The Florida Gators football program announced Tuesday that the Vanderbilt Commodores will be the 2023 Homecoming opponent. This means that the university’s homecoming weekend will take place the weekend of Oct. 7.
First celebrated in 1916, the weekend consists of multiple activities, including the Homecoming Parade, the Gator Growl music festival, the Homecoming Pagent, Soulfest and much more. The numbers look to be in the Gators’ favor, as the football program is 71-26-2 all-time on homecoming weekend. They are an impressive 29-5 since 1989 and are coming off a 24-17 win over Missouri in last year’s homecoming game.
The weekend will culminate with the Gators’ seeking revenge after Vanderbilt beat the Orange and Blue, 31-24, in Nashville last season. If last year was any indication, the Commodores are not a team to take lightly. Since 1992, when the two programs began to play every season, the Gators have lost just twice to Vanderbilt, in 2013 and 2022. Despite that, Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea believes his team has what it takes to turn the program around.
For most programs, a 5-7 record in a coach’s second season would not be cause for celebration. But for Lea’s Commodores, that record is a significant improvement from their recent history. Since posting back-to-back nine-win seasons under now-Penn State coach James Franklin in 2012 and 2013, Vanderbilt has made just two bowl games, losing them both. They went 0-9 in the 2020 shortened season and their victory over Kentucky last season snapped a 26-game SEC losing streak.
In addition to hosting Vanderbilt on October 7, the Gators have five other home games in 2023: McNeese (Sept. 9), Tennessee (Sept. 16), Charlotte (Sept. 23), Arkansas (Nov. 6), and Florida State (Nov. 25). They open the season on Thursday, August 31 in a rematch of last year’s opener against the Utah Utes, this time in Salt Lake City.
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