Opportunities abound for Gators’ young defenders.
The Capital One Orange Bowl is almost here.
The No. 9 Florida Gators will face the No. 24 Virginia Cavaliers at 8 p.m. Monday at Hard Rock Stadium as part of South Florida’s annual New Years Six bowl.
The Gators (10-2) have never lost in the Orange Bowl. The Cavaliers (9-4) are making their first appearance in the bowl game.
Here’s what you need to know about each team heading into Monday’s game.
HOW THEY GOT HERE
The Orange Bowl has conference tie-ins, taking the highest-ranked Atlantic Coast Conference team not in the College Football Playoff and the highestranked team from the Southeastern Conference, Big Ten or Notre Dame after the playoff, Sugar Bowl and Rose Bowl matchups have been determined.
The Gators are playing in their second consecutive New Years Six bowl under coach Dan Mullen, who was their offensive coordinator when they won national titles under Urban Meyer in the 2006 and 2008 seasons. Florida has posted double-digit wins in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2008 and 2009, Meyer’s final years at the helm of the program. UF has outscored opponents 396-173 this year with three shutouts and two other games where the opponent scored no more than six points. The Gators’ two losses: on the road against No. 1 LSU (42-28) and in Jacksonville against No. 5 Georgia (2417).
Virginia, in its fourth season under coach Bronco Mendenhall, won the ACC Coastal Division before losing 62-17 to No. 3 Clemson in the ACC Championship Game.
The Cavaliers won five of their final six regularseason games, with their lone loss in that span being a 28-21 defeat against Louisville. Five of their 13 games have been one-score games.
FLORIDA PLAYERS TO WATCH
Quarterback Kyle Trask: One of the Cinderella stories of the 2019 college season. Trask, who hadn’t started a game since his freshman year of high school, took over under center in the second half of Florida’s game against Kentucky after Feleipe Franks sustained a seasonending leg injury. Trask rallied the Gators to a road win and went 7-2 as a starter the rest of the way. For the year, Trask has completed 67.6 percent of his passes for 2,636 yards, 24 touchdowns and six interceptions. He has three games with at least 300 passing yards.
Defensive lineman Jonathan Greenard: He came to UF this year as a graduate transfer from Louisville and has made his presence known. Greenard, 6-3 and 236 pounds, leads the Gators with 14 1⁄
2 tackles for loss, 8 1⁄ sacks
2 and eight quarterback hurries. He also has 51 tackles, two forced fumbles and an interception in 11 games.
VIRGINIA PLAYERS TO WATCH
A Wide receiver Joe Reed: The senior earned first-team All-America honors as a return specialist after leading the country by averaging 34.73 yards per kickoff return, with two going for touchdowns. Reed also caught a team-high 70 passes for 627 yards and six touchdowns.
Linebacker Zane Zandier: The junior leads the Cavaliers with 95 tackles and is tied for the team lead with 11 1⁄ tackles for
2 loss. He also has five sacks, five pass breakups and an interception.
STORY LINES FOR THE GAME
A Can Mullen get his second NY6 win in as many seasons? The Gators ended their first season under Mullen with a resounding 41-15 win over Michigan in the Peach Bowl to go 10-3 on the year. UF can up the ante with a second consecutive marquee bowl victory to round out Mullen’s second year at the helm.
A Can Virginia give the ACC a marquee victory? Outside of Clemson, the ACC has had a down year. Virginia has a chance to give the conference another statement victory if the underdog Cavaliers can pull off the upset against the Gators.