![Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier, left shakes hands with Miami Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal after the Hurricanes defeated the Gators during the season opener at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, August 31, 2024 against the University of Miami Hurricanes. The Hurricanes defeated the Gators 41-17. [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_5600,h_3150/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/213/01kehcw3nae7jymzcvjf.jpg "Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier, left shakes hands with Miami Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal after the Hurricanes defeated the Gators during the season opener at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, August 31, 2024 against the University of Miami Hurricanes. The Hurricanes defeated the Gators 41-17. [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]")
One of the things that makes college football unique relative to the NFL is that even in a lost season, rivalry games still matter. Florida has beaten FSU the past two seasons, and that matters. Florida losing to virtually every other rival in 2025 matters too.
But as Gator fans begrudgingly watched one of those rivals, the Miami Hurricanes, march to the national title game, Florida fans are also reminded of the 2024 meeting between the two teams that changed the trajectory for both programs.
Florida’s loss to Miami kick-started everything
If we rewind to the start of the 2024 season, the Gators and the Hurricanes were both coming off disappointing 2023 campaigns, and both Billy Napier and Mario Cristobal had losing records at the time at their respective schools. Miami was a 2.5-point favorite coming into The Swamp, but it felt like Florida had enough pieces to finally be the version of the Gators that Napier claimed was coming.
Instead, the three hours that ensued were the beginning of the end for Napier and served as a launching pad for the Hurricanes. Since the opening kickoff from that fateful afternoon, Florida is 12-13. Miami is 23-5 and is one win away from a national title.
Cristobal has risen from the ashes after being known as the guy who didn’t take a knee against Georgia Tech. Napier is now at James Madison, and Jon Sumrall has set up shop in Gainesville.
In a lot of ways, if Florida had been the version of itself that Napier kept saying would materialize, Miami’s rise never would have happened. A Florida win to open 2024 would have had Cristobal firmly on the hot seat as he would have sunk his record at Miami to 12-14 at the time. Even in 2025, Florida had every opportunity to knock off the Hurricanes, which would have kept them out of the playoffs. But Napier’s Ask Madden offense gift-wrapped Miami a game that was still a six-point game with five minutes to play.
But to the victor go the spoils, and as annoying as it is to see Miami finally be “back,” the Gators have no one but themselves to blame.