ChompTalk.com

Following perhaps the most important win of the Billy Napier era, the Gators are set to take on Mississippi in the final home game of the season Saturday.

While the Gators are coming off a huge win against a ranked LSU team, the Rebels enjoyed their bye week and had a chance to get healthy. Their last time our, Ole Miss knocked off a top-five Georgia team.

The following is our staff’s predictions for the Florida – Ole Miss game.

Brian Fox: The Rebels are the only team in the nation with a national Top-5 offense and defense, in terms of scoring. This will be a huge test and if Florida pulls off the win, it’ll be a monumental upset. Florida fans have largely clamored for Mississippi head coach Lane Kiffin to take over the UF program. Saturday, they will get to see Kiffin coaching inside the Swamp for the first time since 2009 (with Tennessee). This is a loaded Mississippi team, I’m not sure UF can hit enough explosives to stay in it. Ole Miss, 38-17.

Note: The Rebels two losses on the season have come against Kentucky and LSU, arguably the two teams Florida has played their best against this year (and both UF wins).

Ryan Friedwald: Coming off of a fantastic win against LSU last week, the Gators look to finish out their games in the swamp with a win against Ole Miss. Unfortunately for the Gators, this will be a much tougher battle. The Rebels are coming off a dominant victory against the former national champions and look to keep pushing towards a spot in the SEC championship game. On paper, the Rebels should make easy work of Florida, but the fans forget about who they wanted to replace Billy Napier with earlier this season. The Gators are going to play hard for Napier this Saturday and prove that Lane Kiffin wasn’t the answer. If the Gators keep it close, there may be an upset in Gainesville. The defense needs to put up a similar performance as last Saturday for that to happen as Jaxson Dart has been playing fantastic football and will tear them apart if there isn’t any pressure. It will be an extremely close and low scoring game, but the Rebels will come out victorious with a 20-13 win.

Aiden Wacksman: Ole Miss has found its stride as of late with three-straight SEC wins, including its victory against Georgia two weeks ago. The Gators, though, seem to be trending upward as of late, too. Florida still lacks depth due to injuries, but I believe it will give the Rebels a hard time in The Swamp. I believe this game will come down to the effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) of each team’s pass rush. For the Gators, former UF edge rusher Princely Umanmielen will be a key player to watch on the Ole Miss defense. I believe Florida will put up a strong fight, but come up just short of a win. Ole Miss, 27-24.

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Florida and Mississippi kickoff from the Swamp at 12:00 PM.