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ATLANTA -- Inside a ballroom here at the Hyatt Regency hotel Friday morning, Gators head coach
Dan Mullen and Michigan's
Jim Harbaugh took their seats in front of a room full of reporters.
On the table in front of them sat the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl trophy. Both veteran coaches gave it an admiring glance.
"It's a good-looking trophy,'' Harbaugh said. "I'd like to get that. I'm sure Dan would, too."
Mullen undoubtedly wants to be the coach to raise the trophy toward the roof at Mercedes Benz-Stadium when 10th-ranked Florida (9-3) faces No. 7 Michigan (10-2) on Saturday afternoon. A win would give the Gators four consecutive wins to close the season, six more wins than in 2017, and their first win in five tries over the Wolverines.
There's plenty for the Gators to play for in their first trip to the Peach Bowl since 2004.
"You're at the University of Florida, you expect to be playing not just in bowl games, you expect to be playing in New Year's Six bowls and championship bowls,'' Mullen said. "For our guys, I think that the motivator of living up to what the 'Gator Standard' is, to be involved in these games."
THREE QUESTIONS WITH … GATORS HEAD COACH DAN MULLEN
Q: What has the team's preparation been like for the Peach Bowl?
A: The priority is to win the game. What's really amazing is when you win the game, it's an unbelievable bowl experience. When you lose the game, it's not quite as good of a bowl experience. It just changes the whole narrative of the week. We talk to our players a lot about splitting the day in eights. they need to get at least eight hours of sleep to get ready for the game, spend eight hours a day worrying about football and then eight hours a day of social, fun time.
Gators head coach Dan Mullen at Thursday's practice. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)
Q: Key to how you have used quarterback Feleipe Franks?
A: We picked him. He was the guy. So he didn't have to look over his shoulder. He didn't have to play conservative, and he didn't have to be worried. He could go out there and learn, develop, play and not worry about anything. He was a much better player at the end of the year than the beginning. I think that gave him the confidence to improve throughout the year.
Q: How has Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson changed since you faced him when he was at Ole Miss?
A: He probably trusts the offense a little bit more when you talk about his improvisation. He's going to hang in the pocket a little bit longer and he's going to trust the system and not all of a sudden try to take off and make a play.
THREE STORYLINES
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This game matches two teams with a month to dwell on very different endings to the regular season. Florida has won three consecutive games, including snapping a five-game losing streak to rival Florida State. The Wolverines had their 10-game win streak snapped in a blowout defeat at Ohio State, their fourth consecutive loss to the Buckeyes. Which team will be more motivated on Saturday?
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The Gators can cap their turnaround season with a cherry on top by beating Michigan. Florida didn't play in a bowl game last season and is trying to win 10 games in a season for only the third time this decade. A bonus would be the program's first win in school history over the Wolverines. This is the third meeting over the last 38 UF games between the schools, with Michigan winning both previous matchups in convincing fashion.
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The quarterback matchup between Florida's
Feleipe Franks and Michigan's
Shea Patterson is worth watching. Both have been steady under different circumstances -- Franks with a new coach, Patterson at a new school. The one who makes the most plays Saturday has a good chance to be Peach Bowl MVP.
THREE PLAYERS TO WATCH
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Gators defensive end
Jachai Polite capped the regular season with a 2.5-sack performance at Florida State. Polite and fellow defensive end
Jabari Zuniga should have an advantage against Wolverines redshirt freshman tackle
Andrew Stueber, who made his first career start in the loss to Ohio State.
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With Michigan's defense missing tackle
Rashan Gary and linebacker
Devin Bush Jr., running back
Jordan Scarlett has two less roadblocks in his way. Scarlett is a physical runner who was suspended for the 2017 season only days prior to last year's season-opening loss to the Wolverines. In what could be his final game for the Gators, look for Scarlett to run with a purpose.
