Florida started the season 4-2, got a massive road win to move to 5-2, picked up a five-star commit along the way, got blown out by Georgia, and is now facing an opponent at home who just fired their offensive coordinator after having one of the most anemic offenses in college football.
Is this 2023 or 2026?
For Florida’s sake, one better hopes the parallels to 2023 don’t culminate in a faceplant this Saturday against Oklahoma.
Florida faces Oklahoma with plenty of parallels to their 2023 loss to Arkansas
Oklahoma just fired their offensive coordinator, Ben Arbuckle. The Sooners are currently 108th in scoring offense this year, averaging 22 points per game. They promoted tight end coach Jason Witten in his place, the 11-time Pro Bowl tight end for the Dallas Cowboys, who retired from playing in 2020.
It’s just one more layer that matches the timeline Florida followed in 2023 in the lead-up to their loss to Arkansas.
This year, Florida started 4-2 and got a huge road win over Texas to move to 5-2. In 2023, Florida moved to 5-2 after a dramatic road win at South Carolina, where Ricky Pearsall saved the day.
This year, Florida picked up the commitment of five-star prospect Easton Royal in the middle of the year. In 2023, Florida landed then five-star prospect LJ McCray in the middle of the year.
This year, Florida was blown out by Georgia. In 2023, Florida was blown out by Georgia.
This year, Oklahoma has fired Arbuckle in advance of traveling to Gainesville. In 2023, Arkansas fired Dan Enos as offensive coordinator the week before traveling to Gainesville.
And if Florida has its way, the parallels between the two end here: in 2023, the Gators let KJ Jefferson run all over them, still had a shot to win, but couldn’t get lined up for a field goal to end regulation and wound up losing in overtime.
We here at Hail Florida Hail have always pointed to that 2023 loss as the moment when we started officially looking for an exit from The Man in the Black Polo. A loss on the surface wouldn’t cause us to do the same with Jon Sumrall just yet, but make no mistake that this could wind up being the game that defines Florida’s season.
Because in 2023, the Gators entered a tailspin they couldn’t get out of and finished the year with a five-game losing streak, missing a bowl game. The 2026 schedule is a bit more favorable than in 2023 for the final stretch home, so we don’t expect a case of déjà vu.
But if things start to get weird on Saturday, one may want to check if there are still some ghosts from 2023 lingering around The Swamp.
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