Gators earn superlative grade from CBS Sports for season-opening win
The Gator Nation showed up to the Swamp last Saturday against a top-10 team in the Utah Utes, both on and off the field. Backed by a packed house, Florida football pulled off the upset in a rare home opener in which they came in as underdogs, sneaking by the visitors by a score of 29-26.
The victory came as a surprise to many despite the narrow odds entering the game. Florida was coming off a disappointing season that saw its worst record in SEC play since the mid-1980s — leading to the dismissal of its head coach along with his staff — while Utah claimed the Pac-12 title in 2021. This set the table for Billy Napier’s boys to exceed expectations early, and they certainly capitalized on it.
CBS Sports’ Barrett Sallee published his college football grades after Week 1 of play after coming away impressed by the Gators’ performance. He assigned them an A-plus grade and offered the following explanation.
The Gators were long shots to win the national title before the game vs. Utah. Not anymore. Dual-threat quarterback Anthony Richardson lived up to the hype, the Gators defense held strong in the red zone in the closing minute and coach Billy Napier became the first Florida coach to beat a ranked opponent in his Gator debut.
The win also pushed Florida into Sallee’s top-25 teams, landing at No. 17. Mind you, these rankings came out before the Florida State Seminoles’ upset of the LSU Tigers on Sunday night, which suggests that the Orange and Blue could be a spot or two higher.
Nonetheless, the results from Napier’s first game as head coach assuaged the concerns of many Florida fans as well as members of the media. But the real test comes next weekend when the Kentucky Wildcats arrive in town — a top-25 team themselves — for the start of the SEC schedule.
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