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GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The wait is over and stage set for one of the most-anticipated openers in school history.
The Gators launch the 2024 season on Saturday afternoon against No. 19-ranked Miami at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. If you prefer some good old-fashioned hate with your college football rivalries, this one is for you.
Gainesville residents driving along the 34th Street Wall were reminded Friday morning that the Hurricanes are coming by a fresh sign that read "Drain The Swamp," book-endedby the "U" logo.
Gators fans are probably racing to paint over it if they haven't already.
"In these types of games, emotion will not be needed. Energy, we won't be lacking for that,'' Gators coach Billy Napier said. "I think the key here is that we execute."
Tomorrow. 🐊 pic.twitter.com/GMd7iGW8Rr
— Florida Gators Football (@GatorsFB) August 30, 2024See AlsoAfter roster overhaul and months of promises, exactly where did Gators improve? | AnalysisSecond-Half Surge Lifts Gators to Road Win Over Aggies - Florida Gators'How did Florida end up there?': The stakes are high for Billy Napier and the Gators
The Gators and Hurricanes are in similar positions. Both failed to execute enough and struggled a season ago. Napier is 11-14 in two seasons. Miami coach Mario Cristobal is 12-13 in two seasons in Coral Gables.
Both teams seek a breakthrough season to ignite their fans and remind them of the glory days when both programs were regularly in the national championship picture. Neither school participated in the first decade of the four-team College Football Playoff, but with the postseason tournament now expanded to 12 teams, hope is renewed.
And for Napier and Cristobal, a win Saturday would be their biggest in a long time – and provide optimism following an offseason of questions.
In the 2024 season premiere ofThe Opening Kickoff, here is a closer look at the Florida-Miami matchup:
THREE STORYLINES
- These two once-dominant programs face similar scenarios. Florida enters with a five-game losing streak. Miami has lost four of its last five games. Meanwhile, the head coaches (see above) enter their third seasons in charge in search of a winning formula. One of them is going to be able to sleep much better than the other on Saturday night.
- The Gators face eight teams ranked in the AP Preseason Top 25, earning Florida the No. 1 strength-of-schedule in the nation. The 19th-ranked Hurricanes are first up. The Gators can earn a huge slice of feel-good momentum with a victory as they prepare for the tough road ahead.
- The quarterback matchup between Florida's Graham Mertz and Miami's Cam Ward headlines the on-field competitors. Both are veterans with more than 40 career starts. Mertz is coming off the best season of his career, throwing for 2,903 yards and 20 TDs. Ward transferred from Washington State as one of the most coveted QBs in the transfer portal. He has thrown for 13,876 yards and 119 touchdowns in his career, first at Incarnate Word and the past two seasons at Washington State.
THREE PLAYERS TO WATCH
- Montrell Johnson Jr. was limited much of preseason camp following arthroscopic knee surgery the first week of practice. Johnson is available to play according to head coach Billy Napier. Johnson is the most-experienced back on the roster and has proven to be a dependable playmaker when healthy.
- Hurricanes DL Rueben Bain Jr. made an immediate impact in 2023. He was named ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year after posting 44 tackles, 12.5 TFLs and 7.5 sacks, earning consensus Freshman All-American honors. The Gators must find a way to limit 6-foot-3, 275-pound Bain's disruption.
- Florida's offensive line took a lot of criticism a season ago, much aimed at RT Damion George Jr., a transfer from Alabama who was playing out of position. The 6-foot-6 George has moved inside to RG with Kamryn Waites and newcomer Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson slated on the outside.
THREE DIGITS
3 — Home openers since 1969 that Gators have been the underdog: Houston (1969), Utah (2022) and Miami (2024). Florida defeated Houston and Utah in the previous two instances.
15 —Combined starts for Gators freshmen DBs Jordan Castell (11) and Bryce Thornton (4) in 2023, the most among true-freshmen DB teammates in FBS.
14,140 — Career yards of total offense for Miami QB Cam Ward, the most of any returning player in FBS or FCS.
THREE QUESTIONS WITH … GATORS QB GRAHAM MERTZ
The veteran transfer from Wisconsin, entering his second season at Florida, is set to make his 44th career start and first since a season-ending injury at Missouri last season.
Q:How does it help to have a year of experience working with Coach Napier as a play-caller?
A:You think about a first game of the season, you have a general idea of what the team's going to do. Everybody does work in the offseason, prep different things, tweak things. To be able to have that in our toolbox from last year, knowing how to react to things during games, prep for that, I think that's going to be big.
Q:What will we see that we didn't see last season?
