Game Preview
Former Gator quarterback Anthony Richardson was selected fourth overall by the Indianapolis Colts in the 2023 NFL Draft, much to the chagrin of the Florida Gators. You might assume Florida won some games with Richardson at quarterback. However, that wasn’t the truth. Last year, Florida’s record was.500 (.700) in the SEC and.500 (.500) overall.
This was the first year that Billy Napier led the Gators as their coach. His entire career has been a huge success. However, Florida must improve significantly to once again contend in the Southeastern Conference. The Gators’ next opponent is the Utah Utes, who have won the Pac-12 Conference title in consecutive years. The Utes aren’t routinely mentioned in the same breath as other college football powerhouses. The East Coast is especially prone to forget about them.
But Utah plans to surprise everyone once again. This time around, they want to make it to the final four of the college football season. Last year, Utah went 10-4 overall but 7-2 in the Pac-12, winning the conference title with a victory against USC. As a season opener, this will be a good test for Utah.
Graham Mertz was a transfer target for the Florida Gators. The experienced quarterback finished last season with Wisconsin having thrown for 2,136 yards and 19 touchdowns. His 2,000-yard season was a career high. In 2022, however, he only succeeded 57.3 percent of the time.
At one time, Mertz resembled the guy from Wisconsin. But he quickly lost his strength and moved on. He was sacked 23 times last year and has thrown 10 or more interceptions in each of the past two seasons. At Florida, where Ricky Pearsall is still on the roster, Mertz has superior receivers. Pearsall is battling an illness that could compromise his position.
Montrell Johnson, a former member of the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns, is one of three dependable running backs for Florida. He’ll be followed by Trevor Etienne, and Tulane’s Cam Carroll will round out the backfield as the No. 3 runner. However, Utah claims that Cameron Rising is ready to go for the season opener. He tore his ACL at last year’s Rose Bowl, and coming back against Florida will be challenging. We’re not talking about an easy first week here.
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Florida Gators vs Utah Utes Game Information
- Date: 08/31/2023
- Time: 07:30 PM ET
- Location: Rice-Eccles Stadium, Salt Lake City, UT.
- How to Watch Florida vs Utah : ESPN
- Live Stream: fubo.tv
