Miami Hurricanes [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]

On Saturday afternoon, the Miami Hurricanes absolutely dominated the Florida Gators on Saturday afternoon to open their season, and it sounds like it was quite an important win for the program, given the rivalry between the two programs.

After the 41-17 blowout victory, Miami head coach Mario Cristobal did not hold back on just how big the game was between these two in-state rivals as he called out Florida a little bit for the “animosity, hatred, and bad blood” that exists between the two programs.

“This is a big rivalry for us. I never got to play in this game. I came to Miami as a player to play in games like this,” Cristobal said after the game according to Ari Wasserman of On3. “Miami hasn’t won here in 20-plus years. Do you think this game was big?

“Do you think the amount of animosity, hatred, bad blood between the fan bases amped it up a little bit? Come on. It was off the charts. The most important thing we talked about was that for a first time in a long time Miami had the chance to play in a big-time game to start the season. Now we have to show we can handle that success.”

Miami and Florida will face off once again next year – this time in Miami.

[On3]