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Following Florida’s 68-63 win over Auburn on Thursday, Gators head coach Kelly Rae Finley announced that star guard Lavender Briggs has entered the transfer portal and is no longer with the team.
“[Briggs] has chosen to transfer and we support her and respect her decision. She’s obviously had a tremendous impact on our team and this university and everybody has to make decisions that are in the best interest of themselves. We respect her decision,” Finley told media members after the game.
Briggs announced last Friday that she would miss the remainder of the season with a stress reaction in her shin.
The Provo, UT native had averaged 12.5 points and 5.6 rebounds in 14 games prior to her departure. She has scored 961 career points, just 39 points shy of being the 27th player in program history to reach that mark.
Briggs was on the sidelines with her (now former) teammates as Florida lost to Ole Miss last Thursday, but has been absent since. Prior to the Auburn game, Briggs was removed from the online roster and most mentions of her in the media handouts were removed.
Montrell Johnson, Jr. announced his commitment through the transfer portal to the Florida Gators via Twitter, which may have surprised some fans. With Nay’Quan Wright, Demarkcus Bowman, and Lorenzo Lingard on the current roster and Trevor Etienne committed, it seemed like Florida may have had the offensive backfield set, especially with 4-star prospect Trevonte Citizen visiting this weekend.
Fast Forward to January 13th and Johnson is now part of Florida’s football roster, but what does he exactly bring to the table?
Johnson has only played one year at Louisiana. He will enter into a loaded roster of running backs who have proven themselves as elite high school recruits (Bowman and Lingard), and a running back in Nay’Quan Wright who has had flashes of excellence despite being behind two guys entering the NFL Draft in Dameon Pierce and Malik Davis.
In Johnson’s first year as a collegiate running back at Louisiana, he accounted for 841 total rushing yards, 12 touchdowns, 18 runs of 10 or more yards and 49 total first downs. Additionally he forced 24 missed tackles, a ran for 519 yards after contact while averaging 5.2 yards per rush.
Johnson was sharing carries in another crowded backfield as Chris Smith and Emani Bailey rushed for 1,491 yards in addition to Johnson’s share. Obviously, Napier has no problem getting plenty of carries for each of his backs, but for a true freshman to come in and make such an impact is rather impressive, no matter what conference it happened in.
Furthermore, it is impressive that he would earn the Sun Belt’s Freshman of the Year award. But is this a testament to Billy Napier’s ability to get the most out of his running backs and dominate the line of scrimmage? Or is this just some anomaly?
Elijah Mitchell was the top Sun Belt running back entering the 2021 NFL Draft. He accounted for 3,246 rushing yards and averaged 6.2 yards per rush and 41 touchdowns for his career at Louisiana. He also won his fair share of awards in the Sun Belt throughout his career at Louisiana. Napier has also had multiple running backs who have rushed 600 plus yards in a season multiple times in his tenure at Louisiana. But, not one running back under Napier’s guidance has gained more than Johnson’s 841 in their freshman campaign. Trey Ragas was the closest to this threshold at 812, though this was also before Napier entered the program in 2018. With Napier at the helm of the program, Ragas excelled in rushing yardage finishing the 2018 season with 1,181 rushing yards.
So, is this a testament to Montrell’s talent as a freshman entering college, or is this the kind of success that Billy Napier has instilled as a head coach? I honestly think it is a little bit of both, and that is a recipe for success with Johnson coming into the animal called the Southeastern Conference.
Just a week ago, it seemed as if the sky was falling on top of the Florida Gators women’s basketball program. The team was forced to play against Ole Miss short-handed (missing five key players) then learned star guard Lavender Briggs would miss the remainder of the season with an injury.
With all the animosity surrounding the program, the Gators trailed on the road at No. 25 Texas A&M by 19 points late in the third quarter, but rebounded and pulled out a gutty, double overtime victory.
On Thursday, Florida once again proved their gusto with a late come from behind, 68-63 win over Auburn to move to .500 in conference play at 2-2.
The first quarter was mostly a back and forth affair, though the Gators began to pull ahead towards the close of the opening period. Alberte Rimdal’s midrange jumper put Florida up nine with 1:02 remaining.
Just over midway through the second quarter, Florida’s lead expanded to 13 after Rimdal knocked down a triple with 4:06 before halftime. The Tigers cut the lead to five before Nina Rickards hit a jumper right before the halftime buzzer sounded.
Both teams traded jabs to open the half and Auburn got to within one following a layup by Mar’shaun Bostic with 6:41 remaining in the third. Florida acted quickly and built the lead up to nine after a Kiki Smith lay-in with 2:46 left.
Florida opened the fourth quarter with a scoring drought that lasted beyond the media timeout. The Gators missed their first seven shots of the period and turned the ball over twice to boot. Smith finally got the Gators on the board with 4:08 left on the clock. Florida went from up six at the end of the third to down three before Smith’s bucket.
