A few thoughts to jump start your Wednesday morning: October 26, 2002 𝘽𝙮 𝙁𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙯 𝘽𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙙 It was only two minutes and 22 seconds but it probably seemed like a week for Anthony Richardson last October 30 at TIAA Bank Stadium in Jacksonville. In that short span of time, Richardson’s football life flashed before his eyes as Georgia scored 21 unanswered points off his turnovers. A fumble and two interceptions all in the last 2:22 of the first half. Not exactly what Richardson had in mind when he got the first start of his Florida football career. Instead of going into the locker room trailing the No. 1 team in the country 3-0, the lead ballooned to 24-0. The dream of a storybook upset turned into a nightmare. Anthony Richardson has lived with that for a year now. He was young and inexperienced, nervous too, going against a defense that people were calling generational. There were five first round NFL draft picks on the defense that chewed Richardson up and spit him out. He knew exactly what he was up against when he took that first snap. “Before the game, I’m not going to lie, I had a lot of jitters,” Richardson said. “It was in my head a lot. I was a little nervous. First career start against the No. 1 defense, so of course, I was thinking a lot. I feel like I was doing pretty good until those last few minutes of the first half, but just processing it and thinking about it, it’s taught me a lot about football itself and how to manage the game and how to take control of the game.” So here he is a year later. In so many ways nothing has changed. Georgia was unbeaten, No. 1 and owner of a lock down defense last year. The Bulldogs are once again unbeaten, No. 1 and in some ways better than last year’s defense. A year ago, the Gators came into the Georgia game off a 49-42 loss to LSU. This year, the Gators dropped a 45-35 decision to LSU. If the Gators are to have any chance at all – Las Vegas says they don’t which is why Georgia is favored by a mere 22.5 points – Richardson is going to have to play the game of his life. If there is such a thing as a Florida X-factor heading into this game, he is it. When Richardson is on his game as he was in the win over Utah and the loss to Tennessee, then there are very few quarterbacks in the college game as capable as he of completely taking over. He can throw darts that fly more than 60 yards in the air with a flick of his wrist. If he breaks containment, even the fastest defensive backs on the other team find themselves in a footrace they probably will lose. He has to play well for the Gators to have a chance to win. But, he can’t do it alone and he knows it. If he doesn’t get help from his teammates, the Gators can kiss this one good bye before foot hits football at 3:30 Saturday afternoon. 𝙄 Like Billy Napier did Monday, Richardson points to the glaring errors he sees when he watches the film. He makes mistakes but so do his teammates. “Not looking at the signals correctly, missing motions and shifts and stuff, just stuff like that,” Richardson said. And it’s on both sides of the ball. He runs the offense so he pays more attention to that side of the ball, but they are the picture of efficiency when compared to a UF defense that desperately needs a big game if the Gators are to have even a remote chance to knock off Georgia. He knows he can’t let the nerves affect him like they did last year. If he’s the picture of cool, calm and collected he knows it will rub off his team. So his goal for Saturday? “Just stay focused, keeping the main thing the main thing,” he said. “That’s doing your assignment, focusing on what you’ve got to do and just focusing on the win.” UF hoops: Starting lineup shaping up for Todd Golden Speaking to the media before the Gators practiced Tuesday, head coach Todd Golden said of the 13 scholarship players on the roster “11 of those are truly competing for spots right now. Some guys are definitely ahead of others.” All-SEC center Colin Castleton and St. Bonaventure transfer and former All-Atlantic 10 point guard Kyle Lofton are locked into starting jobs. In their closed door scrimmage against Miami, Lofton was held out while he continues to regain strength and stamina after missing a couple of weeks due to a groin injury. Lofton will play Saturday when the Gators have a closed door scrimmage with Jacksonville. Against Miami, the starters for the scrimmage were Castleton (center), CJ Felder (power forward), Kowacie Reeves (small forward), Riley Kugel (wing guard) and Tre Bonham (point). Based on observations of practice the last three weeks, it seems that Golden might be leaning to a starting lineup of Castleon, Felder, Reeves, Will Richard and Lofton for the season opener against Stony Brook on November 7. The Gators will hold the Orange and Blue Scrimmage open to the public at the O-Dome on Monday. Against Miami, Castleton only played the first half but was quite effective on the defensive end where he was dominant in the paint. Star of the game was Reeves, who has come on strong in the past couple of weeks. “He’s playing great,” Golden said. “I think he’s playing the best basketball of his career right now, and to his credit, he was struggling a little bit at the beginning of the fall and I think just getting comfortable. One thing I’ll say about Wace is he’s extremely coachable. He’s really smart. He’s receptive to when we try to give him tips on how to be better. For us it’s really encouraging because he’s got incredible gifts. He’s really talented. He’s a great shot maker. He’s really emphasized getting on the glass, playing more physical, kind of playing more within himself, and he’s in the middle of a really, really fun progression to watch. And he was one of the guys that played great on Saturday and so I’m hopeful that he will continue that through the rest of the season.” Two areas of concern with the Miami scrimmage were a lack of physicality and turnovers. Regarding physicality, Golden said, “We’re hopeful that our new personnel along with our emphasis upon those areas that we can improve that way.” Golden wasn’t concerned with the turnovers since it was a first scrimmage and he doesn’t anticipate it will be an ongoing issue. “Honestly, it wasn’t a huge concern of mine going into the scrimmage. I don’t anticipate it will be a big issue for our team. I think we have some really good ballhandlers and playmakers so it was more kind of just first scrimmage jitters, guys just getting comfortable and having reps out there and playing against somebody in a different jersey.” Coaches top 25 basketball poll (SEC teams bold face): 1. North Carolina; 2. Gonzaga; 3. Houston; 4. Kentucky; 5. Kansas; 6. Baylor; 7. UCLA; 8. Duke; 9. Creighton; 10. Arkansas; 11. Tennessee; 12. Texas; 13. Arizona; 14. Indiana; 15. Auburn; 16. TCU; 17. Villanova; 18. Virginia; 19. Alabama; 20. San Diego State; 21. Oregon; 22. Michigan; 23. Illinois; 24. Texas Tech; 25. Dayton UF men’s golf The Gators closed within three shots of Auburn Tuesday at the Isleworth Collegiate but Auburn pulled away to win the tournament at -27. The Gators finished runner-up at -15 with four individuals finishing in the top 25. Yuxin Lin finished in a fifth place tie, while Quentin Dove finished 10th, Fred Biondi tied for 11th and John DuBois at 19th. SEC football No. 6. Alabama (7-1, 4-1 SEC): Louisville transfer wide receiver Tyler Harrell, whose injuries have limited his productivity to one catch for 12 yards “is making a lot of progress” according to Nick Saban, who hopes to have him back at full speed soon. Basketball note: Point guard Jahvon Quinerly, who is rehabbing a knee, could be back at full speed in early December. Arkansas (4-3, 1-3 SEC): Auburn (3-4; 1-3 SEC): Landen King has changed his mind again. Earlier in the season he decided he wanted to redshirt. Now he has decided to leave the team completely and put his name in the transfer portal in December. No. 1 Georgia (7-0, 4-0 SEC): Safety Dan Jackson, who is sixth on the team with 16 tackles to go with an interception and a forced fumble, will have foot surgery that could potentially end his season. No. 19 Kentucky (5-2, 2-2 SEC): Offensive coordinator Rick Scangarello says the Wildcats “have to make possessions count” by scoring points to keep up with Tennessee’s high powered offense. Basketball note: Oscar Tshiebwe is recovering from minor knee surgery and shouldn’s miss any significant time. No. 17 LSU (6-2, 4-1 SEC): Brian Kelly was named Bobby Dodd Trophy Coach of the Week after the Tigers beat Ole Miss. Mississippi State (5-3, 2-3 SEC): In their loss to Alabama, the Bulldogs held Bama to 29 rushing yards, a season low. Missouri (3-4, 1-3 SEC): HBC Eli Drinkwitz has no plans to give up calling the offensive plays this season. No. 15 Ole Miss (7-1, 3-1 SEC): The Rebels, who are third in the nation in rushing, have gained 2,016 yards and scored 26 touchdowns on the ground. No. 25 South Carolina (5-2, 2-2 SEC): Wake Forest transfer running back Christian Beal-Smith says he isn’t 100 percent recovered from his injury, but adds “I’m getting there.” No. 3 Tennessee (7-0, 3-0 SEC): The Vols have been granted a 30-day extension to respond to an NCAA notice of allegations that resulted in 18 Level I violations. The extension likely means the Vols won’t get a postseason bowl ban this year. Texas A&M (3-4, 1-3 SEC): Defensive back Denver Harris, wide receiver Chris Marshall and offensive lineman PJ Williams, all three members of the touted 2022 recruiting class, have been suspended indefinitely for violating team rules. Vanderbilt (3-5, 0-4 SEC): Quarterbacks Mike Wright and AJ Swann have combined for 15 touchdown passes. That’s the most TDPs by Vandy quarterbacks since 2018 when Kyle Shurmur threw for 24. Our SEC orphans in the Big 12: Oklahoma (4-3, 1-3 Big 12): In their last four games – three losses, one win – the Sooners’ defense hasn’t been able to get off the field. Opponents are 30-57 converting third downs during those games. Texas (5-3, 3-2 Big 12): Despite three losses, HBC Steve Sarkisian says, “We’ve come a long way as a program. I feel very good about where we’ve come.” ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: A week ago Josh Braun left the Florida football team. He will earn his degree in December and since he’s only played two games, he can be a graduate transfer who can go anywhere he wants armed with a college degree and two full seasons of eligibility remaining. Braun isn’t the only one who is taking advantage of favorable NCAA rules that allow a player to participate in as many as four games while preserving the redshirt year and a transfer portal that has given the college game a measure of NFL-like free agency. There were others before him and there will be others in the final month of the season who may very well refuse to go into a game since it would jeopardize a full season of eligibility. You can’t really blame the players here. They’re merely taking advantage of the rules. If you want to blame someone point your fingers at the NCAA. The redshirt rules are such that coaches adapted to them long ago, but coupled with the graduate transfer rules and the transfer portal, it is one more problem that could have been avoided if folks whose brains last functioned years ago weren’t in charge of the NCAA. I hold my breath to think what the NCAA will think of next and wonder when a new organization will form with strong leaders and a theme of common sense. I can dream, can’t I?

