GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Last year was a rough season for Florida. It started against the Michigan Wolverines in the season opener in Dallas, Texas where the Gators were physically beat down in route to a 33-17 loss.
That was the start of a 4-7 season that all Gator fans want to forget. Fast-forward a year and a half and Florida is a completely different team.
A new coach, a new system and most importantly, a new culture have paved the way for a fantastic 9-3 first season under new head coach Dan Mullen.
Their reward: a rematch with the Wolverines in the Peach Bowl.
“We played them last year and they were a super good team,” quarterback Feleipe Franks said Friday. They got a super good team, and I think our guys are ready to play them.
“We look forward to playing big-time games like this. Obviously, a big turnaround from last year when we went 4-7 or whatever, now playing in a New Years Six Bowl.
“We’re super excited to keep on showing – it’s another opportunity for us to go out there and play, opportunities for a bunch of these guys to go out there and show what their talents are made of and play in a big-time game.”
Florida was manhandled last season against Michigan, which came as a bit of a surprise, after then head coach Jim McElwain declared the offensive line was the strength of the team.
Now under Mullen and new strength coach Nick Savage the Gators have a chance to show the world how much they have grown from a physical standpoint.
“Yea I think it’s a good opportunity,” Franks said. “We’ve played a whole season already so I think that’s kinda shown a little bit from where we’ve grown from last year.
“And I mean being able to play this extra game, it’ll be an opportunity for us to keep on just showcasing on what we’ve improved on from last year to this year and especially playing a team that we played last year that pretty much dominated the game.
“It’s another opportunity for us to go out there and show on certain points where we got better, playing the same team.”
To the casual college football fan, last years game may be seen as a way to gauge what will happen in the Peach Bowl, but that simply isn’t the case.
“I think Michigan is probably a very different football team, and we’re a very different team,” head coach Dan Mullen said. Different players.
“We’ve got a different coach. So I think – I don’t know if there’s really much carryover from the game from last year to this year.”
With a new coach comes a new philosophy and scheme both offensively and defensively, and if you ask the players it has all been for the better.
“Yeah, it’s been a little minute,” wide receiver Freddie Swain said of facing Michigan. “But I feel like the team has improved, the scheme has improved. I feel like it will be a better result this time.”
“I think it’ll be different,” fellow receiver Josh Hammond added. “I think we have all the different offense and scheme of how we do things now.
“In this offense I play a different position than I did in our last offense, so I think the preparation will be different from last year to this year going into this game. And that’s just the thing we’ve gotta continue to work hard.
“Not just me, but our whole offense and defense and our whole team. We’ve just gotta continue to work and get better to prepare us for this game coming up.”
Florida and Michigan have become very familiar with each other in recent years, and there are still plenty of faces from that 2017 matchup, but these are different teams, a different Florida.
The Gators are ready to take on the challenge.
