Feleipe Franks’ return to The Swamp is bound to be one of the most interesting stories in college football this week. The former Florida Gators quarterback, who took on a villain role in his final few games in Orange and Blue, spent four years at Florida before his time in Gainesville expired after a gruesome ankle injury ended his 2019 season and allowed for the story of Kyle Trask to take shape. Franks’ roller-coaster-of-a-college-career continued after rehabbing his ankle and transferring within the SEC, joining the Arkansas Razorbacks. And as fate would have it, when the league poured its “Covid cocktail” of conference only schedules, it included No. 13 returning to play within the orange walls of The Swamp — the same orange walls that both boos and applause bounced off of during his time there. Franks and the Razorbacks have improved significantly under first-year head coach Sam Pittman—who tested positive for the coronavirus COVID-19 earlier this week—and are looking to keep their momentum as they roll through a tough road game against the Gators. And knowing Feleipe Franks, as his former teammates remind us, the new-found Arkansas messiah is bound to seek vengeance against his former team. Not because he’s malicious, but because he’s a competitor. "It'll be different for sure, you know," Florida center Brett Heggie, and Franks' former roommate said earlier this week. "Me and him, obviously, are really close friends and it'll be different to see him in another jersey. Just one thing for sure, I know he's a competitor and he's going to come prepared and ready to play. But so will we, so it should be fun." Meanwhile, members of Florida’s defense, after years of chasing something they couldn’t have, are ready to play live football against Franks, where they are no longer told not to hit the quarterback. "In practice, you cannot hit that quarterback," Florida linebacker James Houston said. "If you touch that quarterback, you're going to get in trouble. It's fun hitting someone that you couldn't lay a finger on for four years. It should be fun to see how that D-Line especially gets after it." However, though the defense has appeared much improved in its last two games against Missouri and Georgia, squaring up against Franks and the Razorbacks shouldn’t be taken lightly. Not simply because Pittman has the Hogs heading in the right direction, but because Feleipe Franks, as all Gators know, has the talent to punish defenses in more ways than one. Here are three big, yet very familiar reasons the Gators' defense should be on its heels come Saturday night: The Boy Has Got An Arm There’s no secret here. Perhaps the biggest factor leading to Franks’ recruitment was his talented arm. Prior to getting to Gainesville, the young gun from Crawfordville, Fla. competed in a number of quarterback camps, clinics, combines and competitions. This reporter can remember following his recruitment and hearing week in and week out how he had won the “long ball” award that week. In the offseason between the 2017 and 2018 season, Franks once again added an accolade to his resume after winning the “long toss” competition at the QB Retreat Camp. The winning toss? Seventy-four yards. 74 yards! For reference, a play we all remember where we were when it happened: In the “Heave to Cleve”, Franks launched a ball 63 yards to the endzone for a walkoff touchdown against the Tennessee Volunteers in 2017. On the other end of “Train Jill Right, Big Ben In”, was Tyrie Cleveland, and by our calculations, Cleveland caught the ball after it had traveled roughly 69 yards through the air. Needless to say, about anything from his own 30 yard line and forward is fair game for a touchdown for Franks. In other words, Florida’s secondary, which has worn a “razor thin outfit” as Mullen describes, will have to be sure to keep every play in front of them — which is something the Gators struggled with last week against Georgia. Fortunately for Florida, the Bulldogs’ quarterback problems were on full display last Saturday and the Dawgs weren’t able to capitalize on some prime offensive opportunities. However, you can’t expect Franks to have the same struggles. After all, he’s in his fifth year in the SEC and will be playing in a very familiar place. Albeit Somewhat Inconsistent, When He’s On…He’s On The “hot hand” theory is a fallacy, according to people who know how to do math. They say no matter how many completions in a row a quarterback might throw, each consecutive throw has a 50% chance of being a completion…no matter what. And while that’s statistically true, that doesn’t seem to be the case with many — Feleipe Franks included. In his time at Florida, it seemed as there was a shortage of times in which Franks was mediocre. Instead, it either looked as though he was playing well, or not well at all. Much of the latter happened in the pre-Dan Mullen era. And being said, you can’t help but wonder if Jim McElwain’s scheme was fit for a guy like Franks. Because once Mullen took the reigns, Franks was having more success making those big time throws. The task of connecting with his receivers was never too tall for Franks after an offseason learning from Mullen and quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson. With or without space, Franks was able to make big time throws in his time at Florida. This is more pressure on the Gators secondary unit to make plays in the defensive backfield. Franks has adjusted nicely to his new receivers in the midwest, so given room, or even the slightest window of opportunity, Florida should know that its former quarterback can capitalize. At 6-foot-6, Franks Has No Problem Causing Issues With His Legs In the last two games especially, the Florida defense has applied more pressure against the opposing quarterback, with 12 quarterback hurries against the Missouri Tigers and Georgia Bulldogs. This has been one of the biggest improvements for the Gators defense and where Defensive Coordinator Todd Grantham sees future success. "The biggest thing is, to me, is hits on quarterbacks. And I'm thinking legal; how you pressure the quarterback, your ability to, you know, continually, you know, get the hits, get the pressures because at the end of the day, if you're getting X number of hits or pressures that should correlate into getting a sack." Against a guy like Franks, the defensive front should not only be prepared to produce that pressure and in turn take away some of Franks’ time to look downfield, but also wrangle up the big bodied QB. One of the former Gators’ biggest strengths was extending plays with his legs (see Heave to Cleve). If there is one thing that we can all agree on in terms of Feleipe Franks, it’s his relentless effort. Whether you look at his career as a whole, individual games or individual plays, nothing is over until Franks decides it is. And pressure doesn’t scare the Arkansas quarterback. In fact, heading into the Georgia matchup in 2018, Franks was completing 57.6% of his passes when pressure was applied, according to Pro Football Focus. Not only is Franks more than capable of making throws on the run, but he is also a very capable runner. In his time at Florida, Franks rushed for 438 yards and eight touchdowns. He has also rushed for 174 yards with the Razorbacks midway through this season alone. And though many of Franks’ rushing attempts come at the goal line or fourth and short just to pick up a yard or two, that hasn’t always been the case: However, if you calculated the times Franks’ legs got him out of trouble and extended plays so that he could make a throw (again...math) that yardage would certainly make his rushing yardage look like a drop in the bucket. So just as Florida’s secondary will have to take away plays downfield, the Gators’ improved defensive front will have to stay level headed through all the excitement of Franks’ homecoming and be prepared to make stops up front and possibly beyond.

