Thoughts of the Day: November 25, 2021

A few thoughts to jump start your Thanksgiving morning: THANKSGIVING, FSU … ONE OF THE BEST MEMORIES EVER

As the Thanksgiving holiday approached in November of 2005, someone slipped word to Urban Meyer that my mom was in the hospital in Orlando, clinging to her life. She had undergone another spinal surgery and on this one, the doctor nicked her spinal column. After practice on Tuesday as the 19th-ranked Gators prepared for 23rd-ranked Florida State, Meyer grabbed me by the arm and asked about my mom.

I explained briefly what was going on and he asked me if there was anything he and Shelley could do. Without hesitation, I asked if they could take a couple of minutes on Thanksgiving Day to call my mom. I told him I wasn’t sure she would make it to her birthday on Sunday and that call would certainly bring a smile. Urban said, “We’ll do it at noon if that’s okay.”

Noon arrived on Thursday. My entire family was gathered in my mom’s room at ORMC. She was in tremendous pain and hadn’t slept much during the night, but she had a smile on her face and was trying to cheer everyone up. My cell phone rang and I answered. It was Urban and Shelley. I told my mom the call was for her and she, of course, asked who it was. When I told her that it was Urban and Shelley Meyer, she lit up like no one had seen here the entire month she had been hospitalized.

I expected a two-minute call. They talked for more than 10 minutes. At the end of the conversation, Urban said, “I hear you have a birthday coming up on Sunday.” My mom answered affirmatively and then Urban asked, “I’d like to give you a gift for your birthday. Is there anything you would like?” My mom answered, “Well, you could beat FSU. That would be the perfect gift.”

Urban responded, “We’ll do our best to make it a special day for you.”

Saturday arrived. I was at the stadium in the press box. My mom and the entire family were in her ORMC room watching the game on television and eating pork sandwiches that had been smuggled in from Porkie’s in Apopka (I highly recommend them!).

After a scoreless first quarter, the Gators took a 7-0 lead on an 8-yard pass from Chris Leak to Chad Jackson. Five minutes later, Marcus Thomas broke through the line to block a 44-yard field goal attempt by FSU’s Gary Cismesia with Reggie Lewis, the brother of former FSU wide receiver great Ronald Lewis scooping it up at the UF 48 and returning it untouched 52 yards for a TD.

The Florida defense took over the game from there. Injuries in the Florida secondary thrust freshman Avery Atkins in the lineup to counter FSU’s three-receiver sets. FSU spent a good part of the day trying to isolate 6-6 Greg Carr on Avery but despite numerous tries, the Seminoles managed only one completion, a 45-yarder late in the fourth quarter when the game had already been decided. Avery finished the game with four tackles, a fumble recovery, an interception and two pass breakups. A year-and-a-half later, he had dropped out of school at UF and was found dead in his car in Daytona Beach, cause of death a drug overdose although carbon monoxide was also found in his system.

In the South End Zone meeting room after the Gators had destroyed FSU, 34-7, Meyer walked by me and whacked me on the butt with his Gatorade bottle. “Tell your mom happy birthday!” he told me.

Sunday I was down in Orlando. My mom, who had been clinging to life and had literally been close to death at least three times during that month-long stay at ORMC, was alert, happy and smiling. She lit up the room. One of the nurses told me she hadn’t seen such a remarkable turnaround in a patient in quite some time.

My mom is still with us. She will be 93 Saturday when the Gators play FSU. She reminded me Wednesday of the birthday present Urban gave her back in 2005 and told me she wished he were still here because she knows he’d give her another great birthday present. I told her we all do.

AR15 EXPECTED TO START AT QB VS. FSU With Emory Jones missing practice time after rolling his ankle during practice on Monday, redshirt freshman Anthony Richardson is expected to get his second career start at quarterback Saturday when the Gators (5-6, 2-6 SEC) play their regular season finale against Florida State (5-6) at The Swamp (12 noon, ESPN).

In Richardson’s only other start, he turned the ball over three times (one fumble, two interceptions) in the final three minutes of the first half, turning a 3-0 deficit into a 24-0 game at halftime. Georgia beat the Gators 34-7. Jones played the fourth quarter, engineering Florida’s only touchdown of the game.

Jones returned to practice Wednesday but it’s not clear how the reps were split up. For the season, Jones has thrown for 2,400 yards and 18 touchdowns while running for 673 yards and four more TDs. Richardson has thrown for 474 yards and five touchdowns while rushing for 374 yard and three TDs.

AS IF YOU NEEDED SOME CONFIRMATION: STOOPS ISN’T A CANDIDATE

You really didn’t buy in to those Bob Stoops may come out of retirement to coach the Florida Gators now did you? Since the retirement of Steve Spurrier in 2001, Stoops has been on the candidate list at Florida after all five coaching changes (Ron Zook 2002, Urban Meyer 2011, Will Muschamp 2014, Jim McElwain 2017 and Dan Mullen 2021).

Speaking on The Sports Animal radio show Wednesday, Stoops shot down the latest rumor that he’ll coach the Gators.

“I love what I’m doing with TV,” he said. “I enjoy watching my son play and the Sooners. I’m not looking to get into that job.”

