ESPN Reveals Florida's Biggest Swing Game of 2025 Season

ESPN Reveals Florida's Biggest Swing Game of 2025 Season originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

The Florida Gators are just over one month away from kicking off their 2025 season in front of a raucous crowd at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Florida enters the year riding a four-game winning streak to end 2024, concluding the season with an 8-5 record and a bowl game victory for the first time in five years.

After facing one of the toughest schedules in the country last season, it doesn't get any easier for head coach Billy Napier's team in 2025.

On Wednesday, ESPN released its "Swing games for every Top 25 college football team for 2025," labeling an early-season battle against an SEC rival as Florida's biggest momentum swinger of the year.

ESPN noted the Gators' biggest swing game of 2025 will be their road test against the LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. This will be Florida's third game of the season, coming on Sept. 13.

"On paper, this feels like a year that Brian Kelly is going to have things put together in the Bayou, in part because he has the coveted returning starter at QB in Garrett Nussmeier," ESPN's Harry Lyles Jr. wrote.

Nussmeier had an incredible year in 2024 with the Tigers. He threw for over 4,000 yards and 29 touchdowns while rushing for three more scores on the ground. Florida's defense must hold the senior quarterback in check again this season, just like it did last year when Nussmeier had his third-lowest passer rating of the year in the Gators' victory.

"Along with the incumbent talent, Kelly and his staff did a really good job in the transfer portal and will be a tough out every Saturday this fall," Lyles continued. "If Florida wins this game, or even loses a close one, it will bode well for the rest of the season."

A night game in Death Valley is no easy task for any visiting opponent. If Napier and the Gators can contend against LSU, they will be riding high into the remainder of their 2025 gauntlet.

Related: PFF Names SEC's Best Offensive Player in 2025

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 23, 2025, where it first appeared.