Thanks for all the support. I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog as much as I have enjoyed writing it.
Anyone with comments/questions/suggestions please email me at: bdfoxjr@chomptalk.com
The Florida Gators improved to 5-1 on the season with a 70-48 win at UNC-Asheville on Wednesday.
The Gators were quick out of the gates, grabbing a 21-9 lead through one quarter of play. Florida added to it’s lead before halftime, entering the break with a 36-22 advantage.
The Gators then turned up the defense coming out of the half and allowed the Bulldogs just seven points in the third period of play. Florida took advantage and surmounted a lead of as much as 26 to open the final quarter of play.
The Bulldogs outscored Florida 19-15 in the final quarter, but the game was never in doubt.
Sophomore Lavender Briggs led the effort with 20 points while senior guard Kiki Smith added 15. Sophomore forward Faith Dut scored a career-high 14 points and added five rebounds. Fellow forward (freshman) Floor Toonders added a career best 7 points on 3-5 from the floor.
UF Team Stats:
FG% – 49.2% (30-61)
3FG% – 26.7% (4-15)
FT% – 50% (6-12)
Rebounds – 42
O Rebounds – 11
Reb Margin – +13
Assists – 18
Steals – 4
Turnovers – 21
Player Stats:
Briggs: 20 p, 5 r, 3 a
Smith: 15 p, 5 r, 6 a
Dut: 14 p, 6-8 FG, 5 r, 2 blk
Toonders: 7 p, 3-5 FG 5 r, 12 min
What’s Next:
Florida was originally scheduled to play At Dayton on Dec. 20, but the program announced the cancellation of that game on Thursday. The Gators are looking to add to their schedule and a replacement game should be announced soon. Currently, the Gators are next scheduled to take on North Florida on December 22 in Gainesville.
Led by a career-high 27 points from senior point guard Kiki Smith, the Florida Gators defeated Florida Atlantic 88-76 on Monday. The win moved the Gators to 4-1 on the season and a 4-0 mark at home inside Exactech Arena.
Both teams struggled to find the basket in the first quarter, but the Gators turned it up in the second quarter, knocking down 11-22 from the floor. Florida took a 15-point advantage into the locker room for halftime.
FAU’s Iggy Allen wouldn’t let her team go down without a fight. The talented transfer from Miami led the Owls with 24 points and nine rebounds. But the Gators were too much.
Smith finished with a game high (career high) 27 points and 11 rebounds. Sophomore Lavender Briggs added 14 and 10, which included her 500th career point. Briggs is the fastest player in program history to reach 500 points.
Yasmeen Chang added eleven points off the bench.
Sophomore Nina Rickards and freshman Jordyn Merritt each added eight points to the ledger.
UF Team Stats:
FG% – 42% (32-76)
3FG% – 29% (5-17)
FT% – 73% (19-26)
Rebounds – 45
O Rebounds – 18
Reb Margin – +3
Assists – 10
Steals – 7
Turnovers – 10
Player Stats:
Smith – 27 p, 11 r, 8-10 FT
Briggs – 14 p, 10 r, 3 a
Chang – 11 p, 3 r, 5-8 FG
Merritt – 8 p, 5 off. reb.
What’s Next:
The Gators will look to improve to 5-1 with a road contest against UNC-Asheville on Wednesday. The Bulldogs are 1-2 on the season. The game is scheduled to tip off at 4:00 PM.
This week it seemed Florida was its own worst enemy. Plenty of mistakes in great field position and ones nullifying scores. Like the would-be touchdown to Malik Davis. Davis strolled into the endzone untouched. But Xzavier Henderson screened off two Tennessee defenders downfield better than Rudy Gobert does on the court. And Florida couldn’t make up the 25 yards needed to move the chains resulting in a field goal attempt. Other miscues include Florida going three-and-out with the ball at the UT 30 or Jacob Copeland dropping a open drag route after Trask didn’t see it for several seconds. Let’s also not forget the severe inability to run the ball. Tennessee entered the contest at over 160 yards allowed per game on the ground. Florida ran for 19. That’s it. It’s probably what resulted in Kyle Trask’s stat line.
But that’s one of the positives of this game on offense: Trask posted 433 yards and four touchdowns on 35-for-49 passing. He’s a score away from tying Danny Wuerffel’s 1996 season record and he’ll likely break it by a good amount. He made a tremendous throw on the run to Copeland in the back of the endzone. Additionally, three receivers posted greater than five catches and four had greater than 50 yards. Nine different guys caught passes so it shows Trask is still spreading the ball around. Kyle Pitts and Kadarius Toney had some great, clutch catches including Pitts’s highlight reel grab on a back-shoulder throw. And, despite all the mistakes, Florida scored 31 points and looked unstoppable at times. I think the positives and negatives balance out to a slightly net positive grade.
