Florida Aims to Salvage Season with Win Against Florida State

For many Florida fans, the light to this disappointing season is at the end of the tunnel. Coming off one of the program’s worst SEC losses Saturday, 31-11 to No. 20 Tennessee , Florida looks to salvage its season this Saturday in the regular-season finale against Florida State at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN2.

The Gators (3-8) will host their in-state rivals with a chance to keep them out of the postseason. After starting the year out 3-0, including a top-10 win against Alabama, Florida State has lost six of its last eight games to find itself with a 5-6 record. Still, the Seminoles will come in with a chance to save their season.

They will also be doing so following the recent news that coach Mike Norvell will return for the 2026 season after reports of a possible firing following the conclusion of this season.

As for the game itself, Florida is a slight 1.5-point favorite, with the over/under at 50.5 and UF money line at -115 odds, according to Hard Rock Bet. The Gators lead the all-time series of the Sunshine State Showdown 38-28-2 and are looking for their fifth win in the last seven meetings against Florida State.

Florida won handily, 31-11 in Tallahassee last year, but that was a different team than what will be showing up Saturday. Last season, the Gators finished the regular season with three straight wins and were on their way to a bowl game. Now, Florida’s final game is playing second fiddle to who will be the next coach of the team next season.

Despite all of that, Florida is still focused on finding a way to finish the season on a high note and let seniors on this team get one more win in The Swamp before calling it a career. Among the many seniors on the team is cornerback Devin Moore, who understands that the clock is ticking and wants everyone in and around the program ready to go this week.

“We kind of look at every game like the other, every game, juiced up, ready to go play. Because, like I said before, this is the last one for the seniors. Tonight was the second-to-last one. Last night’s game for the seniors,” Moore said Saturday. “We are playing for our brothers and we’re playing for the program. The fans still show up, consecutive sell-outs and they still believe in us. So every time we’re going to show up and try and win the game, for sure.”

Category: ACC, College Football, Feature Sports News, Gators Football, SEC