To the delight of the Gators, Deanne Rose was named to the starting lineup for the first time in almost a month. She injured her hamstring on the team’s California road trip at the start of September.
Chances were hard to come by in the first 30 minutes. The Commodores have a strong defense that had kept seven clean sheets in the team’s ten games this season. They held Florida to three shots in the entire first half.
Unfortunately for Vanderbilt, one of those three shots went in.
In the 38th minute, sophomore forward Cassidy Lindley got on the end of a Madison Alexander through ball. Lindley released a low shot from the right side of the box that slotted into the left side of the net to put the Gators up 1-0.
A Vanderbilt team nursing injuries to a few of its starters struggled for opportunities. They registered one shot in the first half.
Second Half
The action picked up after the break.
Shortly after a shot from Vanderbilt’s Grace Jackson that flew over the crossbar, the Gators almost doubled their lead.
Midfielder Tess Sapone hit the post with her shot from the center of the box after some impressive build up play from Florida.
Both teams had a few more opportunities but failed to convert until Florida tried to bleed the clock out as the game winded down.
Vanderbilt’s best chances came in the dying minutes of the game. With one minute on the clock, defender Ella Shamburger’s cross found the head of last season’s top scorer Haley Hopkins, but her header was saved by Susi Espinoza.
On their next attack, Madi Allens’ header sailed over the crossbar. Florida was then able to see out the game.
Outlook for the Gators
The Gators move to 3-0 in SEC play and sport a 7-4 record overall. The squad hosts a surging No. 14 Texas A&M team on Sunday in their next match.
Florida’s win streak now sits at five. The team has scored 14 times while conceding just twice over that stretch.
Florida improves to 2-0 in SEC play with the win over rival Georgia
Photo by Kristen Oliff / ChompTalk.com
The Georgia Bulldogs came to the O’Dome to play.
UGA took the first set against the No. 12 Gators; previously, Florida hadn’t dropped the first set of a match since their 0-3 loss to No. 8 Minnesota on Sept. 7.
However, the Gators stayed resilient and took the next three sets to improve to 11-2 (SEC 2-0) on the season.
The Gators opened the match by dropping their first set in five games. Florida made it close, though, as they rallied from 21-13 down to make it 24-22. However, UGA would hold on and take the set 25-22.
The second set was a different story. While the Gators led for the majority of the frame, the Bulldogs continued to fight to make it close. In the end, the Gators evened things up with a 25-21 second set victory.
Much like the first set, the Gators had to fight from a losing position in the third. From 19-13 down, Florida found its momentum in the blocking game. They rallied and took the set 25-23.
The fourth and final set was much like the second; although Florida led the majority of the way, UGA would not go away. The Gators ultimately took it 25-17 to win their ninth straight match of the season.
Team Leaders
The Bulldogs had players who led the match in both kills and assists. Kacie Evans racked up the most kills in the game with 16 on 42 attacks. Meghan Donovan gave a whopping 47 assists.
Head Coach Mary Wise was very complimentary of the senior setter, saying that “she was so good giving her hitters great looks.”
Statistically, the Gators had a few players fighting to lead the match. Thayer Hall put up 15 kills on 36 attempts, and Holly Carlton had 14 kills on 29 swings. Marlie Monserez gave 45 assists.
Defensively, the Gators dominated. Allie Gregory led the way with 20 digs. As a team, the Gators had 13.0 blocks to Georgia’s 7.0. Carlton, Rachael Kramer and Lauren Dooley each had four.
Coach’s Thoughts
“Credit Georgia,” said Wise. “They played so cleanly and just didn’t give us any points. They took it to us, but I’m pleased how the players responded.”
Next Up
Next, the Gators will hit the road for the first time in 10 games to face the No. 16 Kentucky Wildcats.
“We’ve been at home for a handful of weekends, so we’re ready to hit the road and start playing on away courts,” said Gregory.
First serve is schedule for Sunday, Oct. 6 at 1 p.m. For the latest, follow @JEricksonReport and @ChompTalk on Twitter.
It’s been an incredible rookie season for New York Mets slugger, Pete Alonso. Just one day after tying Aaron Judge’s MLB rookie record for homers, the former Gators star slugged his way into the top spot.
Gainesville, FL – Tom Flacco and the Towson Tigers came to Gainesville this Saturday and earned a $500,000 payday for their athletic department. Florida gave them their check and a 38-0 shutout. Even though it was a lopsided score, Towson provided the Gators with a fight.
