Rece Davis defends College GameDay decision amid backlash

College football fans were surprised when ESPN’s flagship College GameDay program announced it would take its festivities to Miami Gardens this week in anticipation of the Florida vs. Miami game given the perceived quality of that matchup.

Michigan at Nebraska? Auburn at Oklahoma? Texas Tech at Utah? Wouldn’t one of those games have been a better option for the show?

“We want to find the best storyline of the week,” College GameDay host Rece Davis said in comments to Stugotz and Company.

“Now, a lot of times, people look at that and say that always has to be the game between the two teams that have the highest ranking, if you have a ranked versus a ranked game. But it’s a little bit more than that.”

He added: “You can look for storylines, what’s compelling. Where you have been factors into it, also, because had we not been to Oklahoma for Michigan-Oklahoma, then certainly Jackson Arnold returning there would’ve been compelling.”

What does the Gators vs. Hurricanes matchup have that other games don’t right now?

High up on the list is likely the fate of Florida head coach Billy Napier, who suddenly finds himself back on the hot seat just three weeks into the season after seeming to pull himself off it with a strong finish last year.

The clock appears to be ticking on Napier, and sitting on two straight losses, one more could be the deciding factor Florida needs to finally pull the plug.

Miami is a big rival, beat this team last season, and sits firmly at 3-0 and in early playoff consideration on the back of Carson Beck’s expert leadership of the offense.

Beck has plenty of experience playing against, and winning against, Florida over the last two years as Georgia’s starting quarterback, and he’s favored to make it three in a row.

As far as storylines go, that proved to be the better combination for College GameDay.

“I think it’s the place to be this week,” he said. “They’ve looked really, really good.”

“You’ve got that aspect of it. And then the last two games that Florida has played have been really disastrous. First, from a self-inflicted wound to the penalty standpoint in the loss to USF. And then the multitude of turnovers they had against LSU. So that’s a little storyline, too.”

Davis added: “We sort of find ourselves back in the same place with Billy Napier. Yet, it’s a really talented Florida team that I don’t think will be a pushover Saturday night.”

(Davis)

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