Michigan to face Florida in Peach Bowl
Published 9:44 am Tuesday, December 4, 2018
ATLANTA, Ga. — The seventh-ranked University of Michigan football team will be heading to Atlanta, Georgia, during the holiday season to square off against the 10th-ranked University of Florida in the 2018 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Game on Saturday, Dec. 29.
The game pitting the Wolverines (10-2, 8-1 Big Ten) against the Gators (9-3, 5-3 SEC) will kick off at noon from Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The bowl game match-up will be televised nationally by ESPN.
The Wolverines will be making their first appearance in the Peach Bowl. The Big Ten Conference has played in the Peach Bowl on seven previous occasions, compiling a 2-5 record, with all five setbacks coming by seven points or less.
It will be the first time that a Big Ten team will play in the Peach Bowl since 1990, when Indiana suffered a 27-24 loss to Auburn. The only conference schools with appearances in the Peach Bowl are Illinois (1985), Indiana (1987, 1990), Iowa (1982, 1988) and Purdue (1978, 1984).
“We are honored to represent the Big Ten Conference in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl,” said Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh. “Florida is a great football team, and we look forward to the opportunity to compete against them. We are excited to have our student-athletes and fans experience the Peach Bowl during the holiday season.”
The Florida Gators, led by first-year head coach Dan Mullen, finished tied for second in the SEC Eastern Division. The Gators finished No. 10 in the College Football Playoff ranking.
Florida’s only setbacks on the year came against Kentucky, Georgia and Missouri. UF is led by RB Lamical Perine, RB Jordan Scarlett, QB Feleipe Franks, WR Van Jefferson and WR Freddie Swain on offense and LB Vosean Joseph, LB David Reese, DL Jachai Polite and DL Jabari Zuniga on defense. The Wolverines have a 4-0 record against the Gators, winning three bowl games and one regular-season match-up.
U-M heads into the Peach Bowl looking to capture at least 11 wins for the 10th time in the 139-year history of the program. After dropping the season opener at Notre Dame, Michigan won 10 straight games before falling in “The Game” to Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio.
The 10-2 Wolverines boast one of the nation’s most balanced offenses, averaging 214.3 rushing yards per game and 212.9 passing yards per game, and the nation’s No. 1-ranked defensive unit.