I know the defense received a tremendous amount of flak this season. But I’ll say it. I don’t think they played that bad against Tennessee. Yes, still plenty of issues like not covering the flat, guys lost in coverage, not tackling Eric Gray on a TD, getting blocked into oblivion and allowing a 96-yard drive. However, outside of garbage time, the Vols’ second-longest drive was 29 yards. And that didn’t come until late in the third quarter. After Tennessee’s first touchdown the Volunteers went seven straight drives without points. The Gator defense forced four straight punts to start the second half! Another positive to point out is the Florida pass rush and defensive front. The Gators sacked Tennessee quarterbacks six times and forced multiple hurries or throwaways Saturday night. Zachary Carter, Amari Burney, Khris Bogle, Princely Umanmielen, Trey Dean and Ventrell Miller all posted one sack. Only 240 passing yards and 94 rushing yards allowed by Florida. They held the super sophomore Gray to under 50 yards after he rushed for 120+ in three of his last four games going in. Even the secondary made plays! Trey Dean defended a pass in addition to his sack and Kair Elam saved a first down on a clutch tackle in the open field with no help.
However, those two 90+ yard drives in garbage time can still be held against them I feel. Mainly because the 1s were still in there on them. But Florida played soft coverage and safe with the big lead. Either way it still shows up on the stat sheet. Overall though? A pretty good defensive performance by the Florida Gators.
Special Teams: A-
We go with the A- because Evan McPherson missed one of his two field goals. Florida punted four times with no return on any of them and two downed inside the 10. Jacob Finn also had two flip the field after Florida stalled out in its own territory, including a booming 50-yarder. Finn punted three times and Dan Mullen called a Trask pooch punt. It worked to perfection pinning Tennessee inside the 10. Kickoff coverage held Velus Jones Jr. to just over 17 yards a return with his longest only being 20 yards. Kadarius Toney didn’t return any kicks but also didn’t force any. Good game by the special teamers.
In conclusion:
This wasn’t a dominating performance I think people wanted. But it was more than enough to win a football game. We all know what the offense is capable of doing against anyone. The defense still has its cracks but seems to be turning it on as of late. Special teams also puts up a good performance considering its limited opportunities. Florida will go as far as the defense allows because we know there aren’t any questions about the offense. The Gators get one more game before their biggest of the season against Alabama. The way LSU’s been playing, Florida should give the fans plenty of fireworks to end the 2020 home schedule.
The Florida men’s basketball team got to play their first game at Stephen C. O’Connell Center Sunday and opened their home schedule with an easy 86-40win over the Stetson Hatters
Both teams had a pretty rough start to the game, combining to make just three of the opening 15 from the floor with the Gators missing six straight shots early.
However, from that point on, Florida reestablished themselves as the better team. The Gators went on a 23-7 run that included a 9-17 streak from the floor to move ahead by a score of 28-12 by the under-4 timeout. Keyontae Johnson showed out again with 11 points in the opening 13 minutes and nearly outscored Stetson by himself in the opening half with 13 points going into the locker room.
Omar Payne and Colin Castleton teamed down low to silence Stetson forward Mahamadou Diawara, who had been averaging 12 points and 10 rebounds per game entering Sunday. Diawara was 0-5 in the opening half with a single point, a pair of turnovers and only four rebounds, looking outmatched regardless of who was covering him between the Florida big men. Diawara finished with a single point and only five rebounds.
Payne flashed again for the second game in a row, grabbing five rebounds over multiple players and swatting three shots as well as an impressive dunk on an alley-oop. Castleton had 7 points on 3-4 shooting and a block of his own, and the two should be battling and competing for minutes and starts all season.
The Gators made up for their slow start from the court in the second half as, for the first time this season, sharpshooter Noah Locke got blisteringly hot from behind the three-point line. Locke made four threes in a 4:40 stretch halfway in the second half on his way to a 15-point day that included shooting 5-6 from long range. Tre Mann and Samson Ruzhentsev got in on the fun with a three each in the same time frame, and the Gators finished the game 9-23 from deep.