A few thoughts to jump start your Thursday morning: In wins over Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Tennessee, the Arkansas (3-3) defense picked off 11 passes and in each of the three games gave up 5.3 or fewer yards per pass attempt. Keep the Mississippi State and Ole Miss games in mind because in both games Arkansas defensive coordinator Barry Odom chose to defend the run with three and drop eight into coverage. K.J. Costello of Mississippi State attempted 60 passes and completed 43 but he had to dink and dunk the whole game. When he did try to go downfield he had three passes picked off. That eight-man zone was even more pronounced against Ole Miss. Matt Corral managed a season-low 200 passing yards for 5.3 per attempt. He had six passes picked off, two of which were run back for touchdowns. When the Razorbacks come to Gainesville Saturday, it’s expected they will try a similar strategy to slow down Florida’s high-powered passing game. The 6th-ranked Gators (4-1) are averaging 369 passing yards per game behind quarterback Kyle Trask, who has thrown for at least four touchdowns in all five of the Gators’ games and has 22 for the season. Trask averages 10 yards per pass attempt and has thrown only three interceptions. The Razorbacks don’t have the personnel to match up with Florida’s receivers even if All-Interplanetary tight end Kyle Pitts is still under concussion protocol. The Gators have a real advantage in terms of size, speed and athleticism with receivers like Trevon Grimes and Kadarius Toney so it would only figure Odom will drop eight in a zone with the hope that Trask will try to force throws into coverage. The best way to loosen up a zone like that is to run the ball effectively. Despite numbers that are eerily similar to last season when the Florida running game was inconsistent in all but a few games, Florida’s running attack hasn’t been bad this year. Why settle for four and five-yard runs when you can go over the top and average 10 yards every time you throw it, 14.6 every time there is a completion? However, when the Gators have needed to grind out a first down running the ball, they’ve been effective for the most part. Both Auburn and Ole Miss hammered Arkansas in the running game (Auburn 259 yards; Ole Miss 242) and both Texas A&M and Tennessee ran for 180-plus so the Razorbacks are vulnerable. Given their lack of size up front, this might be just the kind of game Dameon Pierce breaks out. He has 221 yards this season (4.51 per carry) and it seems he has had at least one run every game in which he was a half-step from breaking away. If the Gators can get Pierce going early and can avoid the temptation to force the ball into a zone, this could be Florida’s best rushing game of the season. If the Gators run for 150 or more yards, that should open the passing game up for Trask. GATOR HOOPS SIGN KOWACIE REEVES Elite shooter Kowacie Reeves (6-6, 180, Macon, GA Westside) signed his scholarship papers to play for the Florida Gators Wednesday. Reeves, who turned down offers from Georgia, Auburn, Stanford, Xavier and Arkansas, among others, is a consensus 4-star recruit and the 31st-ranked player in the country (by Rivals). Reeves averaged 21 points per game last season for Westside. It’s unlikely the Gators will sign another player in the early signing period. Florida has 13 on scholarship and no seniors on its roster. Florida opens its season against Maine in the Basketball Hall of Fame Bubbleville at Uncasville, CT on November 25. The Gators will face Virginia at the same venue two nights later. UF BASKETBALL ROSTER AS OF 11/11/20 Juniors: Anthony Duruji (6-7, 220); Noah Locke (6-3, 203); Keyontae Johnson (6-5, 229); Colin Castleton (6-11, 231); Osayi Osifo (6-7, 225); Tyree Appleby (6-1, 170) Sophomores: Ques Glover (5-11, 182); Tre Mann (6-5, 190); Omar Payne 6-10, 230); Scottie Lewis (6-5, 189); Jason Jitoboh (6-11, 285) Freshmen: Samson Ruzhentsev (6-7, 192); Niels Lane (6-5, 206) Non-Scholarship Freshmen: Alex Klatsky (6-4, 185); Jack May (6-4, 175) RUMBLING, STUMBLING, BUMBLING IN THE SEC #1 ALABAMA (6-0): Nick Saban on how 3-star recruit Mac Jones has turned himself into a star QB with a legitimate chance to win the Heisman Trophy: “He’s worked hard to be a good quarterback. We liked him in high school and his arm talent … athletic, smart. He had an opportunity to sit behind some good players for a few years, worked to develop. He is a great example of developing as a player. Now that he has this opportunity he’s taking advantage of it.” ARKANSAS (2-3): Arkansas HBC Sam Pittman says Feleipe Franks has had a good week of practice getting ready for his return to The Swamp, where he spent the first four years of his college football career. Pittman said, “He knows this game isn’t all about him. It’s about us but he’s a competitor and he’s going to want to play as well as he can. I think he will be fine. He’s looked good in practice.” #24 AUBURN (4-2): Linebacker Josh Marsh has entered his name into the NCAA transfer portal. He played in three games in 2018-19 and had three tackles. He had not played in a game this season. #12 GEORGIA (4-2): Barrett Sallee of CBSSports.com writes this about Georgia HBC Kirby Smart and the Georgia offense: “This offense is likely vanilla by necessity and not by choice. Do we know that for sure? Of course not. Smart could be the new version of Les Miles during Miles’ final few seasons in Baton Rouge and make empty promises about the offense opening up.” KENTUCKY (2-4): HBC Mark Stoops says all four of Kentucky’s quarterbacks will be available for Saturday’s game with Vanderbilt. Stoops is optimistic that offensive coordinator Eddie Gran (Covid-19) will be available. LSU (2-3): It appears QB Myles Brennan (lower body injury) won’t be back this season. Coach O said Wednesday, “We are looking at the injury. WE are looking to see if he can come back through rehab or if the