Chomping at the bit for Florida Athletics
On Monday the SEC announced the start time for the September 24th weekend football games. One of the most anticipated matchups for the week involves the Florida Gators traveling to Knoxville to face Tennessee. That game will kickoff at 3:30 PM and will air nationally on CBS.
The Gators have defeated the Volunteers eleven straight years. Florida enters this week ranked #23 in polls, and Tennessee is ranked #15.
Former Florida Gator and USWNT star Abby Wambach told the Associated Press of her dealings with alcohol and prescription medication for years.
Wambach was arrested in April for driving under the influence in Portland, Oregon, but claims to have been sober ever since.
“That night getting arrested was one of the best things that has ever happened to me because if I don’t get so publicly shamed and publicly humiliated, I don’t think I wake up,” Wambach said, “I think I was asleep for a lot of years.”
Wambach holds the US scoring record (men or woemen) with 184 career goals. She retired in December 2015.
Wambach also holds the Florida career scoring mark with 91.
Wambach currently works at ESPN and her memoir, Forward will be released Tuesday with chapter names being dedicated to names she’s been labeled including lesbian, captain, and addict.
The Florida Gators have risen to #23 in the latest Amway Coaches Poll following a complete dismantling of Kentucky on Saturday. Florida defeated Kentucky 45-7
Florida had been ranked #25 in last week’s poll.
The Top 25:
FINAL: FLORIDA 45, KENTUCKY 7
Gainesville, FL- The Florida Gators have now defeated the Kentucky Wildcats thirty straight years. The Gators outclassed the Wildcats 45-7 as starting QB Luke Del Rio threw for 320 yards and four touchdowns. The Gators beat Kentucky in virtually every stat, and limited Kentucky to just ten yards passing more than halfway through the fourth quarter. Del Rio became the first Gators QB to throw for 300 yards in a game since 2013 when Tyler Murphy accomplished the feat. Florida’s defense was spectacular and limited Kentucky to 149 total yards, and only three completed passes. Florida forced Kentucky into three interception, a fumble, and also had four sacks.
Game Summary:
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | OT | FINAL | |
| KENTUCKY | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | X | 7 |
| FLORIDA | 14 | 10 | 14 | 7 | X | 45 |
The Gators jumped to a 14-0 lead after the first quarter on scores by RB Mark Thompson, and a 78-yard Antonio Callaway touchdown reception. Eddy Pineiro added a 54 yard field goal early in the second quarter, and Del Rio found Brandon Powell for a 5 yard touchdown just before halftime. The second half saw more of the same action as Florida scored twice in the third quarter, freshman receiver Freddie Swain was left open for a 26 yard touchdown, and RB Jordan Scarlett rushed for a four-yard score. Lamical Perine completed the scoring for Florida as he caught a screen pass from Del Rio, and outran the Kentucky defense en route to the the end zone. Kentucky’s Jojo Kemp capped the scoring with a two yard touchdown with 4:27 in the game.
