In the 86th annual Orange Bowl Monday night in Miami Gardens, Virginia will be making its first-ever appearance. And it’s a postseason matchup that affords UVa a considerable opportunity when the Cavaliers face No. 9 Florida (8 p.m., ESPN).

This will be the program’s first New Year’s Six bowl game since the format was adopted in 2014. For a team playing in back-to-back bowl games for the first time since 2004-2005 (when the Hoos finished off a four-year bowl streak), the Wahoos have a chance to win 10 games for only the second time in school history.

Standing in their way, of course, is a Gators squad that has had a pretty solid season. The fifth different SEC team that the Hoos have faced in a bowl game, UF obviously brings a lot of talent to this matchup. According to Las Vegas, Florida will go in as about a two-score favorite.

No. 9 Florida Gators (10-2, 6-2 SEC)

Head coach: Dan Mullen, 11th season (89-51 overall, 20-5 in two years at Florida)

Series: UF leads the all-time series 1-0.

Last Meeting: The Gators beat the Cavaliers 55-10 in Gainesville In 1959.

-- Mullen was brought back to Florida to revitalize the offense and attempt to return the program to a level of play that they saw when he was the OC under Urban Meyer. And through two seasons, Florida has demonstrated significant improvement. In 2019, the Gators have averaged 33 points per contest against a challenging SEC schedule that included games against LSU and Auburn from the West Division. Despite losing starting quarterback Felipe Franks in September, they consistently moved the ball and found the end zone down the stretch. Like Virginia, Florida found more success through the air than on the ground this year, with 3,605 passing yards and 1,443 yards gained on run plays. Their 6.37 yards per play average put the Gators at 23rd nationally in the regular season. They converted 41 percent of their 3rd-down tries and were effective at scoring touchdowns when they reached the red zone. On 50 trips, they crossed the goal line 35 times.

-- A major part of Florida’s success on offense has been the play of quarterback Kyle Trask, who was more than a capable option off the bench. After Franks went down against Kentucky, Trask took over as the starter and played well. The junior from Texas completed nearly 68 percent of his pass attempts in the regular season, throwing for 2,636 yards and 24 touchdowns. In his starts, Trask averaged 274 yards per game and had multiple touchdown throws in each start. Just as important was his ability to take care of the football, with just six interceptions on the season. Trask has a variety of weapons in the passing game, including a pair of senior wide receivers and a talented tight end. Van Jefferson and Freddie Swain have been Florida’s top targets at wide receiver this season, and both have had big moments throughout. Jefferson, who has 43 catches and 528 yards on the season, is coming off of a two-touchdown game in the regular-season finale against rival FSU. Swain also scored a pair of touchdowns against the Seminoles, giving him seven on the season. Sophomore tight end Kyle Pitts, meanwhile, leads the team in receptions (51) and has five receiving touchdowns thus far.

-- Florida’s running game is led by senior tailback Lamical Perine, who has more than 2,000 rushing yards in his Gator career. In 2019, he has had an “okay” season by his standards, rushing 119 times for 538 yards and four touchdowns. Perine isn’t exactly a workhorse back, never having more than 17 carries in a game this year, but his 4.5 yards per carry average is still impressive. The Gators will also use backup quarterback Emory Jones as a runner from time to time. Jones has rushed at least once in each of Florida’s last nine games and found the end zone three times on five carries against Vanderbilt in November.

-- Led by veteran coordinator Todd Grantham, Florida will be another big challenge for the UVa offense. The Gators are allowing just 14.4 points per game this year and held five of their regular-season opponents to six points or fewer, including a trio of SEC teams. Florida excels in many areas, ranking seventh nationally in the latest SP+ rankings. The Gators have done a good job stopping the run, allowing just 3.2 yards per carry. They have also done well stopping the pass, allowing less than 200 yards per game through the air and just 4.8 yards per play. They allow opponents to convert just 36.3 percent of 3rd-down attempt (just below Virginia) and have given up just 20 red zone scores on the year, 11 of them being touchdowns. That’s the sixth-fewest red zone scores allowed, and the second-lowest touchdown conversion rate allowed.

-- Like Virginia, Florida is an elite pass-rushing team. The Gators finished the regular season with 46 sacks, one ahead of UVa’s 45 with one less game played. The correlation between Florida’s ability to get after opposing quarterbacks and the success on the scoreboard is obvious. All of their sacks came in their 10 wins, with none coming in their two losses to LSU and Georgia. The Wahoos and Gators both played Miami and Florida State this year; Virginia had six sacks in those two game while Florida had 18. UF’s top pass rusher is senior linebacker Jonathan Greenard, who actually played against Virginia in 2016 and 2017 when he was on Louisville’s defense, also coached by Grantham. Greenard has 8.5 sacks on the season with 4.5 total in Florida’s two most-recent games.

-- The Gators do such a great job creating pressure that it’s no mystery why they are also able to create turnovers in bunches. They forced 22 takeaways on the season, with seven fumble recoveries and an impressive 15 interceptions, which is tied with Alabama and Ohio State for 11th most nationally. And like their sack numbers, the Gators didn’t force an interception in either of their two losses this season. Florida has five multi-interception games this year, including three in wins over Kentucky, Tennessee, and Auburn in a four-game stretch. Junior defensive back Donovan Stiner leads the team with four picks, and Shawn Davis and Marco Wilson have three each. Like Virginia’s Bryce Hall, Florida’s top cornerback didn’t record an interception, in part because he wasn’t targeted much. That corner, C.J. Henderson, will not suit up on Monday night for Florida as he has elected to sit out the bowl game and prepare for his NFL future.