With the Florida faithful back in the stands of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, the Gators took care of business against the Florida Atlantic Owls in the season opener on Saturday night. FAU, led by second-year coach Willie Taggart, made a handful of defensive plays to sour the starting debut of quarterback Emory Jones, but it wasn’t enough to counter a high-powered Florida rushing attack (words I haven’t written about this team in quite a while).
The Gators walked away with a decisive 35-14 victory that was largely aided by a solid defensive performance, but UF’s first outing of the 2021 season also left a lot of unanswered questions as the team prepares for a road game against South Florida next week.
Here are five takeaways from the season-opening victory.