Tre Mann came back to Earth a little offensively, only shooting 3-8 from the court on his way to 10 points, but he looked just as comfortable managing the offense and his two assists included great passes, showing his impressive performances in Connecticut were no fluke. Johnson finished with 19 points after a quiet second half, still finishing as the team’s leading scorer again while shooting 7-13 from the court. Scottie Lewis also had 10 points, going a perfect 6-6 from the free-throw line.
The Gators coasted to a 46-point victory, moving them to 3-0 on the season and rolling with momentum heading into a rivalry matchup with rival Florida State Saturday.
David Soderquist and Jake Hitt discuss Florida’s victory over Tennessee, and how it was dominant despite what the scoreboard tells you. The two also discuss some of the key plays of the game. Despite two receivers accumulating over 100 yards and a 400 yards passing day from Heisman hopeful Kyle Trask, the rushing game was not there. They also cover some other games around the SEC and the NCAA as Florida prepares to suit up next week to take on the LSU Tigers.
If you would like your voice to be heard on our next podcast you can call 352-888-4687 and leave us a voicemail and make it on next week’s episode of The Gridiron Growl Podcast! Also, rate us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, SoundCloud or any other platform after you give us a listen and tell us what you think.
Click play on the following audio player to listen to this week’s episode of The Gridiron Growl Podcast:
You can also follow us on the following platforms:
The Florida Gators have clinched a berth in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta in two weeks after dismantling Tennessee 31 to 19 on Saturday.
In one of the most underwhelming performances of 2020, the Gators still put up nearly 500 yards of offense.
Florida continues to start slow against significantly inferior opponents, this time leading only 10-7 late into the second quarter. The Gators once again, however, utilized the deferred toss to their advantage by scoring in the final minute of the first half and adding another score immediately after the break.
With :33 remaining in the first half Kyle Trask found Kadarius Toney for two yards and a score that increased the Florida advantage to 17-7. The Gators opened the second half by increasing the lead to 24-7 with a 8 yard pass from Trask to Trevon Grimes (his second touchdown catch of the day).
Trask added a fourth touchdown pass in the fourth quarter, hitting Jacob Copeland in the back of the end zone from 12 yards out.
All in all, Trask finished the day with a stat line indicative of his current standing in the Heisman Trophy race: 35-49, 433 yards, 4 TDs, 1 punt, 32 yards, downed inside the 5. That didn’t come without a cost. The Gators struggled to get going on the run game, finding no daylight. As a team, the Gators rushed for just __ yards, which includes a 17 yard carry by Jacob Copeland.
Florida’s defense fared well for most of the day. The unit allowed just 312 yards of offense until JT Shrout hit Velus Jones from 22 yards out with :27 on the clock. The team totaled six sacks of Tennessee quarterbacks.
Leaders:
Trask: 35-49, 433 yards, 4 TDs
Pitts: 7-128
Toney: 8-108, TD
V. Miller: 11 tck, 1 sack
T. Dean: 8 tck, 1 sack
UF Defense: 6 sacks
What’s Next:
Florida will return home for the final time this season against LSU next weekend. The Gators have clinched the SEC East and will look to continue their journey to a potential CFP invitation.
The Florida women’s basketball team won Saturday with arguably the team’s best performance of the young season, a 23-point home victory over the Cincinnati Bearcats.
The Gators, coming off a brutal late loss to rival Florida State and then an eight-point fourth quarter in a less than decisive victory over Charleston Southern, established themselves Saturday, outscoring the Bearcats in all four quarters on the way to an 81-58 win.
Florida was led by some usual suspects on offense. Lavender Briggs, Kiara Smith, and Danielle Rainey combined for 58 points (the same amount as the entire Cincinnati team), as well as 14 rebounds and six assists between the three of them. Briggs (22 points) and Smith (19 points) combined to go 16-30 from the court, and Rainey made three of five threes.
The fourth quarter was when head coach Cam Newbauer’s squad did the most damage. A 55-45 game entering the final frame, the Gators left Cincinnati in the dust, outscoring the Bearcats 26-13 in the last 10 minutes. Florida shot 10-16 from the floor, including four of six from three in the closing quarter, while the Cincinnati went only 5-14 from the field.
Cincinnati actually outrebounded the Gators 45 to 33, but committed 24 turnovers to Florida’s 10 and shot just 3-13 from deep, including missing all six attempts in the first half. Senior forward Iimar’i Thomas had 23 points, and redshirt senior Arame Niang had a double-double (12 points, 13 rebounds), but the rest of the team only had 23 points and 19 turnovers, including nine from guard Addaya Moore.
