Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Gators have a unique opportunity on Saturday to finish the home portion of their schedule with a statement.

A loud, shout-from-the-rooftop announcement.

The story of Florida's 2024 season is one with more twists and turns than San Francisco's famous Lombard Street. The drama started in the season opener, a 24-point loss to the hated Miami Hurricanes. The Gators followed a home win over FCS-classified Samford with another deflating home loss to Texas A&M.

[Read our comprehensive "Opening Kickoff" preview here]

At that point, head coach Billy Napier was under fire and Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin was the knight in shining armor. The season was just getting started when rumors of Napier's demise, coupled with rumors of Kiffin as his potential replacement, set the internet and college football podcasts ablaze.

As the season unfolded, the Gators began to show improvement and the Rebels, a contender for the 12-team College Football Playoff, stumbled in losses to Kentucky and LSU. Finally, two weeks ago Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin informed Gator Nation that Napier would continue leading the program. That same weekend, Kiffin led the Rebels to a dominant win over Georgia to get the Rebels back into the CFB Playoff race.

Yes, it's been a wild and wacky season, one that continues Saturday with the Gators (5-5, 3-4) playing No. 9 Ole Miss (8-2, 4-2) at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Florida can become bowl-eligible with a victory. The Rebels need to win to remain a playoff contender. "It shows our resilience, man. It just shows like, how much we care, how much these guys care about this team, no matter what happens,'' Gators defensive tackle Tyreak Sapp said. "We're going to lose together. We're going to win together. And that's one thing I always pride myself on, never letting my brothers down, no matter what happens."

The Gators enter as a decisive underdog despite being at home for the final time this season. They close the regular season next week in Tallahassee against in-state rival Florida State.

The Rebels come to town with the No. 2-ranked offense in the FBS, averaging 539.5 yards per game and 40.7 points per game. Ole Miss is also good defensively, leading the Southeastern Conference in rushing defense (79.9 ypg), second in scoring defense (12.9 ppg) and fifth in total defense (309.2). Meanwhile, the Rebels' pass rush ranks first in the FBS with 46 sacks, providing a huge test for Florida's offensive line in trying to protect true freshman quarterback DJ Lagway.

Florida's defense, ranked 15th in the SEC, is surrendering 399.7 yards and 26.4 points a game. The Gators need to be on point against Rebels quarterback Jaxson Dart, who has more passing yards through 10 games (3.407) than eight of the last 10 Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks did.

The Gators rose to the challenge a week ago by upsetting No. 21 LSU at The Swamp. Ole Miss had a bye week following its biggest win of the season, a 28-10 throttling of Georgia two weeks ago.

Kiffin and Napier have never faced one another as head coaches, but the former Alabama assistants are very familiar with each other's tendencies.

"Lane has always done a good job of taking whatever skill players he has and playing to those strengths,'' Napier said.

While Kiffin has the team most expect to win Saturday, he warned the Rebels that playing Florida at home is much different than facing the Gators on the road. Florida is 22-8 at home since the start of the 2020 season, and 8-22 away from Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

"I'm telling you, this is a big challenge," Kiffin said this week. "What were they, 4-5 last week? The crowd was electric. It looked like the conference championship was on the line. They play really well at home."

The Gators celebrate 21 players on Saturday during Senior Day, always an emotional farewell. Napier is looking for some of that emotion to carry over to the field in front of the home fans.

And in the stands, too.

"Trying to become a championship contender is you have to be strong at home. You have to win those,'' Napier said this week. "I mean, home-field advantage in this league has got to be — it's a big piece to the puzzle. If you look at the history of this program when we were winning championships around here, they dominated at home. We understand that and know that."

Coverage starts at noon on ABC, with the crew of Bob Wischusen on play-by-play, Greg McElroy providing analysis and Molly McGrath on the sidelines. The Gators Sports Network from Learfield broadcast will air with pregame coverage beginning at 9 a.m. and eventually give way to Sean Kelley and Shane Matthews in the booth, with Tate Casey reporting from the field. For GSN stations, click here. 
 
The game will be re-aired Sunday at 4 a.m. and again Tuesday at noon on the SEC Network.
 
Finally, follow FloridaGators.com senior writer Scott Carter (@GatorsScott) for commentary and analysis throughout the game. FloridaGators.com will have complete post-game coverage from the game late Saturday night and follow-up content Sunday, also.