Smith played a key role in the frantic finish, scoring eight of her team-high 19 in that final four-plus minutes. Smith’s drive to the basket with :34 left got her to the line, where she knocked down both free throws to put Florida up by one. Nina Rickards would ice the game for the Gators knocking down all four of her free throw attempts. On the day, Florida made 20-23 from the charity stripe that factored heavily in the win.
Florida will travel to Tuscaloosa to take on Alabama on Sunday. The Crimson Tide is currently 1-4 in SEC play and 10-6 overall. Tip off is scheduled for 3:00 PM.
Billy Napier’s transformation of the Florida Gators’ roster continued Thursday as former Louisiana RB Montrell Johnson announced his intention to transfer to UF.
Johnson was the 2021 Sun Belt Conference freshman of the year after rushing for 776 yards and 11 scores with the Ragin’ Cajuns.
Johnson was the No. 60 ranked RB in the 2021 cycle coming out of New Orleans. A 5’10, 184 lb back that proved to be explosive in the open field in Napier’s offense.
Johnson is the third transfer taken by Florida since Napier’s arrival (QB Jack Miller, Ohio State and OL Kamryn Waites, ULL). Additionally, Johnson is the second addition in the backfield this week as 4-star prospect Trevor Etienne committed to UF on Saturday.
For the first time since 1981, the Florida Gators are 0-3 to open its conference slate
Photo by James Gilbert | Getty Images
One thing is for certain about Florida’s 64-58 loss at home to LSU: it wasn’t the referees’ fault. Instead, this game followed a similar formula as many of the Gators’ losses this year: pitiful shooting early (and often), a serious attempt at coming from behind in the middle of the second half, followed inevitably, by the inability to close in the final moments.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
Despite a different starting lineup than we’ve seen all year (freshman Kowacie Reeves in for Brandon McKissic) the Gators still got off to a slow start and fell behind 9-2 early. LSU then went on a 11-0 run midway through the first that saw them build a 27-13 advantage with 7:45 remaining until halftime. Florida managed to cut the lead to six late in the period, but a buzzer-beating layup sent the Tigers into the break with a 38-30 lead.
LSU opened the second half with six unanswered before Phlandrous Fleming finally got the Gators on the board in the second half with a trey nearly four minutes out of intermission. Following a pair of made free throws from LSU’s Eric Gaines, Florida went on its own 10-0 run to cut the deficit to three at 46-43. The two teams pretty much traded baskets the rest of the way, though the Gators did cut the lead to one after a Colin Castleton layup with 6:04 remaining. It would be the closest Florida would get as they never led.
Castleton finished with 19 points and 9 rebounds and made 7-10 from the field. Fleming was the only other double digit scorer, finishing with 11 points off the bench.
The Gators shot just 36% and just 7-31 from beyond the three point line. Additionally, they missed half of their free throw attempts (11-22), including four misses (on five attempts) in the final four minutes of action.
For the first time since 1981, the Gators are 0-3 to open conference play. Florida (9-6 overall) will travel to Columbia to face South Carolina on Saturday. The Gamecock entered Wednesday 10-5 and 1-2 in the SEC. Tipoff is scheduled for 1:00 PM and will be aired live on SEC Network.
Check out the latest episode of The Gridiron Growl Podcast as Jake Hitt takes the reigns with Mark McLeod sidelined. Jake is joined by Brian Fox to discuss recruiting and the big weekend that is on tap. They then talk about some of the changes that have been made since the arrival of Billy Napier, including food and parking.
Finally, the two discuss the national championship game as Alabama takes on Georgia for the title.
Click play on the following audio player to listen to this week’s episode of The Gridiron Growl Podcast:
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The star defensive back, who started in 26 of the 34 games he appeared in over his three years with the Gators, will forgo his senior season to enter the professional ranks early.
The former four-star recruit, according to 247Sports’ Composite Rankings, accumulated 79 total tackles, 6 interceptions and 26 passes defended across his three seasons.
He racked up 13 passes defended and a pair of interceptions in his sophomore 2020 season, when he started all 12 games and earned All-SEC First Team honors and was a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award annually given to the nation’s best defensive back.
In his junior season this past fall, Elam only started nine games after an injury against Alabama on Sept. 18 sidelined him for three games early in the season. He still managed three pass breakups against the No. 1 Crimson Tide, but finished the year with only one interception and six total passes defended.
The 6-foot-2, 200-pound corner is the No. 17 overall prospect and No. 3 cornerback on Pro Football Focus’ Big Board, and ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. listed him as the No. 5 cornerback. Elam will likely garner first-round attention as April’s NFL Draft rolls closer.