Stoops finished his Oklahoma coaching career with a 190-48 record and the 2000 national championship.

SEC BASKETBALL Wednesday’s scores: NO. 23 FLORIDA (5-0) 71, Ohio State (4-2) 68; No. 22 UConn (5-0) 115, No. 19 Auburn (3-1) 109; Vanderbilt (4-1) 68, Pittsburgh (2-3) 52; Texas A&M 73, Notre Dame (3-2) 67

Thursday’s games: No. 19 Auburn (3-1) vs. Loyola Chicago (4-10) in Nassau; No. 10 Alabama (4-0) vs. Iona (5-0) in Orlando; Louisville (3-1) vs. Mississippi State (4-0) in Nassau

THE SEC SOOTHSAYER No. 8 Ole Miss (9-2, 5-2 SEC) at Mississippi State (7-4, 4-3 SEC):

The Sayer says sooth:

SEC FOOTBALL Alabama (10-1, 6-1 SEC): Defensive tackle D.J. Dale is practicing and will play against Auburn although not at 100 percent. Linebacker Drew Sanders has a cast on his hand but will play against Auburn.

Arkansas (7-4, 3-4 SEC): HBC Sam Pittman, who has engineered a surprising return to respectability for the Razorbacks says, “Our days of getting our teeth kicked in are over.”

Auburn (6-5, 3-4 SEC): Quarterback TJ Finley, who made his first Auburn start last week against South Carolina, says he is “calm and steady” as he prepares for Alabama.

Georgia (11-0, 8-0 SEC): Freshman corner Nyland Green has been arrested and charged with multiple felonies including carrying a loaded weapon in a school safety zone plus two counts of misdemeanor reckless conduct. Green was a top 100 recruit last year and the No. 4 corner in the country.

Kentucky (8-3, 5-3 SEC): The challenge for Kentucky Saturday at Louisville is slowing down quarterback Malik Cunningham, who has passed for 18 touchdowns and run for 18 touchdowns this season.

LSU (5-6, 2-5 SEC): Corner Elias Ricks, who has placed his name in the transfer portal, says he will consider transferring to Southern Cal, Ohio State, Alabama and Georgia.

Missouri (6-5, 3-4 SEC): Listed as questionable for Saturday’s game with Arkansas are corner Akayleb Evans, tight end Daniel Parker Jr., right tackle Hyrin White and running back Elijah Young. Out are defensive back Ish Burdine, offensive tackle Bobby Lawrence, safety Shawn Robinson and defensive back Chris Shearin.

South Carolina (6-5, 3-4 SEC): South Carolina has sold out its Saturday game with arch-rival Clemson.

Tennessee (6-5, 3-4 SEC): The Vols are expected to be chosen to play either in the Music City Bowl in Nashville or the Duke’s Mayo Bowl in Charlotte.

Texas A&M (8-3, 4-3 SEC): The Aggies are 10-26-1 all time vs. LSU at Tiger Stadium.

Vanderbilt (2-9, 0-7 SEC): Mike Wright will get the start at quarterback against Tennessee.

FOOTBALL IN THE MINOR LEAGUES Mel Tucker has signed his 10-year extension with Michigan State (9-2). He’ll make $92 million over the course of the country.

Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell, who has been linked to practically every open coaching job in the country in the last few weeks, will be staying at Cincinnati (11-0), which is the first Group of Five team in history to make the top four in the College Football Playoff poll. The Bearcats have one regular season game remaining (at East Carolina) and the American Athletic Conference Championship Game (at Lousiana). Win them both and the Bearcats are almost certain to make the playoff and earn Fickell a length contract extension and raise.

New Mexico State has fired Doug Martin. Expected to replace him is former Northern Illinois and Minnesota head coach Jerry Kill, who is serving as the interim head coach at TCU. Martin finished his career at NMSU with a 24-74 record. He had one winning season in 2017 the Aggies went 7-6 and won the Arizona Bowl. Kill has a career record of 150-99.

According to the Tipico Sports book, Ohio State redshirt freshman quarterback C.J. Stroud is the current favorite to win the Heisman Trophy. Trailing (in order) Stroud are Bryce Young, QB (Alabama), Matt Corral, QB (Ole Miss), Kenneth Walker III, RB (Michigan State) and Kenny Pickett, QB, Pittsburgh. In leading the Buckeyes to a 10-1 record heading into their showdown game with Michigan, Stroud has thrown for 3,468 yards and 36 touchdowns. Young has thrown for 3,584 yards and 38 touchdowns. Corral has thrown for 3,105 yards and 19 touchdowns while rushing for 552 yards and 10 touchdowns. Walker is second in the nation in rushing with 1,498 yards and 17 touchdowns. Pickett has thrown for 3,857 yards and 36 touchdowns.

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. I hope you have reason to be happy and thankful on this day. My prayer for each of you is that the next year will bring you peace in your heart, safety for each member of your family and daily opportunities to share love and care with everyone you meet. We are truly blessed to be Gators. We will have a new coach soon and hopefully, next year this time we will be giving thanks that we have the right man leading the Florida football program on a lengthy road of sustained prosperity.