698 replies to this topic

[Derelict]

Something that is probably either a promotional video by or class project at the University of Florida, a new clip appeared Monday on YouTube called “The Gator Grind – Day In the Life.” It depicts a number of Florida Gators athletes including sophomore center Patric Young, junior running back Trey Burton and senior centerfielder Michelle Moultrie (among others) basically doing what they do during a normal day set to music. You can check it out below:

[Derelict]

The University of Florida has an amazing opportunity.  The Pride of the Sunshine Marching Band has been invited to help “kickoff” the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England. The band is already preparing for the show which will cover classics both from the United States and Great Britain (think Beatles).      Practicing over 35 musical pieces for the various performances.

    The trip will last just over a week from July 23 to 31st; likely with only one free day for sightseeing
    The band will depart from Orlando and land in London

Go Gators!

[Chito]

Congrats to their marching band. Great opportunity.  

[Derelict]

Florida sweeps SEC All-Sports Awards yet again

Any doubt that the University of Florida had the dominant athletics program in the Southeastern Conference during the 2011-12 school year was put to rest Sunday as the university was named the SEC All-Sports champion by the Halifax Media Group for the fourth-straight season. Sweeping all three titles – overall, men’s and women’s – the Florida Gators won by staggering numbers in each category, literally dominating the competition.

Florida is the only school to sweep all three titles in a single season, accomplishing the feat for the 12th time, fifth in the last six years and fourth-in-a-row (2006-07, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11). UF has now won 22 overall titles (including six-straight), 19 women’s titles and 16 men’s titles.

All 16 of the Gators’ sports (nine women’s, seven men’s) were counted with cross country, indoor and outdoor track & field combined into one unit per gender. Lacrosse was not included as that program competes in the American Lacrosse Conference.

Florida won three SEC titles over this period – gymnastics, women’s tennis and women’s indoor track and field – compared to eight in 2010-11. UF women’s tennis captured both the regular season and tournament championships.

The Gators lead the SEC with 205 all-time team titles.

[Derelict]

Sumlin cracks back at Muschamp’s barb

For two guys who have not been head coaches in the Southeastern Conference for long, Florida’s Will Muschamp (one year, five months) and Texas A&M’s Kevin Sumlin (five months) may be forming the beginnings of a rivalry that the Gators’ head coach sparked last week with a relatively innocent jab.

“You ever been to College Station?” he asked rhetorically to a group of Florida fans at a Gator Gathering in Lakeland FL. “It’ll be the only time you go.”

Sumlin was apparently none-too-pleased when he heard about Muschamp’s barb, responding Wednesday with a very simple comment in a mind-your-own-business vein.

“He needs to worry about his own team,” said Sumlin, who has coached in the state of Texas since 2008, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Muschamp is plenty worried about the Gators, which after a 7-6 season in his first go-around with the team are looking to make a big jump in year two.

Sumlin is in the first year of his rebuilding project after being hired to replace head coach Mike Sherman in December.

Florida will have an opportunity to get off to a hot start when they open up the 2012 SEC slate against, you guessed it, Texas A&M at Kyle Field on Sept. 8. The game will be the Aggies’ first in their new conference and, as the Chronicle notes, “might be the most hyped game in history between two programs coming off 7-6 seasons.”

[Derelict]

Florida commit booted from Florida State camp after doing the Gator chomp

This offseason, recruits have seemingly gotten bolder while repping their future schools, however linebacker James Hearns, a Florida commit, learned the hard way that there's a time and a place for everything — and that place is not Florida State.

While playing in a 7-on-7 camp held by Florida State on the Florida State campus, Hearns decided to do the infamous Gator chomp in the face of the opposing quarterback after sacking him. Hearns was promptly ejected from the game and asked to leave the camp. It was his second taunt of the game.

Hearns tried to play it off on Twitter after being questioned about it: "I did the gator chomp at the Fsu camp and they ejected me from the camp and now people are making it a big deal," he wrote. "It wasn't that big of a deal to me... We won the whole camp and that's all that matters."