Whirlwind 48 hours culminates with come from behind road upset
Photo by Brian Fox | ChompTalk
Final: Florida 97, TAMU 89
Behind a massive second half rally, the Florida Gators shocked No. 25 Texas A&M in College Station on Sunday. Led by Zippy Broughton and Kiki Smith, the Gators proved resilient despite trailing by as many as 19 in the third quarter.
The Gators opened the game hot, scoring the first five points of the contest and possessing a 14-11 advantage after the first quarter of play.
However, for the second straight game. The Gators struggled in the second quarter and were outscored 23-13 and the Aggies took a 34-27 lead into the halftime break.
Texas A&M came out of the intermission on fire, knocking down their first five attempts of the third quarter. With 4:12 remaining in the third frame, TAMU’s Kayla Wells knocked down a pair of free throws to stretch the advantage to 19.
Instead of folding up, the Gators immediately went on a 9-0 run. By the end of the peorid, Florida had cut the deficit to single digits at 61-52.
The two teams struggled to find the hoop at the open of the fourth quarter until Florida’s Jordyn Merritt nailed a pair of three-pointers to bring the Gators within three points. A driving layup by Broughton and a trey from Kristina Moore put Florida ahead 64-62 with 5:25 remaining. The remainder of regulation was a tug-of-war with neither side gaining a lead larger than five (by Florida with 3:56 to play).
Wells missed an opportunity at the buzzer to win it before the teams settled for overtime.
The first overtime saw Florida show their resilience, yet again, as they twice faced four point deficits and rallied to force a second extra period.
The Gators dominated the second overtime session and were able to cruise to an eight point win as Texas A&M ran out of gas.
Broughton scored a career-high 28 points in 39 minutes while Smith added 27 points and 9 rebounds over 47 minutes of action. Jordyn Merritt added 17 points on 6-13 from the field.
The Gators made 45% from the floor and knocked down 13-30 from beyond the three-point stripe.
Florida moves to 11-5 overall and 1-2 in SEC play. They also appear to have found a second scoring option to Smith after Broughton’s big game.
Florida learned on Friday that star guard Lavender Briggs will miss the remainder of the season with an injury.
The Gators return to Gainesville on Thursday to face Auburn. The Tigers are 8-6 overall and 0-3 in SEC play.
Florida unable to overcome slow start; now sit at 9-5 on the season
Photo by James Gilbert | Getty Images
The Florida Gators now sit tied for last place in the Southeastern Conference standings after dropping back to back contests to open league play. The latest loss being Saturday’s 85-73 loss at Auburn.
Despite a second half surge, Mike White’s squad dropped yet another game in similar fashion to many other losses, giving the the vocal Gators fans on social media all they needed to roast the Florida head coach.
The Gators trailed by as many as thirteen in the first half, but was cut to just one with less than nine minutes to play, but another shooting drought saw the Tigers build the lead and cruise to the victory.
Auburn shot 54% from the field while the Gators made just 41% of their attempts. Florida only turned the ball over 12 times and forced the Tigers into 16.
Colin Castleton led the Gators with 22 points and 11 rebounds while Anthony Duruji added 14 and 5. Myreon Jones (13) and Tyree Appleby (11) each finished in double figures as well.
Next up for the Gators is 14-1 LSU, the nation’s No. 21 team in the nation. The Tigers are 2-0 in SEC play with wins over No. 16 Kentucky and No. 18 Tennessee.
Florida added its 11th commit to the 2022 class as Trevor Etienne announced his commitment to the Gators at the U.S Army All-American Bowl Game on Saturday. Etienne is the 183rd ranked player in the class per his composite ranking on 247Sports and is the No. 15 running back in the 2022 class.
Etienne is a 5’9, 218 lb back whose frame is a problem for potential tacklers, especially in the secondary. New Florida head coach Billy Napier offered the Jennings, Louisiana native while he was coaching at Louisiana-Lafayette and continued to make him a priority upon accepting the job at Florida.
Etienne picked the Gators over LSU and Clemson, among many others. He is the younger brother of Jacksonville Jaguars RB Travis Etienne, who attended Clemson and was selected in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft.
This will add to the Gators’ backfield that consists of Nay’Quan Wright, Lorenzo Lingard, and Demarkcus Bowman as the team is expected to lose Dameon Pierce and Malik Davis to the NFL Draft.
Etienne is a north-south runner that possesses excellent patience and vision behind the line of scrimmage.
“I like what coach Napier is doing and his vision for the program,” Etienne said. “I knew I wanted to commit at the game. So it’s kind of like a relief, really, and it’s a dream come true at the same time.”
Etienne is the first high school running back prospect to commit to Florida since Nay’Quan Wright committed back in the 2019 class on November 24th, 2018. Demarkcus Bowman and Lorenzo Lingard both came from the transfer portal.
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