Kickoff time set for Gators, Seminoles in Tallahassee
The matchup between the Florida Gators and Florida State Seminoles will look different this year. For the first time in series history, the two teams will meet on a Friday night rather than a Saturday. Tuesday it was announced that the game on November 25, 2022, will kick off at 7:30 p.m. on ABC.
The game will be the 66th all-time meeting between the in-state rivals as the annual rivalry was not played for the first time in 2020 since the series started in 1958.
The last regular season matchup featuring the Gators, not on a Saturday was at Mississippi State on Thursday, Oct. 1, 1992. The date will also be the first regular-season Friday evening game for the Gators since 1961 when they defeated Tulane 14-3 in New Orleans.
The Seminoles also received a kickoff time for their first game of the season. The Noles will open the season at 7:30 on ABC against the LSU Tigers.
Napier’s introduction to the Gators-Noles rivalry
This will be the first time for Billy Napier to experience the Florida-FSU rivalry. The Gators’ new head football coach comes to the Gators after four successful seasons at Louisiana. There he finished with a record of 40-12, a perfect 16-0 mark against members of the Sun Belt West Division. They won four consecutive West Division titles, four straight bowl appearances, a share of the Sun Belt title in 2020, and as the 2021 Sun Belt Conference Champions.
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Napier did well at Louisiana against their rivals and against their conference opponents. He’ll look to bring that to Florida, where the Gators play annual rivalry games against Tennessee, LSU, Georgia, and Florida State each season.
Florida vs Florida State history
The series between the two in-state rivals dates all the way back to 1958. The Gators hold the all-time head-to-head edge, with a 37-26-2 record in the matchup. Last year’s 24-21 contest was a close win for the Gators, but they cruised to 40-17 and 41-14 victories over the Seminoles in 2019 and 2018. Florida’s current three-game winning streak in the matchup comes on the heels of a five-game winning streak for Florida State from 2013 to 2017.
The Gators also hold the largest victory (49-0, 1973) and the longest winning streak (9 games from 1968-1976) in the series. Florida State head coach Mike Norvell is 0-2 against the Gators. The coach who is heading into his fourth season didn’t coach against UF in his first season (2020).