Thoughts of the Day By Franz Beard A few thoughts to jump start your Tuesday morning: Billy Napier spoke in rather generic terms at a Monday morning press conference dominated by questions about a Florida defense that at midyear seems to be trending toward the worst in Florida history. Napier didn’t duck and dodge with his answers although he didn’t exactly offer up anything close to revealing and certainly nothing that could find its way to the bulletin board of the No. 1-ranked Georgia (7-0, 4-0 SEC) Bulldogs. The Las Vegas line on Georgia has moved to 22.5 points, making this a larger spread than 1971 when the Bulldogs were 21-point favorites heading into Jacksonville. There is a reason the spread is so large and it has everything to do with a Florida defense whose most consistent characteristic is their inconsistency. All seven games have been winnable. Six of the seven have been losable. In six of the seven games, the Gators have given up multiple chunk plays. In six of the seven games, opponents have been near or exceeded 50 percent on third down. The Gators are so bad on third down that they rank next-to-last nationally (51-97, 52.38 percent). Obviously, changes are needed, but we’ve known that for weeks now. Due to NCAA time restrictions (players are allowed 20 hours per week of practice, preparation time), perhaps 90 percent of all practice and prep time on game week is devoted to the team on the Saturday schedule. Typically, it isn’t until the bye week that there is any kind of opportunity to address things like changes in a timely and positive way. Napier was asked several questions about his defense but he never got into specifics about how he and his staff have been dealing with what has been plaguing the Gators. He called the off week being “out of the grind” which is a fair assessment. Without the pressure of fine tuning a game plan, there was time last week to solving problems. “There’s time for quality control,” he said. “We’ve got a pretty extensive process that we go through relative to evaluating where we’re at, areas that we need to get better. Then you can evaluate each game, and okay, what contributed to each game. Why did you win the games you won? Why did you lose the games you lost? Essentially, that’s probably what gives me most comfort is we know why we’ve lost games. I think we know what winning football looks like, and the games we lost, we didn’t deserve to win.” Knowing what the Gators did to win games and what they did to lose them isn’t exactly rocket science. He knows but so do the Georgia Bulldogs. Everybody talks about that Will Muschamp-coached Georgia defense that ranks second nationally in fewest points per game (9.1) and fourth in total defense (247 yards per game) but there isn’t nearly as much talk about an offense that ranks second nationally (526.6 yards, 7.26 per play), seventh in passing (329.9, 8.8 er attempt), 29th in rushing (196.71, 5.6 per carry) and eighth in scoring (41.7). The Bulldogs convert on third down (44-84), don’t turn the ball over (6 all year) and they don’t kill themselves with penalties (4 per game). The Georgia defense is exceptional, but Florida isn’t without weapons like quarterback Anthony Richardson, running backs Montrell Johnson Jr. and Trevor Etienne, wide receivers Justin Shorter, Ricky Pearsall and Xzavier Henderson, and an offensive line that rates among the most efficient in the country. There is hope the Gators can score some points. Can they stop Georgia? Not many seem to think so. So what did Napier and his staff do during the off-week to correct Florida’s myriad of problems? His answer sounded quite similar to previous answers dealing with much the same subject. “I think it’s a little bit more of identifying the problems on communication errors, fundamental errors,” Napier said. “You know, conceptually what’s been good, what’s not been good. Then you take a whole list particular. Okay, let’s look at the big picture in some of these areas where we need to improve. What’s the scouting report? Not that we don’t do that each week, but you got more time to say, okay, based off what we know what can we change or improve. “Oftentimes, playing defense is not about what you’re doing, it’s about how you do it.” What the Gators are doing and how they’re going about it seems to be one of life’s great mysteries given the number of chunk plays they’ve given up. The Gators rank dead last in the SEC in chunk plays on the ground with (42 carries that gained at least 10 yards) and 11th in chunk plays through the air (70 of more than 10 yards). So how do the Gators stop the bleeding? Redshirt freshman defensive end Tyreak Sapp is of the opinion that when the Gators drastically reduce the mental errors they will stop making so many glaring mistakes. “I feel like it’s probably 80 percent between the ears, about 20 percent physical,” Sapp said. “It’s just us. We’ve got to see things better. We’ve got to understand situations, be situationally aware when we are on the field and how we can take advantage of the game on that part of the field. “So, just taking care of that and then beating teams on third down. We’re getting teams on third and long so we’ve got to take advantage of those. Those are the downs we have to live for. We have to live on third down. We have to take advantage of that more. I feel like if we take advantage of that more, we can have more production and then it gives the offense a chance to score more points and put us in a better situation.” Napier has addressed on a near-weekly basis the mental errors that seem to always lead to wrong angles, blown coverages and missed assignments. More than once he’s pointed out that it only takes one player out of 11 making an egregious mistake for a play to go sideways. So what can Napier do to eliminate the issues? Does he make wholesale personnel changes? Does he tweak the scheme? “It’s not one thing,” he said. “It’s a number of things that contribute. We’ve been through this before. We inherited a similar situation in the past. All you can do is focus on the things that contribute to playing better. That’s exactly what we’re going to do.” Without pointing fingers or saying the name Louisiana, where he went 33-5 in the three years after a 7-7 start, Napier essentially said been there, done that. We’ll have to wait and see if (a) the Gators can start playing better and (b) if Napier has another been there, done that in his repertoire. Recruiting stays solid with flip of Roderick Kearney Four-star offensive lineman Roderick Kearney (6-4, 300, Orange Park, FL) flipped from Florida State to the Gators Monday, a very big pickup that keeps Florida at No. 8 in the recruiting rankings. Kearney, who plays both guard and tackle at the high school level, is expected to stay on the inside at Florida. He is the 22ndcommitment for the 2023 recruiting class which is expected to add another 5-6 players. UF men’s golf Four Gators shot under par Monday as the Gators remained in second plays in the Isleworth Collegiate in Windemere. The Gators got a 67 from Quentin Debove, a 68 from Yuxin Lin, a 69 from Fred Biondi and a 70 from Matthew Kress as they went -10 for the day and -12 for the tournament, eight shots behind first place Auburn (-20). Top 10 teams: 1. Auburn -20; 2. FLORIDA -12; 3. Purdue -2; 4. LSU +1; 5. (tie) Illinois and South Florida +3; 7. Arizona +5; 8. West Virginia +8; 9. South Carolina +9; 10. UCF +10. SEC football No. 6. Alabama (7-1, 4-1 SEC): Eli Ricks (arrest and injury), the All-America transfer corner from LSU, finally got to play against Mississippi State. Targeted 10 times, he broke up four passes and allowed only one completion. Arkansas (4-3, 1-3 SEC): In the win over BYU, Rocket Sanders carried 15 times for 175 yards and two TDs. He leads the SEC in rushing with 870 yards and seven TDs. Auburn (3-4, 1-3 SEC): Defensive tackle Zykeivous Walker has left the program and plans to enter the transfer portal in December. No. 1 Georgia (7-0, 4-0 SEC): Kirby Smart hopes to have nose tackle Jalen Carter and wide receiver AD Mitchell back for the Florida game. No. 19 Kentucky (5-2, 2-2 SEC): Linebacker Jacquez Jones will be out this week against Tennessee and maybe the week after for Missouri. No. 18 LSU (6-2, 4-1 SEC): LSU has scored 12 touchdowns in its last 18 possessions against Florida and Ole Miss with 10 of the 12 touchdown drives covering at least 70 yards. Mississippi State (5-3, 2-3 SEC): Will Rogers was 30-61 passing against Alabama, the first time this season he has completed less than 50 percent of his passes. Missouri (4-3, 1-3 SEC): Missouri’s defense held Vanderbilt to 58 rushing yards, its best effort since holding Louisiana Tech to eight in game one. No. 15 Ole Miss (7-1, 3-1 SEC): The unraveling of Ole Miss against LSU had plenty to do with penalties, 10 for -111 yards, the worst game of the year for the Rebels. No. 25 South Carolina (5-2, 2-2 SEC): In running for 92 yards and a TD in the win over Texas A&M, Marshawn Lloyd gained 88 yards after the initial contact. No. 3 Tennessee (7-0, 3-0 SEC): Wide receiver Jalin Hyatt’s numbers on the season – 40 catches for 769 yards (19.23) and 12 TDs. He leads the country in TD receptions. Texas A&M (3-4, 1-3 SEC): Jimbo Fisher is 37-18 in his first 55 games as the HBC. Kevin Sumlin, who was fired to make way for Fisher, was 39-16 in his first 55. Vanderbilt (3-5, 0-4 SEC): Corner Jaylen Mahoney, who leads the Commodores with 6.5 tackles for loss this season, got five TFLs for -22 yards against Missouri. Our SEC orphans in the Big 12 Oklahoma (4-3, 1-3 Big 12): Dillon Gabriel ranks second in the Big 12 in passing with 1,618 yards (9.2 per attempt) and 13 TDPs. Texas (5-3, 3-2 Big 12): Senior safety Anthony Cook broke his arm in the loss to Oklahoma State. ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: If Texas A&M were to decide to fire Jimbo Fisher right now, it would cost the school/boosters a mere $85,900,000. The Aggies are 3-4 with the very real possibility of finishing below .500. The offense, which is supposed to be Jimbo’s specialty, ranks 108th nationally. Jimbo’s fully-guaranteed contract runs through 2031. Iowa (3-4) is averaging just 14 points per game. The Hawkeyes rank dead last (227.3 yards) in total offense and 128th in scoring. Kirk Ferentz has a contract that runs through 2029. It would cost the school/boosters $42 million to buy him out. Mel Tucker’s 10-year, $95 million contract at Michigan State (3-4) is fully guaranteed. The Spartans are 104th in total offense. Down at Miami (3-4), Mario Cristobal’s 10-year deal is worth $80 million. The Hurricanes rack up yards and score points. They just can’t hold onto the ball (eight turnovers against Duke). Brian Kelly at least is winning at LSU. His 10-year, $95 million a year deal is 90 percent guaranteed. James Franklin is winning at Penn State. His 10-year deal, $85 million a year deal is reportedly 90 percent guaranteed. At Auburn, where they fired Gus Malzahn two seasons ago and gave him $21.4 million to go away, Bryan Harsin is almost certain to get canned. It will cost Auburn $18 million to pink slip him. Florida paid Will Muschamp $6.3 million, Jim McElwain $7.5 million and Dan Mullen $12 million. Muschamp negotiated a $12.9 million buyout from South Carolina. Paul Chryst got an $11 million buyout from Wisconsin and Scott Frost got $15 million from Nebraska. A friend and business partner told me recently, “If there is such a thing as reincarnation, I want to come back as a major college football coach and get fired.”