Florida’s defense drew the ire of head coach, Dan Mullen during the first half, as they were incapable of ending Towson’s offensive possessions. Towson quarterback and younger brother of the Baltimore Ravens’ Joe Flacco fumbled a snap to bring the Tigers first drive to an end. The second possession ended with a missed field goal.
Indeed, Florida’s defensive success in the first half had more to do with Towson’s inability to finish drives. As expected, Flacco was able to create problems for the Gators defense with his ability to extend plays by scrambling and buying time for his receivers to get open.
Mullen was stopped as he entered the locker room at the half and said, “We’re pretty pathetic on defense right now.” Whatever message he took into the locker room yielded positive results in the second half. Florida forced a couple of turnovers following the break.
One of the highlights on the defense has been the play of Louisville transfer, Jonathan Greenard. Since his arrival, he has become a leader and an absolute nightmare for opposing quarterbacks. He always seemed to be in on the play as he recorded five tackles, a sack assist, one tackle for loss, three quarterback hurrie, an interception, and a partridge in a pear tree.
As we’ve seen several times this season, the defense just seemed lethargic until turning it on later in the game. It was the same story in the fourth quarter versus Kentucky, which allowed Trask to lead the comeback. In fact, the only game that has resembled a complete defensive performance up to now was last week’s win over Tennessee, and even then, the poor play of Jarrett Guarantano had quite a lot to do with their ineptitude.
With that said, the Gators have still managed two shutouts in five wins. They still lead the nation in sacks and they still are among the best in forcing turnovers. And then there’s the fact that they’ve accomplished this – for the most part – without a few of their key starters.
This may seem like nitpicking but Florida’s about to leave the shallow waters that they’ve been wading in so far this season. Three of the next four games are against top ten opponents and the margin for error will be razor thin.
The good news is that Kyle Trask has been mostly phenomenal in his new role. He has shown the ability to stand tall in the pocket and carve defenses apart. In fact, in just his second career start, Trask has set the school record for consecutive completions with 18 straight, including the end of the Tennessee game.
He finished the day completing 18/20 for 188 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The redshirt junior also found the endzone with his feet before backup, Emory Jones checked in to complete the Gators rout of Towson.
Jones showed some touch as he completed 75% of his passes for 74 yards and a touchdown throw of his own. Jones seems to improve the Gators fledgling rushing game just by way of being in the game. Opposing defenses are forced to account for Jones as a mobile threat. He ripped off 29 yards in his only rush of the night on Saturday, very nearly crossing the goal line.
Photo by James Gilbert / Getty Images
In all, eleven different Gators recorded carries with Dameon Pierce appearing to be the strongest of the Gators’ backs at this moment. Pierce put together an 84 yard performance on his six carries. He had two carries of 30 yards or more and found the endzone on one of them.
One of the bright spots of this season has been the gradual emergence of the tight ends, especially Kyle Pitts. Pitts has recorded 4 catches and at least one touchdown in each of the last two games. The group has also performed better in protections.
Florida eclipsed 400 yards of offense once again this season, totaling 422 yards of total offense. On the opposite side of the ball, the Gators defense held the Tigers to just 248 yards. They struggled to stop Towson on third down, making it feel like a worse defensive showing than it actually was.
Florida needs to lock in and focus on Auburn starting right now. Things are about to get real for the Gators and how they perform against Auburn will have a huge impact on how they weather this month long murderer’s row.
At least for tonight, Gator Nation can enjoy being 5-0 and 9 games deep into the SEC’s longest active winning streak.
The No. 12 Florida Gators opened SEC play with a sweep against the visiting Auburn Tigers (25-12, 25-18, 25-12). The Gators have now won eight straight matches, with the last five coming in straight sets.
Team Leaders
Thayer Hall once again led the way in kills with 14 on 27 attempts. Paige Hammons followed with eight on 16 swings. Auburn’s kill leader was Tatum Shipes with four.
Marlie Monserez racked up 30 assists and five kills. SEC Defensive Player of the Week Allie Gregory picked up 11 digs in the backcourt for the Gators. Rachael Kramer and Lauren Dooley led the way in blocks with three each.
Overall, the Gators hit .427. While they hit efficiently all night, Florida struggled tremendously in service. They gave the Tigers 18 points via service errors; nearly half of their total 42 points.
Despite the #Gators’ domination, they’ve given #Auburn half of their total points (24) from service errors (12) alone.
Head Coach Mary Wise looked at the performance optimistically. She believes that the Gators can bounce back from such a poor serving performance and believes it was simply an outlier.
“We weren’t as clean as I’d hoped, but it’s still only September,” said Wise.