best thing would be an operation that would help him. We have not made a final decision but he is unlikely to come back.” MISSISSIPPI STATE (2-4): If the Bulldogs don’t improve their running game (21.5 yards per game) they will end up as just the second team in the last 10 years to fail to average 30 yards per game rushing. The other team was Washington State in 2012 (29.08 per game), also coached by Mike Leach. MISSOURI (2-3): Chad Bailey, Markell Utsey and Dylan Spencer, who all three received a suspension for one half due to their participation in a midfield altercation against Florida, will see their suspensions carry over until next week against South Carolina due to the Tigers’ Saturday game with Georgia being postponed. OLE MISS (2-4): Ole Miss spent plenty of time working on red zone offense during the bye week. In their loss to Arkansas earlier in the season, the Rebels turned the ball over in the red zone twice as part of a seven-turnover game. The Rebels also had a red zone turnover that proved costly in the loss to Auburn. “We’re as good as anybody in the country offensively outside the red zone when you look at numbers, yards and first downs,” said HBC Lane Kiffin as the Rebels prep for Saturday’s game with South Carolina. SOUTH CAROLINA (2-4): Since converting 7-13 on third down in their 30-22 win over Auburn, South Carolina has gone in the tank, converting just 6-24 in their last two games, both of them losses. TENNESSEE (2-4): Asked to evaluate his own coaching this season, HBC Jeremy Pruitt replied, “It’s all based on your record, right? Based on our record, it’s not where it needs to be. That’s pretty obvious.” #5 TEXAS A&M (5-1): Only three Aggie players tested positive for Covid-19 but due to contact tracing protocols another 16 were forced to quarantine, which is what led to postponement of Saturday’s road game at Tennessee. VANDERBILT (0-5): Another Vandy player has entered his name in the NCAA transfer portal. Safety Frank Coppet, who has played in 16 games during his career but only two this season, is leaving the program. INTERESTING BITS OF TID FROM THE TACKLE FOOTBALL PLAYING WORLD The Dumpster Fire Formerly Known as Florida State University Football has lost its best offensive playmaker and best defensive player. Wide receiver Tamorrion Terry, who has been at odds with the coaching staff for quite some time, has opted out the rest of the season. Terry had 23 catches for 289 yards and a TD this year, 118 for 2,221 yards and 17 touchdowns in his career. Defensive tackle Marvin Wilson, who is projected to be a first rounder in the NFL Draft, will miss the remainder of the season with an injury. Also out for the remainder of the season with an injury is offensive lineman Devontay Love-Taylor. Finally, quarterback James Blackman will put his name in the NCAA transfer portal as soon as the season comes to a merciful conclusion. Blackman has thrown for 5,445 yards and 43 touchdowns in his FSU career. When Liberty University (7-0) started beating up on Power Five teams, it seems Hugh Freeze’s name has been associated with everybody that might be asking their coach to find gainful employment elsewhere. Freeze, it turns out, isn’t going anywhere. Already making $2.5 million, he got a contract extension that will take him through 2026 and will make him one of the top – if not the top – paid coach among the Group of Five. The NCAA, in its infinite wisdom, will vote to extend the recruiting dead period by 3-1/2 months to April 15. This is the recommendation of the NCAA Football Oversight Committee and it will be voted on, with expectations of approval, next week. If approved this will mean coaches have not been able to meet recruits face-to-face for more than one year and yet the December and February signing dates will remain in place. These people lack functioning brains. It is time for the Power Five schools to take their football and go play somewhere else. Penn State running back Journey Brown, who was not playing this season due to medical issue that was discovered during a routine Covid-19 test, has been forced to retire. Brown was Penn State’s leading rusher in 2019 with 890 yards and 12 touchdowns. Chief Yellow Teeth, leader of the Mount Pleasant, Michigan Chippewa tribe (also known as the Fighting Clarabelles), is 2-0 after Central Michigan’s 40-10 win over Northern Illinois Wednesday night. Not that it really matters, but #3 Ohio State’s road trip to Maryland has been cancelled due to an outbreak of Covid-19 at Maryland. The game will not be rescheduled, a good thing for Maryland since the Fighting Yertles were going to get their doors blown off. Ohio State’s next game is against #10 Indiana (3-0) on November 21. Maryland’s next game is November 21 against Michigan State. Quarterback Graham Mertz, who has been in Covid-19 protocol since testing positive after throwing for six touchdown passes in Wisconsin’s season opening win over Illinois, could be available Saturday when the Badgers travel to Michigan. PITHY COMMENTS FOR A THURSDAY: It only took one year for former NBA MVP Russell Westbrook to have his fill of the Houston Rockets. Per Shams Charania of The Athletic, Westbrook has requested a trade. There were reports that James Harden also wanted out but apparently he will be sticking it out … The Masters begins today in Augusta. Those golfers who swim poorly are advised to carry a pair of water wings in their bag because there is going to rain almost all day long … Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger are battling it out to see which one can become the all-time leader in NFL history for being sacked. Brady and Roethlisberger have been sacked 513 times each. Brett Favre holds the record at 525 … Mark Daigneault is the new coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Apparently he was at UF on Billy Donovan’s staff back in 2014 but not as an assistant coach. Somehow I missed him.

