Florida Gators open 2020 season with Ole Miss

The Florida Gators will open the 2020 season on the road against Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss. This is the Gators’ first trip to Oxford since 2007. The last two matchups were both held in Gainesville, Ole Miss winning in 2008, and Florida taking the matchup in 2015.

The SEC announced the full slate of games for opening weekend — September 26 — on the Paul Finebaum Show Tuesday (all games below).

FULL OPENING WEEKEND SCHEDULE:
Alabama at Missouri
Florida at Ole Miss
Georgia at Arkansas
Kentucky at Auburn
Mississippi State at LSU
Tennessee at South Carolina
Vanderbilt at Texas A&M

This will be the first time the Gators have opened a season against a SEC opponent since 1992. That year Florida opened the season with a 35-19 win over Kentucky on the way to a 9-4 season and a Gator Bowl win over N.C. State.

The Gators will play a 10-game schedule with five home games, four road games and one neutral site game in Jacksonville. The game against Georgia in Jacksonville is expected to be played on October 31, as originally planned. The logistics of changing that make it too difficult to move, according to Florida Athletic Director Scott Stricklin.

“We brought this up and I think the SEC understands—that’s a date that’s hard to move because of the other NFL complications, everything else,” Stricklin told reporters on a Zoom conference call. “So I anticipate that game staying in Jacksonville, staying on the same date.”

The rest of Florida’s 2020 schedule will be released on SEC Network, Monday night at 7:00 pm.

Nick de la Torre
A South Florida native, Nick developed a passion for all things sports at a very young age. His love for baseball was solidified when he saw Al Leiter’s no-hitter for the Marlins live in May of 1996. He was able to play baseball in college but quickly realized there isn’t much of a market for short, slow outfielders that hit around the Mendoza line. Wanting to continue with sports in some capacity he studied journalism at the University of Central Florida. Nick got his first start in the business as an intern for a website covering all things related to the NFL draft before spending two seasons covering the Florida football team at Bleacher Report. That job led him to GatorCountry. When he isn’t covering Gator sports, Nick enjoys hitting way too many shots on the golf course, attempting to keep up with his favorite t.v. shows and watching the Heat, Dolphins and Marlins. Follow him on twitter @NickdelatorreGC