Coach Dan Mullen went into Saturday’s matchup against the Miami Hurricanes hoping to win with a conservative mindset. He expected short passes and outside run plays to compensate for an inexperienced offensive line that was sure to have trouble with a Miami defensive line that started four upperclassmen.
Florida’s football team may have had a slightly shorter offseason than the majority of Division I football teams, but it still had 238 days since its last snap of meaningful football to prepare for Miami.
The contrast between Florida’s two lines on Saturday in Orlando was evident. No. 8 Florida came out on top against Miami, 24-20, with the help of its defensive line and its aggressiveness at the line of scrimmage, but the offensive line still remains a huge question mark.
It wasn’t the game Florida’s players hoped it would be.
The Gators won. That’s about the only thing that went right.
Florida opens its season against Miami on Saturday night. Here are several key positional matchups to keep an eye on as the Gators and Hurricanes renew their rivalry.
Florida takes on the Hurricanes in Orlando on Saturday in the first matchup between the two teams since 2013. Football writers Sam Campisano, Dylan Rudolph, Kyle Wood and Tyler Nettuno give their predictions for the game below.
The Florida football team is experiencing unfamiliar continuity under center in returning starting quarterback Feleipe Franks. The same cannot be said for the offensive line, the unit charged with protecting the focal point of the Gators offense.
Making a good team a great team is rarely cut and dry. Florida won 19 games in former coach Jim McElwain’s first two years, but failed to reach the ultimate stage.
Florida and Miami will meet in Orlando five days from now to commence the 2019 college football season. Both teams had a lot of turnover during the offseason. Here are three storylines to know about this Gators team heading into this weekend’s contest:
Saturday’s season opener will not be the last chapter written in the Florida-Miami rivalry.
The final edition of alligatorSports' Position-by-Position series focuses on the most inexperienced unit on UF's depth chart: tight end.
Florida sophomore defensive back John Huggins has been dismissed from the football program.
Florida didn’t have a single five-star recruit for 2019, but a new transfer might just make up for it.
The group that raises the most question marks on the defensive side of the ball for UF is the one that usually brings the most stability to a defense.
Sophomore UF defensive back John Huggins was accused of choking a female tutor in October, according to a UPD report uncovered this week by the Tampa Bay Times.
Gators coach Dan Mullen always makes a big point to emphasize special teams. They eat first at meals, and Mullen has also been known to hand scholarships to walk-on contributors on special teams.
One of the oldest maxims in football has to do with perhaps the most underappreciated players on the field: the offensive linemen.
You may have heard the news by now.
Optimism was abounded at UF football media day on Thursday.
Solutions by The State News
