GAINESVILLE, Fla. – As I was about to post this blog, one thought stood prominent above all others: kickoff to Saturday night's tilt between the Gators and Miami can now be measured in hours.
Finally.
In about 73 hours at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, UF-UM opens the 150th anniversary of college football on a national stage. Football season is almost here.
Meanwhile, as part of previewing each game this season, I'll take a look at key quotes and storylines to help you get as ready as the Gators before kickoff.
With Week 1 upon us – err, I mean Week 0 – let's get right to it:
THEY SAID IT
Gators head coach Dan Mullen
+ "Week 1, you're always a little paranoid. What's that like, the dream you wake up and you're not where you need to be and you're in your underwear and you just can't seem to get to where you're supposed to be? Right? It's a nightmare and it freaks you out, so I try to make sure I never get myself in that situation. Yeah, that's going to be analyzed. On the
Paul Finebaum Show, a psychologist [will] analyze my dream." – Gators head coach
Dan Mullen on his pregame routine of writing a checklist to make sure everything is covered on game day
***
"I want to see good football games. I don't want to see Clemson vs. Furman." – Former NFL quarterback
Ryan Leaf, now an ESPN analyst, on the lure of Saturday's Florida-Miami opener
***
"All eyes are going to be on us. Both programs are good programs and I think we can prove we're the best in the state.''
– Gators safety Donovan Stiner on facing Miami in season's opening game
***
"I used to kid
Emmitt Smith, tell him, 'when you had your debut against us, you had like 10 or 15 yards total.' He said, 'Coach, that's before I got on a roll.' I said, 'No, that's just the last time you played against Miami.' " – Former UM and Dallas Cowboys coach
Jimmy Johnson, who stopped by the Hurricanes' practice Wednesday, on facing the Gators in 1987
***
"The team is very confident in Jarren. All the reasons why we picked him, he still shows all of those attributes. Since that day, we have been game-planning for two weeks, enabling him to run the same stuff again and again that we will feature in Orlando. I don't think that has just helped him, but everyone on offense." – Miami coach
Manny Diaz on quarterback
Jarren Williams, set to make his first career start Saturday
***
"As far as he goes, I remember him from recruiting because he was in my area. I think he's a really talented guy that had a lot of offers to a lot of schools and he chose Miami basically because of the need at quarterback, which has kind of filtered into what it is now. And he understands where to throw the ball. He can get rid of the ball on time. He's athletic so he can extend plays. We've got to understand that we've got to leverage the guy, contain the guy, and make sure that we just play our defense." – Gators defensive coordinator
Todd Grantham on challenge posed by facing Williams
***
"Yeah, of course. He hasn't been in that fire. He hasn't been in the heat. He hasn't seen a bunch of pressure coming at him. If we do our job we can rattle him." – Gators defensive tackle
Adam Shuler on whether defense is eager to get on field against the untested Williams
THEY WROTE IT
+ Gators
ready to prove why they have high expectations writes
Robbie Andreu of the
Gainesville Sun.
+
Dan Mullen and
Manny Diaz, former colleagues at Mississippi State, won't be nearly as friendly come Saturday night writes
Edgar Thompson of the
Orlando Sentinel …
+ Florida cornerback
CJ Henderson opted to leave Miami and play for the Gators, a story
Will Sammon of
TheAthletic.com shares with some film breakdown with Henderson …
+ Gators quarterback
Feleipe Franks, why his name is spelled the way it is, and his nickname from
Ross Dellenger of
SI.com …
+ Former Gators quarterback
Kerwin Bell faced Miami all four years of his career and talks with
Joey Knight of
TampaBay.com about the rivalry …
+ New Canes quarterback
Jarren Williams gets personal pep talk from
Jimmy Johnson before Gator debut writes
George Richards of
TheAthletic.com ($ -- subscription site)
+ Williams has thrown only three passes in his college career, but the vibe out of Coral Gables is that the Hurricanes are his team writes
David Wilson of the
Miami Herald …
