Report: Florida-Utah season opener moved to Thursday night

Bill Napier opened his tenure at Florida with a bang, getting an exciting win at the Swamp against Utah. Now, it’s the Gators’ turn to hit the road, heading to Salt Lake City for the second half of a home-and-home series. However, the game’s date has been changed per a report.

According to Josh Furlong of KSL.com Sports, Thursday, Aug. 31 will be the new date of the Florida-Utah matchup. The game was originally slated to take place two days later on Sept. 2 but will now have the opportunity to kick off Week 1 of the season with a bang.

“According to a source with knowledge of Utah’s 2023 football schedule that will be released tomorrow, the Utah-Florida game will be on Thursday, Aug. 31,” Furlong said.

“The game was previously scheduled for Saturday, but the signed contract between the two schools gave options to both days.”

Plenty of storylines will follow for the ESPN broadcast with Florida heading out west, mainly surrounding Napier. He will be under pressure to get a similar type of win as he did in September 2022, needing another statement win.

Florida will have a new starting quarterback as well, with Anthony Richardson heading for the 2023 NFL Draft.

As for Utah, they will be making another run at the College Football Playoff, with quarterback Cam Rising returning to school. While getting through a Pac-12 schedule has hampered them in the past, starting the 2023 season off with a home win against an SEC opponent would build confidence.

Reason for moving Florida-Utah opener explained

So, why the reason for the move?

Well, last year, travel was an issue for Utah. Since the two campuses are almost as far apart as you can get in the continental United States, traveling back the same night of the game, especially when jumping a couple time zones, can be taxing on the players. Also, the Utah team plane wasn’t able to leave for several hours after last year’s game due to unforeseen issues. The motivation for moving the game, reportedly, would be to give Florida an extra night in Utah so they could have a whole day for travel on Friday.

Here was the report on the issues from last year as a part of why the game may be moved: “The report cites travel to Salt Lake City as one of the reasons to make the switch, allowing the Gators to spend the night in Utah before heading back to Gainesville. Following last season’s loss to Florida, airplane mechanical issues delayed Utah’s return home by several hours.”