Unfortunately for Hearns, recruits have been under the microscope lately after a couple rounds of burning letters from rival schools and recruits threatening to fight fans. Taunting is never good and it's something that will get him ejected from a college game as well. Hearns getting booted was probably more about the taunting than it was the type of taunting. Still, this seems fairly harmless and Hearns was apologetic on Twitter once the story started to circulate.

This isn't the first time a recruit has been asked to leave a camp after showing love to their future school on someone else's campus. In 2008, Miami commit Tavadis Glenn was asked to leave Florida's Friday Night Lights event after throwing up the "U" to the crowd. Glenn ended up in prep school and never made it to Miami.

Hopefully Hearns won't suffer the same fate.

[Derelict]

Florida Field Undergoes a Facelift as New Playing Surface is Installed

Pictures of Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium being under construction have made their rounds on Twitter over the last few days, most of which consisted of an empty playing surface that consisted of dirt and machinery. The Gators officially announced the construction project on Thursday, noting that a new playing surface will be installed consisting of Celebration Bermuda grass rather than Tifway 419 Bermuda, which is what was in The Swamp previously. “Every seven to 10 years you need to completely renovate a grass field,” said Chip Howard, Florida’s senior associate athletics director of internal affairs. “Over the years of resodding and painting, the ground gets contaminated and the crown of the field gets thrown off a little bit just because of overuse.” To that end, UF has removed the turf and 6-8 inches of topsoil but will instal the new grass in July so it is ready in time for the beginning of the football season.

[Derelict]

Florida Gators win Men’s 2012 Capital One Cup

The Florida Gators Men’s athletic program was officially announced Wednesday as the winner of the Capital One Cup for the second-straight year by the organization. Florida on the men’s side and Stanford on the women’s side are the only programs to win the award in its short two-year history.

“We are honored to win our second consecutive Capital One Cup trophy,” athletic director Jeremy Foley said. “Our student athletes, coaches and support teams strive for overall excellence and it’s a tribute to their efforts that the men’s program captured the Capital One Cup and our women’s program earned a top-10 finish. Thank you to Capital One and its affiliated companies for their support of intercollegiate athletics.”

Awarded annually to each of the top men’s and women’s Division I college athletic programs in the country, the winner of the Capital One Cup is determined by a scoring system in which points are awarded sport-by-sport depending how respective teams finish in NCAA Championships and the final official coaches’ polls.

Florida (104 points) won by a 14-point margin over Arizona (90) and finished 26 points above the next team from the Southeastern Conference, LSU (78).

The Gators once again failed to place in the top 10 in any of the program’s fall sports but rounded up the honors in the winter and spring as solid finishes by baseball (sixth), basketball (ninth), indoor track & field (first), outdoor track & field (first), and swimming & diving (eighth) led UF to their second-straight Cup.

The Florida women’s athletic program finished second in the SEC to LSU but ninth overall in their respective standings, 87.5 points behind the winner, Stanford (152.5).

The men’s victory earns the University of Florida a total of $200,000 to go toward student-athlete graduate-level scholarships. The Gators will be presented with the Capital One Cup at the 2012 ESPY Awards on July 11 at 9 p.m.

[Derelict]

[Derelict]

Florida’s first three 2012 game times announced

The Southeastern Conference on Monday released the game times and network affiliations for the first three weeks of 2010 football season with the Florida Gators‘ contests set to be broadcast as follows:

Sept. 1 – vs. Bowling Green (Gainesville, FL) – 12:30 p.m. ESPN
Sept. 8 – at Texas A&M (College Station, TX) – 12:30 p.m. ESPN
Sept. 15 – at Tennessee (Knoxville, TN) – 3:00 p.m. ESPN

Due to the addition of Texas A&M and Missouri as the 13th and 14th member institutions of the SEC, respectively, Florida is not scheduled face Tennessee to open their conference slate for the first time since 1996*. Instead the Gators will travel to College Station to be the Aggies’ opponent in their first-ever SEC game.

UF will still face UT during the third week of the season, which is the same slot the two teams have been scheduled to play in every year dating back to 1993*. The Gators and Volunteers will not be going head-to-head on CBS for the first time since 1995.

