re: Game 1 (Saturday Sept 3, 2022) VS Utah Preview & Discussion Thread

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- Five-star CB Cormani McClain

- Top-100 OT Caleb Lomu

- On300 CB Dijon Johnson

- No. 1 2024 CB Desmond Ricks

- 2024 four-star OL Eddy Pierre-Louis (Gators legacy and brother of Richard Gouraige)

- 2024 top-100 LB Adarius Hayes

- 2024 FSU commit, top-100 safety Jordan Pride

- 2024 top-100 safety Jaylen Heyward (I submitted a prediction for Florida)

- 2024 top-100 WR Bredell Richardson (most likely)

- 2024 On300 safety Brayshon Williams (Florida leads)

- 2024 DL target Kendall Jackson (offered)

- 2024 in-state OG Jake Guarnera (offered)

- 2024 four-star CB Tavoy Feagin

- 2024 On300 ATH Fred Gaskin III

- 2025 QB Colin Hurley (offered)

- 2025 QB Antwaan Hill (offered)

- 2025 QB Tramell Jones Jr. (offered)

- 2025 WR Kobe Howard (offered)

- 2025 ATH Tarvos Alford II (offered)

- 2025 ATH Vernell Brown III (offered)

- Gators DL commit Kam James

- Gators DL commit Kelby Collins

- Gators WR commit Aidan Mizell

- Gators DB commit Ja'Keem Jackson

- Gators EDGE commit Isaiah Nixon

- Gators DB commit Jordan Castell

- Gators RB commit Treyaun Webb

- Gators OL commit Knijeah Harris

- Gators WR commit Eugene Wilson III

- Gators LB commit Jaden Robinson

- Gators QB commit Marcus Stokes (likely)

- Gators DL commit TJ Searcy (most likely)

- Gators DL commit Gavin Hill

- Gators DB commit Sharif Denson

- Gators WR commit Creed Whittemore

- 2024 Gators LB commit Myles Graham

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. — There is a new era beginning for the Florida Gators‘ football program. The Billy Napier era will officially begin on September 3, as the Gators host the No. 7 Utah Utes.

Utah finished the 2021 campaign as the Pac-12 Champions. Kyle Whittingham’s team finished the regular season with a 9-3 record. They beat Oregon in the Pac-12 Championship game and fell just three points short of beating Ohio State in the Rose Bowl to finish 10-4.

Whittingham has a small connection to UF. He took over the head coaching job at Utah in 2005, replacing Urban Meyer. Meyer, of course, left Utah to accept the head coaching job at Florida and went on to win two National Championships in Gainesville.

The Gators don’t have a coach entering his 18th season at the helm, like Whittingham at Utah. Billy Napier was hired 276 days before the game will kick off. There are much easier ways to begin your tenure, something Napier jokingly acknowledged at SEC Media Days.

“I really believe that having a formidable opponent in the opener is healthy for your team. As much as you want to think our team is not going to be affected by who they play or where they play, I do think we got a little bit of that human nature in it and I think our staff and team has so much respect for coach Wittingham and that Utah program and the consistency with which they perform,” Napier said at SEC Media Days. “They certainly had a heck of a team last year. They got a good group coming back and we’re excited about the thing that comes with it and I think it’s healthy for our team to have that out there that we have a top-10 team and the Pac-12 Champion coming into the Swamp so I think it’s healthy for our team.”

With that in mind, Gators Online reached out to Josh Newman of The Salt Lake Tribune. Newman has covered the Utes since 2019 and knows the team inside and out. He graciously answered our questions so that Gator fans can better know their opponent on September 3.

What does Utah have at receiver
Q: If the plan is to get the passing game more involved, who are the receivers that Utah will look to in order to make that a reality?

Josh Newman: Outside of Britain Covey, the receiver corps has not been a major strength in recent years. Utah believes they have two capable deep threats on the outside, Devaughn Vele and Solomon Enis. Vele is the perceived WR1, but he has never had to play that role. In my opinion, there should be at least a little healthy skepticism in regard to how productive Vele can be. Enis is sort of in that same boat. He is a Veteran guy. He’s shown flashes but has not yet played a significant role. After those two, you’re looking at Money Parks in the slot (1 career catch, a TD last season at USC), followed by Makai Cope, Tao Johnson, and JUCO transfer Tiquan Gilmore potentially playing roles.