A few thoughts to jump start your Wednesday morning: Are you ready for some chaos in the Southeastern Conference? Although #1 Alabama and #6 Florida are in exceptionally good shape in their divisional races for a trip to Atlanta to play for the SEC championship, thanks to Covid-19 we now have a bit of chaos that will have to be dealt with perhaps creatively by commissioner Greg Sankey. Due to a virus outbreak at LSU (2-3), Saturday’s home game with Alabama (6-0) was postponed. Also postponed were 5th-ranked Texas A&M (5-1) at Tennessee and Auburn (4-2) at Mississippi State (2-4). December 12 was built into all SEC schedules for just such circumstances so the Texas A&M-Tennessee and Auburn-Mississippi State games will be played on December 12. It is the Alabama-LSU game that is a problem. Back on October 17, LSU’s visit to Florida was postponed due to a virus outbreak at UF. That game was rescheduled for December 12, which was the date Sankey set aside back in August for just such occasions. Since there are no available open dates remaining on the schedule, there is no room to reschedule Alabama-LSU. That puts Sankey in the position of having to decide which is more important – Florida-LSU or Alabama-LSU? Both the Gators and Alabama hold a one-game advantage in their divisional races. Florida, by virtue of its 44-28 thrashing of Georgia (4-2) last Saturday, has the advantage in the East. Alabama walloped Texas A&M 52-24 the second week of the season for a one-game advantage over the Aggies. Both the Gators and Alabama could afford to lose one more game since they hold the tiebreaker. The only way UF and Alabama can lose their divisions is to go in the tank twice while Georgia and A&M run the table the rest of the way. Should the Gators knock off Arkansas (Saturday) and then (at) Vanderbilt, Kentucky and (at) Tennessee, there would be no need to play LSU in the final game since UF would have clinched the East title. With wins over Kentucky, Auburn and Arkansas, Alabama would win the West and wouldn’t need to play LSU. Would Sankey give Alabama a free weekend before the SEC Championship Game on December 19 without giving Florida the same advantage? It would be an unfair advantage for one to play while the other had a week to rest up, scout and prepare. Something else to consider is the possibility of more outbreaks. That might force some creative changes to the schedules since there is no more wiggle room. Obviously, it’s to the SEC’s advantage to play as many games as possible but if divisional races are already decided then losing a game here and there won’t matter as far as the league championship goes. Bowl games? That’s another matter altogether. So welcome to chaos SEC style. Dealing with the virus these next couple of weeks could force Greg Sankey to be at his creative best but Florida and Alabama can make the commissioner’s job so much easier. All they have to do is win out between now and December 5. TWO UF FIRST ROUNDERS IN CBSSPORTS.COM MOCK DRAFT Ryan Wilson of CBSSports.com came out with a mock NFL Draft that has the Kyle-to-Kyle combination going in the first round. Wilson has tight end Kyle Pitts going 22nd overall in the first round to Jacksonville while Trask is slotted at #31 by the New Orleans Saints. Overall, Wilson’s draft has 13 SEC players taken in the first round including seven from Alabama. PLAYING QB IN THE SEC Now that all 14 teams in the league are at least at the midway point, it’s time to rank the starting quarterbacks for all 14 teams. (1) KYLE TRASK, FLORIDA: Trask has set an SEC record with at least four touchdown passes in five consecutive games while leading the Gators to the top of the SEC East. He’s thrown for more yards (4,918) and touchdowns (48) in just 21 games than Steve Spurrier did in a three-year career that resulted in a Heisman Trophy. For the season, Trask is averaging 10 yards per attempt with 22 touchdown passes and only three interceptions. (1A) MAC JONES, ALABAMA: Nobody in the country throws a more accurate deep ball than Jones. It’s true he is throwing to a bunch of future NFL receivers like Devonta Smith but he puts the ball on the money with astonishing consistency (76.2% completions). Jones is averaging 12.4 per attempt and has 16 TDPs while only two picks. He’s played himself into the first round of the NFL Draft. (3) KELLEN MOND, TEXAS A&M: Typically, Mond has all day long to throw. He’s only been sacked twice in six games while throwing for 16 touchdowns with only two interceptions. He’s averaging a career best 8.1 per attempt while putting the Aggies in position to make the College Football Playoff as an at-large team. (4) FELEIPE FRANKS, ARKANSAS: Since throwing two picks in the season opener against Georgia, Franks has thrown 13 touchdown passes and only one interception. He’s thrown six TDPs the last two games without throwing one to the bad guys. He’s averaging 7.8 per attempt with 1,428 yards through six games. (5) MATT CORRAL, OLE MISS: When Corral remembers to throw the ball to his own team (9 picks including 6 against Arkansas) he can be brilliant. He’s thrown for 1,846 yards and 18 touchdowns while averaging 9.9 per attempt. Against Vandy he was 31-34 for 412 yards and six TDPs. (6) BO NIX, AUBURN: Against Ole