Hall, who only had one attack error from 27 swings, gave all of the credit to the backcourt and her setter.
“I think nights where our hitters have good nights are testiment to the backcourt and Marlie,” said Hall. “They make us look good and make our job look easy.”
Next Up
Florida will play its second SEC game Sunday against the Georgia Bulldogs at 1 p.m. The Bulldogs are 8-3 on the season and have won five straight. Follow @JEricksonReport on twitter for live updates.
Auburn ended non-conference play with a 6-5 record with wins against the likes of Miami, USF and Butler. Most recently, the Tigers defeated IUPUI and Western Michigan in straight sets.
Historically, Florida dominates the series. The Gators are 47-2 against the Tigers. Under Mary Wise, the Gators are 43-1.
Fiery Florida
The Gators closed out non-conference play with seven straight wins; five of which were sweeps. Most recently, Florida hosted the Gators Invitational where they swept Liberty, Northern Arizona and Louisiana.
On Monday, after the conclusion of the invitational, senior libero Allie Gregory was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week. She averaged 4.75 digs per set in the last four matches.
Against Louisiana, Gregory put up a career-high 24 digs. Overall, she sits fourth in the SEC for digs per set at 4.18.
Several other Gators have put up top-10 numbers this season compared to their conference counterparts. Thayer Hall is sixth in kills per set (3.68) and fifth in points per set (4.26). Marlie Monserez is fourth in assists per set (9.84), Paige Hammons is fifth in service aces per set (.35), and Lauren Dooley is eighth in blocks per set (1.07).
Looking Ahead
Florida’s SEC opener against Auburn will begin on Friday at 7 p.m. on the SEC Network +. ESPN 98.1 FM/850 AM WRUF will have a live broadcast on the radio.
After the conference opener, Florida has a quick turnaround with the 8-3 Georgia Bulldogs at home on Sunday.
Florida football has a matchup with one of the top teams in the FCS, Towson, on Saturday. The Gators are coming off a 34-3 rout of rival Tennessee while the Tigers are now 3-1 following an overtime loss to FCS contender Villanova.
The following are our staff predictions for the game:
Towson is no slouch. They are a top 10 team in the FCS and currently have eight players in the NFL. Don’t be surprised to see them put up a bit of a fight before the talent and depth of the Gators takes hold. The Gators are favored by 33 points and as long as they come out focused on Towson, instead of looking ahead to homecoming, I believe they will cover the spread. I like the Gators to improve to 5-0 on the season with a lopsided victory. Gators win 45-10.
It’s the year of the Tigers for Florida — but before we play the BIG Tigers in Auburn, LSU and Missouri, the Gators have to get past the Towson Tigers first. While coaches, players and fans alike are eager to look past this matchup in anticipation of the Auburn game next week, this team must be ready to play come Saturday at 4 p.m.. Coach Mullen has been pretty critical of scheduling FCS opponents — but if you must play one, Towson is a good one to pick. The Tigers were formerly No. 5 in the FCS before losing to Villanova last week in OT. Nonetheless, Towson can move the football. Their quarterback, Tom Flacco (yes, THAT Flacco) has posted two 300+ passing yard games already this season, while Florida quarterbacks haven’t posted one. But, take it with a grain of salt — the Tigers haven’t seen a glimpse of anything close to an SEC caliber defense. And after last week’s performance, Grantham and the Gators will be quick to sniff out every opportunity to make a big play. Florida will be 5-0 come Saturday night — Gators cruise 42-7.
A matchup between two top 10 ranked teams, one FBS and one FCS. Yeah, Towson may be a smaller Division 1 school, but I am not convinced the Gators will walk all over them as many fans might expect. The Tigers are a well oiled machine on the offensive side of the ball, as they are averaging 400-plus yards per game as well as 40 points a game. I can see this being a one possession game at halftime, before the Gators are able to pull away. Florida has the advantage, because they are bigger and better defensively, and honestly, Florida could also average 40 points a game if they played Towson’s schedule. This will be fast paced and high scoring, I’m taking the Gators in the end 45-28.
The Towson Tigers enter their David-and-Goliath matchup with Florida ranked 10th in the FCS coaches poll.
Their offensive averages of 40 points per game and 423.8 yards per game are nothing to take lightly, but their defense may be a different story. Towson is 71st in the FCS in total defense, giving up 420.0 yards per game and 22 first downs per game. If it’s having difficulty stopping the likes of The Citadel, Maine and Villanova, how will Towson stop UF’s athlete-riddled offense?
