The 2018 Florida Gators football team represented the

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in the

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. The Gators played their home games at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in

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. Florida played as a member of the Eastern Division of the

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(SEC). They were led by first-year head coach Dan Mullen. Florida, coming off a 4–7 season in

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, began the year unranked. In the second game of the season, not only did the team lose to

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for the first time since 1986, but they also lost to them at home for the first time since

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, snapping a 31-game winning streak in the series. Florida won its next five games, including on the road against No. 23

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, United States. It is classified among "R ...

and at home against No. 5

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

, rising to ninth in the AP Poll. They then lost two games to No. 7

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and

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and ended the conference regular season tied for second in the SEC East Division at 5–3. After closing the regular season by defeating rival

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

, they were invited to the

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, where they defeated No. 8

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by a score of 41–15. The team finished with an overall record of 10–3, and in the season's final AP Poll, the team was ranked in a tie for seventh, the highest finish for the school since

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. The team was led on offense by redshirt sophomore quarterback Feleipe Franks, who finished with 2,457 passing yards, 24 passing touchdowns, and 7 rushing touchdowns. His 31 total touchdowns was tied for third in the Southeastern Conference. Running backs La'Mical Perine and Jordan Scarlett finished with 826 and 776 yards, respectively. Defensively, the team was led by defensive end Jachai Polite, who finished with 20 tackles for loss and was named first-team All-SEC.

Preseason

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

SEC media poll

The SEC media poll was released on July 20, 2018, with the Gators predicted to finish third in the East Division.

Preseason All-SEC teams

The Gators had eight players selected to the preseason all-SEC teams. Offense ''1st team'' Martez Ivey – OL ''3rd team'' Jordan Scarlett – RB Defense ''1st team'' CeCe Jefferson – DL ''2nd team'' C. J. Gardner-Johnson – DB C. J. Henderson – DB ''3rd team'' David Reese – LB Marco Wilson – DB Specialists ''3rd team'' Kadarius Toney – all purpose player

Schedule

Rankings

Game summaries

Charleston Southern

Kentucky

Colorado State

Tennessee

Mississippi State

LSU

Vanderbilt

Georgia

Missouri

South Carolina

Idaho

Florida State

Michigan (Peach Bowl)

Personnel

Roster

Redshirt * Injury icon 2

Injury

Coaching staff

Recruits

The Gators signed a total of 19 recruits.

Players drafted into the NFL

Source:

References

{{Florida Gators football navbox

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Florida Gators football seasons Peach Bowl champion seasons

Florida Gators football The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida (UF) in American football, American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the ...