GAINESVILLE, Fla. ? Season openers long have been a celebration of Florida Gators football.
Saturday night in the Swamp was no different, highlighted by the renaming of Florida Field to honor Steve Spurrier.
But then, the game began.
After that, the Gators gave fans little reason to rejoice on the way to a pedestrian 24-7 win against UMass. A 26-yard touchdown catch by Brandon Powell with 8:04 remaining broke open a surprisingly tight game and salvaged an otherwise shaky night for Florida's offense.
UF coach Jim McElwain's team entered its matchup with the Minutemen favored by 36 points ? or the average margin of victory of Florida's past 26 home openers.
The nation's longest active win streak in season openers remains intact. The Gators' offense, however, remains on shaky ground.
When the third quarter ended, Florida clung to a 10-7 lead and did not have a run longer than nine yards or a completion longer than 18 yards.
The 2015 Gators stumbled badly down the stretch during losses to national powers Florida State, Alabama and Michigan. But UMass allowed 62 points twice last season, including to Bowling Green _ a 77-10 loser Saturday to Ohio State.
Unlike coach Urban Meyer's Buckeyes, McElwain's Gators found themselves in a fourth-quarter struggle with the Minutemen.
A 49-yard field goal by kicker Eddy Piniero gave the Gators the cushion they needed and elicited cheers of, "Eddy, Eddy" from an announced crowd of 88,121.
A reliable placekicker like Pineiro, a former Alabama commitment, was a big addition to the Gators, who did not have one a season ago. But upgrades were expected at several key areas for McElwain's second team, none more than at quarterback.
Redshirt sophomore Luke Del Rio looked sound to open his first college start at the college level, but his efforts failed to produce many points.
With the UMass pass rushing bearing down during Florida's opening series, Del Rio stood tough in the pocket and found Antonio Callaway for 13 yards on third-and-6.
On the next series, Del Rio led the Gators on an 11-play, 71-yard touchdown drive, finishing 5-of-6 passing for 52 yards. He also rushed twice for nine yards, picking up four yards on fourth-and-1 to UMass.
From there, Del Rio and the Gators' offense were out of synch and squandered opportunities.
Following the scoring drive, Del Rio was 10-of-18 for 59 yards, or 3.3 yards per attempt, the rest of the first half. Along the way, the Gators suffered at least four drops, including one by tailback Mark Thompson inside the UMass 10-yard line as he adjusted to a Del Rio slightly behind him.
Facing fourth-and-6 from the 11, the Gators settled for a 28-yard field goal by Piniero. But after an offsides penalty on the Minutemen, McElwain decided to forgo the points and give the ball to Thompson on 4th-and-1. A UMass defense that yielded 62 points twice in 2015 stuffed the 6-foot-2, 242-pound Thompson at the line of scrimmage.
Those lost points ultimately did not cost the Gators.
A 40-yard field goal by Piniero with eight seconds left in the half proved to be the winning points, but even Florida's vaunted defense was a bit off its game.
UMass was 108th of 128 team nationally last season, but managed to score on the Gators even with a new starting quarterback and without a 1,000-yard receiver from 2015. During a nine-play, 75-yard drive by Minutemen, the Gators committed three penalties for 35 yards and gave up a 24-yard completion on 4th-and-14.
Two plays later, quarterback Russ Comis scored on a 5-yard run when Florida star linebacker Jarrad Davis overran the play, allowing Comis a clear path to the end zone.