A:I mean, I think we've been harping on the whole offseason the attention to detail, the execution in the crucial moments. We all know what happened last year and everything that went into it. It was a lot of situational football, small decisions, little tweaks, protections, just getting the protection check.I want to go out there and put a complete offensive, well-executed game together.
Q:What are your reflections on your journey in college football?
A:It is a wild journey. I mean, I think back to prepping for my first game ever. I was traveling. I was redshirting. We played at the Bucs stadium, played USF. I mean, that was a while ago, man. That was a while ago, 2019. But it's been a great journey. I'm thankful for every step along the way. Every step has taught me something through ups, through downs, wins, losses, good, bad.
NEWS, NOTES, NUGGETS
- This is the 57th all-time meeting between the Gators and Hurricanes. Miami leads the all-time series 29-27, including 12-9 at Spurrier/Florida Field.
- Miami has not visited The Swamp since 2008, a 26-3 Florida victory.
- Florida has won an NCAA-best 34 consecutive home openers, a streak that dates to a 24-19 loss to Ole Miss in 1989. The Gators are 32-2 overall in season openers over that span.
- Miami LB Francisco Mauigoa had more tackles for loss (18) in 2023 than any other Power-4 returning player this season.
- Gators senior RB Montrell Johnson Jr. has 27 career rushing TDs, tops for all active players in the Southeastern Conference.
- Returning S Jordan Castell (660) and CB Jason Marshall Jr. (651) led the Gators in snaps played in 2023.
- Gators S Asa Turner and Miami DB Mishael Powell played alongside each other in Washington's secondary a season ago. Turner and Powell started 13 games together for the Huskies from 2021-23.
- Turner and fellow Gators DB Trikweze Bridges faced Miami QB Cam Ward a season ago. Turner's Washington team beat Ward's Washington State squad, 24-21, in the regular-season finale. Meanwhile, Bridges' Oregon team beat Washington State 38-24. Ward threw for 755 yards, four TDs and two INTs in the two games.
- Miami is playing a true nonconference road game to open the season for the first time since joining the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2004.
- Ward was 4-7 on the road in two years at Washington State and has dropped five in a row away from home.
INJURY REPORT
GATORS — OUT: DL Jamari Lyons (ankle surgery, out for season). MIAMI — No injuries to report.
BEEN A WHILE
The Florida-Miami game is finally here after a long, long summer of anticipation. This marks the first time the Hurricanes have visited The Swamp in 16 years. Has it really been that long? It has. What a night it was for Gators. If you want to take a trip down Memory Lane or get fired up for Saturday, here you go:
THEY SAID IT
- "I still have confidence in that group. I think it's a group where there's competition, there's depth. I think a lot of those, the combination of players that you'll see, will reflect what we observe. We've added a couple portal players, and I think we've developed some of the high school players that were on our team. We're looking forward to that group playing well Saturday." — Gators head coach Billy Napier on his team's offensive line
- "While all the noise, the juice, the hype is going on around us, the most important thing for us is the work, making sure every single day that we're focused on winning that particular day so we can get better and go get it done." — Miami coach Mario Cristobal on challenge faced in his third season
- "I'm a gunslinger. That's just what I do. Continue to be a leader for this team. Continue to put guys in situations that they can be successful and just get the ball to the playmakers." — Hurricanes QB Cam Ward
THEY WROTE IT
- Florida-Miami rivalry resumes, but stakes and animosity-level have changed writes Edgar Thompson of the Orlando Sentinel.
- Why Florida vs. Miami is so big — for the loser, writes Matt Baker of the Tampa Bay Times.
- Five bold predictions for Gators football from Kevin Brockway of the Gainesville Sun.
WHY GATORS WILL WIN
They set the tone early and get the sold-out crowd at The Swamp to live up to its reputation. The Swamp has caused some of the game's top quarterbacks – Joe Burrow in 2018, Bo Nix in 2019, in recent memory – to come unglued when the game is on the line. If the Gators – and equally important, Gator Nation — can rattle Hurricanes QB Cam Ward on Saturday, Florida's chances of winning increase dramatically. So does the opportunity for creating turnovers or force Miami into costly mental mistakes.
WHY MIAMI WILL WIN
Ward comes out firing and the Hurricanes move up and down the field without an answer from Florida's defense. If Miami's offense is clicking in Ward's debut, the Hurricanes get the edge in a shootout. Miami added former Oregon State standout Damien Martinez at running back, so the offense is not one-dimensional. Still, the mood in Miami seems to be that for the Hurricanes to have a breakthrough season, Ward has to be the top attraction.
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