GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- With the season quickly coming to a close, the question on the mind of many Florida fans is when they might start to see more of some talented true freshmen. Particularly in a game against an FCS opponent like Idaho, many are wondering if a guy like receiver Jacob Copeland might finally get his shot.

A high four-star prospect out of high school, Copeland was the program's highest-rated signee in the 2018 class. He has yet to play a down, though, after a lingering knee injury sidelined him in fall camp and for most of the first half of the season.

He could get his chance on Saturday, though, after dressing out for the past two games.

"He's going to have an opportunity to get into the game. We love him," coach Dan Mullen said. "He's still learning the package. Obviously the injury he had coming into training camp set him way back in learning the offensive system."

Though Copeland is explosive, it's not like Florida has necessarily been hurting at receiver, either. The Gators have had several productive wideouts sharing a pretty even distribution of the targets in the passing game.

Copeland being out for so long means he wasn't getting many reps in practice, even once he returned healthy.

That put him behind the 8-ball.

"He's been back now for I think two or three weeks, but you're asking a guy that's two or three weeks in the offense and didn't get to rep it during spring practice or fall camp," Mullen said. "That's tough to learn. But he'll have the opportunity hopefully to get on the field. But we're putting him in, getting him a year to develop and grow as he learns the offense. We'd love to put him on the field if he can learn plays."

Mullen comments on New Year's Six bowl bid

The College Football Playoff rankings this week were kind to Florida, with the Gators moving up two spots to No. 13 -- most importantly ahead of No. 17 Kentucky.

As Swamp247 outlined on Tuesday night, a New Year's Six bowl appearance for the Gators is certainly a possibility.

Mullen talked about what that would mean for the program Wednesday on an SEC teleconference call.

"I think it'd be huge, obviously," he said. "There's an awful lot of football to be played. All we can do is try to take care of our business this week and next week. And then it's kind of out of our hands at that point. Obviously, that's a huge honor."

Florida has games remaining against Idaho and on the road at Florida State. Both are winnable games, and the Gators will likely be favored in both contests.

Win those and there's a lot of potential for teams currently ranked ahead of Florida to slip up and allow Florida into that all-important Top 12.

"To be right there, we got to find a way to win the next two weeks and keep that a possibility for us and keep us in that discussion to be one of the Top 12 teams in America," Mullen said. "Everyone wants to be in the Top 4 to get to the playoffs. If you're not going to make that, you have the opportunity to go to one of the New Year's Six bowls, it's the next best thing and it kind of signifies a great season."