Florida is 1-1 all-time against Texas A&M; the schools first met in 1962 and have not gone head-to-head on the gridiron since 1971.

[Derelict]

The University of Florida Fightin’ Gator Marching Band will be in the air on Monday as they travel to London, England to represent the United States in ceremonies preceding the 2012 London Olympics. According to Florida, the band will be dispersed over 10 different planes (more than 245 people will be travelling abroad) and will be spending a full week in town both playing music and taking in the sights and sounds. To see the band off, Florida Gators head football coach Will Muschamp and head soccer coach Becky Burleigh gave them a pep talk; former softball player Jenn Brown (now a sideline reporter for ESPN) also sent in a video message to the band. The Gainesville Sun reports that the total cost of the trip is nearly $1 million. “The band received about $100,000 from the UF provost’s office and $25,000 from the Univeresity Athletic Association” but raised the vast majority of the money privately.

[Derelict]

2012 Florida Gators Season Preview: Defense


2011 Defensive Review: Will Muschamp hired Dan Quinn away from the Seattle Seahawks as his defensive coordinator, probably because it gave him a chance to coach better talent, am I right? (Could the Kentucky Wildcats basketball team beat the Seahawks defensive line?) Quinn and Muschamp brought an aggressive, multiple front defense that could shift from a 4-3 to a 3-4 at a moment's notice. This flexibility was made possible by the new Buck position, which is named so because a player named Buck has to play it. Unfortunately, Florida had no one named Buck on their roster last season, another indictment on Urban Meyer's last few recruiting classes. Unhappy to find any Buck's on the roster, Muschamp decided to fill the position with Ronald Powell until his nationwide search for a Buck is successful. Powell was nowhere to be found early on in the season, but made progress late. The defense as a whole got better as the season went on, including a dominating performance against FSU where they held the Seminoles to 95 total yards, but still lost the game 21-0 because of the GODDAMN SHITTY FUCKING OFFENSE! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK YOU, CHARLIE WEIS! 95 TOTAL YARDS AND YOU LOSE BECAUSE YOUR QUARTERBACK IS THROWING A FUCKING PASS ACROSS THE FIELD INTO QUADRUPLE FUCKING COVERAGE ON A TRICK PLAY! FUUUUUUUCKKK! FSU'S SUCH A GODDAMN OVERRATED PIECE OF SHIT TEAM!

2012 Defensive Preview: This side of the ball should be the strength of this year's team. All of the defensive coaches return, which is great because stability in a coaching staff has been scientifically proven to win a team, on average, six more games than a team that had to replace a coach in the offseason. As for the players on the field that have little impact on a team's record, Dominque Easley returns from an ACL injury. Hopes are that he hasn't lost his quick initial burst on those offside penalties. Easley will play end this year so that Sharrif Floyd can move inside to his natural position of CE (center eater).

Remember how Ronald Powell was starting to show his potential at the end of last season? Well, funny thing happened in the spring--his knee exploded. I know, that's pretty hilarious. He says he'll be back by the Georgia game and I believe him because Ronald Powell clearly does not give a shit about the timetable to heal from a severe knee injury. Filling his absence at Buck is 12-year veteran Lerentee McCray, whose name is as far from Buck as you can get. Seriously, Urban Meyer did a poor job recruiting for Will Muschamp. That son-of-a-bitch.

Linebackers Jelani Jenkins and Jon Bostic have gotten bigger thanks to new strength coach and professional lunatic Jeff Dillman's regimen of throwing cinder blocks, attempting to lift fire hydrants out of the ground, and carrying Caleb Sturgis everywhere on their back like Yoda. Jenkins hopes to recover from his Deonte Thompson-itis and catch some interceptions this season.

Speaking of interceptions, the secondary had, like, six picks for the entire year. Six. Keiwan Ratliff used to get that many in his sleep...or against Kentucky. In the secondary's defense, they didn't get the opportunity to play Mike Hartline, Matt Simms, or any of Florida's quarterbacks in a game last season. Also, it's Urban Meyer's fault for not recruiting better ball-hawking defensive backs.

