When the visiting Miami Hurricanes and Florida Gators open their seasons on Saturday afternoon, there won’t be a lack of motivation on either side in Gainesville, Fla.
The Hurricanes, ranked No. 19 in the Associated Press preseason poll, hold a slim lead in the all-time series at 29-27.
The teams have not played since the Gators won each team’s season opener in 2019 in Orlando. The rivals have not played in Gainesville since Florida beat Miami 26-3 on Sept. 6, 2008. The Hurricanes’ last victory in “The Swamp” was Sept. 7, 2002, when Miami was coming off its most recent national championship and won 41-16.
This is the first of a home-and-home set as the Gators will play in Miami next season. That hasn’t happened at each school’s home stadium since 2003.
“Motivation in football should always take care of itself,” Miami head coach Mario Cristobal said this week. “When you play a rivalry game like this, it tends to crank up a couple of levels, but I think it’s important to always recognize that games like this and games in general are won throughout the offseason. They’re won in your Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday practices. It’s almost like you play the game before you play the game. … Every ounce of focus has to be on the preparation.”
The Hurricanes and Gators enter the season with vastly different outlooks.
Miami has its most talented roster in years and is hoping a victory Saturday will ignite a potential run to an Atlantic Coast Conference title, a berth in the College Football Playoff and perhaps more.
Meanwhile, the Gators may expect big things internally, but head coach Billy Napier enters the season on the hot seat and Florida’s difficult schedule could be setting him up for such a fate.
For Miami, it starts with new quarterback Cam Ward, a Washington State transfer. Ward opens the season on every QB preseason watch list and is a Heisman Trophy candidate. The Hurricanes have surrounded him with talent, highlighted by running back Damien Martinez, an Oregon State transfer, and returning receiver Xavier Restrepo.
On the other side of the ball, Miami is led by edge Rueben Bain, who is ranked among the top defensive players in the country.
“They (Miami) have a very talented roster,” Napier said. “You do your homework about the recruiting classes, and certainly the players they’ve added to their team in the portal. So this presents a great challenge, one that I would like to say we’ve been preparing for going all the way back to January.”
Napier and Cristobal are also familiar with each other, having coached together at Alabama under Nick Saban from 2013-16.
Florida’s Graham Mertz returns at quarterback, giving the Gators an experienced option who knows their system well. Montrell Johnson Jr. steps into the lead back role after Trevor Etienne transferred to Georgia and should provide explosiveness to their offense. Trey Wilson III is Florida’s leading returning receiver with 61 receptions, 538 yards and six touchdowns last year.
