The Gators open their third season under head coach Billy Napier on Saturday afternoon when No. 19 Miami visits The Swamp. (Photo: Jordan Herald/UAA Communications)
Gators Eager for Strong Season-Opening Test vs. Miami
Monday, August 26, 2024 | Football, Scott Carter
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By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Graham Mertz knows about Paul Bunyan's Axe, which goes to the winner of the Wisconsin-Minnesota rivalry, and the Heartland Trophy, given annually to the Wisconsin-Iowa winner.
Not long after arriving in Florida from Wisconsin in January 2023, Mertz caught a whiff of an old-fashioned Sunshine State rivalry via social media.
"I saw a Miami fan and a Florida fan getting into it on Twitter," Mertz said Monday. "Really into it."
Mertz's view of a Gators-Hurricanes clash will take on a more personal tone Saturday afternoon when Florida hosts No. 19 Miami in the season opener at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. It's the first meeting between the once-annual rivals since Florida's 24-20 win in 2019 at Orlando's Camping World Stadium.
Mertz, who grew up in the Kansas City area and spent four seasons at Wisconsin, is ready to get a taste of a rivalry with a bitter history.
Some have called it vile. Others refer to it as mean. Old-timers like to say Miami and Florida just plain hate each other.
"You play this game for these experiences,'' Mertz said.
The matchup is the first of a home-and-home series between the schools over the next two seasons, announced four days before their 2019 meeting. The Gators play at Miami next season, which will mark the first time since the 2002-03 seasons that Florida will face in-state rivals Miami and Florida State in back-to-back seasons since the annual game with the Hurricanes was scrapped after the 1987 season.
While any Florida-Miami game is enough to generate headlines, this year's season opener has ample standalone intrigue.
The Gators enter their third season under head coach Billy Napier with the most experienced and talented roster of his tenure. Florida has not had a winning record under Napier, and a victory over the Hurricanes would be a dose of momentum to start the season for a program that is 11-14 the past two seasons.
"We're excited about our opportunity,'' Napier said. "Our opponent this week, we're very familiar with. Their head coach and I worked together for four years in the past. They have a very talented roster.
"This is an opportunity for our team to start telling their story relative to 2024."
The Hurricanes are in a similar position under third-year head coach Mario Cristobal, who worked with Napier from 2013-16 when the two were on Nick Saban's staff at Alabama. After a 5-7 season in 2022, Miami finished 7-6 a season ago.
However, while league media picked Florida to finish 12th in the Southeastern Conference, the Hurricanes open the season in the national rankings. Washington State transfer quarterback Cam Ward and former Oregon State running back Damien Martinez were key offseason additions with the Hurricanes trending upward.
The Hurricanes limped to the finish line last season, much like the Gators. After a 6-2 start, Miami lost four of its final five games. The Gators enter with a five-game losing streak.
One will depart The Swamp early Saturday evening with a much-needed victory.
"Coach has talked a lot about [if] we go out and execute, that place is going to be rocking,'' Mertz said. "If we don't execute, it's not going to be rocking."
Having Mertz running the offense for a second consecutive season is one of Florida's strengths after he passed for 2,903 yards, 20 touchdowns and only three interceptions. Mertz led the SEC in completion percentage (72.9) and is ready to make his 44th career start on Saturday. The Miami game will be Mertz's first official appearance since he suffered a season-ending broken collarbone late last season at Missouri. A revamped offensive line that includes transfers Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson and Devon Manuel is another reason for optimism for Gators fans.
The offense was good enough to win more than five games in 2023, but the defense was not, and after a promising start under first-year defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong, the Gators finished ranked 69th nationally (382.3 yards per game) and 75th in scoring (27.6 points per game). The UF defense, which features veteran newcomers in defensive backs Asa Turner, Trikweze Bridges and DJ Douglas, and Armstrong's mentor in assistant coach Ron Roberts, faces a challenge right away in Ward, who has thrown for 13,874 career yards and 119 touchdowns in two seasons at Washington State and two at FCS Incarnate Word.
Florida and Miami met last in 2019. (Photo: Jay Metz/UAA Communications)
Florida senior cornerback Jason Marshall Jr. has watched enough Miami film to know the Hurricanes offense poses a threat with Ward, Martinez and slot receiver Xavier Restrepo.
"At the end of the day, [Ward's] a great player. Can't discredit that,'' Marshall said. "He does scramble a lot. DBs have to stay stuck to the receivers. Hopefully, we can get help from our D-line."
To prepare for an intense rivalry game in the opener, the Gators watched a video on the Florida-Miami history to provide the players with an understanding of why a Gators-Hurricanes game is a big deal.
A Miami native, Marshall expects Saturday to be similar to scenes he witnessed in the history lesson.
"This team is fired up,'' Marshall said. "I would say [I learned] just the nastiness that both teams have toward each other. Like, there's hate there. They don't like each other.
"I'm fired up myself. It just brings out another type of energy when you know it's game week."
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