Fred Johnson still thinks about it.
The stadium. The feeling. The way he refused to look up at the scoreboard as he walked to the locker room at halftime.
By the end, he had no choice. Flashed across the scoreboard were the numbers: 41-7.
“It’s time to go get payback,” he said on Tuesday.
Johnson, a junior who will likely start at guard for Florida this season, was a freshman in 2015-16, the same year Florida ended its first season under coach Jim McElwain with a 34-point loss to Michigan in the Citrus Bowl. Now, nearly two years later, Johnson still hasn’t forgotten the loss. Neither, he said, have his teammates.
“It’s on everybody’s mind,” Johnson said. “Just to prove to ourselves, like, we can do this.”
No. 17 Florida will open its season against No. 11 Michigan at AT&T Stadium on Sept. 2, a game that may hold more meaning than any of UF’s season openers in recent memory. A win could improve Florida’s College Football Playoff hopes. A loss would damage them.
On Tuesday, Florida’s players said they were well aware. And with less than two weeks before the game, they’re feeling confident.
“People are always like, ‘Oh, y’all didn’t play nobody,’” sophomore receiver Freddie Swain said of Florida critics. “So coming out against Michigan and having a good game against Michigan will show the world.”
The game will mark the first time UF has ever played the Wolverines during the regular season, and the first time Florida will play a non-conference game outside of its home state during the regular season since 1991.
“Everybody’s watching. Everybody wants to see what the Florida Gators are going to do,” Swain said. “And that’s a good game to do it in.”
Swain was still in high school the last time Florida faced Michigan, but said he knows how much the season opener means to his teammates. With the lure of playing a top-15 opponent in Week 1, Swain said there's been a different feel to fall camp.
“They’re a top team. We’re a top team,” he said. “It’s going to be a good game to see what Florida is all about.”
Kicker Eddy Pineiro agreed. Pineiro, a junior college transfer, also joined the team last season, but constantly overhears his teammates talking about the 2016 loss to Michigan during practice.
“If they’re not having a good practice, that’s how they motivate themselves,” Pineiro said. “‘You don’t want to get your butt kicked like you did against them.’”
Pineiro also said he thinks a win against Michigan will help Florida’s College Football Playoff chances. But he’s also looking forward to simply playing on an NFL field.
“Who’s not excited to play in the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium?” Pineiro said. “That’s something I’m going to tell my kids 10 years from now.”
You can follow Ian Cohen on Twitter @icohenb, and contact him at icohen@alligator.org.
Michigan beat Florida, 41-7, at the 2016 Citrus Bowl, the last time the two teams met. Now, the Gators are using that blowout loss as motivation for this year's season-opening rematch with the Wolverines on Sept. 2 at AT&T Stadium outside of Dallas.