Don't fret though, the secondary has a good chance to be the strength of this defense with a year under their belt, good depth, a healthy Jeremy Brown...ok, maybe not that last one. Jeremy Brown just sprained both of his eyes reading this sentence and will be out for the season. Honestly, I feel bad for the kid. Maybe if this football thing doesn't work out he can make a career of being the arch nemesis of Bruce Willis' character in Unbreakable.

[Chito]

Thanks for your continued posting on the forums Mr. D. Glad to still have you aboard with us.

[Derelict]

College football season is but a few days away and I'll be sharing Gator bites week in and week out.

[Derelict]

2012 Florida Gators Season Preview: Offense

A wise man once said, "In order for us to look forward, we must first look back," or something like that. I think it was Lou Diamond Phillips.

2011 Offensive Review: New offensive coordinator Charlie Weis The Brilliant brought his Dumpster Fire Offense to Florida. It was a bold, new, innovative offense that only a genius like Weis could hatch. On the surface, the offense looked complex to a casual fan with multiple formations, but it was rather simple. The basic idea of the offense was to achieve as many three-and-outs as possible to lull the defense into thinking they weren't even trying or that they were just that bad. Once the defense was properly lulled with a series of 5-yard out routes and tiny running backs unable to find holes to run through, it was time to throw a deep ball to Andre Debose to score Florida's only touchdown of the game. This offense was a rousing success and a credit to how intelligent Charlie Weis is. We were extremely lucky to witness such an offensive mastermind perform his craft to the highest caliber each and every Saturday last fall. The fine people at Kansas University recognized the sheer brilliance that was going on in Gainesville, Florida and quickly swooped in to hire Weis as their new head coach. Us Gator fans begged and pleaded for him to stay, but we all kinda knew that someone as talented and erudite as him would not be with us for very long. He was a big fish in a small pond and as all fish do in that situation, they need to spread their wings and fly away. You will be missed, Charlie. No need to thank us, the pleasure was all ours.

2012 Offensive Preview: Weis has been replaced by Brent Pease (pronounced "Smith"). Last season, Pease was the offensive coordinator at Boise State, which has been playing very reckless offensive football for the past eight years or so under former head coach Dan Hawkins and currently, Chris Peterson. Trick plays, explosive passing game, strong running game, it's rock & roll football and should be outlawed along with fizzy soda pop and GoGurt because I don't know what the fuck that is, but it sounds horrifying. Pease has said this offseason he wants to score 40 points as fast as possible. Whoa, slow down, buddy. It's not a race. Don't you think 40 points is a little greedy? This team can win perfectly fine only scoring a modest 17 points a game. Football is entertainment and a nice, close 17-14 game keeps people interested and in their seats to the end. No one wants to see a 40-10 game. The stadium's 75% empty by the 4th quarter.


Pease has also talked about using pre-snap motion to create mismatches for the defense. I vaguely recall Urban Meyer and Dan Mullen talking about this concept with their spread option offense and I don't remember that working out too well during the '07 and '08 seasons. I think Charlie Weis would agree with me that you shouldn't use motion ever before the snap. First of all, it eliminates any chance for illegal motion or illegal procedure penalties and lord knows the Gators get flagged a lot, so how about we try to reduce the likelihood of this happening? Second of all, it's not right to deceive the defense. They worked hard all week studying your offense and then you have the gall to ruin that work by trying to match a running back on a linebacker. That's poor sportsmanship.

"What a tangled web we weave, when we practice to deceive." -Also Lou Diamond Phillips.

It will be hard for Pease to do any of this because as of now, Florida doesn't have a starting quarterback. The best thing to do is panic. The  candidates are Jeff Driskel and Jacoby Brissett and I'm required by law to mention Tyler Murphy. Hi Tyler! You sure you don't wanna go catch some passes with the receivers? Maybe lineup at running back? No? You're going to stick it out at quarterback? That's cool. I can respect that, as long as you know something catastrophic has to happen for you to see the field and things were pretty bad last year and you didn't play a single meaningful down. I don't want you to transfer, I'm just saying you should get familiar with the other aspects of the offense.