Our take
Kyle Whittingham wants to make the deep ball more part of the offense for the Utes. Utah runs a lot of multiple sets out of 12 personnel (two tight ends) and empty. While the Utes have taken shots, most of its passing attack has been underneath routes, sticks, and slants. Rising was really efficient in throwing those routes. Don’t expect Whittingham and Utah to just throw the ball deep just because. Florida should have a really good pass rush. Utah’s best bet to eliminate that or slow that would be to stick with their quick passing game. It’s also helped Rising, who excelled in avoiding negative plays (sacks and interceptions) by getting the ball out quickly.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. — There is a new era beginning for the Florida Gators‘ football program. The Billy Napier era will officially begin on September 3, as the Gators host the No. 7 Utah Utes.

Utah finished the 2021 campaign as the Pac-12 Champions. Kyle Whittingham’s team finished the regular season with a 9-3 record. They beat Oregon in the Pac-12 Championship game and fell just three points short of beating Ohio State in the Rose Bowl to finish 10-4.

Whittingham has a small connection to UF. He took over the head coaching job at Utah in 2005, replacing Urban Meyer. Meyer, of course, left Utah to accept the head coaching job at Florida and went on to win two National Championships in Gainesville.

The Gators don’t have a coach entering his 18th season at the helm, like Whittingham at Utah. Billy Napier was hired 276 days before the game will kick off. There are much easier ways to begin your tenure, something Napier jokingly acknowledged at SEC Media Days.

“I really believe that having a formidable opponent in the opener is healthy for your team. As much as you want to think our team is not going to be affected by who they play or where they play, I do think we got a little bit of that human nature in it and I think our staff and team has so much respect for coach Wittingham and that Utah program and the consistency with which they perform,” Napier said at SEC Media Days. “They certainly had a heck of a team last year. They got a good group coming back and we’re excited about the thing that comes with it and I think it’s healthy for our team to have that out there that we have a top-10 team and the Pac-12 Champion coming into the Swamp so I think it’s healthy for our team.”

With that in mind, Gators Online reached out to Josh Newman of The Salt Lake Tribune. Newman has covered the Utes since 2019 and knows the team inside and out. He graciously answered our questions so that Gator fans can better know their opponent on September 3.

This will be the first of six questions that we dig into leading up to the game.

What are the Gators getting into on September 3?
Q: How many returning starters does Utah bring back from the 2021 Pac 12 Championship team?

Josh Newman: Utah has 17 starters returning from last season’s Pac-12 champion, and within that 17 are some key guys. Quarterback Cam Rising, running back Tavion Thomas, and two All-Pac-12 pass-catching tight end in Dalton Kincaid. All three starting cornerbacks — Clark Phillips III, JT Broughton (lost for the season Sept. 11 at BYU), and nickel Malone Mataele. This Utah team has a heavy veteran presence on both sides of the ball, and a lot of coaching continuity, especially at offensive coordinator (Andy Ludwig) and defensive coordinator (Morgan Scalley).

Our take
The Utes come into The Swamp with questions about how the guys from Salt Lake City will handle the heat and humidity of Gainesville. They don’t have many questions about their depth. Utah will be one of the most experienced, veteran, and well-coached teams the Gators face this year. It will be a monumental task to start the season. Not an insurmountable one, but Utah will certainly show the team where they are and how far they need to go.

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247 recruiting classes rankings

2018 Florida 14 Utah 33

2019 Florida 9 Utah 42

2020 Florida 9 Utah 30

2021 Florida 12 Utah 34

2022 Florida 17 Utah 33

Avg. Florida 12.2 Utah 34.4

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It’s easy to get lost in talking season optimism.

As Hemingway wrote, “the fun of talk is to explore.”

Gators fans have spent talking season exploring. They’ve explored the infinite possibilities of a breakout season from immensely talented quarterback Anthony Richardson. They’ve explored the energy infused in the program by the hiring of the determined and exact Billy Napier, an army of support staff that appears comical in photographs, and the opening of a state-of-the-art football complex that is the equal of any in the SEC. Throw in a young defensive coordinator, Patrick Toney, considered by industry insiders to be one of the best young minds in the sport (and throw out the antiquated, high-risk schemes of Todd Grantham), and you feel an even more excited buzz in the fan base.

Who could blame Gators fans for being optimistic?

What other choice is there?

Exploring the possibilities of a glorious road ahead is a far better way to approach the Napier era than wallowing in the wilderness of the past decade’s failures. Plus, in a nod to walking and chewing gum at the same time, Gator fans can be enthusiastic and confident while also being aware of reality: Their archrival is the defending national champion, Alabama and Nick Saban aren’t going anywhere, LSU just hired a proven College Football Playoff head coach, and Jimbo Fisher is building a behemoth with Texas oil and gas money in College Station. Florida, meanwhile, is on head coach No. 5 since the start of the 2010 season (excluding interims!) and from 2010-2021 has played its worst 12-season stretch of football from a win percentage standpoint since 1970-1981.

Faced with that reality, I’d choose hope and the exploration of possibility too, especially during talking season.

