CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Miami Hurricanes won their first game of the season against the Florida Gators on Saturday afternoon at The Swamp in Gainesville.
The Canes took a 7-3 lead after the first quarter. They ended the second quarter at 24-10. The Gators did not score during the third quarter. The fourth quarter started with the Canes ahead 38-10 and ended with a 41-17 victory.
The University of Miami’s Mario Cristobal and The University of Florida’s Billy Napier were giving it their all at the Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The Canes were slight favorites over Florida, while The Gators hoped to bounce back from a disappointing 5-7 season.
“Every single day, every single week, every single month we are closing in more and more on what Miami needs to look like,” Cristobal said during a recent interview in Coral Gables.
The 19th-ranked Canes entered the third year of the Cristobal era with big expectations after another highly-ranked recruiting class. The opener also marked the first game as a Hurricane for quarterback Cam Ward, who transferred from Washington State.
Other college football games on Saturday included Florida International University at Indiana State at 3:30 p.m.; Ave Maria University at Stetson at 6 p.m.; South Carolina State at Florida A&M at 6 p.m.; and Bethune-Cookman at 7 p.m. at the University of South Florida.