Florida Gators Look to End 40-Year Drought in Miami Game

The Florida Gators head into Miami looking to snap a long winning streak. No, this isn’t meant to call back-to-back losses “long” to be tongue-in-cheek. A win on Saturday would snap a streak going back 40 years.

Keep the year 1985 in your mind. It’s the last time the Gators beat Miami in Miami. The 40th anniversary was earlier this month on Sept. 7.

If you want to get technical, it’s the Miami metro area because the game is in Miami Gardens, but “Miami in Miami” rolls off the tongue better.

“No, I ain’t know that one, but we got to change that,” Gators defensive back Jordan Castell said.

Since then, they have won multiple games in the Miami area (including a national championship). They’ve also beaten the Hurricanes away from Gainesville (the 2019 bout in Orlando).

But winning against the Hurricanes on their home field? You have to go all the way back to when the top movies were Back to the Future and Rocky IV.

There were times in between that a Gators team was capable of beating the Hurricanes at home, but it just never lined up. Spurrier and Meyer never got the chance. Dan Mullen got them in Orlando.

It is what it is. This is the chance they get.

The odds are stacked against them to end the drought this year. According to ESPN Analytics, Miami has a 75.2% chance to win this game. However, CBS Sports only favors them by -7.5 with most of their writers and analysts taking Miami.

All signs point to this drought lasting for a while longer. It could be years before another home-and-home is scheduled. The last game in Miami vs Miami was in 2013.

So, this is Florida’s big chance to do something that multiple generations have now grown up without seeing in their lifetimes.

The defense can be expected to put up a fight. They held No. 3 LSU to 20 points and one offensive touchdown in their bout last week. The defense can even play to its advantage that theyhave dueled Carson Beck before.

Last season, they picked him off three times, almost four, in Jacksonville, when he was still with Georgia.

The wild card is the offense. DJ Lagway is coming off a performance where he threw five interceptions, and he hasn’t thrown more than a single touchdown against an FBS opponent this season.

Florida had just 10 points last week despite having more total yards than LSU and winning time of possession in Death Valley. That very well could happen again in Miami. The doubt comes from the fact that what they were able to do went to waste.

Kick off on Saturday is set for 7:30 p.m. EDT.

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