What I wouldn’t do — and what too many Gators fans on social media and at booster events have done this summer — is underestimate Utah.

I’d post a montage of tweets predicting a Florida win over No. 7 Utah on Sept. 3( 7 pm, ESPN) to Big Sean’s “Bounce Back”


to make my point, but I don’t want to bury any Florida fan individually, or suggest that every Gators fan is overlooking or underestimating the Utes. Plus, it isn’t just fans. ESPN analyst (albeit Florida alum) Kevin Carter recently suggested the one top-10 team he felt was “overhyped” was No. 7 Utah, which would “lose in Week 1 to the Florida Gators.”



Kevin, my man, I love you and I think you belong in Canton, but can we dispense with the silliness?

This Utah team is really, really good, and while the smart people in Vegas rightly have this pegged as a close game, predicting a Florida victory is a stretch. “Stretch” doesn’t mean Florida can’t win. But a Florida win isn’t probable.

How good are the Utes?

There’s wiggle room in this debate, but sticking to the evidence, the facts are that 2021 Utah, with 39 less blue-chip players than 2021 Florida, won 10 games and a conference championship while the Gators had a losing season. While 2021 Florida was losing to in-state foe UCF in the Gasparilla Bowl, 2021 Utah was playing an epic Rose Bowl game


against a young version of the Ohio State team Vegas pegs as a national championship favorite in 2022. If you think CJ Stroud and Ohio State finish their comeback win in a world where Utah’s All-Pac-12 quarterback Cam Rising does not leave the game with a concussion, I have a bridge in Brooklyn for sale on the cheap.

More facts?

Utah returns the bulk of the 2021 Pac-12 champions, especially on offense, where Rising returns along with every key skill player save wide receiver Britain Covey. Under Rising and a powerful run game (10th in the nation in rushing success rate), the 2021 Utes finished first in the Pac 12 in first downs, 14th in the country in rushing offense, 8th in the nation in 3rd-down conversions, No. 3 in the country in explosive run plays, and No. 4 in pass protection and fewest sacks and pressures allowed. The offensive line returns future NFL players in Sataoa Laumea at guard and Braden Daniels at tackle.

And then there’s Rising, who stepped into a starting role after Utah’s disappointing 1-2 start and went 9-2 as a starter, throwing for 2,500 yards and 20 touchdowns (against just 5 interceptions) while earning All-Pac 12 honors in the process. In the Rose Bowl, Rising was crushing the Buckeyes with both his arm (17-22, 214, 2 TD) and legs (11 rushes, 92 yards, 1 TD) before he was injured and the Utes buckled. But there’s a reason Rising appears on preseason All-American lists, and while The Swamp will be the most hostile, difficult environment he’s ever played in, it’s tough to see a player who has played and won a conference title game and shined in a Rose Bowl being too rattled.

The Utes are also stout defensively, with a host of starters returning on a defense that ranked 22nd in SP+ defensive efficiency in 2021 (17 spots ahead of the blue-chip laden Gators) and 19th nationally in run defense (66 spots better than Florida). While it will be tough to replace All-American Devin Lloyd at middle linebacker, the addition of Florida transfer and tackling machine Mohamoud Diabate, who led the Gators in tackling percentage in 2021, is a big add and also gives Utah a first-hand, walking, talking scout of Florida’s personnel. That insight could be invaluable, but even if it isn’t, it can’t hurt Utah.

Finally, there’s the established reality that Kyle Whittingham is respected in coaching circles as one of the sport’s finest head coaches, and Utah, which just completed a nation-leading 9th consecutive season ranked in the top 40 nationally in fewest penalties committed, is perhaps the most well-disciplined outfit in the country. Utah is a great program, and the Gators better respect the Utes for what they are: a Power 5 conference champion and College Football Playoff contender.

It’s the greatness of Utah as a program that makes this game so appealing and worthy of a primetime, ESPN mothership slot on opening weekend. The consistency and discipline of Utah is also what makes this game such a terrific measuring stick for Florida.

While in recent years, Gators fans have pointed at Florida’s tilts with College Football Playoff programs (Alabama, Georgia, LSU) as a litmus test for where Florida is as a program, Utah is perhaps the best barometer. Utah isn’t a College Football Playoff program — at least not yet. But they are close — and are one of a handful of programs considered to have a solid chance at a breakthrough this season. In playing Utah, the Gators get a chance to see how close they are to the “almost a College Football Playoff contender” tier. That’s the tier the Gators have to reach (again, having been there in 2015, 2019, and 2020) before they can go Jim Mora and talk “Playoff.”

It’s a big game for Utah too, of course. Maybe one of their program’s biggest games ever.

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