Florida vs. Utah matchup history: Records, meetings, streaks

The Utah Utes hope to avenge last year's tough loss in The Swamp to the visiting Florida Gators on Thursday night over in Salt Lake.

In case you weren't paying attention, we should have a fantastic college football game on display Thursday night when the No. 14 Utah Utes host the unranked Florida Gators at Rice-Eccles.

Florida upended the Pac-12 champion last season in The Swamp. It was Billy Napier's first signature win at Florida, and really his only one to date... As for Kyle Whittingham's Utes, Utah continues to be one of the very best programs out west. Utah owned USC last season, en route to its second consecutive Pac-12 championship and Rose Bowl appearance. They must do better in Pasadena...

With toe meeting leather in Salt Lake City Thursday night, let's dive into this all-time series matchup.

Florida Gators vs. Utah Utes matchup history: All-time series records

Entering Thursday night's affair, the Gators and the Utes have only met twice on the gridiron. Florida won last year's epic battle in Gainesville, 29-26. The only other time these two schools have met was way back in 1977 when Doug Dickey's Gators bested Wayne Howard's Utes in Gainesville, 38-29. Thus, Florida holds a narrow 2-0 all-time series lead over Utah. Look for the Utes to get win No. 1...

Despite being on other sides of the country, the two big things tying Utah and Florida together are their former coaches Urban Meyer and Dan Mullen. Meyer led the Utes from 2003 to 2004 before taking over at Florida, a job he would hold from 2005 to 2010. Mullen was Meyer's quarterbacks coach in Utah before becoming offensive coordinator at Florida in 2005. He later led the Gators, too.

What excites me about this game the most is if we see one of these two teams emerge as a real threat in their leagues. Utah should be in contention for a third-straight Pac-12 title, but the likes of USC, Washington and both Oregon schools are chomping at the bit to knock the Utes down a peg. As for Florida, Napier needs to show us he can compete with the likes of South Carolina and Tennessee.

Be sure to tune into ESPN on Thursday night to not miss a second of Gators at Utes action in Week 1.

Kickoff from Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City will be at 8:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. MT on Thursday.