The Florida Gators will host the No. 5 Florida State Seminoles for their rivalry showdown at 7 p.m. ET tonight and will be without starting quarterback Graham Mertz. Mertz suffered a non-displaced fractured left collarbone in their loss to Missouri last week, ending his 2023 campaign. With Mertz sidelined, backup Max Brown will get the start in tonight’s game.
A redshirt freshman from Tulsa, Brown got just a smattering of snaps in garbage time this season prior to filling in for Mertz in the second half of last week’s contest. He went 4-5 for 56 yards through the air and also took seven carries for 42 yards on the ground in the setback. He showed flashes of potential against Mizzou last week, albeit a small sample size. He’ll now be tasked with getting the Gators to bowl eligibility by knocking off their College Football Playoff contending arch nemesis.
Florida enters the game as a 6.5-point underdog at DraftKings Sportsbook, accompanied by a total of 49.