Year three of the Billy Napier era got started with the Florida Gators' worst home opener in its distinguished history.
24-15 loss to Florida State to end the 2023 season. That’s how long Florida had to prepare for its 2024 campaign. That’s how long Florida had to prepare for its season-opener against Miami.in front of over 90,000 fans at home looked like Florida only had 28 minutes to prepare for the season.
Both programs relied on stacking up blue-chip talent in the high school recruiting class, and both were active in the transfer portal to beef up their rosters. Not what you want to have in a season-opener against a heated rival you rarely play. Not what you want to have in any game for that matter, but the fact that it was against a heated rival makes it that much worse.
The Hurricanes out-gained Florida 144-139 on the ground. Not terrible, but we’ll get to how that’s a little inflated in a little bit.The Hurricanes out-sacked Florida 3-1 and had more tackles-for-loss with eight, while the Gators had two. Terrible.. That third down conversion didn’t happen until the second half. Terrible.
The Hurricanes were simply more consistent. They wore down the Gators’ front from start to finish. Ward's ability to scramble early extended drives and ate up chunks of yardage. Now, that’s not to discredit his touchdown. It truly was a great run with great blocking from Knijeah Harris and Jake Slaughter on outside pulls. But that was about it in the rushing attack. No sustained success at all.Graham Mertz went 11-of-21 for 91 yards, no touchdowns and an interception. He wasn’t given much time to work with from the offensive line and tight ends, who gave up three sacks. In the rare attempt when he did have time, throws were missed.
Give Lagway credit, though. He did lead the Gators on a nine-play, 58-yard touchdown drive midway through the fourth quarter, but he did throw an interception on the next drive.
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