The Utah football team will begin their season as they did last year, facing the Florida Gators in the opening Week 1 game. However, this season, they'll have the advantage of playing at home in Salt Lake City at Rice-Eccles Stadium. The Utes have likely not forgotten how close they were last year to beating the Gators. And if it were not for the late interception by quarterback Cameron Rising in the endzone, that may have come true. This could be another thriller to start the college football season (Week 0 doesn't count). Can Utah get it done this year? Or will another late fourth-quarter mistake determine another Utes defeat? Let's get into some bold predictions.

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4. Cameron Rising won't play, but it won't matter

As of Wednesday, it was reported that Cameron Rising would be doubtful for Thursday's game against the Gators due to still not being fully recovered from his ACL injury, according to Pete Thamel at ESPN. While that is significant news to the Utah football team and the game in general, it's still may not matter in the outcome. Rising was indeed a huge part of the success for the Utes in last year's game, but he was also the reason they lost in the end. That's not saying he won't be missed because of his experience but the Utes can still win this game with junior Bryson Barnes, who has played in 13 games, and redshirt freshman Nate Johnson, who is set to take the reigns after Rising graduates.

3. Nate Johnson takes over for Bryson Barnes as game goes on

As of right now, Nate Johnson is being labeled a “change of pace” quarterback. Johnson has opened a lot of eyes on the Utes staff over fall camp, where it was Barnes job to lose as the backup. However, as the camp progressed, Johnson was said to make it a “neck and neck” competition, according to Josh Furlong at KSL Sports. There's a lot of upside with Johnson in comparison to Barnes where most feel they've seen the junior hit his full potential. If Johnson, in his snaps, proves to be a game changer as the game progresses, Johnson could fully take over as quarterback for the majority of the game.

2. Utah football will hold Florida to 17 points or less

Anthony Richardson essentially became a star in last year's game, and he was all the talk afterward. Richardson is now the starting quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts. Now, the Gators will have to rely on Wisconsin transfer quarterback Graham Mertz, who some have argued is better than what he really was with the Badgers. Due to the run-heavy offense at Wisconsin, Mertz doesn't have a 300-yard game in his career. There will be a lot of question marks with this year's Gators' football team, but where and what they will be offensively may not be. They'll more than likely heavily rely on their talented running back duo of Trevor Etienne and Montrell Johnson Jr.

If Graham proves he's nothing more than a game manager quarterback and Florida has to rely on the run, it might be a long night for the Gators. Utah's defense was ranked the 19th best in the country against the run, giving up an average of 119.8 yards a game, according to Team Rankings. They also only gave up an average of 236.5 passing yards per game. The Gators might not be touching the endzone much on Thursday night.

1. Utah football will cover -6.5, beat Florida by two touchdowns

This point spread for this game has gone from Utah -10.5 at one point to now Utah -6.5, per FanDuel. Some of that could have to do with Rising's injury. I still believe that Utah would cover the original -10.5. Utah brings back a proven quarterback—hurt or not—they have an excellent coach in Kyle Whittingham, and overall, they have stability. That's something that Gators don't have as they are in the midst of a rebuild. Florida may become a better team down the stretch of the season, but an early matchup against a consistently good Utes football team that won the Pac-12 last season seems like a huge challenge early on. And again, the Utes are looking to avenge their loss from last season. The Utes will put some points on Florida.