Florida at Utah 2023 season opener could have date changed, per report
Florida and Utah could be playing a bit earlier next season than currently scheduled.
When Florida released its 2023 schedule in September, the season-opener at Utah was listed as Sept. 2, a Saturday. Edgar Thompson of the Orlando Sentinel reported Thursday that the game could be moved to Aug. 31, a Thursday. Florida’s official website now lists both dates as possibilities for the UF-Utah game.
The Orlando Sentinel report cites travel to Utah as one of the main reasons the game could change dates. Playing the game on Thursday would allow Florida to spend the night in Salt Lake City before traveling back to Gainesville. UF’s home opener is set for Sept. 9 against McNeese State. After last year’s meeting in The Swamp, the Utes had a mechanical issue with their plane and did not depart Gainesville until 5 a.m. Sunday.
If the game is changed, it will be Florida’s first Thursday game since 1992 at Mississippi State. The Gators wrapped up the 2022 regular season in a Friday night contest at Florida State.
The Sentinel notes that the Pac-12 Network will play a role in the decision on whether the game is played on Thursday or Saturday. Fans with travel plans to Salt Lake City certainly hope that decision will be announced sooner than later.
Florida’s trip to Salt Lake City caps a home-and-home series between the Gators and Utes. UF won last year’s meeting 29-26, the Gators’ first game under head coach Billy Napier.
This is old news. The possibility of Thursday has been there since Fox has the rights to the game.
What a waste of an article, the DATE might be changed. I thought we had changed the opponent and would play South West Utah State
Got that right, the SEC did us no favor canceling Okie and giving us frgn Ball St…
Although Ball St may play better than Oklahoma these days… ;)
Have to agree with Phil and Cojones, but I think Oklahoma will have probably solved much of what went wrong this year and be tougher than expected by the time Venebles gets to Season Two. Dunno, but that fan base is about as impatient as ours.
If they had gotten to play, it would have been great if it could have been a game like the semifinal in 2017, what a game!
Don’t bring up that Thursday night at Mississippi State ever again lol