Tyrie Cleveland finds the end zone Saturday night for a 35-yard touchdown catch in UF's 45-0 victory over UT Martin at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. (Photo: Courtney Culbreath/UAA Communications)
Photo By: Courtney Culbreath
Florida moves up two spots and back into the top 10 of both the AP Top 25 and Amway Coaches Poll.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The Gators are back on the move.
Florida (2-0) climbed back into the top 10 in both national polls on Sunday, checking in at ninth in the
AP Top 25 and eighth in the
Amway Coaches Poll. In their home opener Saturday night against UT Martin, the Gators thumped the Skyhawks 45-0 to send fans home happy. Florida has opened the season with back-to-back wins for the first time since 2016.
"We're one of the 50 percent on the good side again this week,'' UF head coach
Dan Mullen said Saturday night. "Great crowd, obviously. It was a great celebration of the Edmondson family, 'Mr. Two Bits.' It was great to see that. It was really good to see, too, a lot of our fans sticking around. I know we had a lead, but most of the people sticking around through most of the night and getting excited, showing the passion to be back out there and giving us that home-field advantage.
"I know it's only going to get better as the season goes on, too, and our fans get warmed."
The Gators were warm offensively and defensively, rolling up 543 yards of total offense while limiting UT Martin to 194 yards. Florida racked up five sacks and now has 15 through two games.
Florida opened the season eighth in both polls before dropping two spots in the coaches poll and three spots in the AP Top 25 following their 24-20 win over Miami to open the season in the Camping World Kickoff in Orlando.
The Gators return to action on Saturday at Kentucky in their Southeastern Conference opener. Florida seeks to avenge a 27-16 home loss to the Wildcats last season at "The Swamp," which snapped a 31-game winning streak in the series.
