Florida Gators will play FSU day after Thanksgiving
The Florida Gators and Florida State Seminoles will play the day after Thanksgiving this year.
Rather than playing on Saturday, November 26, the game will be played Friday, November 25 at Doak Campbell Stadium. The date was revealed Monday night when the ACC announced football schedules for the conference.
The Tallahassee Democrat reported that the driving force behind the change was television ratings.
The television rights to FSU home games are governed by ACC media agreements. The 2023 matchup in Gainesville, controlled by SEC television contracts, will return to the Saturday following Thanksgiving.
The game, Florida coach Billy Napier’s first in the rivalry, will be nationally broadcast in primetime. It is also the first non-Saturday regular-season game for the Gators since a 1992 matchup against Mississippi State.
Other than 2020, the Gators and Seminoles have played annually since 1958. Every regular-season game has been played on a Saturday. The Gators and Noles have also met twice in the Sugar Bowl, including the 1996 National Championship.
Florida has won the last three matchups against Florida State. The last win, a 24-21 victory in Gainesville last November, clinched bowl eligibility for the Gators and kept FSU out of the postseason.
History of Gators vs Noles
Contrary to popular belief, there isn’t legislation forcing Florida and Florida State to play. In 1955, State Senator Nick Conners introduced a bill to the Senate floor. His bill (House Bill 333) would require that Florida and Florida State play football manually. The bill was debated and amended several times over the following days before coming to a vote.
Ultimately, the bill was voted down 19-15.
This is when then Florida Governor Leroy Collins stepped in. The presidents of both Florida and Florida State were summoned to the Governor’s mansion in Tallahassee for a meeting. While there is no documentation of that meeting, soon after both Presidents began action that would result in Florida and Florida State playing football annually.
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Negotiations dragged on before the first game was scheduled in 1958. The Gators won the first contest, 21-7, in Gainesville. The first seven games were played in Gainesville before moving to a home-and-home in 1964. That first game in Tallahassee would also be the Noles’ first win in the series.
Overall, the Gators hold a 37-26-2 record over the Seminoles.
Gators announce spring game
Monday the Florida Gators announced the date for their annual spring game. The Gators will conclude Napier’s first spring camp on April 16 at 1:00 pm.
The Gators had their spring game canceled in 2020, along with every practice, due to COVID-19. The team held spring practices last year, but the final scrimmage didn’t take place in front of fans at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
The Spring game on April 16 will be the first opportunity for fans to see Napier’s Gators in person.
