GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The up-and-down trajectory of the Florida football program over the past decade is quickly revealed through names. Primarily those of Will Muschamp, Jim McElwain, Dan Mullen and
Billy Napier.
Of course, one of those (Napier) is unlike the others. He just got here and will try to do something the others attempted but could not maintain: build a program that can win consistently over the long haul.
Napier does have one thing in common with his three predecessors. He has a team that is not highly regarded in the
national polls entering his first season. Like McElwain (2015) and Mullen (2018), Napier's Gators will take the field unranked in his first game as Florida's head coach. Muschamp's 2011 team was ranked No. 22 in the AP Top 25 preseason poll.
Meanwhile, Napier faces a different kind of challenge in his debut. The Gators host No. 7-ranked Utah on Sept. 3 in the season opener. That matches the highest-ranked opponent Florida has ever faced in its season opener.
The last time Florida played a team ranked seventh or higher in the preseason AP Top 25 was 53 years ago. The Gators defeated Houston 59-34 in the 1969 season opener, which introduced the "Super Sophs" to kick off a 9-1-1 season in the final year of head coach Ray Graves' tenure.
When the annual Florida-Miami rivalry was scrapped after the Southeastern Conference expanded in 1992, the Gators traditionally scheduled a soft out-of-conference opponent for three decades. That philosophy has changed in recent years.
The Gators are ready to hear 'The Swamp' come alive in less than three weeks.
"We'll start soon to really focus on them and nail down a game plan, and we're just excited to be in the national spotlight week one. It's always an honor," receiver
Trent Whittemore said of facing the Utes in front of a primetime audience on ESPN. "These are the games that you dream about growing up."
Here is a look at other season openers in which the Gators have faced a team ranked in the AP Top 25:
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| SEASON |
OPPONENT |
RANKING |
RESULT |
| 2022 |
Utah |
No. 7 |
TBD |
| 2017 |
Michigan |
No. 11 |
Lost 33-17 |
| 1987 |
Miami |
No. 10 |
Lost 31-4 |
| 1984 |
Miami |
No. 10 |
Lost 32-20 |
| 1982 |
Miami |
No. 15 |
Won 17-14 |
| 1979 |
Houston |
No. 13 |
Lost 14-10 |
| 1969 |
Houston |
No. 7 |
Won 59-34 |
| 1954 |
Rice |
No. 16 |
Lost 34-14 |
| 1953 |
Rice |
No. 12 |
Lost 20-16 |
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