Florida Gators Meet Michigan In Citrus Bowl
Two teams ranked in the top 20 will meet in the Citrus Bowl on Friday when the No. 17 ranked Michigan Wolverines take on the No. 18 ranked Florida Gators on New Year’s Day from the Citrus Bowl in Orlando. Florida.
The current line has Michigan favored by 4 points with the over/under point total on 38.5. During the regular season, Michigan had an overall record of 9-3 straight up and 6-6 against the spread. Florida during the season was 10-3 SU and 8-2 ATS.
Both head coaches in this game brought back to life the football program at each school during just their first year at the helm. Jim McElwain coached Florida to the title of the SEC Eastern Division, while his counterpart Jim Harbaugh led his Wolverines to their best finish in years in Ann Arbor.
Both teams have superb defenses. Florida was No. 8 in the nation in scoring defense allowing only 16.4 points a game, while Michigan was No. 4 in total defense allowing just 281 yards each game.
Offensively Florida sputtered when they lost Will Grier their starting quarterback for the remainder of the season to a suspension, scoring just 17 points over their final two games. Against Florida State, the Gators offense could not score and they lost the battle of Florida 27-2.
Jake Rudock, the senior quarterback for Michigan was hurt in a 42-13 defeat at the hands of Ohio State, but will be fit to start for the Wolverines. He struggled to begin the season, but ended strong with 1,296 yards passing with 11 touchdown passes over his final four games.
The two teams have played twice previously in bowl games with Michigan winning both.
Rudock will look to Jake Butt his tight end often in the offense. Butt had 48 receptions on the seasons with 3 touchdowns.
Jabrill Peppers played offense, defense and special teams for Michigan this season, but could miss this game after he suffered an apparent hand injury.
Treon Harris the Florida starting quarterback struggled moving the ball via the air. He has not thrown for 200 yards in any of his past three games.
Prediction: Michigan has made leaps and bounds this season over last year on both sides of the ball. The Florida offense is close to non-existent. Lean here toward Michigan. A Michigan win will cap off a strong first season for Harbaugh as head coach and the start of Michigan returning to dominance in not only the Big Ten but nationally.
