, but Florida dominates with a 23-9 record when the matchup is in Gainesville.
Players to watch:
Bo Nix:
The freshman is coming off his best game of the season against Mississippi State last weekend. He was 16-for-21 with 335 yards and two touchdowns. Additionally, Nix rushed for 56 yards on seven attempts including a 9-yard rushing touchdown.
Nix will face a hostile SEC environment this Saturday for the second time this season. Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn spoke earlier in the week on the importance of preparing Nix for the crowd noise.
“Obviously we're going on the road this week, it's going to be probably the most hostile environment we've been in,” Malzahn said. “It'll be loud; we've been working crowd noise for six weeks, so hopefully that will help prepare him for this environment.”
Seth Williams:
Nix’s favorite target has been on a tear since returning against Texas A&M. Against Mississippi State, Williams led the team with 10 targets, turning that into eight receptions for 161 yards and two touchdowns.
Williams faces stiff competition this weekend from the Florida defense. The Gators defense is ranked second nationally in takeaways with 13 total including nine interceptions. The Florida defense is tough on receivers allowing on average 194.4 passing yards a game, ranking them fifth in the SEC.
Kyle Trask:
Trask was not originally Florida’s starting quarterback but after an injury to Feleipe Franks, he has been thrust into this unlikely spot. Trask has experienced his share of growing pains that comes with starting in the SEC, like throwing two interceptions against Tennessee, but he has also shown his accuracy.
Trask is fourth nationally in completion percentage with 77.3% in his two starts. The redshirt junior received praise from Malzahn earlier this week on his ability to make throws when needed.
“He’s in rhythm. He gets rid of the ball. He knows where to go with the ball,” Malzahn said “He doesn’t hold it a long time. He’s got some real good receivers, I’ll tell you that. I’m impressed with their receiver group, as a matter of fact very impressed.”
Florida’s defensive line:
The Gators have 24 sacks on the season and their opponents average 86.8 rushing yards per game. Florida’s defensive line is led by Jonathan Greenard, who leads the SEC with 6.5 tackles for a loss and is tied for first with 4 sacks.
Malzahn believes this is Auburn’s toughest defensive line matchup up to this point in the season.
“I think so. They’ve got some real guys rushing the passer,” Malzahn said. “Not that the guys we’ve played before didn’t, but they’re very aggressive and get upfield. They pin their ears back. It’s pretty impressive to watch on film.”
Keys to Victory:
Florida:
- Keep the crowd involved.
When Auburn traveled to College Station, Texas, the big concern was how would Bo Nix handle the noise of an SEC crowd. The Tigers did not have to deal with a loud crowd for very long as they quickly went up 14-0. Florida will need to keep the crowd loud and active throughout the game to bring that extra intensity to rattle Auburn’s offense.
Auburn
- Silence the crowd.
As Newton’s third law goes, “for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” Auburn needs to look to silence the crowd as quickly as possible. They had no problems dealing with this against Texas A&M, but last week against Mississippi State was a good reminder of what a crowd can do to a team. Mississippi State during its first drive suffered two delay of game penalties as a result of the crowd noise at Jordan-Hare.
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