GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Gators got a reprieve last week from the noise that has engulfed them during a shaky start to the season.
Florida was off, and quarterback Graham Mertz turned into a fan for a change. He invited teammates Chimere Dike and Joey Slackman over to experience how the other half lives.
"We watched ball all day. It was fun," Mertz said. "When you watch a game on TV as a quarterback, it's frustrating because it's like you can't see the defense. You can see what the front's doing, but following the ball, it's a little frustrating."
In a much-anticipated in-state matchup, the Gators (2-2) return to action Saturday night against UCF (3-1). The Knights are visiting The Swamp for the first time in 18 years, and their trip comes at a crucial time for the Gators and head coach Billy Napier.
Florida won at Mississippi State two weeks ago to put some distance between themselves and home losses to Miami and Texas A&M. Still, for the Gators to enjoy any extended pardon from their knockers, they must beat the Knights.
UCF is coming off a disappointing home loss to Colorado and would like nothing more than to ignite hearty boos toward the home team with a victory Saturday. The Knights have only played at UF twice – 1999 and 2006 – and were outscored 100-27 in the two losses.
Fourth-year UCF coach Gus Malzahn is no stranger to The Swamp or Southeastern Conference pressure. Malzahn last visited five years ago when the Gators beat his then-No. 7 Auburn team in front of a roaring crowd.
Much has changed since that day. In Malzahn's first season, UCF beat Florida the last time the schools met in the 2021 Gasparilla Bowl. The Knights are now a member of the Big 12 Conference, far removed from their days playing in a nearly empty Citrus Bowl as a Division I-AA program.
Meanwhile, the Gators won a national championship the season the Knights last stepped foot on Florida Field. Napier watched the Gators lose to the Knights from the sideline at Raymond James Stadium almost three years ago, just a couple of weeks after being named UF's head coach.
Napier spent the bye week searching for ways to improve his team and prepare the Gators for UCF. But like Mertz, he watched other games last Saturday to relax on a rare weekend off.
"An open date is good for a lot of reasons," Napier said. "You get a pulse for college football, and you also quickly realize everybody has their own set of issues. I think the key is we got continue to improve who are we going to be as we go through the rest of this thing. Can we get better? Can we fix some of our solutions? Can some of our players play their best football? Can some young players come alive?
"I think we have a couple of players improving that can help our team down the stretch."
The Gators will welcome them with open arms.
In this edition of The Opening Kickoff, here is a closer look at the Florida-UCF matchup:
THREE STORYLINES
First and foremost, the Gators must avoid a repeat of their losses to Miami and Texas A&M. In both games, Florida started slow and trailed by double-digits at halftime. The losses were bad enough, but how the Gators lost caused many of their fans to leave long before the fourth quarter. Florida has been outscored 44-10 in the first half in its two home losses.
Napier's future is an ongoing topic of conversation on national TV, sports radio and fan message boards. Saturday's game is his 30th as UF's head coach. He is 13-16, including a 1-4 record in the last five home games. Concrete information is hard to come by amidst the speculation, but a loss to UCF would be more ammunition for the critics.
UCF suffered its first loss of the season last week at home to Colorado. This week, reports surfaced that WR Xavier Townsend and S Bryon Threats have opted to redshirt and enter the transfer portal when it opens on Dec. 9. The disturbing trend appears to be increasing in college football, an unfortunate turn in the NIL era.
THREE PLAYERS TO WATCH
Sophomore WR Eugene Wilson III, recovering from a knee injury, missed Florida's victory at Mississippi State. Napier said Wilson returned to practice this week. Wilson is the Gators' most dangerous playmaker if he can play at full speed. UCF's pass defense is susceptible, ranked 106th nationally (251.5 yards per game).
UCF fifth-year senior QB KJ Jefferson is big and strong (6-foot-3, 247 pounds). The Gators know all about Jefferson. He led Arkansas to a comeback win in overtime against the Gators last season, passing for 255 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 92 yards and a score. Jefferson transferred to UCF after last season and enters Saturday's game averaging 264.5 yards per game of total offense (211.8 passing, 52.7 rushing).
Former Gators WR Trent Whittemore returns to the campus where he spent his first four seasons (2019-22). A Gainesville native who played at Buchholz High, Whittemore caught 33 passes and two touchdowns for the Gators. His father, Buchholz High coach Mark Whittemore, played at UCF in the 1990s.
THREE QUESTIONS WITH … GATORS CB JASON MARSHALL Jr.