Miss and LSU Nix has started to look like the QB everyone expected this year. His numbers for the season are pretty average (7.2 per attempt, 9 TDPs, 4 picks) and he still runs too often when he needs to hang in the pocket but he’s improving. (7) MYLES BRENNAN, LSU: Brennan was looking like a future star when he went down with an injury a couple weeks back. He’s put up winning numbers (8.5 per attempt, 11 TDPs, just 3 picks). It’s not his fault the LSU defense stinks or that there isn’t much of a running game and the O-line doesn’t block all that well. (8) CONNOR BAZELAC, MISSOURI: Bazelac was supposed to be the backup to TCU transfer Shawn Robinson, but he has taken over as the starter and isn’t about to give the job up. He lit up LSU for 406 yards and four touchdown passes. He’s got the big arm and he’s reasonably accurate. He is a redshirt freshman who has the potential to be very, very good once he gains more experience. (9) STETSON BENNETT IV, GEORGIA: Bennett plays very well against bad teams. It’s the good ones like Alabama and Florida that remind us he was once a walk-on who is the Georgia QB because he is the best of a bad lot. Since halftime of the Alabama game, Bennett has thrown one touchdown pass and six interceptions. Against the Gators he averaged 4.9 per attempt. (10) KENNY SEALS, VANDERBILT: He’s a true freshman who has no running game to help out and when his receivers run the 40 they get timed with an hour glass. That he’s thrown for six touchdowns and 1,091 yards with those handicaps is remarkable. (11) COLLIN HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA: He is one of the more immobile QBs in the SEC and is all too content to dink and dunk. They’ve given him every opportunity to be productive and he hasn’t gotten the job done which is why he might find himself carrying a clipboard the rest of the season. He has as many interceptions (5) as touchdowns and averages just 6.5 per attempt. (12) JARRETT GUARANTANO, TENNESSEE: Just when Tennessee fans thought they were getting a new starting QB due to a head injury suffered by Guarantano, the game with Texas A&M got cancelled. Figure HBC Jeremy Pruitt will start Guarantano next week against Auburn. He’s averaging just 6.5 yards per pass attempt, still makes bad decisions and he gets sacked a lot. (13) TERRY WILSON, KENTUCKY: Kentucky has the most anemic passing game in the SEC and one of the worst in the country. Wilson is averaging just 6.0 per attempt and has thrown only four touchdown passes. As long as he’s the QB, opponents will stack the box with eight and dare him to throw. (14) WILL ROGERS, MISSISSIPPI STATE: He’s a true freshman who has thrown more interceptions (4) than touchdowns (2) and is averaging just 4.6 yards per pass play. To his credit he is playing behind a line that does a nifty impersonation of a sieve and there is no running game (21.5 yards per game for the whole team). TACKLE FOOTBALL PLAYED OTHER PLACES THAN THE SEC With so many schools so upside down financially due to Covid-19, it’s unlikely we’ll see many coaching changes. It’s hard to justify buyouts and then spending the cash necessary to hire a new head ball coach and assistants when there isn’t a big enough tourniquet to stop the red ink from bleeding if you don’t have a sugar daddy like T. Boone Pickens. For a school that plans to take the plunge and fire its HBC, here are five Group of Five coaches that probably will get long hard looks by their Power Five brethren: (1) Josh Heupel, UCF; (2) Jason Candle, Toledo; (3) Tim Lester, Western Michigan; (4) Steve Clark, UAB; (5) Lance Leipold, Buffalo. Yet a fourth player from Iowa has entered the NCAA transfer portal. The program is reeling from accusations of racism starting at the top with HBC Kirk Ferentz and budgetary problems that could see as much as a $100 million loss. Former Auburn backup QB Malik Willis has plenty to do with Liberty’s rise to being ranked (22nd) and unbeaten (7-0). Willis has thrown for 1,339 yards (8.3 per attempt) and 12 TDs (only one pick) while rushing for 603 (6.7 per attempt) and seven more TDs. Ninth-ranked Miami (6-1) is a 2.5-point road dog at Virginia Tech Saturday afternoon. Florida State (2-5) is a 7-point road dog at North Carolina State. UCF (4-2) is a 24-point home favorite against Shirley Temple. South Florida (1-6) is a 14-point road dog at Houston. Florida Atlantic (3-1) is a 9-point favorite at Florida International. FEELING PITHY ON WEDNESDAY: The Pittsburgh Steelers (8-0) are the NFL’s only unbeaten team but they could be without QB Ben Roethlisberger Sunday when they face the Cincinnati Bengals after Big Ben went on the reserve/Covid-19 list Tuesday. Roethlisberger has to isolate for five days and test negative for the virus before he will be cleared to play Sunday … Basketball Hall of Famer Tommy Heinsohn died at the age of 86. Heinsohn played on eight Boston Celtics world championship teams and coached the Celtics to titles in 1974 and 1976. He’s one of only four members of the Hall of Fame both as a player and as a coach. He played his college basketball at Holy Cross with Bob Cousy … Wichita State has fired basketball coach Gregg Marshall over allegations of verbal and physical abuse per a report from The Stadium’s Jeff Goodman.

