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Matt Barrie praises quality of Florida-Utah matchup, sees promise in Gators
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One of the best college football games of the weekend was the matchup between Florida and Utah on Saturday night.
It was a hard-fought, physical affair, and both teams played well enough to win. It was the Gators, however, who secured the 29-26 victory thanks to Anthony Richardson’s third rushing touchdown of the night with 1:25 to play in the game.
On his new show “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” which airs on ESPN’s College Football YouTube channel, host and college football analyst Matt Barrie said he came away highly impressed with the quality of play from both teams.
“That ended up being a really, really good football game, with Florida holding on late with an interception as Utah was driving to get the win,” Barrie said Sunday. “Anthony Richardson had just taken Florida down the field to score the go-ahead touchdown. Utah had an opportunity and Florida’s defense stepped up late to get Billy Napier his first win as Florida’s head coach. It was just good, clean football.”
At the end of the day, however, Barrie believes the result was especially crucial for the Gators, with Napier in his first season at the helm.
“Florida, with Billy Napier, you just have to give your fans something to look forward to, just that glimmer of hope,” Barrie said. “I think they did that in Week 1, especially with Anthony Richardson just making his second career start at Florida. That kid is talented; they’re going to be a good football team.”
The Gators will be tested again this Saturday, as they play host to No. 20 Kentucky in the SEC opener for each team.
For more of Barrie’s thoughts on Week 1 in college football, check out the video below:
"Chris Wallace covers college football for Saturday Down South. He has covered college athletics for multiple newspapers and also worked previously for Rivals.com and GolfChannel.com."