Driskel and Brissett will battle during fall practice for the coveted starting job. Both are big, strong armed QBs, but each brings something a little different to the table. Driskel has great mobility and a hot cheerleader girlfriend. Brissett has displayed nice poise and a calm demeanor reminiscent of former Florida QB Chris Leak. Although that does increase Brissett's chances of being booed for no damn good reason.

The running back position features some new faces and returns senior Mike Gillislee, who has finally ascended to the starting role after the Free Gilly internet campaign totally worked after many months and Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey graduating and not having any other proven running backs to compete with. WE DID IT!

Florida comes into the season with one less tight end after A.C. Leonard decided (yeah, HE decided) to transfer (if that's the story you want to go with, ok). The receivers are led by Andre Debose and not much else, but that's OK because I'm completely confident in Aubrey Hill's ability as a coach. Just look at all the NFL talent he's developed at Duke and Miami. Who says this guy is only on staff because he can recruit? Certainly not me. Would a guy who didn't lock up a single commitment in last year's signing class be on staff for his recruiting prowess? And don't read too much into the fact that he was named in the Miami report for some recruiting violations. Only a guy that wasn't that great of a recruiter would stoop to such tactics. This guy is clearly on staff because he can flat out get it as a coach and nothing else.

Offensive line coach Frank Verducci was replaced by Tim Davis because DID YOU SEE THE LINE PLAY LAST YEAR? Xavier Nixon has gained weight and Matt Patchan hasn't died, so the line should be bet--Oh shit, Patchan just died. I knew I shouldn't have mentioned his name. I jinxed it. That's OK, that's why we have a Chas Green.

[EL GRANDE WHOPPO]

Derelict, on 23 August 2012 - 09:40 PM, said:

2012 Florida Gators Season Preview: Offense

A wise man once said, "In order for us to look forward, we must first look back," or something like that. I think it was Lou Diamond Phillips.

2011 Offensive Review: New offensive coordinator Charlie Weis The Brilliant brought his Dumpster Fire Offense to Florida. It was a bold, new, innovative offense that only a genius like Weis could hatch. On the surface, the offense looked complex to a casual fan with multiple formations, but it was rather simple. The basic idea of the offense was to achieve as many three-and-outs as possible to lull the defense into thinking they weren't even trying or that they were just that bad. Once the defense was properly lulled with a series of 5-yard out routes and tiny running backs unable to find holes to run through, it was time to throw a deep ball to Andre Debose to score Florida's only touchdown of the game. This offense was a rousing success and a credit to how intelligent Charlie Weis is. We were extremely lucky to witness such an offensive mastermind perform his craft to the highest caliber each and every Saturday last fall. The fine people at Kansas University recognized the sheer brilliance that was going on in Gainesville, Florida and quickly swooped in to hire Weis as their new head coach. Us Gator fans begged and pleaded for him to stay, but we all kinda knew that someone as talented and erudite as him would not be with us for very long. He was a big fish in a small pond and as all fish do in that situation, they need to spread their wings and fly away. You will be missed, Charlie. No need to thank us, the pleasure was all ours.

2012 Offensive Preview: Weis has been replaced by Brent Pease (pronounced "Smith"). Last season, Pease was the offensive coordinator at Boise State, which has been playing very reckless offensive football for the past eight years or so under former head coach Dan Hawkins and currently, Chris Peterson. Trick plays, explosive passing game, strong running game, it's rock & roll football and should be outlawed along with fizzy soda pop and GoGurt because I don't know what the fuck that is, but it sounds horrifying. Pease has said this offseason he wants to score 40 points as fast as possible. Whoa, slow down, buddy. It's not a race. Don't you think 40 points is a little greedy? This team can win perfectly fine only scoring a modest 17 points a game. Football is entertainment and a nice, close 17-14 game keeps people interested and in their seats to the end. No one wants to see a 40-10 game. The stadium's 75% empty by the 4th quarter.