There's a party goin' on right here A dedication to last throughout the years So bring your good times and your laughter too We gonna celebrate and party with you Come on now --Celebration by Kool and the Gang, 1980 There wasn’t much for the Florida Gators to celebrate back in 1980 as Charlie Pell was just coming off that winless season. Gator fans had first begun wearing their colors and had started the chomping. But the real cause for celebration was yet a decade away. Steve Spurrier started it. Urban Meyer doubled down on it in 2006 and 2008. And except for a few minor blips on the screens of Will Muschamp and Jim McElwain, it’s been a long drought between drinks of champagne. “Nobody celebrated more than Steve Spurrier,” Athletics Director Jeremy Foley once said, admitting he also relished it. Naturally, after Saturday’s win, the HBC was happy about Florida finally winning over the team he loved to beat like a dusty rug on a clothesline. When they crossed paths Monday on the way to work, there was no champagne drinking or small bottles of wine exchanged, but apparently the HBC let Mullen know the degree of his pleasure. In the meantime, Mullen had expressed his glee about the 44-28 thrashing of Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs, vanquishing them into second place in the SEC East, as he leapt into the stands of TIAA Bank Field with several players. Social distancing be damned. (Besides, he’s had Covid-19.) “He was excited,” Mullen said of Spurrier at his Monday press conference. Mullen also noted that the HBC is much happier when the Gators score big, which they did (44) but have yet to match the 51 points (twice) the Spurrer’s team did vs Georgia. But Mullen’s first time winning the Georgia game as Florida head coach, Spurrier thought “was cause for a little celebration. I know he was fired up for us.” As he said when he took the job, Mullen wants football to be fun. So he took a shot and broke the rules about social distancing, jumping into the stands, which I asked him about, and he replied: “We’re allowed to have fun sometimes, you know? It’s like we’ve become a 'no fun' year.” The quandary for Mullen and Florida, aside from political and physical correctness, is how to properly embrace and balance the joy that comes with finally knocking off a bitter rival after a three-year drought without losing focus on a dangerous Arkansas team that comes to town Saturday with a former player and teammate at the helm. it feels good to beat Georgia, and sometimes you must dance. (Florida Gators photo) So I asked Mullen, how can you celebrate 24 hours and then move on? “It was only about 16 (hours), maybe less than that even," Mullen replied. "I don’t know what time the game ended. By the time I got home, it was probably closer to a celebration of eight hours. You’re just on to the next game. I think for coaches, it’s a little bit easier. We’re sitting there getting the game plan organized and trying to get prepared to go play an excellent Arkansas team. But also for our players. I think, you know, they have to understand. “We didn’t come into the season and our goal on the season was to just beat Georgia. That wasn’t like the, ‘Hey what do you guys want to accomplish this year?’ That wasn’t part of it. I think our guys wanted to be in a position to compete for a championship. And we’re still in that position. But there’s a lot of work to do if we want to make that happen. That’s been the focus, and that’s the discussion. And if we don’t get better, it’s not going to happen. We have to get back to work and improve.”   In other words, if you start out at base camp with plans to scale Mt. Kilimanjaro, you can’t stop halfway up and throw a victory party. Especially with Arkansas and Feleipe Franks headed to Hogtown. An improved Arkansas squad under Sam Pittman – although he’s sidelined with Covid this week – is likely one of two main obstacles standing in the way of what is looking more and more like an SEC East title run for Mullen’s Gators. And they’ve got a quarterback with a big arm: Feleipe Franks. Mullen said he fully expects his former quarterback to arrive with blood in his eye, determined to beat his old coaches and teammates, because that’s who he is – competitive fire burning in his belly. Franks remains friends and keeps in touch with Kyle Trask, Coach Brian Johnson and the Mullen family (mostly Megan) on a regular basis. But they he wants "to beat your butt." And a note of warning to Todd Grantham: Those Georgia receivers who got behind the secondary could have likely scored had if Feleipe had been heaving those long tosses. Beating Georgia has created a buzz among the Gator Nation and when asked about how that might manifest itself, Mullen said he’s hoping for a capacity crowd that’s enthusiastically pulling for the Gators. Everything tastes better after a Georgia win -- kisses are even sweeter. (Florida Gators photo) “Let’s hope that the fans are excited and that—” he stopped short to make certain he had the right words – “however many fans are allowed in The Swamp, come to The Swamp and create a great atmosphere. Right? That we — whatever they say the number is … that they come and support their team and create energy, excitement and noise within the stadium, have a great time and come watch this team play. I hope that the response of fans.” Looking a bit smug, as if he finally got one right, Mullen said with a tiny, wry grin: “I didn’t use the word ‘pack’ this time, you know? But we want as many that can come to come.” And so, I replied, also wryly, with: “Good answer!”  ReplyForward

Florida Gators Defensive Coordinator Todd Grantham met with local media on Tuesday to discuss the No. 6 Gators defensive performance against the Georgia Bulldogs, what it's like preparing to face former Gators current Arkansas Razorbacks quarterback Feleipe Franks and how the pass rush has improved. As a valued GatorBait subscriber, we are offering this transcript in full. Zack Carter and Kyrie Campbell when they're on the field together really seems to have elevated the defense. Statistically, one touchdown-offensive touchdown against that group with four quarters. What are they doing together—I know you said everybody can play their natural position but those two in particular, how do they work off each other? "Well I think you got—one you have talented players that have experience in our system, have experience playing in the league. They have the ability to set the edge in the run game, win one-on-one blocks. They can be stout at the point of attack. They can command double teams which can free other people up with their movements. They can create penetration and, you know, make a play or they can spin it to another spot. So, you