Smith, a redshirt senior and a Maryland native, had an extra reason to enjoy her good performance today with her parents in the crowd. As much as she appreciated having them in attendance, however, she said she tries to stay focused and not pay them much attention during the course of the game, something she has done all her life.
“Thanks for coming guys, but they already know the rules” Smith said with a laugh when asked about their presence.
The Gators take the court next against Florida Atlantic on Monday, the final of a three-game home stand.
This is a game that features two teams on the opposite ends of the spectrum. Florida is an offensive juggernaut, while Tennessee is an offensive have-not. The Volunteers have a decent run game, led by Eric Gray (132 carries, 651 yards), but their offense is completely one dimensional. Quarterback Jarrett Guarantano has been horrific this year. The Tennessee defense isn’t good, either. The Vols have given up an average of 404.7 yards per game on defense, among the worst in the SEC. The Gators also have everything on the line. A win in Knoxville clinches an SEC Championship Game berth for the Gators. Florida should roll early and often for a big win. Gators, 52-10.
I think Florida easily wins this game. *cough* Have I said this the last 2 weeks? Has Grantham seen the light after the tongue lashing he got last week from Dan? Or does the defensive blunders continue? I think Grantham got an ear full last week and if Florida doesn’t show out on defense, I think Grantham may not see the field in Florida next year. So I expect the defense to tighten up, but may give up some plays in the running game. Tennessee has a good running back in Gray, but I don’t see them doing enough in the passing game unless they are throwing towards 13 or 3 on the defensive side of the ball. Tennessee’s best defensive player is also out with 16 others. This is Florida’s for the taking. But it doesn’t mean it’s going to be an easy win if the slow starts happen again in the first half. I believe Mullen will want to close this out early to clinch the SEC East and send his team home a winner in Knoxville. Florida wins 45 – 17.
Here we are with another matchup for Florida against a seemingly overmatched opponent. The last two times Florida got out of the gate slow and let teams be the aggressors. The Gators know what a win Saturday means: a punched ticket to Atlanta. That plus the new threads might get the players juiced up for a kind of cold day/night in Knoxville. Tennessee’s dealt with COVID issues just like Vandy and Kentucky. The Vols have some great playmakers at running back and wide receiver in Eric Gray, Ty Chandler and Josh Palmer. But the issue is at quarterback and the turnovers coming from it. I expect Florida to take advantage of that and Tennessee’s porous defense. The Gator defense played great in the second half of Kentucky but we all know how its been all year. Florida takes this one but I’m looking at a backdoor cover by the Vols. Florida 38-21.
Florida brings one of the nation’s most prolific passing attacks led by the Heisman front-runner, Kyle Trask, to Knoxville to face one of the worst passing defenses they’ve seen all year. I expect Trask to find his receivers early and often on the way to a blowout victory and an SEC East Championship. Tennessee has had 17 starters and/or key contributors in quarantine for the past two weeks and many of those who will return on Saturday will be doing so without the benefit of preparing to face the Gators. While Florida hasn’t been stellar at defending the pass this season, they won’t be facing much of an aerial threat in Tennessee, who ranks 106 in passing. They will still need to account for Eric Gray but in the end, this is a mismatch anyway you slice it. Florida wins, 45-14.
This game feels like a similar script to a lot of the games Florida has played this year. They are the heavy favorites, and they deserve to be. The Gators completely outmatch Tennessee in every area of the field. Yet every week, the Gators find a way to win in an uninspiring fashion. Other than maybe the Arkansas game, it feels as if this team hasn’t quite been firing on all cylinders for four quarters, as talented as it is. Kyle Trask will bury a hemorrhaging Tennessee secondary in another performance that keeps him in position as the Heisman pace car, and water will return to level throughout the course of the game as the Gators march forward to Atlanta. But there will be another point on Saturday, potentially in the first half, in which Gator fans throw their hands in the air and ask how this game is even close. Florida wins 35-17.
…
Florida travels to Tennessee to face the Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on Saturday. The game will be the SEC’s featured game on CBS and will air live beginning at 3:30 PM (EST).
Kyle Trask and The Gators Prepared to Rock Rocky TopPhoto by Jonathan Bachman / Getty Images It’s that time of year again. We’ve waited all off-season and now it’s finally here, the third, uh, first Saturday in September, um… December. Well, it may look a little different on the schedule, but it is time for Florida to take on the Tennessee Vols. This is a game that makes Gators fans yearn with anticipation and Vols fans tuck their tails and run for cover. After all, Florida has won 14 of the past 15 meetings between the two schools, and since Dan Mullen has arrived, they’ve outscored Tennessee 81-24.
