FINAL: No. 19 Miami 41, Florida 17

WHAT HAPPENED: Miami quarterback Cameron Ward passed for 385 yards, three scores and keyed a unit that cranked out 529 yards of total offense Saturday, as the 19th-ranked Hurricanes silenced then emptied Spurrier/Florida Field with a lopsided 41-17 victory before 90,544 mostly stunned-and-bummed Gator fans. The loss was UF’s first in a home opener since 1989, snapping an NCAA-best 34-game winning streak in kicking off the third season under Coach Billy Napier. It also was the Gators’ sixth straight defeat, dating back to an Oct. 28, 2023 loss to No. 1 Georgia at Jacksonville. Ward, the heralded transfer from Washington State, was spectacular in his UM debut. He completed 26 of 35 passes, with touchdown throws of 9, 24 and 23 yards, while also rushing three times for 33 yards and instantly thrusting his name into early Heisman Trophy consideration. His UF counterpart, fifth-year senior Graham Mertz, could manage only 261yards for his offense and faced a far more menacing and engaged defense in the Canes, with the lone positive play of note a 71-yard touchdown dash by Montrell Johnson Jr. that gave the Gators some second-quarter hope. It was short-lived. Mertz completed 11 of 20 passes for just 91 yards and was sacked three times before giving way to freshman DJ Lagway, the 2023 Gatorade National Player of the Year, who went 3 of 6 for 31 yards with an interception in three series of mop-up duty, but did lead a TD drive. On the game’s second possession, Miami marched mostly effortlessly to an 11-play, 84-yard touchdown drive, aided by a roughing-the-passer penalty on Justus Boone on a third-and-10 incompletion that would have brought on the field-goal unit. Three plays later, Ward shoveled an 8-yard scoring toss to tight end Cam McCormick for a 7-0 lead barely halfway through the opening period. Before the quarter ended, a Ward interception (his lone miscue of the day) set up a 41-yard Trey Smack field goal that made it 7-3. Those three points were canceled out on UM’s next drive, a 9-play, 70-yarder, that ended at the UF 5 and finished with a 23-yard field goal by Andres Borregales. The Canes padded the margin after a failed fourth-and-5 gamble by Napier at the UM 42. Another roughing-the-passer penalty, this one on DJ Douglas, and 30-yard Ward-to-Isiah Horton completion set up a Mark Fletcher Jr.’s 10-yard scoring run and 17-3 visitors’ lead. After an exchange of punts, the Gators finally gave the Swamp something to cheer about, as Johnson dashed around left end for a 71-yard touchdown gallop to cut the lead in half at 17-10 with 3:32 left in the half. If only the home team could’ve taken it to the locker room then. Instead, Ward worked the clock for a couple first downs, then hit Elijah Arroyo for a 28-yard gain to the UF 24, then two plays later fired a dime between the UF safeties for a 24-yard touchdown strike to Xavier Restrepo with 45 seconds left. It was 24-10, with UM cranking out 283 yards of first-half offense (to UF’s 145, half on one running play). Miami got the ball to start the second half, hit a 40-yard completion on the third snap, a 22-yarder on the fourth and was in the end zone again on the sixth, a 1-yard plunge by Fletcher for a 31-10 lead less than three minutes in. For the Gators, it didn’t get any better thereafter. 

WHAT IT MEANS: This one is going to have residual ramifications. The Gators will have to deal with a negative narrative (“Noise in the system,” as Ron Zook used to call it) right out of the 2024 box. As far as righting the ship, the Southeastern Conference opener against Texas A&M in two weeks can’t get here soon enough. The win was Miami’s eighth over the previous 10 meetings, dating to 1986. The Canes now lead the all-time series 30-27.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: For Ward, the Jayden Daniels comparisons are coming. Probably a stretch, at least for now, but he certainly had a track record as an exciting, joy-stick QB in the defunct Pac-12 Conference and the Gators made him look like a Heisman candidate.

STAGGERING STATISTIC: The 24-point margin of defeat was the largest for Florida in a home game since Florida State won 27-2 at the “Swamp” on Nov. 28, 2015. Miami’s 41 points were the most ever surrendered by UF in a home opener.  

UP NEXT: The Gators (0-1) remain in non-league play, but step down in classification with a home date against FCS Samford the night of Sept. 7. The Bulldogs, out of the Southern Conference, opened their season Saturday at West Georgia. The last time UF and Samford played it was, well, somewhat frustrating for Florida fans, but could have been much, much worse. The Bulldogs came to the “Swamp” on Nov. 13, 2021 and rung up 531 yards, tallied six touchdowns and held a 14-point lead late in the second quarter before the Gators awakened and eventually won 70-52 on 464 yards and six touchdowns passing from Emory Jones. Eight days later, UF coach Dan Mullen was fired.