Thoughts of the Day By FRANZ BEARD A few thoughts to help jump start your Monday morning.. THE GATORS DESPERATELY NEED SOME JACKSONVILLE WEIRDNESS A year ago, the oddsmakers in Las Vegas made No. 1 Georgia a 14.5-point favorite to beat the Gators. Georgia covered. Easily. The final was 34-7 and it really didn’t seem that close even though Georgia needed a 21-point blitz in the final 2:16 of the first half to break out of a 3-0 white knuckler. This year, Georgia again is ranked No. 1 and this time is a 22-point favorite, which eclipses 1971, when Georgia was favored by 21 and won, 49-7. Georgia is second in the country in total offense (526.6 yards per game), seventh in passing (329.9 yards), eighth in scoring (41.7 points), eighth in third down conversions (44-84, 52.38 percent), second in scoring defense (9.1 points), fourth in total defense (247 yards), fourth in rush defense (83.29 yards, 3.29 per carry), fifth in pass defense (163.7 yards, 5.4 per attempt) and 12th in third down defense (28-95, 29.47 percent). Florida, on the other hand, is 56th in scoring (31.4), 16th in rushing (213.14 yards, 6.38 per carry), 92nd in passing (217 yards, 8.3 per attempt), 43rd in total offense (430.1 yards), 49th in third down conversions (34-80, 42.5 percent), 80th in scoring defense (28.1 points), 108th in rushing defense (185 yards, 4.47 per carry), 90th in pass defense (244.3 yards), 109th in total defense (429.3 yards) and 130th in third down defense (51-97, 52.58 percent). The numbers beg the question why should the Gators even show up? Well, one reason is weird things happen in Jacksonville like 1976 when Georgia beat the Gators 10-7 on an 80-yard tight end around pass from Richard Appleby to Gene Washington. On that play, Henry Davis, who only gave up one TD all year (that one), stepped in a mud puddle, slipped and fell down. Or 2014. Georgia came into the game 6-1, ranked 9th nationally and 11.5-point favorites to hammer the Gators, who came into the game on the heels of a 42-13 blasting at the hands of Missouri. The Gators started true freshman Treon Harris at QB and the same team that averaged 2.81 yards per carry against Missouri pounded Georgia for 418 yards and five rushing touchdowns. Kelvin Taylor ran for 197 yards and Matt Jones 192. Harris threw six passes, completed three for 27 yards. Florida scored a shocking 38-20 win. Georgia went on to win 10 games. Will Muschamp wound up getting fired even though the Gators did post a winning season. Muschamp knows Jacksonville weirdness. Now, Georgia’s defensive coordinator, he was a safety on the Georgia team that lost to Florida, 33-26, in 1993. That’s the year Anthone Lott called time out just before the ball was snapped with five seconds to go, nullifying what appeared to be an Eric Zeier touchdown pass. On the re-snap, Zeier threw an incompletion. Call it Jacksonville weirdness. Billy Napier and the Gators need a huge dose of it Saturday. USWNT for World Gymnastics Championships has a distinct Gator flavor The United States women’s national team will have distinctive Gator flavor for the World Gymnastics Championships October 29-30 in Liverpool, England. Florida sophomore Leanne Wong, who won a silver at the 2021 World Championships in Tokyo, will be joined on the team by future Gators Skye Blakely and Shilese Jones. Wong, a first team All-American on vault, floor exercise and all-around and second team on even bars as a UF freshman, was the SEC balance beam champion and third in the all-around at the NCAA championship final. Skye Blakely, younger sister of Gator gymnast Sloane Blakely, and Jones have deferred entry at the University of Florida until the 2024 season. Swimming: The 3rd-ranked Gator men beat 9th-ranked Virginia, 189-11, over the weekend in Charlottesville, while the 11th-ranked UF women lost to top-ranked Virginia, 189-115. Both the UF men and women will swim against Georgia in Athens Friday evening. Softball: The Gators won two exhibition games at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium, taking out Jacksonville, 6-0, Friday night, then Florida State, 5-3, Sunday afternoon. Friday night, Skylar Wallace went 4-4 with two singles, a double, a triple, two stolen bases and four RBI. Four Florida pitchers – Olivia Gigante, Elizabeth Hightower, Rylee Trlicek and Samantha Bender – allowed JU only four hits and the UF defense backed them up with three double plays. Sunday, Reagan Walsh drove in three runs while Bender and Trlicek combined to pitch a 5-hitter. College football polls Associated Press top 25: 1. Georgia 7-0; 2. Ohio State 7-0; 3. Tennessee 7-0; 4. Michigan 7-0; 5. Clemson 8-0; 6. Alabama 7-1; 7. TCU 7-0; 8. Oregon 6-1; 9. Oklahoma State 6-1; 10. (Tie) Southern California 6-1 and Wake Forest 6-1; 12. UCLA 6-1; 13. Penn State 6-1; 14. Utah 5-2; 15. Ole Miss 7-1; 16. Syracuse 6-1; 17. Illinois 6-1; 18. LSU 6-2; 19. Kentucky 5-2; 20. Cincinnati 6-1; 21. North Carolina 6-1; 22. Kansas State 5-2; 23. Tulane 7-1; 24. North Carolina State 5-2; 25. South Carolina 5-2 AFCA Coaches top 25: 1. Georgia 7-0; 2. Ohio State 7-0; 3. Tennessee 7-0; 4. Michigan 7-0; 5. Clemson 8-0; 6. Alabama 7-1; 7. TCU 7-0; 8. Oregon 6-1; 9. Oklahoma State 6-1; 10. Wake Forest 6-1; 11. Southern California 6-1; 12. Ole Miss 7-1; 13. Penn State 6-1; 14. Utah 5-2; 15. UCLA 6-1; 16. Syracuse 6-1; 17. Kentucky 5-2; 18. Illinois 6-1; 19. Cincinnati 6-1; 20. LSU 6-2; 21. North Carolina 6-1; 22. Kansas State 5-2; 23. North Carolina State 5-2; 24. Tulane 7-1; 25. South Carolina 5-2 SEC football No. 6 Alabama (7-1, 4-1 SEC): One week after they were torched for 567 yards and 52 points by Tennessee, the Alabama defense held Mississippi State to six points and 293 yards. More important, Alabama was penalized only three times for -20 yards. They were flagged 17 times for -130 against the Vols. Next week: Open Arkansas (4-3, 1-3 SEC): The Razorbacks have one of the most balanced offenses in the country – 240 rushing yards and 248.6 passing yards per game. Moving the ball and scoring points isn’t the problem. Stopping people is. The Hogs are next to last in the SEC in both scoring defense (32.6) and total defense (457.3 yards). Next week: at Auburn (3-4, 1-3 SEC) Auburn (3-4, 1-3 SEC): The Tigers have the worst rushing defense in the SEC (204.43 yards per game, 4.85 per carry). Saturday, they’ll be going against an Arkansas team that averages 240 yards per game and 4.99 yards per carry. Next week: vs. Arkansas (4-3, 1-3 SEC) No. 1 Georgia (7-0, 4-0 SEC): Georgia ranks fourth nationally in total defense (247 yards per game) and second in scoring defense (9.1 per game) despite only seven sacks and nine forced turnovers. Next week: vs. FLORIDA (4-3, 1-3 SEC) in Jacksonville No. 17 Kentucky (5-2, 2-2 SEC): Kentucky’s defense is ranked 14th nationally (295.4 yards per game). Saturday the Wildcats’ job will be to slow down Tennessee, which has the No. 1 scoring (50.1) and total offense (571.7) offense in the country. Next week: at No. 3 Tennessee (7-0, 3-0 SEC) No. 18 LSU (6-2, 4-1 SEC): After falling behind 17-3, LSU outscored Ole Miss 42-3 the rest of the way. Jayden Daniels threw for 248 yards and a TD and ran for 121 and three more. Daniels has thrown for five touchdowns and run for six in the last two games. Next week: Open Mississippi State (5-3, 2-3 SEC): Mike Leach isn’t happy with all the dropped passes by his receivers in the last couple of weeks. “I’m genuinely fearful that on our team if me and the other coaches don’t get them right, that about a generation from now their kids and grandkids won’t have hands,” Leach said Saturday night. “Because from a lack of use those hands just disappear.” Next week: Open Missouri (4-4, 1-3 SEC): After Mizzou’s ugly 17-14 win over Vandy, Eli Drinkwitz said, “Some really bad stuff, but it’s a lot easier to fix after a win.” Next week: at South Carolina (5-2, 2-2 SEC) No. 15 Ole Miss (7-1, 3-1 SEC): Citing what went wrong against LSU, Lane Kiffin pointed out, “Missed tackles. We got pushed around a lot.” LSU ran for 252 yards and passed for 248 against the Ole Miss defense. Next week: at Texas A&M (3-4, 1-3 SEC) No. 25 South Carolina (5-2, 2-2 SEC): With the win over the Aggies, South Carolina has won four straight games for the first time since the 2013 season, when the then-Steve Spurrier coached Gamecocks went 11-2. Next week: vs. Missouri (3-4, 1-3 SEC) No. 3 Tennessee (7-0, 3-0 SEC): Hendon Hooker threw for 276 yards and three touchdowns, further establishing himself as the Heisman front runner. Wide receiver Jailyn Hyatt caught seven passes for 174 yards and two TDs. He has to be on the Biletnikoff short list. Next week: vs. No. 17 Kentucky (5-2, 2-2 SEC) Texas A&M (3-4, 1-3 SEC): The Aggies are in need of three more wins to even be bowl eligible and the remaining five games are No. 12 Ole Miss, Florida, (at) Auburn, UMass and No. 18 LSU. Only the UMass game is a certain win. Next week: vs. No. 15 Ole Miss (7-1, 3-1 SEC) Vanderbilt (3-5, 0-4 SEC): In losing 17-14 to Missouri, the Commodores extended their SEC record losing streak in conference games to 25. Next week: Open Our SEC orphans in the Big 12 Oklahoma (4-3, 1-3 Big 12): The Sooners rank dead last in the Big 12 and 121st nationally in rushing defense (207.43 yards per game). The Sooners are 116th nationally in total defense (447.1 yards per game). Next week: at Iowa State (3-4, 0-4 Big 12) Texas (5-3, 3-2 Big 12): Quinn Ewers was 19-49 passing for 319 yards with two TDs and three interceptions in the loss to Oklahoma State. Next week: Open Football played somewhere beside the SEC Charlotte (1-7): Will Healy joined the Extinct Species List, fired after a 34-15 loss to Florida International. Healy was 15-24 at Charlotte after a very successful run as the HBC at D1AA Austin Peay. Liberty (7-1): Liberty’s 7-1 record includes a blowout win over BYU and a 1-point loss on the road at Wake Forest Gump. Of the four remaining games on the schedule, the only one the Flames will be underdogs is their roadie to Arkansas on November 5. Has Hugh Freeze spent enough time in purgatory for Greg Sankey to offer absolution so that he can return to the SEC? He’s the perfect fit for Auburn. Miami (3-4): Things are not well at The Ewe. Mario Cristobal was brought in to right the ship but his three wins are over D1AA Bethune-Cookman, Southern Miss of the Fun Belt and a really bad Virginia Tech team. In losing to Duke, 45-21, Saturday, the Hurricanes lost five fumbles, completed three passes to the Blue Devils DBs and their porous O-line allowed six sacks. Were things really this bad under Manny Diaz? ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Dameon Pierce carried the football 20 times for 92 yards Sunday in the Houston Texans’ 38-20 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. Through six games now, Pierce has 106 carries for 504 yards and three touchdowns. He averages 4.8 per carry and has the second longest rushing TD (75 yards) in the NFL this season. That is worth noting because a year ago in a Florida uniform, Pierce had 100 carries for 574 yards and 13 touchdowns in THIRTEEN games. The year before he had 106 carries for 503 yards and four TDs. In his entire UF career, Pierce had 329 carries for 1,806 yards and 23 TDs, plus he caught 45 passes for 422 yards and five more TDs. The NFL plays a 17-game schedule. If Pierce stays healthy and maintains the current average, he will finish with 1,428 yards. So, the question of the day is how is it the NFL knows how to use a running back and Dan Mullen didn’t? It is mind-boggling.

By KYLE CURTIS GATORBAITMEDIA.COM The Florida Gators and Billy Napier have quietly assembled one of the top classes for 2023 in the whole country. Currently, Florida is sitting at ninth overall recruiting, despite the loss of Creed Whittemore after his recent decommitment. Nonetheless, the Gators are still in a prime position to finish this class strong and have a promising future. Here are a few names to look out for in the coming weeks and months who have Florida as one of their top destinations. Cormani McClain- 5-star Cornerback Cormani McClain has the potential to be the highest-rated recruit since Florida landed Martez Ivey. Ivey was an offensive tackle in the class of 2015 and was the second overall recruit and top-rated offensive tackle in his class. McClain happens to also be the second overall recruit and top-rated cornerback. He has narrowed his options down to Alabama, Florida, and Miami, although according to ON3 prediction there is a 94 percent chance he ends up in Gainesville. His mother, Kaishay McClain, announced that her son would decide on where he will play football is going to be made Oct. 27. McClain is from Lakeland, a city that has produced a lot of top Florida Gator defensive backs in the past. Most notably, Ahmad Black, who is now, coincidentally, the defensive back coach for McClain at Lakeland High School. After a long and intense recruitment journey, the stage will be set on the national level for McClain to make his decision on Oct. 27. “Florida is in a good spot for Cormani,” Director of Recruiting for ON3 Chad Simmons said. “Florida is a school close to home, his high school has sent numerous players to Florida, and he is very comfortable in Gainesville.” DJ Lagway- 5-Star Quarterback The highest-rated uncommitted quarterback in his class, DJ Lagway has become a major target for Billy Napier and his staff in this cycle. Currently, at Willis High School in Willis, Texas, Lagway has lit up every opponent he has played in his senior campaign. Lagway was in attendance in Gainesville for Florida’s SEC opener vs. Kentucky and made a return for the LSU matchup. “It was an amazing time,” Lagway told ON3 following the LSU game. “Florida this weekend was great.” The common theme amongst all recruits who have visited this season has been the level of hospitality and commitment to the relationship within the coaching staff has been second to none. The coaches also made it clear that Lagway is a main target for the Gators and can be the key to success in The Swamp in the future. “They are letting me know I’m their top guy for the class of 2024,” Lagway said. “They want me to lead the class.” While Lagway’s commitment date has not been set, Florida remains in the mix at the top of his recruitment. Alabama, Baylor and Clemson amongst others are also in the mix for the coveted dual-threat quarterback. Names to Look After With National Signing Day still months away (Feb. 1) a lot can happen that will affect the fate of this recruiting class. Although, if Florida can pick up one or two more blue-collar players we could witness a snowball effect of recruits. Four-star defensive tackle Kayden McDonald is a name to monitor. His finalists are Florida, Clemson, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Michigan, although he has made it clear that all teams are still in the race. This would be a massive pickup for a Gator’s front seven who had question marks surrounding their depth going into the season and has been a weak point thus far. McDonald has visited Gainesville four times since this past summer, the most recent being Homecoming when Florida defeated Missouri. With a lot of noise and speculation going around the recruiting world in Gainesville, there is no doubt that Gator fans should have their calendars circled for Oct. 27 when McClain makes his final decision.