SCORING:
PASSING LEADERS:
| KENTUCKY | FLORIDA |
| Johnson 1-3, 45 yards | Del Rio 19-32, 320 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT |
RUSHING LEADERS:
| KENTUCKY | FLORIDA |
| Williams 12 carries, 66 yards | Perine 17 carries, 105 yards |
| Badet 1 carry, 25 yards | Thompson 15 carries, 59 yards, TD |
RECEIVING LEADERS:
| KENTUCKY | FLORIDA |
| Badet 1 catch, 45 yards | Callaway 5 catches, 129 yards, TD |
| Williams 1 catch, 7 yards | Goolsby 3 catches, 44 yards |
| Richardson 1 catch, 3 yards | Powell 4 catches, 43 yards, TD |
TEAM STATS:
| KENTUCKY | FLORIDA | |
| FIRST DOWNS | 9 | 28 |
| TOTAL PLAYS | 47 | 83 |
| TOTAL YARDS | 149 | 564 |
| PASS YARDS | 55 | 320 |
| RUSHING YARDS | 94 | 244 |
| TURNOVERS | 4 | 1 |
| PENALTIES | 2-25 | 6-75 |
| TIME OF POSSESSION | 22:34 | 37:26 |
WHAT’S NEXT:
NORTH TEXAS MEAN GREEN AT FLORIDA GATORS
SEPTEMBER 17, 2016 @ 7:30 PM
BEN HILL GRIFFIN STADIUM
FINAL: FLORIDA 2 KENTUCKY 1 (2OT)
Lexington, KY- The Florida Gators women’s soccer team escaped Kentucky with a 2-1 SEC victory. Meggie Dougherty Howard scored the game winning goal in the second overtime to move Florida to 5-1 on the season. Florida outshot the Wildcats 31-3, with a 13-3 edge in shots on goal. Kentucky falls to 2-3-1 on the season
Game Summary:
| FIRST HALF | SECOND HALF | OVERTIME | FINAL | |
| FLORIDA | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| KENTUCKY | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
After a scoreless first half, both the Gators and the Wildcats managed to score in the second half. In the 84th minute senior Savannah Jordan was credited with her team leading seventh goal of the season after Gabby Seiler’s shot deflected off of her and into the net. Kentucky would come back in the 88th minute as Zoe Swift scored off a corner kick. After a scoreless first overtime, Dougherty Howard scored the game winner after a great find from Jordan.
Goal Scorers:
Cautions/Ejections:
Starting Lineups:
| FLORIDA | KENTUCKY |
| 31- Marckese-GK | 33- Soucie-GK |
| 81- Smith | 9- Dooley |
| 51- Nelson | 99- Carter |
| 19- Cardano | 12- Novak |
| 25- Wilson | 4- Swift |
| 38- Seiler | 11- Miller |
| 28- Dougherty Howard | 15- Crosetti |
| 15- Troccoli | 17- Keen |
| 27- Pelayo | 23- Samarzich |
| 5- Monteagudo | 5- Bosco |
| 7- Jordan | 14- Williams |
WHAT’S NEXT:
FLORIDA AT ARKANSAS
FAYETTEVILLE, AK
September 16 at 8:00 PM
Photo Credit: SEC NETWORK
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on the Mike and Mike radio show that the New York Mets will sign former Gator and Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow to a minor league contract.
Tebow held an open tryout and invited every team to watch. The tryout was on August 30 in Los Angeles. It was reported that between 27-30 MLB teams had scouts in attendance.
Tebow will participate in the Mets Instructional League this fall.
Tebow last played baseball his junior year at Nease High School, when he hit .494, before giving up baseball to focus on football.
Update: The Mets announced the signing via Twitter at 8:00 AM.
Ryan Lochte will be suspended ten months for the story that he and three other American swimmers told authorities in Rio during the second week of the Olympics. Lochte will also be ineligible for the 2017 World Championships.
The story became well documented in the media after Lochte told his mother of a robbery at a gas station in Rio after a night of partying and celebrating the USA’s triumphs in the Olympic swimming events.
Lochte has since admitted that his story was embellished, but still claims much of the story was true.
Lochte attended the University of Florida from 2004-07 and twice won NCAA swimmer of the year. While at Florida Lochte was a seven-time National Champions and a 24-time All-American.
Lochte is a 12-time Olympic medalist, and has 90 medals in his international career.
No punishment has been given to the other swimmers involved, but media outlets have reported that it will be significantly less than Lochte’s.
Lochte is competing on ABC’s Dancing With The Stars which premiers Monday, September 12.
Gainesville, FL- Florida Gators freshmen wide receivers Tyrie Cleveland and Rick Wells learned on Tuesday that their felony charges from a July BB gun incident on campus has been reduced to misdemeanor criminal mischief.
The pair had originally been charged with firing a missile into an occupied dwelling, and causing $1,000 worth of property damage. Both charges are felonies in Florida.
