Florida second-year coach Billy Napier got his Gators career off to a strong start when his team upset then-top 10 Utah at The Swamp last season.
The Utes will have the chance to return the favor when Florida visits Rice-Eccles Stadium for both teams’ season opener on Aug. 31.
Napier was complimentary of Kyle Whittingham’s program when asked about the Utes during a session of SEC football media days on Wednesday.
“We’ve got a unique schedule this year, and that starts with a Thursday night opener at Utah, and it’s a challenging place to play,” Napier told reporters.
“... We’ve got a ton of respect for their program, the brand of football that they play. It’s less about where we’re playing and more about their brand of football. There’s no question, they are one of the more established and successful programs in the country.”
The Gators rallied with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to beat Utah 29-26 in the season opener for both teams last season in Napier’s first game as Florida’s head coach.
Utah nearly rallied for the win, but Florida capped the victory when Amari Burney intercepted Cam Rising in the end zone with 17 seconds left.
Napier is a bit familiar with the challenges of facing Utah in the high elevation at Rice-Eccles Stadium, as he spent the 2017 season at Arizona State as the Sun Devils’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
That year, Arizona State beat Utah 30-10 in Salt Lake City.
“I have a little bit of a feel for what that’s going to be like,” Napier said. “... I do think we spent a lot of time with our performance team in the offseason researching the altitude.
“We’ve done a lot of work with NFL teams and go through that process consistently. We’ve got a good plan. All of that is already mapped out and ready to go. It’s going to be a great challenge and one that we look forward to.”
The Thursday night contest between Utah and Florida is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. MDT and be televised on ESPN.