Veteran cornerback Jason Marshall Jr. went to the UCF-Colorado game. He wanted to get a closer look at this week's opponent. Jason Marshall Jr. Q:What do you take from facing KJ Jefferson last year when he was at Arkansas? A: I'll mainly say just stopping his running ability. He is a big quarterback. He is mobile. So, we [need to stop] that, and then as myself being a defender in the back end, taking away his reads and things like that and just trying to make the game hard for him.
Q:What did you see from your trip to Orlando for the UCF-Colorado game? A: I was in the stands. I was out there scouting, seeing what the team was like, tempo of the game, things like that.
Q:What did you see from Colorado in beating UCF? A: Just their aggressiveness. They made a lot of plays on defense — a lot of turnovers. So, just us watching the film and trying to implement what they did into our game plan, just to limit their offense.
THREE DIGITS
8 – Gators with at least one touchdown catch through four games, tied for second among SEC teams. 5 – Years since Malzahn has led a team into The Swamp. Five years to the day (Oct. 5, 2019), Malzahn's Auburn team lost 24-13 to the Gators in a matchup of top-10 teams. 33 – Consecutive starts for Marshall, which is tops among Gators.
INJURY REPORT Editor's note: The Gators were not mandated to provide an SEC Availability Report for their nonconference game against the Knights.
This is the fourth all-time meeting between Florida and UCF. The Gators lead the series 2-1. Florida beat the Knights 58-27 in 1999 and 42-0 in 2006, both victories coming at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. UCF won the last meeting, 29-17, in the 2021 Gasparilla Bowl at Raymond James Stadium.
The Gators have two future games scheduled against UCF: Sept. 14, 2030, in Orlando and Sept. 3, 2033, in Gainesville.
Gators C Jake Slaughter has graded out at 90.3 in pass blocking this season, which ranks No. 1 among FBS centers according to Pro Football Focus.
Mertz, after completing 19 of 21 passes at Mississippi State, is second in the SEC in completion percentage (75.0) behind Ole Miss' Jaxson Dart (77.4).
The Gators rank 15th of 16 teams in the SEC in total defense (425.5 yards per game). Meanwhile, UCF's offense (543.3) is ranked first in the Big 12 and fourth among FBS teams.
UCF has won 13 consecutive games against in-state schools, last losing to USF in 2016. The Knights' streak includes six wins over USF, three against FAU, and wins over UF, Bethune-Cookman, Florida A&M and FIU.
UCF leads the Big 12 with 46 explosive rushing plays (10 yards or more). Tailback RJ Harvey has accounted for 18 of UCF's explosive runs. The Gators counter with 22 explosive runs, topped by eight from Montrell Johnson Jr.
Gators OL Devon Manuel was a teammate of Jefferson's last season when Arkansas visited The Swamp. Manuel played 47 snaps in the Razorbacks' win.
Arizona State transfer Elijhah Badger leads the Gators in receptions (14) and receiving yards (305).
UCF LB Jesiah Pierre makes his return to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Pierre spent two seasons at Florida (2019-20) before transferring to Texas Tech, where he was an honorable mention All-Big 12 pick a season ago. A native of Mount Dora, he transferred to UCF for his final season of eligibility. Pierre has recorded nine tackles in four games.
THEY SAID IT
"We have made a cutup of that game, those scenarios that we were in, just the physical challenge of getting the guy down. He's a big man. It's part of the challenge." – Napier on defending UCF QB KJ Jefferson
"It's a super important game against a very respectable program in our state. If we want to be one of those programs that are thought of at that level, we have to be ready to show up in games like these." — UCF offensive coordinator Tim Harris on facing the Gators
"It's definitely frustrating. We've left a lot on the field. A lot of stuff that we can correct. We have a lot of games moving forward and we're looking forward to that. We have great coaches and great players who want to get better, who want to do better." — Gators LB Grayson Howard on defensive struggles
WHY GATORS WILL WIN
The Gators stay away from turnovers, limit Harvey, Jefferson and Co. on the ground, and the quarterback tandem of Mertz and freshman DJ Lagway plays efficiently the way it did at Mississippi State. If they check those boxes — and keep the crowd into the game — the Gators have a strong chance at their second consecutive victory.
WHY UCF WILL WIN
The Knights take the early lead and are able to eat up large chunks of the clock with long drives carried by their running game. They must also avoid turnovers after committing four in the loss to Colorado. That forced Jefferson to throw 35 times, about 15-20 times more than Malzahn would prefer.