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Michigan quarterback
Shea Patterson has thrown for 2,364 yards and 21 touchdowns in his first season with the Wolverines after transferring from Ole Miss. Patterson is completing 65.1 percent of his passes and has added 268 yards rushing. In a start against
Dan Mullen's Mississippi State team in 2016, Patterson completed 27 of 48 passes for 320 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions in a 55-20 loss to the Bulldogs.
THREE DIGITS
153 – Points scored by Michigan in four all-time wins against Florida, an average of 38.3 per game.
56 – Most points scored by the Gators in a bowl game (56-23 win over Maryland in 2002 Orange Bowl).
16 – Total points for Gators in two previous Peach Bowl trips.
INJURY REPORT
FLORIDA -- Probable: OL
Brett Heggie (foot);
Questionable: QB
Kyle Trask (foot);
Out: WR
Tyrie Cleveland (collarbone);
CB
Marco Wilson (knee, out of season), DB
Quincy Lenton (torn Achilles, out for season), RB
Malik Davis (broken foot).
MICHIGAN -- Out: P Brad Robbins, DB Benjamin St-Juste, DE Luiji Vilain, QB Dylan McCaffrey, (four players skipping game by choice, see below).
THEY SAID IT
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"Florida's fan base is in a good place with first-year coach
Dan Mullen, who has a chance to close his debut season with double-digit victories. The honeymoon phase is still happening with the Gators, which probably means Michigan will get everything Florida has." --
Detroit Free-Press reporter
Nick Baumgardner
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"I think it was very different for a lot of them than what they've done in the past, and I think what allowed us to have success was our older players. They came in and were willing to try whatever we were going to ask them to do.'' -- Florida head coach
Dan Mullen on biggest reason for turnaround
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"The other thing that's been really impressive is that you get play out of all different classes. You have freshmen that are playing, that you guys have come right in and coached right up out of high school. That's been really impressive. You've got your sophomore, your redshirt juniors, you've got seniors, a few fifth-year seniors." -- Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh on Florida's improvement
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"We play harder and a lot smarter. We know football a little bit more and we are more confident than the last time we played Michigan." -- Florida senior offensive lineman
Martez Ivey
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"The reason it hung around so much for me was a lot of people bringing it up. A lot of turmoil in the quote 'fanbase,' getting a lot of stuff via social media. Deleted the Twitter, had to stay away from some of that stuff. Which was pretty unbelievable. Some pretty bad stuff." -- Wolverines tight end Zach Gentry on fallout from Ohio State loss
THEY WROTE IT
CHARTING THE GATORS
This is the first bowl game for Dan Mullen as Florida's head coach. Mullen has a 5-2 record in bowls, including a 52-14 victory over the Wolverines in the 2011 Gator Bowl as Mississippi State's head coach. With Mullen leading the Gators back to a bowl in Year 1, let's look at how previous Florida head coaches fared in their first bowl games with the Gators:
| COACH |
SEASON |
RECORD |
NOTABLE |
| Bob Woodruff |
1952 |
8-3 |
Gators beat Tulsa 14-13 in Gator Bowl |
| Ray Graves |
1960 |
9-2 |
In Gator Bowl, UF knocked off Baylor 13-12 |
| Doug Dickey |
1973 |
7-5 |
Lost to Miami (Ohio) in Tangerine Bowl* |
| Charley Pell |
1980 |
8-4 |
Beat Maryland 35-20 in Tangerine Bowl |
| Galen Hall |
1987 |
6-6 |
Off probation, lost to UCLA in Aloha Bowl |
| Gary Darnell** |
1989 |
7-5 |
In Freedom Bowl, lost 34-7 to Washington |
| Steve Spurrier |
1991 |
10-2 |
Suffered 39-28 loss to Notre Dame in Sugar |
| Ron Zook |
2002 |
8-5 |
Lost 38-30 to Michigan in Outback Bowl |
| Charlie Strong** |
2004 |
7-5 |
Lost to Miami 27-10 in Peach Bowl |
| Urban Meyer |
2005 |
9-3 |
Gators beat Iowa 31-24 in Outback Bowl |
| Will Muschamp |
2011 |
7-6 |
UF defeated Ohio State 24-17 in Gator Bowl |
| D.J. Durkin** |
2014 |
7-5 |
Beat East Carolina in Birmingham Bowl |
| Jim McElwain |
2015 |
10-4 |
Lost to Michigan 41-7 in Citrus Bowl |
*Played in Gainesville; **Interim coach
NEWS, NOTES, NUGGETS
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The Gators are 22-21 all-time in bowl games; Michigan is 21-25. Florida is 14-13 when both teams are ranked, Michigan is 18-21.
