The Florida Gators will play in the Las Vegas Bowl against the No. 17 Oregon State Beavers Dec. 17 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, according to an announcement from the program.
This is the Gators fifth-straight bowl appearance and their first appearance in the Las Vegas Bowl.
Oregon State finished the regular season on a high, upsetting rivals Oregon after a three-score, second-half comeback Nov. 26. The Beavers finished the season 9-3, their first nine-win season since 2012.
Head coach Jonathan Smith — a former star quarterback at OSU — was hired ahead of the 2018 season and flipped the program after a 2-10 debut season. Oregon State has made it to a bowl game in consecutive seasons.
UF ended its season with a pair of losses after clinching bowl eligibility against Texas A&M. The Gators lost to the upstart Vanderbilt Commodores in Nashville for the first time since 1988, and fell to in-state rivals Florida State for the first time since 2017.
Billy Napier’s first season with Florida had its high points as well. The Gators opened the season with a memorable home victory against a top-10 Utah team and blew out the South Carolina Gamecocks — now the No. 20 team in the country – on Senior Day.
The Gators will be shorthanded when they travel to Las Vegas, as several players have already begun training for the NFL Draft or transferred away from the program.
Redshirt junior receiver Justin Shorter announced he wouldn’t play in the bowl game before the draft, and other draft-eligible players — including star offensive guard O’Cyrus Torrence and quarterback Anthony Richardson — have yet to announce decisions about the bowl game or entering the draft.
Kickoff for the game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Dec. 17. The game will be broadcast on ABC.
Contact Topher Adams at tadams@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter @Topher_Adams.
Topher Adams is a fourth-year communications major and in his fourth semester with the Alligator. He previously covered football, baseball and women's basketball. He also enjoys professional lacrosse and Major League Soccer.
