Florida football: Orange Bowl a chance for Gators to build for 2020
It may not be the bowl game Florida football fans wanted, but we’ll take it and make the most of the Orange Bowl against Virginia.
If ever there was a time to set the stage for 2020 for Florida football, Dec. 30 in Miami would be the time to do it.
No. 6 Florida will take on No. 24 Virginia in the 2019 Capital One Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens.
This is more than just a New Year’s Six bowl berth for Florida football.
It’s a chance to prove something. To prove Gator football is back.
The Gators endured years of futility — just two 10-win seasons from 2010 to 2017. We had to endure Will Muschamp and Jim McElwain — oh, and don’t forget about Randy Shannon.
Now Florida football has put together back-to-back 10-win seasons under Dan Mullen, but yet is still seems the Gators get no respect.
In instances where the Gators won, pollsters dropped them spots.
In games expected to be close, bookmakers threw atrocious odds out against Florida football.
But now, the Gators have their highest ranking of the season and a chance to win their third straight bowl game (won the Peach Bowl last year and the Outback Bowl in 2016).
We all know where our eyes are. They are on the prize of the SEC championship and a College Football Playoff berth next season. And, all the pieces are in place to make that happen.
Teams that were strong in the SEC — LSU and Georgia — will be slightly weaker next season as both lose their starting quarterbacks. Florida, on the other hand, bring back both Kyle Trask and Emory Jones to play in front of an offensive line that had to go through the paces this year.
Without getting too much into a 2020 season preview, the fact of the matter is a win against the ACC runner-up in Virginia should send a message to those outside of Gator Nation.
That message is Florida football is back and will be one to reckon with for years to come.
More importantly, a win against Virginia puts the Gators on a path to an even more successful 2020. We saw what the dismantling of Michigan did for Florida last season — it helped them get better and it gave them confidence.
Imagine if a win in the Citrus Bowl did that, what will a win in the Orange Bowl do?
We’ll have much more on the Orange Bowl and the Virginia Cavaliers in the coming days.
Next. Who's in and who's out for the Gators in 2020. dark
No. 6 Florida football will take on No. 24 Virginia at 8 p.m. EST Dec. 30 at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.