Gators-Hurricanes Rivalry Renewed With College Football Season Opener

• This is the 150th season of college football and 56th meeting between the Florida Gators and Miami Hurricanes.
• The Gators are favored by 7.5 points, while the over/under is set at 47 points for the matchup.
• Both teams will be featuring many new offensive linemen, which may dictate how the game is played.

ORLANDO, Fla. – In the 150th college football season, the games will begin with an in-state rivalry that hasn’t been played in 6 years. On Saturday, the #8 Florida Gators and unranked Miami Hurricanes will travel to Orlando to kick off the college football season.

The Canes are the leaders in the series all-time with 29 wins – 3 more than the Gators – and have won seven of the last eight matchups since 1986. The teams had played every season for over 40 years from the 1940s to the 1980s but have only faced each other six times since 2000.

The Gators (-7.5) are favored against the Hurricanes, who are beginning their first season with head coach Manny Diaz at the helm. Meanwhile, Florida is returning Dan Mullen at the leader of the group, who brought the first ten-win season to the Gators since 2015.

The battle is sure to be tough in true rivalry fashion. Last year, the Gators went 9-4 against the spread and saw excellent play out of their starting quarterback, Feleipe Franks, who averaged 260 yards of offense with 12 touchdowns and no interceptions in the team’s last four games.

Despite oddsmakers setting an over/under for the Florida-Miami game at 47 points, the focus will be set on the number 20 instead. Last year, the Canes were 0-5 when they failed to score 20 points in a game and were 7-1 in the games that they did. Likewise, the Gators were 1-3 in games under 20 points last year and 9-0 in games above.

But the focus this game won’t be on past successes or failures, as every new season gives hope to each team. Both teams are seeing four new players welcomed on the offensive lines and will have their work cut out for them in order to protect their quarterbacks and backfield.

For the Cane’s, that quarterback will be Jarren Williams – a redshirt freshman – who will have to do everything he can to will his team to victory.

The game kicks off Saturday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN and the college football schedule will continue with Arizona traveling to Honolulu to take on Hawaii at 10:30 a.m. ET on CBSSN.

News tags: Arizona | Dan Mullen | Feleipe Franks | Florida Gators | Hawaii | Honolulu | Jarren Williams | Manny Diaz | Miami Hurricanes | Orlando