The opponent will be talented. Florida State's coaching staff knows that.
The offensive and defensive schemes likely will be similar to what they have been for most of this season; it's difficult to make wholesale schematic changes in late November.
The play-calling could be a little different, either more aggressive or conservative in different situations, based on personal play-caller preference.
But the biggest question -- the question Mike Norvell and his staff won't have an answer to until sometime after noon this Saturday -- is how motivated the Florida Gators will be when FSU's players run out onto the field at The Swamp.
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Will they rally around each other and their interim head coach, Greg Knox, the way FSU's players did when Odell Haggins took over in 2017 and 2019? Or will they continue to struggle, like has happened under many interim head coaches at various schools throughout the years?
The answer to that query could play a major role in determining the outcome, or at least the tenor, of this year's Florida State-Florida game. But because it is an absolute unknown, Norvell and his coaches aren't spending any time worrying about it.
The focus in practice again this week will be on the Seminoles, not the Gators.
"Any time you have play-callers that change, there's going to be unique and different elements that you might see," Norvell said in his Monday press conference. "They were a little bit different in their defensive personnel this last game against Missouri -- just who they had out there. ... There's not enough evidence to say, 'Well this is going to be a drastic change of what we're going to see or what we could see.'
"We've got to focus on ourselves. There could be a variety of different looks that we see offensively, defensively. You come into this game and nothing's off the table. ... All of that, we don't have any control over it. We control ourselves and how we prepare and what we're willing to put into it."
There is some history to go on when it comes to Knox's ability as interim head coach.
In 2017, he led Mississippi State into its bowl game against Louisville when Mullen left to take the head coaching job at Florida. The Bulldogs won that game, 31-27, rallying to beat Lamar Jackson and the Cardinals in the final minutes.
In that situation, Knox told reporters in Gainesville on Monday, he didn't deviate from the way Mullen ran the Bulldogs' program throughout his tenure. And Knox plans to take a similar approach this time around.
When asked if he planned to change much this week in terms of personnel or approach, the running backs coach/special-teams coordinator said, "Maybe a little, but not much."
There has been speculation among fans that Knox might look for a spark by swapping out starting quarterback Emory Jones for popular and dynamic backup Anthony Richardson, but Knox said it's still not known if Richardson will be back to full speed in time for the game.
What is known is that quarterbacks coach Garrick McGee will take over the play-calling duties on offense. McGee is a veteran college football coach who has been offensive coordinator at several Power 5 schools, including Missouri, Arkansas and Louisville, and he briefly served as head coach at UAB.
Linebackers coach Christian Robinson took over play-calling duties on defense earlier this month after Mullen fired defensive coordinator Todd Grantham. The 31-year-old Robinson is much less experienced, but he is intimately familiar with the system; he played for and coached under Grantham since they were both at Georgia one decade ago.
"Their defensive coordinator played for their prior defensive coordinator, he G.A.'d for their prior defensive coordinator, he's been a position coach for their prior defensive coordinator. So from a philosophy standpoint, it's not going to change," FSU offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham said. "They're going to do what they do. That's why he is the play-caller. ... Because he knows that system better than anybody else in the building. So it's more about what are his tendencies: Is he a more aggressive mind? Or is he a less aggressive mindset than the prior play-caller?"
One factor Knox believes will work in his favor as head coach is that he is familiar with just about every player on the roster. As the special-teams coordinator, he is used to meeting with and coaching players on offense and defense, and he believes he has a strong rapport with all of them.
If his first meeting with the team Monday morning was any indication, Knox is confident things will go well. He said the team showed up with a positive attitude, and he has them focused on three main goals for this week.
No. 1 is the rivalry with FSU: "Big, big game," Knox said. "So the message this morning was: Rivalry. We're playing a rivalry game. And it is big."
No. 2 is the fact Saturday will be Senior Day: "We have a group of seniors that we want to send off the right way," Knox said.
And No. 3 is defending Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, where the Gators are 4-1 this season, with their only loss coming by two points to No. 1 Alabama in September: "We're playing at home," he said. "And we win at home."
The challenge for Knox will be leading a UF team that has been in a tailspin for nearly two months -- the Gators' only wins in their last seven games have come against Samford and Vanderbilt -- against a suddenly resurgent Seminole squad. FSU has won five of its last seven.
"They are actually playing very well right now," Knox said of the Florida State team he has watched on film. "Very, very well. Doing things well on offense, playing hard on defense."
But he is confident the Gators will give great effort in their regular-season finale.
"I think it would mean a lot to these guys," Knox said. "And I know they want to go out the right way. I talked to them this morning, and I think they've got one goal in mind -- and that is to win this game."
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