ESPN: College football Week 1

[dystopiamembrane]

No. 7 Utah at Florida, (Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN app): The matchup between Utah and Florida is rare in a few ways. This is just the third time the Gators have opened the season against a ranked opponent at home (and the first time they are an underdog since 1982). It will be the first time the Utes have faced an SEC opponent since their historic Sugar Bowl win over Alabama in 2009.

If there is one player who can talk at length about both programs, it is Utah linebacker Mohamoud Diabate, who transferred from Florida in the offseason. Diabate has spent nearly as much time talking trash about his former teammates as answering questions about this game from reporters.

But that talk has quieted during this week of preparation.

“We’ve been talking for the past nine months,” Diabate said. “The talk is winding down now. It’s time to play.”

When asked whether it would be strange to be in the visitors locker room, Diabate said the Gators used it during the pandemic.

“I’m familiar with the old, janky Florida Gators visitor locker room,” he said. “I’m really excited to smell the place; it’s smells that give you the nostalgic feeling. So I’m going to go there, take a breath of air and realize where I am — and get to work.”

Despite Diabate’s familiarity with the locker room and some of the Florida players, much has changed since he left Gainesville — starting with new coach Billy Napier. You could make an argument about which school needs the victory more: Napier would love nothing more than to start his Florida career with a big nonconference win to show he has the Gators headed in the right direction; Utah would love nothing more than to get a huge nonconference road win against an SEC team to make a statement for its program and the Pac-12. — Andrea Adelson

espn.com article

 

[Tony (admin)]

I guess 3:30pm ET is when coverage begins. 

[PlainsUte]

That’s when the tarps go down and the 3 hour rain/lightning delay starts. 😉
Seriously, rain is fairly likely in the afternoon, most likely 3pm to 7pm EDT. How long it might linger into the evening is in question, the NWS is showing 23% in the 8-11 pm window, down from 60-70% in the afternoon.

[SalUteopia]

Do we want the rain?! Which team does it hurt more?

[RedRocks]

Given the early season tendency for fumble-itis, I don’t think we should hope for rain…

[PlainsUte]

I think bad weather is, generally, an equalizer.  Obviously both teams have to play it in.   So if you think one team is clearly superior you might expect a closer game with rain as teams will play conservative.  In this case I think the teams are, on paper, fairly closely matched already.  One thing that might help the Utes if the pre-game or in-game rain dampens the crowd’s enthusiasm and/or thins the attendance.  Something like that happened in the Big House and due to the Michigan fans taking cover from rain and Utes winning on the scoreboard led to an almost equal crowd between Utah and Mich by the end of the game.  Just my two cents.

[D T]

Both teams will want to establish the run regardless.

[Author]

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