Seven points.
That’s how much the Gators football team is favored over the Miami Hurricanes in its season opener on Aug. 24. If you’ve been keeping up with social media, though, you’d think Florida was favored by a million. Gator fans – and players, for that matter – have essentially guaranteed a Florida victory at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, with linebacker Andrew Chatfield even declaring that the Hurricanes were not a challenge.
But should they be so confident?
I don’t think so.
See, Florida has faced quite a few different opponents to open the season over the last 10 years. One thing stands out, however: Only one of those has been from a Power Five conference.
It was Michigan in 2017, and UF got blown out 33-17.
The rest of Florida’s opponents in that time span – Charleston Southern, Eastern Michigan, New Mexico State and Bowling Green, just to name a few – have been mere potholes on the road to the competitive giant of the SEC. In fact, the Gators have only lost a single opening game in the last 10 years, and it was against Michigan.
Florida is not only used to victory in its opening week, it’s used to putting in very little effort for it. The Gators are complacent.
Enter The U.
Miami ended its 2017 season with a 10-3 record and an appearance (a very disappointing one, but an appearance nonetheless) in a New Year’s Six Bowl against the Wisconsin Badgers. With their infectious swagger and culture change under coach Mark Richt, the Hurricanes’ sudden resurgence had the media asking if the Miami of old had returned to wreak havoc on the college football landscape.
The next year, the Hurricanes went 7-6 in a season that included a four-game losing streak and a 35-3 bowl game drubbing by the Badgers once again.
The U’s return had been put on hold. Just a year after its success, many questioned whether Richt could truly lead the team to the promised land. The “Turnover Chain” went from an electrifying show of power to the butt of a joke.
Everyone on this Miami team has something to prove. New head coach Manny Diaz needs to prove that he can bring the Hurricanes back from the depths that Richt left them in. The players need to prove that they can replicate their success from 2017. The program needs to prove that it is still relevant in the scope of college football.
And what better way to do that than to stun a program that ended its season last year as the No. 7 team in the nation?
It’s the perfect opportunity for Miami to show the world that it isn’t going to lie down, and it’s also the perfect opportunity for Florida to let its momentum and historically facile opening games get to its head.
If the Gators aren’t careful, they could find themselves shell-shocked by an opponent that has almost nothing to lose and almost everything to gain. Florida may have the superior talent, but to quote the great Mike Tyson, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”
So whenever you think about sending off that tweet to trash the Hurricanes or make an unflattering meme about Tate Martell, just remember:
Seven points.
Follow River Wells on Twitter @riverhwells and contact him at rwells@alligator.org.
Head Coach Dan Mullen, of Florida, speaks during the NCAA college football Southeastern Conference Media Days, Monday, July 15, 2019, in Hoover, Ala.
