Florida Football: 5 Pivotal games for Gators in 2017

Florida vs Michigan – September 2,2017 @ AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Tx.

It doesn’t get much better than this to kick off one’s season. Since my lifetime, the Gators have typically played a cupcake team to begin their season. As a result, the Gators own the nation’s longest season opener win streak with 27 consecutive wins to begin the year.

Meanwhile, this year’s season opener is against Power-5 conference opponent Michigan in Arlington, Texas. The 2017 AdvoCare Classic in Cowboy Stadium, in my opinion, dictates the rest of the season for the Gators.

Gators defensive back Marcell Harris said, “I can’t wait to step out on that field, see the atmosphere that is in Dallas. They say everything is bigger in Dallas. So, we hope to come out there with a big win.”

Jim McElwain is 2-7 verses ranked teams as the Gators head coach, if the Gators can travel to a neutral site in week one and walk away with a victory, I think this team rides the momentum wave the rest of the season and reaches Atlanta, with talks of the making College Football Playoff.

If the Gators leave Texas with a loss, I could see a snooze fest in The Swamp the following week against Northern Colorado. With Tennessee coming into town one week later, the Gators can’t afford to give away a key “warm-up” game verse Northern Colorado and have a snowball effect of bad play headed into a tough conference slate.