“Patience is waiting. Not passively waiting. That is laziness. But to keep going when the going is hard and slow – that is patience. The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” – Leo Tolstoy By FRANZ BEARD GatorBaitMedia.com By now, patience and Jason Jitoboh have become very close friends. What patience and the passing of time have taught him is that he is a warrior. Just looking at Jason Jitoboh makes you think warrior. He is probably closer to seven feet than the 6-11 they list him on the Florida Gators website. He is more than 300 pounds, too, but no longer is it soft weight. Three months after the first of the four surgeries he’s had to repair a detached muscle in his left eye and retina damage suffered after a blow to the head by Tennessee’s Uros Plavsik in Knoxville last January 26, he dedicated himself to work harder than ever before to get in the best condition of his life. Already there are tangible results. He runs the floor better. He makes better decisions when the ball comes his way. Always he has had the soft hands that make him a great receiver when the ball is passed his way and for corralling rebounds but in these early weeks of practice for the 2022-23 season, he seems to be getting to more rebounds than before. The soft shot around the rim is back but now he’s extended his range. This past Saturday he hit two – that’s not a typo – three-pointers. In a row. There is joy on his face and in his body language when he practices. His joy is contagious. When Jason Jitoboh makes a good play or does something totally unexpected like hitting a pair of three-pointers, teammates erupt. Go back a few months. Following that first surgery the world had turned upside down. He couldn’t play basketball. Florida got a new basketball coach and staff. Teammates left and new teammates arrived. And for 20 hours a day he went through a grind few of us could handle. “I had to lay down, facing down for like 20 hours a day,” he recalls. For 50 minutes of each hour it was face down, seeing the world through a hole that allowed him to breathe and stare below. He listened to music. He played video games but at a weird angle. He had to keep his eye as still as possible to allow the muscle to strengthen and for the retina to heal. There have been three more surgeries. There will be another, but the fact he can see well enough to play basketball again and feel normal is a blessing. “I’ve been going through this eight, nine months now,” Jitoboh said. “It’s a lot of patience, a lot of perseverance, a lot of hard work to get where I’m at right now. Still a long way to go, but I like where I’m at right now.” There are few things associate head coach Carlin Hartman hasn’t seen in a coaching career that stretches back more than 25 years, but this was different. It was painful and agonizing. He stressed out just watching but seeing all that Jitoboh went through in his rehabilitation process created a soft spot in his heart for the big kid from Abuja, Nigeria. In the months since he joined Florida’s coaching staff, the two have formed a bond that is unbreakable. Hartman is the surrogate father for parents back in Nigeria. The injury was so serious and the rehab process so complicated that Hartman wasn’t 100 percent sure Jitoboh could come all the way back. That is, until he spent time with him. “I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have his life change just like it did in an instant,” Hartman said. “Some of the things in which he had to deal with in his recovery I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. You know, he’s having to sleep with his face down in a hole in a certain part of his bed because he couldn’t sleep on his side. Little things like that where you just don’t think about in terms of dealing with the eye pressure he was facing. “Then, he had to withdraw from classes in the spring so he’s having to take all these classes in the summertime all the way up until we just started fall semester. So, credit to him for persevering and getting though it because, quite frankly, there’s not a lot of kids would do that unless they want to be a part of what we’re building.” Jitoboh wants to be part of something special at the University of Florida. He wants his team to do well, and he wants to be someone teammates can count on to contribute in a big way. At the time he was injured last season, Colin Castleton was out six games after tearing the labrum in his left shoulder. In the two games before the injury, Jitoboh delivered eight points and 10 rebounds against Vanderbilt and 12 points to go with five rebounds against Ole Miss. For the past two years, Jitoboh and Castleton have banged against each other on a daily basis in practice. Castleton has always felt Jitoboh had it in him to be a very good player but ever since he’s gone through the rehab process, he’s seeing a new and improved Jitoboh. Castleton also savors the idea that there could be times when he and Jitoboh will be Florida’s twin towers, each bringing a different skill set to the game. Like Jitoboh, Castleton is nearly seven feet. He’s 250 pounds, able to put the ball on the deck and drive and he’s extended his shooting range to the three-point line. An All-SEC performer the last two years, Todd Golden believes there is All-America potential in Castleton. Team that up with a 300-pounder who sets beastly picks, boxes out with devastating effect and can keep the paint clean and free and there is much to like. “He’s super focused and I haven’t seen this, like approach in him since I’ve been here,” Castleton said. “So this is really good for me to see. He’s super motivated and he wants to even play with me on the court, so having two, you know, basically seven-footers that are skilled on the court at the same time I feel like is gonna be unguardable. So, I think Coach Golden’s going to be able to sprinkle in like me and him playing on the court at the same time and then him giving me a break and then him going in with me … like it’s really going to be good for him.” Having a talented big guy to back up Castleton is important for Golden’s offensive scheme, which is basically a big guy surrounded by four capable shooters who can defend multiple positions. But this is not a one size fits all approach to the game. The offense and the defense both will adapt to opponents. You could call it the drive-through window approach. Golden has the interchangeable parts that make it possible to go small, medium, large and even super-size. Jitoboh fits into most of the schemes. “His body is in really good shape,” Golden said. “Jason is really, really talented. He has great hands, great understanding of how to play, great positioning defensively. He does things you can’t coach. Obviously, his big hurdle has been his health, so for us we’ve really tried to drill down on what gives him the best chance of making it through a 31-game regular season and then get into the post season. “Because if he stays healthy for us, he provides another element that a lot of people probably haven’t thought about for us. To be able to have two really talented back to the basket or centers is a real luxury. He’s a really good player when he’s healthy.” Staying healthy begins with protecting Jitoboh’s surgically repaired eye. He still can’t see 100 percent out of his left eye and won’t be able to for a while, but even after his vision is back to normal, he will have to wear goggles for protection. Finding goggles that fit his face, deal with his sight issues and protect his face have made the adjustment period a bit more complicated than what he originally thought it might be. “I’ve gone through some with a shade on it,” Jitoboh said. “I’ve gone through some with a little tint, gone through clear ones, but right now the only part I don’t like about shades is having to constantly wipe them and clean them out, because it gets foggy, but beside that, I think I adjusted to it pretty well.” Of course, even with the goggles on, there was apprehension when practice began and there was contact. “I definitely had to adjust because, whereas I was scared to get hurt again,” Jitoboh said. “I had to start wearing goggles. It was a whole bunch of stuff I had to adjust to, but I think I’m doing pretty good.” He is doing well. Well enough that Hartman thinks we have yet to see the best of Jason Jitoboh. Hartman, who was a power forward at Tulane for Perry Clark during his playing days, sees great hands, good footwork and tremendous understanding on the defensive end for dealing with ball screens – “Defensively he’s one of the better guys in terms of ball screen coverage that I’ve seen at this high level" – along with a willingness to do the physical things that matter in the paint. “When he sets a ball screen, you’re not going through him, first of all,” Hartman said. “It’s hard to get around him because he’s so wide and he’s a target at the rim. He’s a wrecking ball in there. There’s a lot of use for a guy like that. The thing I’m impressed with the most with him is how great a teammate he is. He celebrates guys success way more than he even celebrates his own. I always have an affinity for guys like that.” Before the injury, Jitoboh wanted to get his driver’s license in the spring, but of course, that was set back months. As part of his mentorship, Hartman has become the driver’s ed teacher. It is an adventure that has gone viral. There is a video. Teammates have seen it. They express concerns. Asked if he would ride in a car driven by Jitoboh, Niels Lane responded, “No. No sir. I would not. I wouldn’t want to find out. I’ve never been in a car with Jason driving. I just know that he doesn’t have much experience driving so that’s not something I want to experience. I’ll just let (Coach) Hartman take care of that.” Kowacie Reeves said, “No! No! He don’t even have his vision all the way. It’s him and Coach Hartman in the car [in the video] and I’m glad I wasn’t on the road.” Hartman simply says, “Nah, you don’t want him to get his license.” Jitoboh thinks it’s simply a matter of practice and then he will do just fine. He’s analyzed his driving and arrived at the following conclusion: “So my right turns are a little weird. I guess I turn the steering wheel and I try to turn it back. So that’s my issue while I’m driving. I just gotta let it come back, I guess. “Stopping at a stop sign, like, at the right time, but I brake too hard. Sometimes I don’t know the sign’s there.” At some point in the future, right turns, stop signs, brakes and curbs will all be dealt with. From what we already know about Jason Jitoboh, he will do whatever work is necessary to improve. In the meantime, he will be doing everything he can to improve on the basketball court. Just like driving, basketball is also an adventure waiting to be conquered. He loves the game, his coaches and his teammates and all of them love him, too. They know him as a friend and after all he has been through just to get back to where he is today, they know he is a warrior.

