‘Both defenses will play well enough to keep it relatively low scoring’ – ESPN’s Greg McElroy predicts the final score of Florida vs Texas
The Texas Longhorns will host the Florida Gators in a big SEC showdown on Saturday afternoon.
The Florida Gators can put the Texas Longhorns’ College Football Playoff hopes on life support this weekend in Austin.
Both teams are looking to rebound from losses last weekend.
Texas suffered its first loss of the season last Saturday, falling 27-24 to Oklahoma.
Florida, meanwhile, has now lost two games after getting upset at home in a 38-19 loss to South Carolina.
If Texas loses this weekend, they’ll likely need to win out to make the 12-team playoff.
ESPN’s Greg McElroy predicts the final score of Florida vs Texas
ESPN’s Greg McElroy made his score predictions for this weekend’s biggest games, and he has Texas beating Florida 31-17.
“Where does Florida find 21 points?” said McElroy. “Florida scored 17 and 19 in their last two games against SEC defenses. When this (Texas) team allows fewer than 21 points, Steve Sarkisian is 63-4 as an FBS head coach. Now, Florida’s best route there is the short field off of a Texas mistake because this Texas defense, they almost never let long drives finish in the end zone.
“I’m taking Texas to win the game 31-17. I think Texas will win on third down all afternoon, because Florida’s defense is probably going to have a hard time getting off the field, and I think Texas is built to live in short yardage. Florida’s offense has stalled the last couple of weeks against SEC defenses, and this is the best defense I think they’ve seen so far. And that’s no disrespect to South Carolina or Missouri — Texas is a step up in competition and personnel. … So we think Texas wins this game by a couple of touchdowns, but I do think both defenses will play well enough to keep it relatively low scoring. Texas wins this one slowly and on schedule. Whether or not we see the offensive fireworks is one of the biggest questions in the game.”
Florida and Texas are set to kick off on Saturday at 11:00 AM CT/12:00 PM ET. The game will air on ABC.

