Utah opens the 2022 season as the seventh-ranked team in college football. It’ll battle the Florida Gators at The Swamp on Saturday, offering a marquee game to build some confidence and momentum as well as a national platform to kick off a possible College Football Playoff run.

Stars return all over the field for coach Kyle Whittingham. Cameron Rising at quarterback, Tavion Thomas at running back, Brant Kuithe and Dalton Kincaid at tight end, Van Fillinger and Junior Tafuna on the defensive line, Clark Phillips and Cole Bishop in the secondary… the Utes appear to be loaded for another run at the Pac-12 title.

But Florida is a major test in Week 1. The Gators have won 32 consecutive home-openers, the longest active streak in the FBS. Florida’s last loss in a home-opener was a 24-19 defeat to Ole Miss in 1989. Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, aka The Swamp, is held in high regard as one of the toughest places to play in college football.

Here’s all the info you need to get ready for the game.

TV and kickoff time

Kickoff time: 4 p.m. PT

TV Network: ESPN; fans can also watch the game live on Watch ESPN with a cable or satellite provider login.

Betting odds

Line: Utah -1.5

Total: 51.5

Money line: Utah -128, Florida +106

Via FanDuel

Expert predictions

ESPN’s FPI gives Utah a 47.9% chance to beat the Gators.

CBS Sports’ Shehan Jeyarajah likes the Utes to win and cover:

The Utes head into a culmination year right as the Gators enter Year 1 of a rebuild, and the stakes have never been higher for the visitors. While there’s a major recruiting gap between these two programs, Utah has not shied away from recruiting stars in the past. In the Rose Bowl, it took Ohio State to the limit. The Utes also crushed Oregon twice to ruin the Ducks’ College Football Playoff case. Chalk this one up as a historic victory for the program.

Athlon Sports’ John Coon has Utah winning 31-21:

Bringing Utah into the Swamp gives Florida a chance to make a major statement in its first game. The Gators will be a vastly improved team this season. The only problem is the Utes are deeply talented and simply more experienced on both sides of the ball. Utah has carved out an identity as a punishing physical football team and excels at imposing its will down the stretch. The Utes have a knack for wearing down opponents faster than the Florida humidity wears down the human body — a lesson the Gators will learn on Saturday.

CFN’s Pete Fiutak has the Gators winning 26-23:

Florida’s run defense has to prove it can be night-and-day better than it was last season, and it has to do it against a brutish offensive front that should be able to grind and grind some more. This is a Ute team built to travel – the combination of the great veteran D and the tough running game works – but there’s one problem … Utah doesn’t always rock on the road. It went 10-4 last season. The four losses came at BYU, at San Diego State, at Oregon State, and – fine, so it’s an outlier – in the Rose Bowl. Who did it beat away from Salt Lake City? It took down a dead USC team, Stanford, and Arizona. The Pac-12 Championship win in Las Vegas was the lone good away win. The program is 2-8 in its last ten games away from home against teams that finished with a winning record. It won’t be anything lovely, but Florida will take the tough win to kick off the Napier era with a huge W.

Saturday Down South’s Connor O’Gara has the Utes winning 31-24:

I think we’ll get at least two moments from Richardson where we take a step back and run through some historical comps (just please don’t make Cam Newton comps). That’s always on the table for him. But I think we see Utah test that unproven Florida run defense and then Rising works the middle of the field in the red zone to get those tight ends involved. Richardson makes an ill-advised through late that costs Florida a shot at 1-0.