"THOUGHTS OF THE DAY" A delayed thoughts of the day to jump start your bye weekend. By Franz Beard DO WE DARE HOPE? On October 20, 2018, the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns were taken out by Appalachian State, 27-17, in Boone. The Cajuns, whose record dropped to 3-4 under first year coach Billy Napier, couldn’t get App State off the field. The Mountaineers ran for 266 yards that day. They didn’t have to throw much because it was too easy pounding the Cajuns between the tackles. From that point moving forward, Louisiana won four of its next five games to tie Arkansas State for the West Division championship of the Sun Belt Conference. Because one of those four wins was over co-champ Arkansas State, the Ragin Cajuns got a rematch with Appalachian State in the Sun Belt Championship Game, again in Boone, and the results weren’t all that different. Louisiana went to a bowl game where it lost to Tulane, finishing the season 7-7. That probably doesn’t sound like much of an achievement, but fans pretty much thought the Cajuns were at rock bottom when they were 3-4. Instead, Napier rallied the troops, got the running game going in the last half of the season and started winning games in shootout fashion. The next year, they went 11-3, won their division outright and started the best three-season run in school history (33-5 from 2019-21) that concluded with a Sun Belt championship and a bowl win over Marshall. It's easy to write off what happened at Louisiana as life in the Fun Belt, but it’s all relative. He won in the Fun Belt by recruiting better talent, surrounding himself with coaches he knows and trusts and then sticking to a plan to transform the entire football culture with emphasis on his belief that better people make better football players. The Gators don’t have a game this weekend, which is a good thing. This is a team that for all its flaws has yet to be blown out by anyone. All three lost games could have been won just as three of the four wins could have been lost. You probably get tired of that being brought up, but it’s worth mentioning. Bryan Harsin down at Auburn tried to reassure his fan base this week that the Tigers aren’t that far off, but three of their four losses are blowouts by 14 or more points. The Gators may be terrible on defense and the offense is erratic at best, but they’ve had their chances to win every game. So the question that should be asked is do we dare hope? I would say the answer is yes. The Gators are already out of the race to win the SEC East, but they do have five games remaining for all the kids on the team – 64 of the 85 on scholarship are freshmen and sophomores – to get experience and show improvement. Right now a 7-5 record seems to be likely, which is what the Gators were predicted in the preseason. Could they go 8-4? If they show improvement on defense and if the lights go on and stay on for Anthony Richardson then all things are possible. Probable? Maybe not, but as we’ve seen in seven previous games, eliminate a mistake here and there and outcomes can be far different. The SEC Soothsayer UT-Martin (4-2) at No. 3 Tennessee (6-0): The fans in Dollywood were so happy with their win last week that they stormed the field and tore down the goal posts which caused the university to ask for donations to replace them. Let’s see, the school got $56 million last year from the SEC, will get more than $60 million next year and by 2025 will be taking in more than $100 million. And they’re asking for donations for goal posts? Of course, these things happen when it's been so long that you actually accomplished anything that you are clueless how to act in a big moment. They won’t be tearing down goal posts this weekend, not with Paycheck Tech in town. This one will be over and done with before the clock strikes zero at the end of the first quarter. What they better hope and pray for is that nobody important gets hurt because the following two games are going to be beastly and determine if the Vols make the College Football Playoff. The Sayer says sooth!: Dollywood, Dollywood Swinging 63, Paycheck Tech 3 No. 24 Mississippi State (5-2, 2-2 SEC) at No. 6 Alabama (6-1, 3-1 SEC): Did you know that since 2013, Alabama has allowed 40 or more points in a game 13 times? Take a guess what Nick Saban’s record is in games after Alabama gave up 40 or more? If you said 13-0, then you win the kewpie doll. It should be noted that this is uncharted territory for Bama, however. The last time the Tide gave up 50 points, which they did last week to Tennessee, was 1907 when Sewanee thumped them 54-4 in a game played on The Quad in Tuscaloosa. Needless to say, much has changed since 1907 including Nick Saban’s demeanor the week after (a) losing and (b) allowing 40 or more points. Nick knows the only way the Tide makes the College Football Playoff is to go 5-0 in the remaining regular season games, then knock of whoever wins the SEC East. It can be done but will require better defense than last week when Tennessee hung 52 on the Tide. The Pirate probably gets some points, but not enough to beat a rather pissed off Nick. The Sayer says sooth: Stars Fell on Alabama 40, Pirates of the Caribbean 24 No. 7 Ole Miss (7-0, 3-0 SEC) at LSU (5-2, 3-1 SEC): Everybody thinks Lane Kiffin is a heave it all over the ball yard kind of coach, but he actually likes grinding opponents to a pulp on the ground and then throwing it over the top when they try to load up the box. That’s pretty much what he’s had the Rebels doing this year and what they’ll need to do to beat LSU in Tiger Stadium Saturday. One thing Lane knows is that Jayden Daniels can’t hurt his porous defense if he can’t get on the field and the best way to keep him off the field is time-consuming drives that grind away. When the Tigers try to load the box, they don’t have anyone who can handle Jonathan Mingo or Malik Heath. At night LSU would get the edge but this is a 3:30 game. The Sayer says sooth: Mississippi Squirrel Revival 35, Opelousas Sostan 28 Texas A&M (3-3, 1-2 SEC) at South Carolina (4-2, 1-2 SEC): How embarrassing would it be for the Aggies to get bushwhacked by the Chickens at Willy Brice Saturday night? They’ve never lost to the Chickens before so this would be an all-time first. It would also have Aggie boosters anteing up money just in case the AD gives them the okay to buy out Jimbo. In Texas they say the only ones who have more money than the Aggies are God and the Longhorns, so $94.5 million is a day’s interest for a few of the more well-heeled types. The Aggies are 3-point favorites. When the season began this was supposed to be a blowout for the Aggies who were going to be in the hunt for a national title. My how things have changed. This feels like an upset is brewing. The Sayer says sooth!: Making Colonel Sanders proud 20, Not ready for prime time 13 Vanderbilt (3-4, 0-3 SEC) at Missouri (2-4, 0-3 SEC): Someone at SEC headquarters in Birmingham should be fired for not scheduling this game on Thursday night. Three years ago on October 19, 2022 Gloria Vanderbilt last won an SEC football game, ironically against Missouri. Since then the Commodores have run off an SEC record 24 consecutive losses in conference games, breaking their old record of 23. Saturday the two teams square off in a high tension battle to see who lays claim to last place in the SEC East. One team will depart Saturday as the only team in the SEC without a conference victory. Vanderbilt comes into the game on the heels of a 55-0 poleaxing at the hands of Georgia in which they managed 150 yards of offense. The Dores will be going against the fourth best defense in the SEC Saturday which is why they will keep the streak alive, even against a team whose offense basically stinks. The Sayer says sooth!: Misery Index 24, Anderson Cooper’s mother 14 Our SEC orphans in the Big 12 No. 20 Texas (5-2, 3-1 Big 12) at No. 11 Oklahoma State (6-1, 3-1 Big 12): In 21 years on the job at Okie State, Mike Gundy has exactly one Big 12 championship. He wins a lot of games but now that Georgia broke through and won the big one, he’s the king of almost. He’s not out of the Big 12 championship race, since there are no divisions and everyone plays everyone else, but he can’t afford another slip-up, particularly against the Longhorns, who also have only one loss in league play. It’s still October, but this is a must game for both teams. The Longhorns are favored to win by six, probably because the Mullet Man has been throwing lasers lately. This is in Stillwater and the Cowboys are really good at T. Boone’s place. The Sayer says sooth!: Garth Brooks alma mater 37, Willie Nelson’s favorite team 34 ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: The commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick met Thursday in an attempt to iron out the details to expand the College Football Playoff in 2024. There are numerous logistical issues that have to be resolved along with revenue distribution. Since there will be two extra layers of games with the expected 12-team tournament, will some games be played on campus or will the bowl games be incorporated so that every game will be at a neutral site? One thing seems lost in the shuffle. For all the debate about logistics, bowls, etc., who’s going to have the television rights? And, since whoever it is that has the rights is going to be paying at least a billion dollars or more, that entity – or entities if more than one network is involved – is going to have a very large say in the who, what, where and when. It probably wouldn’t be a stretch to say the network partner(s) will have the largest say. ESPN essentially controls the bowls and in all probability will get the contract for the ESPN/ABC/Disney family of networks, particularly since it has the current CFP contract that doesn’t expire until after the 2025 playoff. There are indeed so many items on the agenda that can and will be decided by the commissioners, but let’s not think for even a nano-second that when television speaks, that will be the final word and the colleges will nod in agreement.

As he often does, Spurrier quoted John Wooden: “He said, ‘They will play very close to how you teach them to play.’” By BUDDY MARTIN GatorBaitMedia.com Editor Outlined against a blue-gray October sky, hard against the St. Johns River, the Four Horsemen ride again: Fear, Doom, Doubt and Gloom. The Bulldogs are coming. The No. 1 ranked Georgia Bulldogs. Get the women and children off the streets because Jacksonville is about to appear in the cone of destruction. Head to higher ground, quickly. That’s a partial parody of how the great American sportswriter Grantland Rice described Notre Dame’s conquering of Army 98 years ago as a juggernaut of college football. His version of the Fighting Irish’s Four Horsemen: “In dramatic lore, they were known as Famine, Pestilence, Destruction and Death.” It kind of feels like the appropriate apprehension for what’s about to transpire next week. A massacre looming, perhaps? Gather round Gator faithful for the gnashing of teeth. The wise guys in Las Vegas have made Florida more than a two-touchdown underdog to The Mighty Dawgs. So shall the Gators just go ahead and waive the white flag now? “You never know, they might upset Georgia,” said the Bulldog-killer himself, Steve Spurrier, but only half-heartedly as a rebuttal to a friend who was suggesting that an ugly beatdown of the Gators was possible, even probable. We had been talking about coaching strategies on defense, third down in particular, what might work when something different is tried or tested and when might be the appropriate time to change. “I’d like to see them try something different,” said the HBC, summing up the sentiment of all who have seen the recent movie “Nightmare on Lemerand Boulevard.” Let me make this caveat: Spurrier in no way was second guessing Billy Napier’s strategy or defensive coordinator Patrick Toney’s technique or calls. I wanted to know how coaching related to concept and should translate to execution on the field. And what has worked for Spurrier in the past. We were simply having conversation. As he often does, Spurrier quoted John Wooden: “He said, ‘They will play very close to how you teach them to play.’” But pointing no fingers, because frankly he doesn’t know how these Gators are being taught or even how to evaluate Toney. I was taking a bit shallow dive into the subject of third down defense with the two greatest head coaches in Florida football history: Spurrier and Urban Meyer. Among other things, I wanted to know if lack of proper personnel could be offset with different defensive technique and strategy. After all, these two were 16-2 against Georgia. What might we draw from their expertise? One thing I was reminded about – although I pretty much knew -- is how perplexing third down the challenge is for all coaches. Both Spurrier and Meyer explained there was no easy, one-size-fits-all answer and that it would vary, depending on your opponent. Neither of them cared to venture into dilemma about how to adapt Florida’s defense. However, they did talk about their own personal experiences. Spurrier told the story of how making a defensive adjustment for the Clemson game in 1989 was the key to upsetting the Tigers, 21-17, and catapulting his Blue Devils from a 1-3 record to seven straight wins, a co-ACC title, bowl game and punching his ticket to Gainesville. “Without it, I’d have never gotten the Florida job,” he said. Meyer made third down a huge emphasis. “We practiced third downs every Wednesday,” he said, meaning from both sides of the football. “We even had daily competition in the spring. Third down is the ‘Money Down.’” Money? That’s when it hit me. The most famous quote ever uttered by Billy Napier was “Scared Money Don’t Make Money.” It was said by Napier at halftime of the Louisiana-Ohio game in reference to his bold decision to eschew a field goal in favor of a TD at the one-yard line while leading 14-3. And it became the battle cry for Gator fans. Scared Money? I guess it could also apply to playing tentative on either side of the ball. What if you applied the same philosophy to Florida’s third down strategy? When you’re last among all FBS teams in third down defense, what’s to lose? This week Napier gave his defensive coordinator a vote of confidence, saying Toney was “absolutely one of the best coaches I’ve been on staff with,” explaining his DC is deeply disturbed and “working very hard’ to fix what’s broken. One pending debate among pundits and fans is whether Napier and Toney have the right players on defense and if they are just so short-handed of talent that failure is imminent. “Well, then put a walk-on in and see what he can do,” suggested one frustrated former Gator star. Of course we know change just for the sake of change doesn’t normally work, but perhaps you won’t know until you do