Florida Gators

No. 4 Florida (10-1) at No. 10 Florida State (10-1)
Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET
Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, Fla.
ABC

Gators to watch

RB Mike Gillislee: The senior needs just 36 yards to become the first Florida player to rush for 1,000 yards in a season since Ciatrick Fason in 2004. He’ll certainly get his chance. The Gators are going to try and pound the football, similar to the way they did against LSU. The running game might not gain much early, but the hope is that the OL eventually wears down FSU’s DL and Gillislee will have more success in the fourth quarter. Gillislee hasn’t rushed for more than 100 yards against an FBS school since he had 146 against LSU on Oct. 6. He had a career-high 34 carries in that game and it would be a surprise if he doesn’t get at least 25 against FSU.

NT Omar Hunter: FSU is averaging about 100 yards more per game rushing this season than during 2011 and the Noles have run for at least 237 yards in two of their last three games (they had minus-15 vs. Virginia Tech). Stopping the running game starts with stopping up the middle of the line, and that’s Hunter’s job. The fifth-year senior is having his best season (36 tackles) and is a big part of the Gators’ success against the rush (95.2 yards per game, sixth nationally).

CB Marcus Roberson: Roberson has a tough job on Saturday because FSU’s top three receivers are a handful. They’re big, physical players -- especially Rodney Smith (6-foot-6, 219 pounds) and Kelvin Benjamin (6-5, 242) -- and Roberson is not exactly the most physical corner. UF plays almost exclusively man coverage so he’ll match up with each of them and the Gators need him to keep them from making big plays down the field. Plus, he’ll likely return punts again this week. He did a good job last week of running up and making a fair catch in traffic to save the Gators yardage. He needs to do that against the Noles.

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ESPN’s GatorNation brings you the 30 things you need to know about Florida’s upcoming 2012 season. For 30 weekdays we’ll preview games, talk about trends, spotlight players and positions, and give you pretty much everything you need to know to be ready for the season before the Sept. 1 opener against Bowling Green.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- GatorNation is previewing each of Florida’s 2012 opponents. Today is Florida State (Nov. 24 in Tallahassee, Fla.).

FLORIDA STATE

2011 record: 9-4 (5-3 ACC), beat Notre Dame 18-14 in Champs Sports Bowl.

Coach: Jimbo Fisher, third season (19-8).

Series record: Florida leads 33-21-2.

Top returners: QB E.J. Manuel (203-311-8, 2,666 yards, 18 TDs); RB Devonta Freeman (579 yards, 8 TDs); DE Bjoern Werner (37 tackles, 7 sacks); CB Greg Reid (32 tackles, 2 INTs).

Did you know? FSU has not had a running back surpass 1,000 yards since Warrick Dunn in 1996. Only three backs since then have rushed for 900 yards.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- It was Senior Day for the Florida Gators on Saturday, but a few underclassmen played key roles in Florida State's 21-7 victory over Florida.

CB Greg Reid
The junior from Valdosta (Ga.) had two momentum-changing interceptions. The two interceptions were his first and second of the year. In addition to his play on defense, Reid had a 39-yard punt return in the third quarter that helped flip the field position for FSU.

S Matt Elam
Florida safety Matt Elam led a defense that surrendered 95 yards of total offense. Elam totaled eight tackles, a tackle for a loss, a forced fumble and two pass breakups. FSU’s two touchdown drives totaled 24 yards.

RB Devonta Freeman
With 44 yards rushing, the true freshman running back didn’t necessarily light up the stat sheet, but Freeman had two tough touchdown runs that Florida could never recover from. They were Freeman's seventh and eighth rushing touchdowns of the year.

TE A.C. Leonard
If there was a bright spot for the Florida offense, it was the true freshman tight end. The 6-foot-4, 245-pounder matched career highs with three receptions for 65 yards. Leonard received a majority of the work at tight end because starter Jordan Reed was out with an ankle injury.

Florida State secondary
The FSU secondary limited Florida to 12-of-26 passing for 121 yards and four interceptions. Reid accounted for two picks, Mike Harris intercepted an underthrown John Brantley pass and returned it 89 yards to set up FSU’s second touchdown, and Terrance Parks intercepted Jacoby Brissett and returned the ball 29 yards for the game-clinching touchdown with 12:48 to go in the fourth quarter.

Turning point: Florida State cornerback Mike Harris picked off John Brantley inside the FSU 5-yard line and returned the ball 89 yards to the Florida 4. Three plays later, FSU’s Devonta Freeman scored on a 1-yard run to give the Seminoles a 14-0 lead. Brantley was trying to hit Chris Rainey out of the backfield but he threw across the field where four FSU defensive backs had a chance to intercept the ball.

Stat of the half: Florida has out-gained Florida State by 101 yards (140-39) yet trails by 14 points because of three Brantley interceptions. The Seminoles have minus-1 yards rushing on 20 carries.

Best player in the half: Freeman ran for only 38 yards on 13 carries, but he did score both Florida State touchdowns. He also was the only Seminoles ball carrier with positive yardage. E.J. Manuel was at minus-27 and Rashad Greene was at minus-12.

Best call: Florida used a fake punt to gain a first down inside the Florida State 30 in the second quarter. The Gators faced a fourth-and-1 at the FSU 27 and lined up for a field goal. Trey Burton lined up at holder instead of John Crofoot, and the Gators quickly snapped the ball before the Seminoles noticed. Burton gained 3 yards. The Gators would end up turning the ball over on downs four plays later when Burton went for minus-14 yards on fourth-and-1.

What Florida needs to do: With Brantley’s status uncertain for the second half -- he got sandwiched between Timmy Jernigan and Brandon Jenkins and Jenkins’ helmet smacked into Brantley’s facemask -- the Gators are going to have to come up with something offensively that backup Jacoby Brissett feels comfortable with. The Gators have to throw the ball or FSU will continue to put nine in the box, and the game’s over.