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Florida faces old rival in Miami

Sep 6, 2008 - 11:45 AM Miami, FL (1-0) at No. 5 Florida (1-0), 8:00 pm EDT

GAINESVILLE, Florida (Ticker) -- A once-fierce Sunshine State rivalry will be renewed Saturday when No. 5 Florida hosts Miami in the first meeting between the schools in four years.

After playing annually from 1938-1987, the teams have faced each other only four times since. They squared off in the regular season in 2002 and 2003 and met in a pair of postseason games, the 2000 Sugar Bowl and the 2004 Peach Bowl.

In the last meeting, Miami, coached by Larry Coker, scored a pair of special teams touchdowns in a 27-10 victory over the Gators, who were guided by interim coach after Charlie Strong after Ron Zook was fired earlier in the season.

Since that game, the programs have headed in opposite directions. Coker was fired after the 2006 season, the year Urban Meyer guided Florida to a national championship. Last season, Florida quarterback Tim Tebow became the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy.

Tebow's junior campaign got off to a quiet start, as he completed just 9-of-14 passes for 137 yards and a touchdown in the Gators' 56-10 rout of Hawaii. His NCAA-record streak of 14 straight games with at least one touchdown passing and running was snapped.

Tebow finished with the lowest total of completions, attempts and yards in his career. But perhaps the biggest story for Florida was the play of its defense, which was in disarray at the end of last season's up-and-down 9-4 campaign. The Gators (1-0) forced six turnovers against the Warriors and returned two interceptions for touchdowns.

"We were working on pass defense all summer very hard, and it showed," Meyer said. "Our defensive coaches did a nice job coaching our guys up. We forced six turnovers and when you force six turnovers, you've got good stuff going on."

Miami (1-0) christened Dolphins Stadium, its new home, with a 52-7 victory over Charleston Southern of the Football Championship Subdivision.

Jacory Harris completed 16-of-26 passes for 190 yards and a touchdown for the Hurricanes, who moved to the home of the NFL's Miami Dolphins after playing at the fabled Orange Bowl for the previous 70 years.

Miami finished last season 5-7 under first-year coach Randy Shannon, its first losing year since 1997.