know, kind of like anything anytime you can put good players on the field it allows you to be successful, and those guys have done a good job for us and we certainly look forward to continuing to improve.” How would you evaluate the pass rush? "I think that, you know, it depends on—like the thing about pass rush is, is sacks is obviously a big deal. And I still think we're up in the top part of the league. The biggest thing is, to me, is hits on quarterbacks. And I'm thinking legal; how you pressure the quarterback, your ability to, you know, continually, you know, get the hits, get the pressures because at the end of the day, if you're getting X number of hits or pressures that should correlate into getting a sack. So that's why people look at sacks sometimes as a, as a barometer in the sense of, you know, if you're high in sacks, you're probably gonna get a pressure or a hit on the quarterback say one out of every three sacks. Okay, so in other words if I've got 10 sacks, then it means I've gotten quite a few pressures and hits. So I think that we're a little bit of a work in progress. But I think the guys have done a good job of developing themselves. We got to finish a little bit better. We got to keep the edges of the, of the, of the pocket a little bit better and the biggest thing is, is when you're rushing four is there's actually six rush lanes for four guys. And that means you have to collapse the pocket outside in to take away those rush lanes with four guys. So I think that we've continued to kind of, you know, kind of improve upon that as far as our ability to push the pocket. But when we’re, when we're fresh and, and we're, you know on the edges of guys I think we were doing a decent job. So I think we just gotta continue to develop, and maybe finish a little bit more.” ANY SORT OF ADVANTAGE FACING FELEIPE? "Nah, I mean I think Feleipe's done a great job with what he's doing with their system. He's running it really well. The game gets down to players making plays and your ability to make plays. I don't think that we necessarily have an advantage in that regard. It's a different system, different scheme, different players around him. I think it's about our 11 guys going and competing against their 11 guys and being able to execute the defense that's called." WHAT'S BIGGEST CONCERN, HIS MOBILITY OR ARM STRENGTH? "I think it's all of the above. I think, one, you have a competitive guy that understands where to throw the ball. He can make all the throws. I mean he's as impressive throwing the ball as anybody you'll ever watch. He can extend plays with his feet. When you watch him, he can actually run through guys and make one or two guys miss and add yardage to the play that way. So you've got a quarterback that can run, you've got a quarterback that can extend plays and when he extends plays he can get it down the field for chunk yards. Looks like he understands their system really well and what they're asking him to do and he's playing really good, so we understand that we're going to have to play with effort and energy and do the things that we do to be a good team.” Do you always prepare for an offense’s strength? "Well, first of all, you’ve always got to look at a team and say what do they do best and how can we defense that? It’s kind of like in basketball, you know, a guy’s right-handed and you make him go left-hander. You’re always going to try to force guys to go with their other hand in that regard. It’s still going to come down to your ability to be effective in the run game and then how can you get pressure on the quarterback and how do you affect him. If you do those things, you’ll have a chance to win the game. And as you’re doing that, communication is key to not give up explosive plays because when you make teams go the long, hard way, whether it’s run or pass, you have a tendency to find a way to stop them and then you can hold them to low numbers. That’s what we’ll focus on.” Feleipe have an advantage on you? “Not really. Obviously, he’s going to know our system somewhat. It’s still about players executive calls and making plays. It’s really about Florida playing Arkansas and our ability to play to our standard and what we’ve got to do and that’s always the focus: us playing to our ability and continue to get better and make the improvements that we need to make to continue to develop ourselves as a defense and a team and that’s really what it gets down to. In the National Football League, guys change teams quite a bit; you kind of see this. I think as we move forward in college football, unfortunately, it’s probably going to be like this in college, meaning a guy’s going to be on this team and he goes to another team, so you’re going to see those kind of things. At the end of the day, guys have to do what’s best for them and it’s about our team playing to our ability and continuing to focus on the things we got to do to get where we want to go.” When Kirby changes QBs during the game are you licking your chops? “Any time the guy that they’re starting is pulled that means the next guy is not as good, as a general rule. That’s what we kind of shoot for every week, try to get to number two. Our theory is if we can get number one to tap out then we have a chance to be successful.” Defense better on 3rd down, what changes, maybe just being better on 1st and 2nd down? “I think it’s a combination of all of the above, meaning there were a lot of 3rd and seven or more on Saturday. Generally speaking when you can get it above 3rd and six your chances of winning are greater as if its three to four, or two, three, four. That’s one. I think the players are doing a really good job of understanding what we’re asking them to do. They’re executing the call when it’s made and then they’re making plays. They’re getting their hands on balls when they’re in one-on-one matchups. Go back to Marco, for example. Georgia ran a dig route on him and we were in man. He undercut it, got the ball, got his hands on it, broke it up. That’s a one-on-one play. That’s going to happen in the rush and in the coverage. Whether you play man or zone, at the end of the day you still have to match the guy in your area and you’ve gotta make plays on balls. Guys understand that. I think the credit really needs to go to the players because they’ve done a really good job executing what we ask them to do and they’ve done a good job of watching tape to improve the things we needed to in order to improve and be where we are right now.” Tre'Vez Johnson and Rashad Torrence? "I think you look at Tre'Vez and even Rashad, those two guys. We knew that we were going to have to count on them at some point during the season.Those guys have done a really good job of being professional as far as learning the playbook, studying on their own, asking questions, really focusing on the things we were asking them to do. And I think that Ron's done a good job with those guys as far as consistent teaching and being consistent every week. 