The opener is less than a month away for No. 8 Florida, which has high expectations in 2020.
After consecutive double-digit win seasons and back-to-back NY6 bowl wins, the Gators are trophy hunting under third-year coach Dan Mullen. His team could not only contend for the SEC Championship, but a College Football Playoff appearance.
The road to Atlanta — and Miami — goes through Jacksonville, where UF must end in its three-game losing streak to rival Georgia. In addition to UGA, Florida faces three more preseason top 25 teams.
The players and coaches will also have to cope with COVID-19 this fall, which could make for an unpredictable season. Nonetheless, Mullen thinks this year’s group is capable of winning rings.
“I think we have the potential to go compete for a championship and be a championship team. We have that potential,” Mullen said. “Obviously there's a lot of things that go into that, but I think we have that potential, which is really good and it's really exciting.
“A lot of things have to happen for it to play out that way, for it to end up being a championship team. In the end there’s still a lot of other things that have to happen before that will happen, but we certainly have the potential to be.”
The Gators are holding their first scrimmage Friday, which will teach Mullen a lot about this year’s team. But he won’t get a sense for how good they can be until the season starts.
“When you're always going against each other, you don't know,” Mullen said. “Something that looks like a strength could actually be a weakness at another area. You say, 'Hey, this guy's just dominating every play.' Or maybe, he's not quite as dominating and the guys he's going against just aren't very good. But you don't always see that because you're constantly going against each other. That's why you kind of gotta transition sometimes as the season goes.
“If you look at last year’s team, it’s a great example. The personality of the team kind’ve evolved as the season went on. Now, obviously, there are circumstances involved that helped change that, with the quarterback going down and those such things. We’re still learning about our team. … Until you go against somebody else, there’s still questions you’re going to have until that happens.”
Florida opens the season on Sept. 26 at Ole Miss.