Pease has also talked about using pre-snap motion to create mismatches for the defense. I vaguely recall Urban Meyer and Dan Mullen talking about this concept with their spread option offense and I don't remember that working out too well during the '07 and '08 seasons. I think Charlie Weis would agree with me that you shouldn't use motion ever before the snap. First of all, it eliminates any chance for illegal motion or illegal procedure penalties and lord knows the Gators get flagged a lot, so how about we try to reduce the likelihood of this happening? Second of all, it's not right to deceive the defense. They worked hard all week studying your offense and then you have the gall to ruin that work by trying to match a running back on a linebacker. That's poor sportsmanship.

"What a tangled web we weave, when we practice to deceive." -Also Lou Diamond Phillips.

It will be hard for Pease to do any of this because as of now, Florida doesn't have a starting quarterback. The best thing to do is panic. The  candidates are Jeff Driskel and Jacoby Brissett and I'm required by law to mention Tyler Murphy. Hi Tyler! You sure you don't wanna go catch some passes with the receivers? Maybe lineup at running back? No? You're going to stick it out at quarterback? That's cool. I can respect that, as long as you know something catastrophic has to happen for you to see the field and things were pretty bad last year and you didn't play a single meaningful down. I don't want you to transfer, I'm just saying you should get familiar with the other aspects of the offense.

Driskel and Brissett will battle during fall practice for the coveted starting job. Both are big, strong armed QBs, but each brings something a little different to the table. Driskel has great mobility and a hot cheerleader girlfriend. Brissett has displayed nice poise and a calm demeanor reminiscent of former Florida QB Chris Leak. Although that does increase Brissett's chances of being booed for no damn good reason.

The running back position features some new faces and returns senior Mike Gillislee, who has finally ascended to the starting role after the Free Gilly internet campaign totally worked after many months and Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey graduating and not having any other proven running backs to compete with. WE DID IT!

Florida comes into the season with one less tight end after A.C. Leonard decided (yeah, HE decided) to transfer (if that's the story you want to go with, ok). The receivers are led by Andre Debose and not much else, but that's OK because I'm completely confident in Aubrey Hill's ability as a coach. Just look at all the NFL talent he's developed at Duke and Miami. Who says this guy is only on staff because he can recruit? Certainly not me. Would a guy who didn't lock up a single commitment in last year's signing class be on staff for his recruiting prowess? And don't read too much into the fact that he was named in the Miami report for some recruiting violations. Only a guy that wasn't that great of a recruiter would stoop to such tactics. This guy is clearly on staff because he can flat out get it as a coach and nothing else.

Offensive line coach Frank Verducci was replaced by Tim Davis because DID YOU SEE THE LINE PLAY LAST YEAR? Xavier Nixon has gained weight and Matt Patchan hasn't died, so the line should be bet--Oh shit, Patchan just died. I knew I shouldn't have mentioned his name. I jinxed it. That's OK, that's why we have a Chas Green.

In the SEC they (Gators) don't have a chance this year. Glad tha you could se that good ol' charlie sucked dick as an offensive coordinator just like I told you that he would. Kansas should be his last stop. He has failed everywhere that he has not had a guy named Brady as a starting qb. I doubt that Muschamp is the guy who will or can make Gators relevant again. Meyer got out when the getting was good. Atleast you have some great memories of the past to get you through the next few seasons.

[Derelict]

GAMEDAY: #23 Florida Gators vs. Bowling Green

Location: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field – Gainesville, FL [Capacity: 88,548]
Weather Forecast: 90°F, partly cloudy, winds ENE at 5 mph
Time: 12:35 p.m. (PT)

