I favor Florida in this game only because the Gators have the more experienced quarterback in Doug Johnson. He threw for 360 yards and four touchdowns last week, while Marcus Outzen, Florida State's new starting quarterback, was sacked four times, and threw no touchdown passes and two interceptions last week.

	Travis Minor's running ability may be the key to Florida State's offensive effectively against Florida.

The Seminoles have always been a big-play offensive team, the type that likes to throw the ball down the field. They'll have to change a little for Florida. They may ask Outzen to throw downfield, but I think they have to run the ball better with Travis Minor and keep Florida's front seven off balance.

Florida State feels it definitely has an edge with its receivers against Florida's secondary, especially with Peter Warrick. But the Seminoles' No. 1 goal is to protect Outzen. The Seminoles will run more shotgun and more formations with two backs in the backfield for better protection. They'll use more draws and draw traps with Minor and a lot of play-action out of the I formation to keep two backs in there with Outzen.

Minor has to be big, both running the ball and catching it out of the backfield. If he can run, that will take pressure off Outzen. The Seminoles want to get the ball downfield to Warrick and Laveranues Coles. The question is, can Outzen get it downfield?

When the Gators are on offense, they'll move Travis McGriff around. They know the Seminoles will try to bump and run on McGriff. They want to put him in motion more than in the past to free release him. The Gators will use a lot of no-back formations to work on the Florida State linebackers. They feel that's their best shot because they'll get a lot of press coverage out of Florida State on man coverage with a four-man rush.

Florida State likes to turn its front four loose. The Seminoles will line up one defensive tackle on the outside eye of the guard, the other tackle on the inside eye of the guard, and the other two defensive ends outside of the tackles. Then they'll roar up the field and try to get to Johnson or force him to throw the ball into coverage.

Florida likes how its defensive front four matches up against Florida State's offensive line. The Gators really believe they have an edge there they can take advantage of. When you talk to the Florida coaches, the linebacker they say is playing the best is inside backer Mike Peterson. Expect Peterson to be sent frequently on blitzes.

Both defenses feel they have to win the football game. Now that's different from the past, when both offenses were counted on to score points and win. The biggest scoring weapon in the game may be Florida State kicker Sebastian Janikowski because the Seminoles can cross the 50 and start thinking about field-goal situations in a close game.

But it comes down to Florida State's ability to run the football. Florida will come out humming, throwing the ball early and often even Steve Spurrier always wants to establish a balanced attack.

Both football teams have thrown the ball with a lot of success down the football field. I don't know if they'll be able to do that in this game. I think they'll have to have more long drives and hope for a couple of big plays along the way.