The Gators will score early and often on this mediocre defense, and they should nearly double Towson in time of possession, effectively taking the sting out of its offense. Florida rolls, and it covers the 33-point spread with a 52-14 victory.
Towson is not your typical FCS cupcake. Led by a QB with a real chance of being drafted, the Tigers are a serious contender to win a national championship at the lower level of D-I football.
While Towson has put up points (No. 9 in total scoring in the FCS), they haven’t faced a defense with nearly the talent that Florida has.
The Gators should be able to keep the defense off the field and run over the Tigers in all phases of the game.
What scares me a little is that this is the perfect scenario for a trap game. An underrated opponent this week with a major matchup (Auburn) to follow. Mullen needs to make sure the team is focused on this week, or it could be closer than it should be. I think Florida gets it done, 48-13.
Florida and Towson are set for a 4:00 PM kickoff. The game will be aired on ESPN. You can follow @ChompTalk and @MikeyPfeffer on Twitter for live updates of the contest. What are your predictions, Gator Nation? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter or Facebook.
It was not easy, but Florida fended off Mizzou’s late surge to win 3-2 and secure their fourth victory in a row.
The Tigers were the first SEC opponent the Gators faced at home, and the physicality of conference play was evident throughout the match and mentioned by the players after the game.
“That’s something were prepared for, we know it’s going to come in the SEC,” said senior Vanessa Kara, “Honestly, it was good for us to get a little uncomfortable now so that we can go into Vanderbilt feeling that we can handle that and pull out a win.”
Summary
First Half
The Gators opened the game looking dangerous, largely through the efforts of Kit Loferski down the wing. She threatened with her movement and crosses but could not find the back of the net.
Instead, in the 19th minute, Kara scored her sixth goal in four games. A Tiger defender misplayed a routine ball, letting it bounce over her head which put Sammie Betters through on goal. Instead of taking a shot, Betters coolly slid the ball across to an oncoming Kara to put the Gators up 1-0.
Missouri failed to pose a serious threat in the first half. The Gators comfortably went into halftime with the goal lead and a five-to-three shot advantage.
Second Half
Florida doubled their lead just minutes after the break. In the 52nd minute, Cassidy Lindley delivered a superb through ball to Deanne Rose, who started the second half after being subbed on midway through the first.
Rose weaved past a Mizzou defender and slotted the ball past the keeper for her first goal in over a month. She had missed the last three games due to injury and wasted no time getting back on the scoresheet.
The Tigers did not lie down, though.
In the 65th minute, junior forward Macy Trujillo pulled one back for the visitors. She was fed in the box by her strike partner Sarah Luebbert and fired a shot past Susi Espinoza to make the game 2-1.
The Gators countered with another goal of their own ten minutes later. Parker Roberts connected with Laney Steed in a slick one-two before releasing a long shot from the top of the box that found the back of the net. Florida led 3-1.
The back-and-forth action continued in the 80th minute, when Mizzou was awarded a penalty after a sliding Gator challenge in the box was deemed illegal. Luebbert converted from the spot to make the score 3-2 and give the Tigers a chance for a result.
Burleigh mentioned the danger of Luebbert before the game, calling her “one of the best players in the league.” She leads Missouri in assists and is second on the team in goals.
The Gators managed to see out the tense final minutes, though, and secure the victory.
The Gators now own a 6-4 record and have won their last four games by a combined scoreline of 10-2.
Kara leads the team in goals with six, with a now seemingly healthy Deanne Rose just behind her with four.
Florida now has two wins from two in SEC play, but soon face a tough road test. The team travels to Vanderbilt (8-1), the defending conference champions, on Sunday.
Following a mostly superb performance against Tennessee last week, the Gators will face a team that they should play equally well against on Saturday. The Towson Tigers travel to Gainesville to collect a half-million dollar check and give the Gators one last opportunity to tune things up before entering the meat of their schedule next week.
Although the Tigers are an FCS I-AA program, they won’t be a pushover. They are a top ten FCS program that averages 40 points per game behind a talented dual threat quarterback named Tom Flacco. Does that name sound familiar? It should. He is the younger brother of Baltimore Ravens quarterback, Joe Flacco.
Flacco is the team’s leading rusher and is good enough with his arm that he should keep the Gators secondary awake for the entire game. However, the chasm of depth and talent between the two programs is vast.
Kyle Trask should have no trouble picking up where he left off last week and will get some valuable reps to further prepare him for the coming SEC gauntlet. Behind Trask, expect Emory Jones to get plenty of time in this game as well.
