Florida Gators vs McNeese: How to watch, stream, bet on the home opener
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Gators are 0-1 but looking to extend an NCAA record this weekend. The Gators have won 33-straight home openers with their last loss coming in 1989 to Ole Miss (24-19). Florida is coming off of a tough loss to Utah in the season opener.
This week the Gators will host the McNeese Cowboys. Here’s everything you need to know before kickoff.
Florida Gators vs McNeese Cowboys game info
- Date: Saturday, September 9, 2023
- Time: 7:30 PM
- Channel: ESPNU
- Live Stream: WatchESPN
- Radio: ESPN Gainesville – WRUF | The Varsity Network | SiriusXM 136 or 201 | SiriusXM App
- City: Gainesville, Florida
- Venue: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
On the call:
Play-by-Play: Beth Mowins
Analyst: Kirk Morrison
Reporter: Stormy Buonantony
How to bet the game
| Team | Spread | Over/Under | Money Line |
| McNeese State Cowboys | +46.5(-110) | Over 54.5(-110) | +1600 |
| Florida Gators | -46.5(-110) | Under 54.5(-110) | -4500 |
- Florida won seven games against the spread last season, failing to cover six times.
- The Gators are 0-1 against the spread in 2023.
Storylines
- Billy Napier shakes up depth chart for week 2
- Final injury report for the Florida Gators home opener vs. McNeese
- Billy Napier intensifies practices for Gators after ‘unacceptable’ loss
- Freshman Eugene Wilson flashes in Florida Gators debut
- Assessing Austin Armstrong’s first game as the Gators’ defensive coordinator
- Florida Gators show off new LED lights at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
- Graham Mertz shows leadership, toughness in season opener
- Everything Billy Napier said in his Monday press conference
- Making sense of a senseless penalty
- “The Buck Stops Here” — Napier takes responsibility for loss, miscues
- The Gators need to get back to their identity against McNeese
- Double Take with de la Torre: Reasons for optimism and reasons for concern
- ‘Enough said’: Jason Marshall Jr., Gators get back to work after loss
- Top takeaways, key quotes from the Florida Gators’ Week 2 presser
- Jack Youngblood, Florida Gators legend, has Billy Napier’s back
- Everything Billy Napier said on the SEC Teleconference
- Gators’ Tyreak Sapp not shying away from Florida doubters, wants ‘all the smoke’
- Florida Gators DB Jadarrius Perkins to enter transfer portal
Notes
- Week 2’s matchup not only marks the first-ever meeting between Florida and McNeese on the gridiron, but also the Gators’ first-ever football game against a Southland Conference opponent.
- Florida has faced McNeese six total times across two sports, owning a 2-0 record in baseball and 3-1 mark in softball.
- The most recent meeting came in softball in 2021, with the Gators winning, 1-0, in eight innings.
- Florida’s 33-straight wins in home openers leads the NCAA (last loss – 1989: Ole Miss 24, Florida 19).
- Florida has won seven-straight games vs. the FCS and is 22-1 against FCS opponents since 1981.
- The Gators have played 89 total games against FCS opponents, owning a 68-17-4 record (.787).
- Florida’s FCS matchups since 2019: Florida 52, EWU 17 (2022) | Florida 70, Samford 52 (2021) | Florida 38, Towson -(2019) | Florida 45, UT Martin 0 (2019)
- The Gators have outscored FCS teams, 205-69, since 2019 while averaging 51.3 points per game.
- In Florida’s most-recent FCS matchup vs. Eastern Washington in 2022, 81 different Gators saw game action as Florida erupted for 666 total yards, which marked the sixth-most yards in a single game in program history.
- Florida is 15-2 in its last 17 regular-season non-conference games. Prior to losing at Florida State on Nov. 25 of last season, Florida had won 15-straight since the start of the 2018 campaign.
- Florida is coming off its first loss in a regular-season non-conference matchup since Sept. 2, 2017 vs. Michigan, which collectively hold status as the Gators’ only two losses in a season openers since 1990.
- Florida is 7-2 in its last nine regular season non-conference games since 2021, ranking eighth in the P5 with 244.9 rushing yards per game and ninth with 505.0 scrimmage yards per game.
