For some reason, the Florida Gators have struggled in recent years when they’ve had to play games with early kickoffs.
Coach Jim McElwain’s squad will try to buck that trend on Saturday when it travels to Nashville to take on Vanderbilt in a game that starts at noon Eastern time.
In last year’s game against the Commodores, the Gators trailed 7-6 until a late field goal vaulted them to a victory.
S Marcus Maye doesn’t sound thrilled with the early start time, but said in an AP report that he and his teammates will do what they need to do to get ready:
“Early morning,” safety Marcus Maye said, shaking his head. “It’s like you roll out of bed and you got to get ready to play. You got to have the mindset of ‘we got to start early, start fast.’ I’m pretty sure we’ll have to wake up early all week just to get used to it. Noon games, you just got to start fast, wake up and get ready to go.”
McElwain said the Gators will need to be ready to play or else there will be consequences:
“There really isn’t an excuse,” McElwain said. “I think it’s a responsibility to get yourself up and ready to go.”
Saturday’s game against Vanderbilt can be seen on the SEC Network. Whether or not the Gators show up for the noon kickoff remains to be seen.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