I’ve said it in each of my previews this season and it bears repeating, but Florida needs to utilize this time to find their running game. It seemed that they made a modicum of progress versus Tennessee last week, but it’s difficult to determine how much of that was just Tennessee not being up to the task of stopping the Gators. Regardless, 128 yards rushing is nothing to beat your chest about, but it was improvement none the less.
The Gators can’t afford to sleep on Towson because they are talented enough to change around, but I believe Mullen will have his team focused and prepared. This game should be over by halftime, with the Gators winning big. I like Florida to beat the 33 point spread on their way to 5-0.
Florida plays host to the Tigers of Towson University at 4 p.m. EST. The game will be broadcast live on the SEC Network. As always, you can follow along with all of the action by following me @MikeyPfeffer and Chomp Talk @ChompTalk. Don’t forget to join @WillMilesSEC and I for Own The Fourth Quarter! We will take your questions live on air during the fourth quarter.
There has been quite a lot of change for the Florida Gators over the last few years. We’ve gotten a new athletic director, a new head football coach, a new locker room, and now, a new quarterback, following the loss of Feleipe Franks due to a season ending injury. With so much change, it’s nice to know that some things stay the same, like beating Tennessee, and a weekly press conference with Dan Mullen.
As per his usual, Mullen led off with a quick injury update. Feleipe Franks underwent surgery to repair his ankle on Monday morning and everything went well. CJ Henderson and Jabari Zuniga will be gametime decisions, meaning they are trending in the right direction. Meanwhile, Kadarius Toney remains unable to practice.
Mullen and the Gators will face Towson this week, but many among the fans and media are already looking ahead to the top 10 homecoming matchup versus Auburn, a week from Saturday. The first question Mullen fielded was in regard to the team’s focus and not looking past Towson.
“The focus… the key to the game, the key to anything, we talked to the team this week… obviously there will be a lot more hype on next week’s game. You know, national hype. It’ll be the CBS game of the week. But for us to even have an opportunity to win that game, we’ve got to improve this week. It’s one of those things. You look at the steps we took… I thought we took some really good steps. I thought we played a lot better against Tennessee than we had in the previous weeks. That had a lot to do with because we practiced better that week. You know, we took care… our scout teams executed a little bit cleaner, offense and defense finished plays of practice a little bit better. I thought we did an amazing job with our Friday night and early Saturday morning, even though it was a quick turnaround, the preparation going into the game. Guys really honing in on their routine and getting ready to perform on a Saturday. If we don’t continue to take a step forward with that this week, it’ll show. And it’ll show not just this week, it’ll show the next week, the week after that, the week after that as you continue to move forward. So that’s the message for the guys. We have great goals for the season, for the team and they all include continually improving from one week to the next. And that’s got to be the focus.”
With Towson up next, Mullen took the opportunity to explain what kind of opponent the Gators will be facing.
“They’re a very good football team, when you look at them, and obviously play in one of the best conferences in their division. You know, Colonial Athletic Association, I mean, got a lot of great football teams and a lot of depth. Probably, really similar to the… probably SEC with the depth that their conference has, of great football teams. They’re a top ten nationally ranked team. When you look at them, very very sound football team. Solid football team, back-to-front.”
With Franks’ surgery taken place Monday morning, before the press conference, Mullen was asked if he had spoken with him since his surgery. With what could have been a weighty subject, Mullen managed to add some brevity with his response.
“No. He would be like, ‘heyaaughwobeb,” referencing his quarterback’s post-anaesthesia state. He did clarify that he would be speaking with him Monday evening when he would be more coherent.
Jonathan Greenard has become an instant star since transferring to Gainesville this summer. Mullen talked about what he has done, since his arrival, to achieve that status.
“If you look at Jon’s personality, and he’s a worker, you know I mean, he’s gonna show up and he’s gonna go hard every single day. He goes hard at practice every day. He works hard in the weight room. So the minute he got on campus, he’s looked, and he’s worked his tail off. Right? So, if you have that personality where you’re gonna go work, I think guys respect that, on the team.”
Other topics that were addressed, included the future of Florida scheduling, some of Mullen’s favorite HBO programming, and his regular attire. The Gators will be looking to play more Power Five programs in their out of conference schedules, moving forward. Florida will be featured on a “Hard Knocks” style show by HBO, chronicling the team’s preparations. And Meghan did not pick out Dan’s clothing for the filming of the show.
Continue to follow Chomp Talk for all of the latest news and information regarding your Florida Gators! Coverage of Saturday’s game will begin on Thursday.
ChompTalk.com 