it. This being an open date and the Georgia game looming, Gator fans have scary Halloween visions of Darnell Washington and Brock Bower catching 20 Stetson Bennett passes each and running roughshod over the Gator defense like a Zamboni over an ant bed. Fans are getting nervous. When you’ve already lost 11 of your last 14 SEC games and just hoping to limp into the post-season with a bowl bid after starting the season with an upset over No. 7 Utah, you need somebody to light a candle instead of complaining about the darkness in The Ides of Halloween. “I hope we do something different,” is really the only advice Spurrier would offer. I asked Spurrier what he did at Duke with a beatdown perhaps looming from Clemson back in ‘89. For one thing, Duke needed to force more punts by the other team. He said he and DC Bob Sanders simply committed to the idea of sending more players than Clemson could block. Sounds simple, right? “We went to a ‘Zero Coverage’ package,” said Spurrier. “Sometimes on third down we lined up eight across and had the free safety roaming in the secondary.” It put pressure on the opposing quarterback and forced the other team to throw when it didn’t want to. In essence, the defense dictated the play calling. The other thing Spurrier emphasized was the importance of adapting personnel to the scheme, or vice versa. “Don’t ask them to do what they can’t do.” Once upon a time in 2005 when Urban Meyer was fighting the whispers about his funky offense and Mountain West Conference education at Utah, the Gators lost to LSU, 21-17, fell to a 4-2 mark and the natives were restless. As soon as the plane landed in Gainesville, Meyer, quarterback coach Dan Mullen and offensive line coach Steve Addazio pulled an all-night chalk talk to change the offense. “We had under-estimated the speed and power of defensive ends in the SEC,” Urban told me this week. So they decided to put a fullback in the offense again, except they didn’t have one. So they flipped Billy Latsko from linebacker and off they went. (Later they also tinkered with the secondary.) In other words, they used the open date to work on changes, something most coaches will do, and something no doubt Napier and Toney are considering. How did it work out? They beat Georgia 14-10, winning four out of their next five, defeating Iowa in the Outback Bowl to finish 9-3. The next year they beat Ohio State to win the BCS national championship. As a side note, my colleague Franz Beard points out that Napier’s defense went from 97th to 47th after his first year at ULL and his record from 7-7 to 11-3 and then he proceeded to win 23 more games and two Sun Belt Conference titles. So for all you who pooh-poohed ULL as a Sun Belt representative, remember those who also pooh-poohed Utah and the Mountain West. The common denominator here is intelligent change, patience and perhaps development of a surprise attack. So far we’ve not seen much difference in the results, although the effort is certainly there. Napier and Toney are getting their baptismal under fire, needing to keep fans and future recruits assured that the program is solid and will measure up to expectations. Can they? The pressure is on. “Yeah, I don’t think they’ll be going to Crescent Beach in the near future,” Spurrier said jokingly, referring back to the day when he and Gators DC Bob Stoops would sometimes go for a swim in the Atlantic. “Bobby,” Spurrier once said from his float on the week of a big game, “wonder what those Tennessee coaches are doing today?” For the team in Knoxville, I guess it would be the equivalent of spending the day at Dolly’s place in Pigeon Forge on a Friday before playing at Georgia. Given the way things are going for Josh Heupel, that might even happen. 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THOUGHTS OF THE DAY October 16, 2002 Franz Beard THERE IS GOOD NEWS AND THERE IS BAD NEWS FOR FLORIDA’S BELEAGUERED DEFENSE. The good news is there is no game this week, which means no chunk plays, blown coverages, missed tackles or third down and an overnight hike conversions. The bad news is the Gators face No. 1 Georgia a week from Saturday and right now the Georgia offense is cranking out 41.7 points and 526.6 yards per game. The Bulldogs are pounding away for 196.7 yards per game on the ground and led by the little quarterback who could, Stetson Bennett, they’re throwing for 329.9. Worse yet, they’re converting 52.38 percent of their third downs (44-84). The Gators, meanwhile, are giving up 28.1 points and 429 yards per game. The Gators are 11th in the SEC in points against, 12th in rush defense (185 yards per game), 11th in pass defense (244.3 yards), 12th in yards per play (5.96) and dead last in both the SEC and nation in third down defense (51-97 for 52.58 percent). There are no miracles to be had in this off week. What we’ve seen defensively from the Gators probably won’t change significantly in the final five games of the season. For the Gators to win games, it’s probably going to take shootouts. They probably could do a dandy job in that respect if they could just get the other team off the field. The Gators are averaging 430.1 yards per game and 7.20 yards per play. To put that in better perspective, the 2020 Gators who had Kyle Trask throwing to Kyle Pitts and Kadarius Toney averaged 7.28 per play. The 1995 Gators, who had Danny Wuerffel, Chris Doering, Reidel Anthony, Ike Hilliard, Jaquez Green and Fred Taylor only averaged 7.4 per play. Billy Napier has some offensive weapons. Anthony Richardson is averaging 8.0 per pass attempt, which is very good. As a team, the Gators rank second in the nation in yards per carry (6.38) and they’re fifth in rushing touchdowns (20). A year ago when they were fourth in the country in average yards per carry (5.48), they got into the end zone 26 times in 13 games. When everyone is healthy on the offensive line, the Gators rank among the very best in the country according to the analytics. The offense could be so much better if the Gators could squeeze off more plays. They’re averaging a shade under 60 per game while opponents are on the field for 72. At their current rate, give the Gators 12 more plays and that’s 100 more yards. More importantly, that’s time of possession that UF has the ball and the defense isn’t up to its usual shenanigans. So what’s Billy Napier to do in this bye week? This isn’t like the NFL where he can make trades or put under-performing players on the waiver wire. He has 85 scholarship players, most of whom were recruited by the previous head coach and staff. On the defensive side of the ball, he has inadequate numbers on the line and at linebacker. Overall, there isn’t what you would call SEC speed. There is only one serious pass rusher (Brenton Cox Jr.) and he gets doubled on every play. You can’t say sit the vets and play the kids. There are only four players on the team who will run out of eligibility after this year and 13 juniors. Of those 17, only seven are defenders. Everyone else on the roster is either a sophomore or freshman in eligibility. What that tells us about the remainder of 2022 is that Napier and his defensive coaches may shuffle some players around or do a smoke and mirrors approach like Joe Lee Dunn used to in his heyday. But, you better hold your breath and hope the offense can control the football to keep the defense off the field as long as possible. Looking forward, the Gators are going to have to rebuild through recruiting and the transfer portal. The NCAA scholarship limit is 85 so to keep the numbers at or under the limit, there are scholarship players on the current UF roster with eligibility remaining who aren’t going to be here next year. It is unpleasant for coaches to deal with the numbers crunch and it’s heartbreaking for a lot of players, but it’s a necessity. Either Napier will have to do some house cleaning on his current roster or the Gators will be looking at the same issues defensively next year. Associated Press top 25: 1. Georgia 7-0; 2. Ohio State 6-0; 3. Tennessee 6-0; 4. Michigan 7-0; 5. Clemson 7-0; 6. Alabama 6-1; 7. Ole Miss 7-0; 8. TCU 6-0; 9. UCLA 6-0; 10. Oregon 5-1; 11. Oklahoma State 5-1; 12. Southern California 6-1; 13. Wake Forest 5-1; 14. Syracuse 6-0; 15. Utah 5-2; 16. Penn State 5-1; 17. Kansas State 5-1; 18. Illinois 6-1; 19. Kentucky 5-2; 20. Texas 5-2; 21. Cincinnati 5-1; 22. North Carolina 6-1; 23. North Carolina State 5-2; 24. Mississippi State 5-2; 25. Tulane 6-1 AFCA Coaches top 25: 1. Georgia 7-0; 2. Ohio State 6-0; 3. Michigan 7-0; 4. Tennessee 6-0; 5. Clemson 7-0; 6. Alabama 6-1; 7. Ole Miss 7-0; 8. TCU 6-0; 9. Oregon 5-1; 10. UCLA 6-0; 11. Oklahoma State 5-1; 12. Southern California 6-1; 13. Wake Forest 5-1; 14. Syracuse 6-0; 15. Utah 5-2; 16. Penn State 5-1; 17. Kansas State 5-1; 18. Kentucky 5-2; 19. Cincinnati 5-1; 20. Illinois 6-1; 21. Texas 5-2; 22. North Carolina 6-1; 23. North Carolina State 5-2; 24. Mississippi State 5-2; 25. Tulane 6-1 SEC football (Associated Press Rankings) No. 6 Alabama (6-1, 3-1 SEC): The Alabama defense that was supposed to be the best in the country this year gave up 567 yards in the loss to Tennessee including 385 and five touchdown passes. Nick Saban said his defense played “soft” in what may qualify as the understatement of the year … Alabama was flagged for 17 penalties in the loss to Tennessee. The Crimson Tide is 129th out of 131 Division I teams for most penalties this season. Next week: vs. No. 24 Mississippi State (5-2, 2-2 SEC) Arkansas (4-3, 1-3 SEC): KJ Jefferson came back from concussion protocol with a vengeance, throwing for a career-high five touchdowns in the Razorbacks’ 52-35 win over Brigham Young in Provo … Raheim Sanders, the sophomore from Rockledge, Florida, did his part to help the cause against BYU, running for 175 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Next week: Open Auburn (3-4, 1-3 SEC): Tank Bigsby, who hadn’t run for more than 51 yards against a Division I opponent all year, broke out with a 179-yard, 2-touchdown effort in the Tigers’ loss to Ole Miss … The twitterverse is alive with calls by Auburn fans to fire Bryan Harsin. Apparently that’s not going to happen until a new athletic director is hired. Next week: Open No. 1 Georgia (7-0, 4-0 SEC): In posting their second shutout of the year, Will Muschamp’s defense allowed only 150 total yards against Vanderbilt. Five of seven opponents have failed to run for 100 yards and it has been five games since an opponent managed 300 total yards. Next week: Open No. 19 Kentucky (5-2, 2-2 SEC): The Kentucky defense held Mississippi State’s high-flying offense to only 225 yards … Chris Rodriguez ground out 197 yards and two touchdowns against Mississippi State, his second 100-yard rushing game since returning from suspension. Next week: Open LSU (5-2, 3-1 SEC): Jayden Daniels threw for 347 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 44 yards and three more TDs against the Gators. Next week: vs. No. 7 Ole Miss (7-0, 3-0 SEC) No. 24 Mississippi State (5-2, 2-2 SEC): Next week: at No. 6 Alabama (6-1, 3-1 SEC) Missouri (2-4, 0-3 SEC): Missouri’s defense ranks 24th nationally (330.5 yards per game) and fourth in the SEC. Next week: vs. Vanderbilt (3-4, 0-3 SEC) No. 7 Ole Miss (7-0, 3-0 SEC): The Rebels ran for a season-high 448 yards against Auburn, the highest rushing total against an Auburn defense in 20 years. Quinshon Judkins ran for 139 yards and two touchdowns, Zach Evans ran for 136 and a TD, and quarterback Jaxson Dart ran for 115 yards. Next week: at LSU (5-2, 3-1 SEC) South Carolina (4-2, 1-2 SEC): The Gamecocks host Texas A&M while coming off a bye week. HBC Shane Beamer is 5-0 when he has had extra time to prepare for a game. Next week: vs. Texas A&M (3-3, 1-2 SEC) No. 3 Tennessee (6-0, 3-0 SEC): The Vols moved up to No. 3 in the Associated Press poll, their highest ranking since September of 2005 when they were ranked fifth prior to losing to Florida … Jalin Hyatt caught six passes for 207 yards against Alabama. Five of the catches went for touchdowns. Next week: vs. UT-Martin (4-2) Texas A&M (3-3, 1-2 SEC): There was a bomb threat at Kyle Field last week that cancelled football practice for the Aggies. Next week: at South Carolina (4-2, 1-2 SEC) Vanderbilt (3-4, 0-3 SEC): Since scoring 168 in their four non-conference games to start the season, the Commodores have scored only 31 in their three SEC games. Next week: at Missouri (2-4, 1-3 SEC) Our SEC orphans in the Big 12 Oklahoma (4-3, 1-3 Big 12): With Dillon Gabriel out for most of the TCU game and all of the game with Texas under concussion protocol, the Oklahoma offense was in the tank. Gabriel came back Saturday against Kansas, throwing for 403 yards and two touchdowns as the Sooners broke a 3-game losing streak in the Big 12. Next week: Open No. 20 Texas (5-2, 3-1 Big 12): Quinn Ewers third touchdown pass of the game in the fourth quarter lifted Texas to a 24-21 come-from-behind win over Iowa State. Next week: at No. 11 Oklahoma State ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: After a day to think about it, here are five final thoughts about a rather entertaining weekend of college football: 1. Notre Dame is 3-3: Wasn’t Marcus Freeman supposed to be everything Brian Kelly wasn’t? He’s 3-3 after losing to Stanford. I can’t imagine that Kelly would have been 3-3 had he stayed with the Irish. 2. James Franklin is a good but not a great coach: Michigan ran for more than 400 yards and hung 41 points on Penn State, which supposedly had one of the great defenses in college football. Franklin can win eight or nine games just about any year and occasionally more, he’s good. He just isn’t nor will he ever be great. 3. Finebaum is right about Alabama: Paul Finebaum says the discipline is lacking in Alabama, evident in those 17 penalties against Tennessee. In three road games this year, Alabama has been flagged 42 times for 331 yards. Now that Alabama has lost, the Tide will almost certainly have to run the table in the regular season and then win the SEC Championship Game to make the College Football Playoff. 4. UCLA is the best team in the Pac-12: Chip Kelly has the Bruins unbeaten and in the top ten. This week they’ll do a tapdance on Oregon, which means they’ll only have to beat Southern Cal to win the Pac-12 regular season title. For all the hype about Caleb Williams at Southern Cal, the best QB in the Pac-12 is Dorian Thompson-Robinson at UCLA, which is why the Bruins are the best team in the league. 5. Lane Kiffin to Auburn is wishful thinking: Auburn fans want him in the worst way, but why go to Auburn and deal with those zany boosters as well as coach and recruit in the same state as Nick Saban? Ole Miss pays him $7.25 million, he has outstanding facilities and he’s proven that you don’t have to have top-five high school recruiting classes when you know how to dip into the portal for proven players.

