Florida Gators Announce Homecoming Matchup, Scheduled for Oct. 9

While the football season ended just over a month ago, the team is still making preparations for its 2021 campaign, officially announcing its homecoming matchup for Oct. 9 against the Vanderbilt Commodores.

Last year against the Commodores, Florida won handily by a score of 38-17.

"The Gators own a 69-26-2 record in Homecoming games all-time, including a 27-5 mark since 1989. Florida downed South Carolina last season, 38-24. The last time the Gators hosted the Commodores on Homecoming was in a 9-7 win in 2015," Florida stated in its release on Thursday.

After becoming the winners of the SEC East last season, the Gators looked to be on track to compete for a College Football Playoff spot before losing their last three games against LSU, Alabama and Oklahoma. The team faced off against the Crimson Tide in the SEC Championship Game, and Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl.

Posting an 8-4 record to end its season, it was certainly not the ending that Florida head coach Dan Mullen expected, but the team will look to get back to its winning form sooner rather than later.

Last year, following the team's homecoming victory against the Gamecocks, Florida would earn its first of four losses against the Texas A&M Aggies. While the loss did sting, albeit surrounded by controversy prior and immediately following the game, the Gators would go on to win its next six games, including one against the Georgia Bulldogs in Jacksonville (Fla.).

While the team certainly does not want a repeat of the post-homecoming blues that it suffered in 2020, playing against Vanderbilt should be able to give the team confidence as it moves forward with its schedule.

One week after its matchup against the Commodores, Florida will face off against the LSU Tigers, an opportunity for the team to seek revenge against an SEC opponent that handed the team its most embarrassing loss of the season.