This weekend, the Miami Hurricanes will have to endure another test. That test comes in the form of the Florida Gators. Reeling from their stunning loss against last week's Hurricanes opponent, the South Florida Bulls, the Gators will try to upset the Canes in Hard Rock Stadium, Saturday.
The question that every person affiliated with the Miami Hurricanes football program will have to answer, yet again, is "Are the Miami Hurricanes back to former glory?" Judging from last week's performance, the Canes are capable of silencing the critics and doubters, who have negative opinions about whether the Hurricanes have arrived as an elite college football program. Interstate rival, Florida Gators are motivated to upset the number four-ranked team in the land.
Entering Saturday's contest, the Florida Gators are on a two-game skid. Last week, the Gators lost to their SEC rival, LSU Tigers, 10-20. Offensively, the Gators are not exactly an offensive juggernaut. In this matchup, the Hurricanes are extremely confident they can earn another victory in this young season. Fortunately, for the Canes, they too, are battle-tested in the same way that the Gators have been tested.
Both programs have encountered programs that have been nationally ranked. Once again, the Miami Hurricanes will play in front of a ruckus crowd that would love nothing more than to defeat the Gators and send them packing back to Gainesville. Is this another trap game? Hopefully, Mario Cristobal will have the Canes ready and confident to meet another formidable foe in consecutive weeks.
Game two of the "sunshine battle" with another Florida program is setting up beautifully for the talented Miami Hurricanes. There is not any doubt that the Canes can become victorious over the Florida Gators. Each week, the Hurricanes are inching closer and closer into the notorious program of yesteryear. What the Canes must strive to avoid is complacency now that the program is slowly regaining national respect.