Though both players were noticeably absent from the official depth chart provided by the team in preparation for Saturday’s SEC showdown against Kentucky, head coach Jim McElwain did say that both players had been reinstated.
Cleveland was Florida’s top recruit in the 2016 cycle and flipped to Florida after being previously committee to Houston.
Cleveland and Wells were good friends before Cleveland moved from Jacksonville to Texas before high school
East Lansing, MI- The #7 ranked Florida Gators volleyball team swept through the Spartan Invitational this weekend.
The Gators faced off against Michigan State, a team receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll, on Sunday. Florida handled the Spartans by scores of 25-13, 25-16, and 25-19.
The Gators were led by tournament MVP Carli Snyder. Snyder had 15 kills against MSU while Alex Holston added 14. Rhamat Alhassan contributed six kills.
Holston and Alhassan joined Snyder on the All-Tournament team.
Sophomore Allie Monserez led Florida with 31 assists against the Spartans.
Holston and junior Caroline Knop each had two aces for the Gators.
Against Central Michigan:
The Gators handed the Chippewas their third loss in the first game of the tournament. The Gators won 25-10, 25-17, and 25-10.
Snyder led the Gators with 14 kills, and the Gators served nine aces including three from freshman Chanelle Hargreaves, and two more from sophomore Lindsey Rogers.
Against Morgan State:
The Gators faced the Morgan State bears in the afternoon on Saturday. Morgan State entered the match having lost their first five matches this season. The Gators easily handled the Bears en route a straight set victory (25-11, 25-12, 25-9).
Once again, Snyder led all Gators with 14 kills. Freshman Cheyenne Huskey, making her first career start, set a career high with 35 assists.
Florida committee only four attack errors, the lowest they have since 2013, and hit at a .556 mark. The .556 hitting percentage is the third highest in program history.
Up next: The Gators will head to New York to participate in the Blackbird invitational on Saturday and Sunday (September 10, 11). The Gators will face the University of Denver and the host Long Island University-Brooklyn.
Stillwater, OK- The #5 Florida Gators soccer team traveled to Oklahoma to face the Oklahoma State Cowgirls on Sunday. The Gators won by a score of 7-2 with all the damage being done in the second half.
Oklahoma State played a 5-3-2 alignment for the first time this season and the Gators seemed to be slowed down by the change. The Cowgirls managed to earn more corners than the Gators before intermission, 4-1.
The second half was the exact opposite. Within ten minutes of play Florida had seized a 3-0 lead. In the 48th minute sophomore Melanie Monteagudo scored to put Florida ahead. Five minutes later senior Savannah Jordan scored from just outside the 18-yard box. In the 56th minute, Monteagudo capitalized on a misplayed ball by Oklahoma State goalkeeper, Michela Ongaro.
Oklahoma State got one back in the 64th minute when Courtney Dike scored off a pass from Jaci Jones. However, the Cowgirls momentum was short-lived as freshman Kit Loferski scored her first career goal to put Florida back up by three. Four minutes later Jordan scored her second of the game to put Florida on top 5-1. The goal was Jordan’s 71st of her career, more on that in a bit.
Oklahoma State scored their second goal when Haley Woodard put it past Gator keeper Kaylan Marckese. Florida scored again in the 80th minute. Mayra Pelayo scored off a free kick after OSU’s Elise Hawn was ejected with a red card just outside the 18-yard box. Pelayo scored again in the 88th minute against the shorthanded Cowgirls to make it 7-2.
Marckese made six saves, and Florida outshot OSU 12-10. Monteagudo and Courtney Douglas received yellow cards in the final ten minutes of regulation.
For Florida, seven second half goals represent the most the Gators have scored in one half in program history.
Jordan scored her 71st career goal which put her into a tie for second all-time in program history. Andi Landers also recorded 71 from 1997-2001.
Up next: Florida (4-1) starts SEC play on Thursday (September 8) at Kentucky. The Wildcats are 1-2-1 this season. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network.
(Photo Credit: Bruce Waterfield, OSU Athletics)
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