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Michigan leads the nation in total defense (262.5 yards per game) and held eight of 12 opponents to season-low in total offense.
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Florida has three consecutive 500-yard offensive games and is averaging 554.7 yards per game over that span. In its 62-39 loss to Ohio State in the regular-season finale, the Wolverines surrendered a season-high 567 yards.
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This is Florida's third appearance in the Peach Bowl and Michigan's first. The Gators lost to West Virginia (26-6) in 1981 and Miami (27-10) in 2004.
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Gators running backs
Lamical Perine (750 yards) and
Jordan Scarlett (717 yards) are the first UF players to each rush for 700 yards in the same season since
Tim Tebow (910) and
Jeff Demps (745) in 2009.
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Florida's offense is running at a much quicker tempo than when it faced Michigan in the 2017 season opener. The Gators have 30 scoring drives under three minutes this season, compared to 12 a year ago.
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Michigan leads the country in players opting to skip a bowl game to prepare for the NFL draft. Defensive end Rashan Gary, linebacker Devin Bush Jr., running back Karan Higdon and right tackle Juwann Bushell-Beatty will not play.
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Without 1,000-yard rusher Higdon, the Wolverines will rely heavily on juniors Chris Evans and Tru Wilson, and possibly give some work to true freshman Christian Turner.
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This is only the fourth Big Ten vs. SEC matchup in Peach Bowl history and first since Auburn defeated Indiana in 1990.
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Mercedes-Benz Stadium is the fourth Atlanta venue to host the Peach Bowl, following Georgia Tech's Grant Field (1968-70), Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium (1971-91) and the Georgia Dome (1992-2016).
ELITE MATCHUP
When it was announced the Gators would face Michigan for the third time in four seasons, the biggest storyline to unfold was how fans and media preferred a Florida-UCF matchup in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and a Michigan-LSU Fiesta Bowl.
However, with Saturday's game nearing, the buzz is starting to hum for a game pitting two of the nation's perennial powers. The Gators held their final practice on Friday afternoon.
"The big challenge they're going to have now is really getting into game mode,'' Gators head coach
Dan Mullen said Friday. "The facilities, the hospitality, everything's been fantastic. I think it's been a very educational and enjoyable week for our players."
The Peach Bowl has done a wonderful job hosting the teams in Atlanta this week and is pretty good at hype videos, too. Sometimes, you have to toot your own horn when others refuse.
BOTTOM LINE
This Florida team is more talented and better coached than the UF teams that lost 41-7 to Michigan in the 2016 Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl and 33-17 in last year's season opener. Michigan coach
Jim Harbaugh declined to compare this Florida team to the previous two versions he has faced during his time in Ann Arbor, but there's no doubt he can see the improvement of quarterback
Feleipe Franks from the matchup 16 months ago in Arlington, Texas. Franks played one of the best games in his career in the regular-season finale at Florida State and the Gators will need another steady performance from the redshirt sophomore quarterback on Saturday. While Michigan is missing some key pieces, there is still a lot of talent on the No. 1-ranked defense in the country. If Florida can get the running game going, Franks stays away from costly mistakes and the defense turns in one of its typical performances, the Gators will finally beat Michigan.