THOUGHTS OF THE DAY OCTOBER 18, 2002 Franz Beard 1. You do not have to be a math major to crunch Florida’s scholarship numbers and conclude that there is going to have to be a tremendous amount of attrition this offseason. The NCAA scholarship limit is 85 and the Gators are at the max, have only four seniors/graduates who will exhaust their eligibility, and 17 who are either redshirt or true juniors. Florida’s recruiting class is currently ranked No. 8 nationally with 21 committed players, plus the Gators probably take 6-7 more. The math, obviously, doesn’t add up, which means there will be attrition once the regular season ends. This is the part that every coach grieves. They all hope that kids who aren’t seeing the field decide for themselves that they need to find a new place to play, but for every kid who reaches that conclusion, there are two or three who are going to be told there are two chances they will ever see the field: no way and no how. With or without the transfer portal, this has been going on for years. Coaches tried to keep it to a minimum in the past but that has changed. For one thing there is the portal and with so many good players who are leaving one place and looking for a place to make an immediate impact, coaches are foolish to keep kids on the roster who aren’t going to play. Additionally, the amount of money coaches are being paid has changed the entire roster management dynamic. Coaches used to be given five years to get a program on the right track. Now it’s three. If they’re lucky. They can’t afford to keep recruiting mistakes from the previous coaching staff on the roster. 2. Creed Whittemore, a 4-star recruit from Gainesville Buchholz decommitted from the Gators Sunday and within a couple of hours announced he will be going instead to Mississippi State. Social media immediately exploded with talk that Florida’s recruiting class was going to fall apart and that current UF wide receiver Trent Whittemore would be joining younger brother Creed at Mississippi State. We’ll deal with the second part first. Of course, it’s always possible that Trent will transfer. His playing time has decreased since last year and he isn’t getting the ball thrown his way but unless he announces that he’s bolting while the current season is going on, then it’s way too early to speculate that he will be leaving. Now, the first part. The class isn’t going to fall apart. Billy Napier doesn’t need a sign that reads “Help wanted: Immediate playing time available.” Kids know that Florida offers opportunities for early playing time. The Gators need speed, defensive linemen, edge rushers, linebackers and secondary. And that’s just on the defensive side of the ball. The kids know it. Florida’s recruiting class will do just fine. A top five class isn’t out of the question. 3. Despite expectations to the contrary, Napier didn’t dip heavily into the transfer portal upon arrival, adding only six players: guard O’Cyrus Torrence, running back Montrell Johnson and offensive tackle Kamryn Waites from Louisiana, quarterback Jack Miller III from Ohio State, corner Jalen Kimber from Georgia and wide receiver Ricky Pearsall from Arizona State. That number should at least double this year and could be more depending upon attrition. Napier can’t do what Dan Mullen did in 2021 when he brought in three one-and-done defensive tackles. The Gators are desperately shorthanded at DT because of that short-sighted choice. Unless Napier can land an immediate impact player who will be a star and a starter from day one, he can’t afford to bring in any transfer who has fewer than two years of eligibility remaining. 4. We tend to forget that in 2007 Nick Saban took over an Alabama team that went 6-7 in 2006. In his first year on the job, Alabama went 7-6 and one of the six losses was to Louisiana-Monroe, 21-14. All six of Alabama’s losses were by seven or fewer points. A year later, Nick Saban went unbeaten in the regular season, then lost to Florida in the SEC Championship Game. In 2009, Alabama ran the table and won the first of Saban’s six national championships in Tuscaloosa. This is NOT to say that Billy Napier is going to have the same success that Saban did, but if the greatest coach of all time can only improve by one win in his first season on the job, then maybe we should consider allowing Napier a little bit of time to build the program the way he wants to. 5. In 2016, Kirby Smart took over a Georgia team that had won 10 games the previous season. He went 8-5, losing to Ole Miss (blowout), Tennessee, Vanderbilt, FLORIDA and Georgia Tech. The next year he went 13-2, won the SEC championship and lost to Alabama in overtime in the national championship game. Smart took over a Georgia program that had benefitted from YEARS of exceptional recruiting under Mark Richt so he had a great foundation to work with. 6. Dabo Swinney became the interim head coach at Clemson in 2008. He went 9-5 the next season and backslid to 6-7 in year three. He was 19-14 heading into the 2011 season. In the years since he is 138-22 and has never failed to win fewer than 10 games. 7. The moral of points four, five and six can be summed up in the immortal words of Master Po in the TV series “Kung Fu” when speaking to his young protégé Caine: “Patience Grasshopper.” Maybe things aren’t what you want right now, but consider the fact that the Gators could have won all three games they lost in spite of themselves. When you can make as many mistakes as the Gators have in those three losses and with a break or two could have won all three, then your head coach (a) knows what he is doing and (b) better times lie ahead. 8. Alabama’s path to the College Football Playoff narrowed considerably with the loss to Tennessee. Since no team has ever made the CFP with two losses, Alabama basically has to finish the regular season on a 5-game winning streak and then win the SEC Championship Game, which could be a rematch with Tennessee. The path to the CFP for both Tennessee and Georgia is much broader since either one could make the playoff with one loss: (a) Tennessee beats Georgia (or Georgia beats Tennessee) November 5, then loses to Alabama in the SEC title game but the Vols (or Bulldogs) are top four in the final CFP poll; or (b) Tennessee beats Georgia (or Georgia beats Tennessee) and then beats Alabama in the SEC title game. If it was a heart clutching loss and the loser makes the top four in the final CFP poll, both make the playoff. 9. File this name away as the hottest assistant coach in the country – Ryan Walters. He’s 36 years old and the defensive coordinator at Illinois, which just so happens to lead the country in total defense (221 yards per game) and scoring defense (8.9 per game). The Illini rank second in pass defense, third in rush defense, tied for first in interceptions and sacks, and fourth in third-down defense. He played at Colorado (2004-08) and spent six years at Missouri, the last five as the defensive coordinator, first under Barry Odom then for Eli Drinkwitz. If Colorado isn’t smart enough to hire one of its own to replace Karl Dorrell, then someone is going to back up a Brinks Truck. 10. If you’ve been following the American League Divisional Championship series between the team formerly known as the Cleveland Indians and the New York Yankees, then you’ve seen former Gator Harrison Bader emerge as a star for the Yankees. Traded from St. Louis to the Yankees during the summer, Bader only played in 14 games, but in four playoff games he’s hit three home runs while playing gold glove defense in center field. Bader has picked up the slack for sluggers Aaron Judge (3-16 with 1 HR, 2 RBI) and Giancarlo Stanton (.083, 1 HR, 3 RBI). If the Yankees win the series in tonight’s fifth and deciding game, they advance to the AL Championship Series against the Houston Astros. 11. Five SEC teams are in the Associated Press preseason top 25 poll, led by Kentucky at No. 4. Also in the poll are No. 10 Arkansas, No. 11 Tennessee, No. 15 Auburn and No. 20 Alabama. I think Arkansas is ranked too high although should be top 25 and Auburn is ranked too low. Tennessee is about where it should be and Alabama is right around where it should be. Associated Press preseason top 25 basketball poll: 1. North Carolina; 2. Gonzaga; 3. Houston; 4. Kentucky; 5. Kansas; 6. Baylor; 7. Duke; 8. UCLA; 9. Creighton; 10. Arkansas; 11. Tennessee; 12. Texas; 13. Indiana; 14. TCU; 15. Auburn; 16. Arizona; 18. Virginia; 19. San Diego State; 20. Alabama; 21. Oregon; 22. Michigan; 23. Illinois; 24. Dayton; 25. Texas Tech ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Billy Napier is seven games into his first year on the Florida job. He’s 4-3, 1-3 in the SEC. The Gators have the No. 14 (out of 14 teams) defense in the SEC, the 106th (out of 131 Division I teams) in the country. If they could get opponents off the field (last in the country in 3rd down defense) then maybe the offense could have more plays (418, which is 96th nationally) and score more points (31.4 per game). Fans and most in the media are of the opinion that Florida football is an absolute mess, and for the most part, they’re right. There is no way to sugar coat it. In the immortal words of Pogo, “We have met the enemy and they is us.” The Gators have been their own worst enemy and yet there are a whole lot of teams in Division I who would gladly trade places. One man’s desert island is another man’s resort. Napier doesn’t point fingers of blame and instead takes far too much credit for anything wrong that is going on. Of course, that’s what leaders are supposed to do. He’s doing a rather fine job of it so far. Not once has he mentioned the fact that the situation he inherited was borderline disastrous. It’s very easy to point a finger at Dan Mullen, who seemed to think his dynamic offenses and play calling could more than compensate for bad recruiting, but the problems go back farther than just Mullen. The hole that Billy Napier is trying to dig the Gators out of is 12 years in the making. Urban Meyer left a mess for Will Muschamp, who came here without any head coaching experience. Muschamp’s defenses were always top notch, but he never got the offense untracked. He left an NFL defense for Jim McElwain, who stopped winning when Mullen’s defenders departed for Sunday paychecks after two years. McElwain left a roster filled with holes for Mullen. When the smoke and mirrors of Mullen’s offense ran out, so did the wins. It will take more than just this year for Billy Napier to correct 12 years of mistakes and blunders. It is do-able, but we’re fooling ourselves if we think it can be done in a single season.

THOUGHTS OF THE DAY: OCTOBER 19, 2022 A few thoughts to jump start your Wednesday morning: By Franz Beard Josh Braun will no longer play football for Billy Napier and the Florida Gators. A starter seven times last season, Braun has played in only two games this year. By stepping away now he preserves his redshirt year (he’ll have two seasons of eligibility remaining) and can focus on graduating in December, when he can officially enter the NCAA transfer portal as a graduate. During this season, Braun has been listed as the backup right guard to O’Cyrus Torrence, the backup left tackle to Richard Gouraige and the backup left guard to Ethan White. A 4-star recruit out of Suwanee County High School in Live Oak, Braun was originally committed to Georgia before a last minute flip to Dan Mullen and Florida in 2019. A tackle in high school, Braun never caught on outside and spent nearly every snap of his UF career inside at guard. When Billy Napier became Florida’s head coach, he brought in two offensive line coaches. Braun lost weight in the offseason to gain extra quickness to play outside, but he never could unseat Michael Tarquin at right tackle in the spring. When Tarquin went down with an injury, Austin Barber moved from the backup on the left side to the right. Braun had no luck moving past Torrence or White either. Josh Braun is a good kid and a fine student. His dad was an offensive lineman at Army and his brother was an O-lineman at Georgia Tech. He has two seasons of eligibility remaining and will have very little trouble landing on his feet in the transfer portal. While Braun’s departure somewhat hurts the depth on Florida’s O-line, it’s not a crushing blow. Tarquin is healthy again and Kamryn Waites is getting some snaps at tackle as well. When Torrence couldn’t answer the bell against LSU, Richie Leonard IV did an adequate job of filling in at right guard. That’s an 8-man rotation on a line that has performed well enough that the Gators rank third nationally in yards per carry (6.38) and has allowed only four sacks, which is tied for fifth nationally. Braun may be the first, but by no means will he be Florida’s last departure. With 85 currently on scholarship and just four graduates/seniors on the roster, there will have to be room made to accommodate a recruiting class that has 21 commitments already and is expected to add another six or seven. If Napier dips into the transfer portal – as expected – the crunch will become even more severe. UF assistant Kevin Hovde on the offense, Aberdeen and Kugel Florida assistant coach Kevin Hovde, who is essentially Todd Golden’s offensive coordinator, spoke to the media Tuesday prior to practice. Here are comments about the offense and freshmen Denzel Aberdeen and Riley Kugel, who were teammates at Orlando powerhouse Dr. Phillips prior to arriving at UF. Offensive progress: “I think our attitude and work ethic is really good, so that allows you to improve. “I think really over the last couple of weeks I feel like we’ve made a really big jump. Like I said before, we’re going to try to adapt our schemes and our offense to our talent, and really, over the summer, we didn’t play much five-on-five. So, we had a little bit of learning curve as coaches. Once we got back in the fall we started playing and getting a better understanding for just how guys played with each other and their general sense for the game. We kind of adapted at that point and tried to structure and tweak the offense to fit that. I feel like at first there was just normal guys developing and understanding and now I feel like they’re coming together and the ball is really starting to zip around. There’s