For the 26th consecutive season the Florida Gators have won the first game of the season. No other team in the country can accurately make that claim.
While most all Gators have optimism, at this point in the season it is certainly guarded. We only need to look back as recently as 2014 to know that beating a team in cupcake game means very little in the way of a successful season.
After all Coach Will Muschamp was the first game of the season all four of his seasons at the University of Florida.
That one stat stood out to me like it did a lot of other fans, one penalty for ten yards. That is really an amazing stat for a Florida Gators team. Will Muschamp’s coached teams drew 43 flags in four season openers.
Even as good a coach as Urban Meyer is he had hard time overcoming that legendary factoid that has been known for years, that Gators are flagged more than most simply because we are not liked by SEC officials, or any other officials.
Of course, it might be another fact, the Gators commit more than most teams.
Either way, for one game we had one flag. One. I think I read it goes all the way back to 1977 to meet that mark. One.
September 6 Through the Years
The trend continues. We have played four games on September 7th over the years.
For Gator fans the most memorable of those games was in the 1985. Here is a fifteen minute look.
That win was the last time the Miami Hurricanes lost in the Orange Bowl for ten years and stopped on when Doug Flutie to drive a Hail Mary into their their heart.
Anyway, back to the Gators. A thumbnail of the 1985 Miami game for gatorzone.com
- 1985 – Florida 35, Miami 23. The Gators, on NCAA probation and ineligible to be ranked or play on television, rallied behind Bell and scored the game’s fal 17 points to defeat the Hurricanes and spoil the starting debut of hotshot quarterback Vinny Testaverde. Bell finished 20 of 28 for 248 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions, while Testaverde was 24-for-40, with 278 yards, no touchdowns and a pair of interceptions. The loss was UM’s only regular-season defeat of the year.
The Gators won their next two September 7th games against San Jose State and Georgia Southern. The San Jose game had a score of 59-21 in 1991. Five years later a former cupcake for the Gators (thanks Muschamp) the Georgia Southern Eagles lost to the Gator 62-14. Georgia Southern does currently have a one game win streak against the Gators.
The final September 7th game was a 41-16 loss to Miami in the second game of the Ron Zook area.
Today in Gator Sports!
No games in Gator Nation until Thursday in soccer.
This week the Gators will face East Carolina for the second time in three games going back to last season’s Birmingham Bowl. The Pirates opened the season with a 28-20 win over Towson.
Have a Gator day!!
Whether you’ve got your own teeth or not keep smiling everybody.