After a monstrosity of a second half against the Oklahoma Sooners, resulting in an upset loss at the Red River Rivalry, the Texas Longhorns are in desperate need of a bounce-back victory.
Head coach Steve Sarkisian needs to prove he can actually lead this offense, quarterback Arch Manning needs to show he can take care of the ball, and the entire Longhorn roster needs to show that it is better than what we saw against OU.
Luckily, the Horns get the opportunity to do just that this weekend as they return home to host the Florida Gators, who are on an equally disappointing two-game losing streak, at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.
And with a handful of days until kickoff, Vegas oddsmakers already expect the former No. 1 team in the nation to respond in resounding fashion.
Early spread, moneyline, total for No. 7 Texas vs. Florida
- Spread: -10.5 Texas, +10.5 Florida
- Moneyline: -410 Texas, +315 Oklahoma
- Over/Under: +/-52.5 points
Odds are courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook. Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.
Of course, less than a week ago, the Horns were also expected to defeat the Sooners by 7.5 points, and look at how that turned out (a three-point loss on Texas's record).
This time around, the Longhorns are favored to defeat the Gators by double digits, with the spread set at 10.5 points in Texas's favor. Meanwhile, the point total is expected to be around the 52.5-point mark, making it a relatively high-scoring game.
If you were to sit down and do the math, that would have the projected final score somewhere in the ballpark of 31.5-20 when all is said and done on Saturday, according to Vegas, at least.
However, another knock at oddsmakers' abilities to accurately predict the outcome of a game came just last year, when Texas played Florida on the road. In 2025, the then-No. 9 Horns entered the Swamp as 5.5-point favorites over the home team and suffered an embarrassing 29-21 loss to the unranked Gators.
Well, this time around, the unranked Gators have to come to Austin to face the No. 7 Longhorns, but if we have seen anything this season, it's that odds can pretty much be tossed out the window by the time halftime strikes.
In other words, at least for now, Longhorn Nation can try to find comfort in the pregame odds, but by the time the game actually gets underway, we may not want to rely too heavily on Vegas.
On Saturday, Oct. 17, Texas and Florida are scheduled to kick off at 11 a.m. CT from DKR, and the game will be broadcast on ABC.
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