Don’t expect things to get any better for the Vols, this season. They are riding a five-game losing streak and boast an offense that ranks 106 in passing and has thrown more interceptions (7) than touchdowns (6). The Vols’ offense also boasts an abysmal third down conversion rate, gaining the yards needed for a first down just 32% of the time. As if that weren’t bad enough, Tennessee has 17 players in quarantine right now. Many of those are either starters or key contributors. However, several of those players are expected to be available by Saturday… after not having practiced for two weeks.
I don’t want to seem like I’m being too negative, though. Tennessee does have Eric Gray. Gray is a solid running back and currently ranks fifth among all backs in the SEC with 651 rushing yards and four touchdowns. If he is able to get through to the second level, he could inflict some real pain against a Gators defense that has been susceptible to explosive plays this year.
On the opposite side of the ball, Kyle Trask will face one of the more porous defenses he’s seen this year. The only real hope Tennessee has of stopping the Heisman front-runner is to apply serious pressure. That, of course, will be easier said than done, as Florida’s offensive line has been superb (mostly) in pass protection. Further handicapping Tennessee is the dismissal of their sacks and tackles for loss leader, Kivon Bennet earlier this week after he was arrested on drugs and weapons charges.
Still, it will be up to Kyle Trask and the Gators to take care of business in Knoxville. With all of their goals in front of them, I have to continue to believe that they will get the job done. Although, I think I speak for all of Gator Nation when I say that hopefully, they do it with a little more gusto this weekend than they have during the previous two outings. I will be looking for Kyle Trask and the offense to get off to a fast start, putting this one away by halftime. With a 3:30 PM kickoff, they’ll have had plenty of time to get the sleep out of their eyes and the blood pumping.
With a win on Saturday, the Gators will clinch the SEC East division and guarantee their spot in Atlanta for the first time since 2016. Even if that weren’t enough motivation, it’s always fun to beat up on Tennessee as has become a Gators rite of passage. I’m taking the Gators in this contest, 45-14.
Florida will face the Tennessee Volunteers live from Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee this Saturday. The game will be televised as the CBS SEC Game of the Week at 3:30 EST.
Check out The Gridiron Growl Podcast preview if Florida – Tennessee:
The biggest question for the Florida men’s basketball team was whether their poor start and unconvincing victory against Army Wednesday was more to do with rust or another disappointing team.
The Gators did their part to answer that question Thursday against Boston College, and they answered in emphatically with a 90-70win over the Eagles to move to 2-0 to begin the season.
In a night in which field goal percentage hovered just under 60% and three-pointers were made at over a 40% clip, the team looked a lot more fluid and comfortable from the opening tip Thursday night. Tre Mann picked up right where he left off with 8 points in the opening eight minutes as the Gators moved to an 22-11 lead. Omar Payne came in and looked much better early, coming off the bench with a good assist and a pair of early baskets.
About 14 minutes into the game, the Gators really took command. With a 29-20 lead, Florida went on an 13-0 run to push their lead to 22, 10 of which came from Mann and Keyontae Johnson.
Johnson looked the part of preseason SEC Player of the Year Thursday night, and he and Mann overwhelmed Boston College from the get-go. With four minutes left in the first half, the two were outscoring the entire Boston College team 25-20, and they finished the first half tied with the Eagles at 29 apiece. The Gators shot 6-11 from the three-point line in the opening frame and had 10 assists as a team, seven more than their first half yesterday.
Johnson finished the game with 24 points and 12 rebounds,leading five total Florida players that scored double digits. Mann had 17 points, a career-high six assistsand, most importantly, only turned the ball over once. Scottie Lewis contributed 14 of his own points on top of five rebounds and a pair of steals and blocks apiece. Noah Locke and Omar Payne had 12 and 10 points respectively to round out the impressive offensive performances.
The most important part of this Thursday win is just how much better Florida looked, even only a little more than 24 hours after their opening game. Mann looked just as good offensively and cut out a lot of mental mistakes, evidenced by the single turnover. Johnson quietly went about his double-double, leaving no reason to believe that stat line felt out of the ordinary to him or wouldn’t be replicated the next time he takes the court. Payne looked like an entirely different player, positioning himself correctly and fighting for leverage and shots the entire game, including one lay-in with an opponent grabbing one of his arms.
Head coach Mike White has this offense humming, scoring more than 40 points in its final three halves in Connecticut. The team will return to Gainesville for their home opener against Stetson on Sunday in an effort to move to 3-0.
ChompTalk.com 