Game Day: Florida at No. 14 Utah (ESPN, 8 pm)

SALT LAKE CITY – The first football game of the 2023 season includes some other built-in firsts, as far as the University of Florida program is concerned. Well, maybe not all true "firsts," but certainly some long-time-coming circumstances. * Florida's opener Thursday night at 14th-ranked Utah will mark the program's first true non-conference road game against an opponent from outside the state of Florida in 32 years. The Gators were ranked No. 5 when they went to Syracuse during the third week of 1991 and were clobbered 38-21 by the 17th-ranked Orangemen at the Carrier Dome, a game that began with a 95-yard kickoff return – on a reverse – and went downhill from there.  

* The Gators are opening a season (other than the revised COVID-19 season of 2020) on the road for the first time since 1987, which resulted in a 31-4 loss at 10th-ranked Miami.  

* UF is playing a regular-season road game against a Pac-12 (or Pac-8, as it were, as opposed to Pac-0, which it soon will be) for the first time since Sept. 10, 1983, when the 18th-ranked Gators went to Southern Cal and tied the ninth-ranked Trojans 19-all. Utah has never hosted a Southeastern Conference team. 

* Florida is opening against a non-league power conference opponent for the first time since 2017, when the Gators lost 33-17 to Michigan in a Kickoff Classic at Arlington, Texas.

* Finally, the Gators will play a regular-season Thursday night game for the first time since Oct. 1, 1992 (and for the first time in an opener ever), which was a night Steve Spurrier would love to forget – and one then-quarterback Shane Matthews, now color analyst alongside play-by-play man Sean Kelly, would love to forget even more. After that 30-6 flattening at Mississippi State, then-UF athletic director Jeremy Foley vowed no more Thursday-nighters. Ever. Thirty-one years later, though, the Gators agreed to the game as a stand-alone, Week 1 showcase for ESPN.     

And now here we are, amid those confluences of firsts, none of which truly matter as much as the overriding second that is in play in the gorgeous mountain venue at Rice-Eccles Stadium, where the Utes are unbeaten the last two seasons. As in, this is Coach Billy Napier's second season on the Florida sideline and he's 22 months into the deconstruction job left to him by previous coach Dan Mullen and ready to see where his reconstruction job – most notably, 13 players via the transfer portal and a promising freshman class expected to contribute – has the Gators positioned to date. And a road date against the two-time reigning Pac-12 champion Utes, with or without their quarterback (read on), will serve as quite the measuring stick, but not a be-all, end-all barometer. Remember, Florida defeated seventh-ranked Utah in the 2022 opener in Gainesville, in a classic, down-to-the-wire affair, only to spin off to a 6-7 record and a second straight losing season in Napier's debut campaign.  [Read senior writer Scott Carter's comprehensive "Opening Kickoff" setup here] UF's transfer class is led by quarterback Graham Mertz, who didn't exactly set the Wisconsin world on fire (19-12 as a starter) but played more than 2,000 snaps in the Big Ten, completed 60 percent of his passes for 5,405 yards, 38 touchdowns and 26 interceptions as a Badger, and has a new lease on his football life in the Florida offense. The Gators had the nation's 25th-ranked rushing attack last season at 200.2 yards per game and were led by tailbacks Montrell Johnson Jr. (841 yards, 10 TD) and Trevor Etienne (718 yards, 6 TD), both of whom are back and ready to rumble. How much rumbling they do will fall to a reconfigured offensive line (fourth-year junior center Kingsley Eguakun is questionable with a lower body injury), but the team has confidence.  The Gators also believe they have more difference-makers on the outside – and not just senior Ricky Pearsall (33 catches for 27 first downs, 661 yards, 6 TD). UF upgraded its wide receivers room significantly, thanks in great part to a trio of freshman. Fans won't have to wait long to see Eugene Wilson III on the field.  Defensively, Florida must be better than the product of the last two seasons. And, frankly, it would be hard to be worse than the Gators were in 2022 when they were 97th nationally in total defense (411.0 yards per game) 100th against the run (175.2 ypg) and third from the bottom in FBS in third-down percentage allowed (49.7). Transfers such as defensive tackle Cam Jackson (Memphis), linebacker Teradja Mitchell (Ohio State) and safety R.J. Moten (Michigan) will fold into a band of returnees such as pass-rusher Princely Umanmielen and cornerback Jason Marshall III. True freshman Jordan Castell won a starting safety job during camp. UF also will take a different tact relative to schemes under youthful, energetic and new defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong, by way of Southern Mississippi.  So a bunch of opening-day questions will be answered, but the biggest one relative to this game will be known virtually immediately. Utah quarterback Cameron Rising (64 percent, 5,542 yards, 46 TD, 14 INT, plus 953 yards, 12 TD rushing) was superb in the meeting last season and superb throughout 2022 until blowing out his knee in the Utes' upset loss to Penn State in the Rose Bowl last Jan. 2. Rising, one of the best duel-threat quarterbacks in the country the last three seasons, has not officially been ruled out of the game, but a nine-month turnaround from a devastating knee injury certainly is pushing the usual timeline. Reports out of Salt Lake City have him doubtful to play. 

Assuming Rising can't go, either Bryson Barnes or Nate Johnson will be under center for Utah. Barnes, with one career starter, is listed No. 2 on the depth chart, with Johnson a "wildcat" package option.   The Utes, with Coach Kyle Whittingham entering his 19th season, cranked out 446 yards of offense against the Gators last season, with tight end Brant Kuithe working the defensive silly for nine catches, 105 yards and a score. Kuithe, though, is questionable with a knee injury, meaning the home team could lean toward leaning on a running game that cranked out 230 yards in last season's meeting. Worth noting: Rising accounted for 91 of those yards.    Coverage starts at 8 p.m. on ESPN, with the A-team of Chris Fowler on play-by-play, Kirk Herbstreit providing analysis and Holly Rowe working the sideline. The Gators Sports Network from Learfield will air with pregame coverage beginning at 5 p.m. and eventually give way to Kelly, Matthews and sideline reporter Tate Casey for kickoff. For stations, click here.    The game will be replayed Sept. 7 on SEC Network at noon.    Finally, follow senior staff writer Scott Carter (@GatorsScott) for commentary and analysis throughout the game. FloridaGators.com will have complete coverage from the game late Thursday night and fresh follow-up content early Friday, also.