PLAYERS TO KEEP AN EYE ON
FLORIDA
» Senior running back Mike Gillislee (#23)…who is now entrenched as the Gators’ starter, a role he has dreamed of since committing to the team four years ago. He registered career-highs in carries (11) and rushing yards (84) one season ago but is looking to perform at a much higher level now that he is set to get the ball more often.
» Sophomore quarterbacks Jacoby Brissett (#12) and Jeff Driskel (#6)…who are both competing for the starting job and will have the opportunity to showcase their talents by splitting snaps in the first half. Though they both had the chance to play as freshman and have split snaps 50-50 during the offseason, neither players has separated himself from the other up to this point.
» Junior Trey Burton (#8) and redshirt senior Omarius Hines (#20)…who are both expected to contribute as playmakers this season despite neither having a full-time position. Burton and Hines will both line up at running back, tight end and wide receiver with Burton also occasionally taking snaps from center and playing fullback as well. Burton has 16 career touchdowns despite never playing a full-time position, and Hines is hoping to have finally found an offensive coordinator who can utilize his talents.
» Redshirt junior wide receiver Andre Debose (#4)…who has yet to put it all together on offense but is a dynamic kick returner for Florida. He did have consecutive games with 65-yard touchdown receptions in 2011 but finished the season with just 16 total receptions for 432 yards and four touchdowns. In the return game he has brought back 40 kickoffs for 1,082 yards and three touchdowns.
» Junior safety Matt Elam (#22)…who has grown into his role as a leader and may very well be the Gators’ most dynamic playmaker on defense. He has 100 career tackles (66 solo, 11.0 for loss) along with three sacks, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and two interceptions already in his career.
» Linebackers senior Jon Bostic (#1) and redshirt junior Jelani Jenkins (#3)…who respectively play the Mike and Will positions. Bostic is the straw that stirs the drink for Florida and is looking to build on a solid resume that includes 169 tackles (110 solo, 12.5 for loss), 4.5 sacks, three interceptions and a forced fumble. Jenkins has had an equally impressive career already with 153 tackles (90 solo, 11.5 for loss), four sacks, two interceptions (one returned for a touchdown), and a forced fumble and fumble recovery.
» Juniors defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd (#94) and defensive end Dominique Easley (#2)…who are back playing their natural positions after being swapped last season due to depth and personnel issues. Both players are five-star prospects who joined the Gators out of high school in 2010 as part of one of the best recruiting classes in school history. This season presents an opportunity for them to live up their hype and prove that their pre-college billing was accurate.
» Redshirt senior kicker Caleb Sturgis (#19)…who will be starting for Florida for the fourth-straight season. He was one of three kickers nationally to convert three or more field goals of 50+ yards in 2011 and was named as a finalist for the Lou Groza Award for a top-notch campaign that included him going 22-for-26 on field goals and a perfect 31-for-31 on extra points. Sturgis, who has already kicked three of the four longest field goals of all-time for the Gators, is just 22 made field goals away from passing Jeff Chandler’s 67 for most in school history.


 th_05AAB1E0-3202-4706-BCFB-CFAB9576F804-134-00000003A395A5C8.jpg   8K   0 downloads

Go Gators!!!

[Derelict]

 41EE615B-7C41-4769-9498-53A40BEC5101-1520-000001BD5DD344DB.jpg   151.72K   0 downloads
#23 Florida Gators @ Texas A&M

Location: Kyle Field – College Station, TX [Capacity: 82,589]
Weather Forecast: 88°F, mostly sunny, winds N at 22 mph
Time: 12:30 p.m.
TV: ESPN/ESPNHD (Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit, Heather Cox)

LAST TIME OUT
Florida and Texas A&M have only met on the gridiron twice before with their last showdown occurring in El Paso, TX in the 1977 Sun Bowl. The Aggies stomped the Gators 37-14 that day, forcing five turnovers and enveloping their opponents with a hard-hitting defense. Then-Florida head coach Doug Dickey lost starting quarterback Jimmy Fisher to a dislocated ring finger in the first quarter and was irked at the end of the game when Texas A&M went for a two-point conversion on their final touchdown. The teams’ only other meeting was in Gainesville, FL back in 1962 when the Gators routed the Aggies 42-6 by winning the battle on the ground 206-72.

Go Gators!!!

[Bryon]

Texas A&M has a good chance to win at home.

[Derelict]

They sure did. Missouri and TAMU are not quite SEC ready yet, y'all have to keep that foot on that pedal and play all four quarters.