more good plays, more assisted baskets, more good cuts. Those are normally pretty good signs.” Aberdeen: “Denzel, from the beginning was way ahead of a normal freshman. As far as his worth ethic and how hard he goes and everything. A lot of times you can see a gap when guys come into a program and where guys have been here one or two years. From the jump, Denzel wouldn’t get fatigued in the workouts and he knew how to push through. Also he has a really good sense of the game as far as being an organizer. He wants to learn and he really wants to be good. He’s super coachable. I’ve been really impressed with him.” Kugel: “Riley is a basketball savant. He didn’t have a summer with us. He picks things up really quickly on both ends of the floor. A lot of the numbers we keep, you notice especially younger guys that struggle with defense as far as being in the right spot, ring towards the ball, just bad habits that you can get away with in high school. He’s been pretty elite since he’s got here in those metrics we use and that says a lot about him. Offensively, he’s extremely talented.” UF women’s basketball picked sixth by SEC media Expectations are certainly higher for 2022-23 than they were last year for the UF women’s basketball team. Kelly Rae Finley embraced the uncertainty after the offseason dismissal of head coach Cam Newbauer, turning it into an us against the world mentality that resulted in a 21-11 overall record (10-4 SEC) and an NCAA Tournament bid. The Gators beat five nationally-ranked teams along the way. With the regular season scheduled to tip off in three weeks, the Gators were picked to finish sixth in a preseason poll of the SEC media. Preseason SEC poll: 1. South Carolina; 2. Tennessee; 3. LSU; 4. Arkansas; 5. Ole Miss; 6. FLORIDA; 7. Kentucky; 8. Mississippi State; 9. Georgia; 10. Alabama; 11. Texas A&M; 12. Missouri; 13. Auburn; 14. Vanderbilt Associated Press preseason women’s top 25: 1. South Carolina; 2. Stanford; 3. Texas; 4. Iowa; 5. Tennessee; 6. UConn; 7. Louisville; 8. Iowa State; 9. Notre Dame; 10. North Carolina State; 11. Indiana; 12. North Carolina; 13. Virginia Tech; 14. Ohio State; 15. Oklahoma; 16. LSU; 17. Maryland; 18. Baylor; 19. Arizona; 20. Oregon; 21. Creighton; 22. Nebraska; 23. South Dakota State; 24. Princeton; 25. Michigan SEC football No. 6 Alabama (6-1, 3-1 SEC): Looking back on Alabama’s loss to Tennessee, particularly at the end of the game when the Tide gave the ball back to the Vols with enough time to drive for the game-winning field goal, Paul Finebaum said, “I think Nick Saban handed them a gift on a platter with his mismanagement of the clock.” Arkansas (4-3, 1-3 SEC): Led by Raheim Sanders (870 yards, seven touchdowns) the Hogs are averaging 240 rushing yards per game (4.99 per carry). Auburn (3-4, 1-3 SEC): Although his team has lost three consecutive SEC games, HBC Bryan Harsin says, “Those guys know we’re a lot closer than what it seems.” No. 1 Georgia (7-0, 4-0 SEC): Georgia’s injury list includes running back Kendal Milton (groin), wide receiver Ladd McConkey (toe), linebacker Smael Mondon (ankle), defensive tackle Jalen Carter (knee) and wide receiver AD Mitchell (ankle). No. 19 Kentucky (5-2, 2-2 SEC): HBC Mark Stoops was particularly happy the Wildcats have a week off. “The bye week comes at a good time for us right now,” Stoops said. “The players need time to heal up.” LSU (5-2, 3-1 SEC): LSU is a 1.5-point favorite for Saturday’s showdown with 7th-ranked Ole Miss. No. 24 Mississippi State (5-2, 2-2 SEC): The Bulldogs are 21-point underdogs for Saturday’s game at No. 6 Alabama. Missouri (2-4, 0-3 SEC): Linebacker Chad Bailey, corner Kris Abrams-Draine and wide receiver Barrett Banister are all probable for Saturday’s game with Vanderbilt. No. 7 Ole Miss (7-0, 3-0 SEC): The Rebels are ranked seventh nationally, but their defense ranks 68thnationally against the run and 33rd against the pass. South Carolina (4-2, 1-2 SEC): Safety RJ Roderick, who has started 34 games in his South Carolina career, will reportedly enter the NCAA transfer portal … The Gamecocks are 3-point underdogs at home against Texas A&M. No. 3 Tennessee (7-0, 3-0 SEC): Paul Finebaum thinks the Vols have a chance to run the table this year because “Josh Heupel is the most innovating and creative offensive mind in college football.” Texas A&M (3-3, 1-2 SEC): Quarterback Haynes King, who suffered a foot injury in the loss to Alabama a couple of weeks ago, is expected to be at full speed Saturday at South Carolina. Vanderbilt (3-4, 0-3 SEC): The Commodores are 14-point road underdogs for Saturday’s game at Missouri. Our SEC orphans in the Big 12 Oklahoma (4-3, 1-3 Big 12): Oklahoma’s defense ranks 115th nationally, allowing 447.1 yards per game. No. 20 Texas (5-2, 3-1 Big 12): Texas is a 6-point favorite on the road against No. 11 Oklahoma State. ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Speaking to The Advocate in Baton Rouge, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey let it be known he’s not the least bit happy with the NCAA and the amount of time it is taking to come to a decision about potential sanctions on the LSU basketball team. LSU has been charged with seven Level I violations that occurred under the watch of Will Wade, who was fired back in March. The violations date back several years ago and were detailed in the college basketball corruption trials that sent people to prison and resulted in potential sanctions against numerous programs including Alabama, Auburn, South Carolina and LSU. Speaking ahead of SEC Basketball Media Days in Birmingham, Sankey said, “It is enormously frustrating not to have all those matters nationally already brought to conclusion. Those actions took place – the actions at the center of any of these issues – took place five, six, seven years ago. Yet, we can’t bring those matters to conclusion. There are reasons for that, but part of the reason is the system.” The NCAA has accepted what amounts to plea bargains by Auburn, Alabama and South Carolina. LSU’s case is a bit more complicated due to the number of Level I violations and wiretap evidence that was admitted in Federal Court with Wade openly discussing paying money to recruit players. Still, it shouldn’t take years to hear evidence and bring a case to conclusion. Based on the amount of violations, wiretap recordings and under oath testimony, LSU should have been sanctioned already and the sanctions should be harsh. Of course, we thought that when North Carolina was caught redhanded with the greatest academic fraud violations in perhaps all of NCAA history. The Tar Heels got a slap on the wrist that brought back memories of Jerry Tarkanian’s classic line, “The NCAA is so mad at Kentucky they’ll probably slap a few more years or probation on Cleveland State.” It will also be interesting to see what the NCAA will do since it basically allowed LSU to self-impose a year of probation for several Level II violations in football that occurred on the watch of former coach Ed Orgeron. The seven Level I violations for basketball added to football probation should result in lack of institutional control hung on the entire athletic program. Meanwhile, up at Tennessee, the Vols have been hit with 18 Level I violations for football that occurred on the watch of Jeremy Pruitt. Although none of the violations amount to huge amounts of money, Tennessee did gain a recruiting advantage. Pruitt and his entire staff were fired as was athletic director Phil Fulmer and Tennessee has patted itself on the back for its cooperation with the NCAA. Still, 18 Level I violations should result in a lack of institutional control as well as other sanctions. In both the LSU and Tennessee cases, there is no excuse for the NCAA to take its time to decide how much justice it should deal out. Sankey should be troubled by both situations. He should also use the power of his enormous office to force the NCAA to announce some sort of conclusion.

Anthony Richardson flew through the air with greatest of ease on a near-miracle finish. (Chris Spears Photo) Florida’s third down defense is trending toward its own horror movie here on the Ides of Halloween. You’ve heard of Nightmare on Elm Street? This one could be titled 'Nightmare on Lemerand Boulevard'… By BUDDY MARTIN GatorBaitMedia.com Editor There’s an old saying in the South: Never take a knife to a gunfight. In SEC football, the equivalent of that is trying to compete in Big Boy football without a defense. Therein lies the problem with Billy Napier’s Florida Gators. Only half of Napier’s team has showed up for the first half of his first season. And he can’t seem to muster the right combination of players, coaches or a defensive scheme to stop anybody on third down, a category where the Gators are FBS bottom feeders. “It’s not just one thing,” Napier insisted after the bitter 45-35 loss to LSU, combing through the ashes for answers after his team’s third loss of the season. And yet it really is one thing: The inability to get off the field from almost any place on any down and distance against any opponent. The result of which is a bruised and battered, tuckered out defense holding on for dear life. Meanwhile, Gator fans need to drive through the Golden Arches, because they deserve a break today – and they've got one all week with this open date. I suggest Napier trade that knife for some more defensive firepower when action resumes in Jacksonville against the nation’s No. 1 college football team. If he could only do that. Once again on Saturday night, Patrick Toney’s defense was humiliated on third down as LSU ran roughshod over the Gators with 528 yards of offense, including 125 of those yards on third down, making a mediocre quarterback look like All-World. Jayden Daniels gave Hendon Hooker and Bryce Young a run for their Heisman money. Lawd, how they gonna stop them Vanderbilt Commodores – let alone those Big, Nasty Dawgs? Florida’s third down defense is trending toward its own horror movie here on the Ides of Halloween. You’ve heard of Nightmare on Elm Street? This one could be titled “Nightmare on Lemerand Boulevard," Part2, Producer Patrick Toney (having already seen Part 1, produced by Todd Grantham.) Leaving frustrated Gator fans looking for a scapegoat. Which is too bad, given the good things Napier has done in trying to get the Florida program back on the right track while developing a splendid young quarterback with the heart of a lion and the talent of a potential superstar. Taking nothing away from the Tigers, who have now beaten the Gators four straight seasons in this now-bitter cross-over inter-division spat, this game was close to a beatdown – and yet almost flipped by the Gators. At halftime, with LSU ahead by one score, about to receive the second-half kickoff and looking unstoppable on offense, I turned to my colleague Franz Beard in the press box and said: “This could get really ugly in the second half." And it did – until it didn’t. Almost. For those of you who buy into such things as waking up the echoes and stirring up spirits in The Swamp, there was a near-magical moment that seemed to emanate from Tom Petty Day/Night karma. And it was aggravated into existence by the rudeness and disrespect of the LSU band, which trampled all over singing of the I Won’t Back Down anthem by over 85,000 Gator faithful. It was beyond tacky and horrible sportsmanship. TV didn’t show it and some even in the stadium didn’t notice, but in your life (as Verne would say) you’ve never heard such a vociferous vocal protestation as the loud chorus of boos cascading from the South, hurtled toward the opposing team’s band. On the very next play to begin the fourth period, almost as if on cue, Richardson exploded down the sideline for a 81-yard touchdown, tight-roping to keep his balance, almost stumbling forward and then, finally, diving into the end zone for the last few steps to make it a two-score game. It was downright inspirational. Then another near-miracle: The Gators stopped the Tigers on third AND fourth down, forcing a punt. Suddenly A.R. discovered he had another receiver and completed five passes to Xzaiver Henderson on an 80-yard drive concluded by two short running bursts from Trevor Etienne. 42-35! And on the precipice of something remarkable. Could this be happening? One could only imagine what a transformational win like this would have been for Napier’s challenged program. A signature win? Now all Florida needed was a break. A turnover perhaps? Sure enough, with just over five minutes to play, the elusive Daniels dropped back to pass with big Gervon Dexter bearing down on him, released the pass and it was picked in mid-air by Jason Marshall Jr., giving the Gators possession around mid-field with plenty of time to score, go for two and pull off a colossal comeback. Do you believe in Swamp Magic? A yellow hankie was spotted nearby. Apparently the textbook wrap-up of Daniels and subsequent takedown, with the 312-pound Dexter landing on top of 200-pound LSU quarterback, was egregious enough for the zebras to snatch defeat from the Gators’ jaws of victory. Honestly, that call in today’s climate of QB over-protection could have gone either way. This time it went for LSU, ruining a possible storybook finish. “There’re many times out there tonight where they could’ve folded their cards and they fought back in the game and got it to a one score game,” Napier said. “We did a lot of good things tonight, but ultimately not enough to win the game. It’s my job to position the team to win, to have success, and I could do my job better. That’s exactly what I’m going to do.” Noble and romantic as it sounds, as Napier said his team didn’t get it done, falling to 1-3 in the SEC. It also means Florida goes into the off week with the prospects of being 4-4 after the Georgia game, conceding nothing, of course, but being realistic. While we admire the spunk and fight, and the appreciate the encouraging words, if Billy Napier and his Army of 100 can’t find some answers pretty soon, an appreciative-but-impatient fan base isn’t going to look kindly on his success -- or lack of. He may be building on a five-year plan of sorts, and understandably so, but the fans’ calendar is good for only one year at a time. And they just can’t live on near-miracles alone.