'Hey, this call means this.' Well, this call meant that in August, too. Through repetition, we're all creatures of habit and your habitual traits take over. And those guys -- because of their conscious attitude and effort and their ability to learn -- have improved every week during the season. And like you said with Tre'Vez, he's getting a lot of snaps right now. He's doing a good job for us. So that's a plus for us now and in the future." Was it Rashad who got the pop on Bennett? "Yeah, it was. Because there's one or two things we could have improved on that play and it might have went a little bit differently. But he did get the pop." Seems like he timed it up well… "Ah, not sure." Hate to bring back bad memories, but what was your reaction to the first play? Was it gnawing at you?  “Not really. We won the game. Obviously, when it happened, we wanted to hold these guys to a low number and they got 75 yards on the first play. So, we’re going to have to get a lot of TFLs to get that number down. Not really. The thing  that happens is you’re always going to have things that show up in the game that you’ve never seen on tape. Your rules have to apply. And you’ve got to carry them out. Sometimes when you have young players and they may not have the background or the experience needed in those situations, it’s something that you have to develop. So, obviously, we always work to correct things in practice because we’ll see that play again as we move forward through the season, because offenses are going to copycat things that were good against you. You’ve just got to be ready for it. To understand how to leverage that, how to set it. Look forward to the opportunity to maybe hold it to a lower number next time.” How did the defense shake that off?  “That’s kind of the nature of our team and our defense in general. Play the next play. One of the musts I gave them in the game was that it needs to be a 60-minute next’s play mentality game. Meaning we make a great play, that’s great, we go play the next play. If we screw one up, they get something, hey, go play the next play. Because at the end of the day in a game like that, it’s about playing the next play and playing to your ability and playing with the effort and energy needed to be successful. We’ve kind of adopted that next play mentality. It kind of showed up in the game. Personally, I thought the biggest series in the game was when it was 14-7 and they returned the kick and they got the ball at like the plus-40 and we went three-and-out. To me that was the biggest series of the game because we stood our ground, got it three-and-out and was able to get the ball back. That to me is a testament to your character, your attitude, your belief in what we’re doing. We’ve just got to continue to work to improve the plays that maybe aren’t designed the way we need them to be designed so we can get where we need to go.”

Florida Gators Head Coach Dan Mullen met with local media on Monday to recap the No. 6 Gators win over the Georgia Bulldogs and preview the upcoming matchup against the Arkansas Razorbacks—and subsequently former Gator quarterback Feleipe Franks. As a valued GatorBait subscriber, we are offering this transcript in full. Opening statement: "Hey, want to start with, I hope Sam Pittman, I know I just heard on the way up here, tested positive for COVID. So, prayers are with him and his family. Obviously, I think that's, I hope he is, having someone gone through it, I hope he has minor symptoms kind of like I had, it really wasn't as a tough ordeal. I know a lot of people have had a tough time dealing with it, and then obviously the seriousness of it for a lot of other people and families out there. So, our prayers with him and I hope he recovers quickly. But, uh, what do you guys got? Does Kyle Pitts have to go through concussion protocol? "Yeah, I'm sorry I'll do that. You know, when we get in games now there are injuries in the game. I don't mind giving you guys injury reports because then I'm not disclosing medical issues. So Kyle will be questionable this week, concussion, so he'll be questionable for the game this week. I think Jeremiah Moon went out with a foot injury, I think he'll be doubtful for us to play this week, and then Stewart Reese will be questionable as well, he had a shoulder issue. So Stew and Kyle will be questionable, and I think Moon will be doubtful for this week's game, on the injury side of things coming out of last week's game." 39 penalty yards per game, 11th in the nation of teams that have played 4+ games. How much do you think it's about the QB, or discipline? "Umm, yeah. 39 seems like a lot to me, you know? So, I don't know, I guess, it's hard for me to jump up and say they we have almost 40 yards in penalties a game and that's a good thing. I think it's just our guys' attention to detail, we have some veteran guys and we talk about it all the time, with being attention to detail on the field. I think that's really an important thing. and how we focus and within our preparation of the game." What are you seeing from Feleipe Franks this season? "Yeah, well, you know, I think Feleipe's a great quarterback. We had him for quite a long time, so, I'm seeing what you see out of him. A guy that has a high touchdown-to-interception ratio, really strong arm, you know. I mean, he's a veteran player now, played in the league, so the games and moments aren't too much for him. I know he's playing kind of a newer offense to learn, but when you're an older, veteran guy, I think you understand concepts, you understand coverages, you understand what's going on out there on the field. He's picked it up really fast, and I think he's having a great year. But I wouldn't have expected anything less than that from him, and, you know, the Feleipe I know." What’s the message to the team, they’re coming off a great program win? “We talked this morning. We’ve put ourselves in a good position at the halfway point of the season. We still control our own destiny in what we can do and what we want to accomplish this year. But any great team is going to get better from one week to the next. If we don’t come out and have a better practice today than we did last Monday preparing for Georgia…. If we don’t come out and play harder than we did against Georgia if we don’t come out or are not more efficient and executing at a higher level on offense, and if we don’t have 11 guys running to the ball and tackling and making sure we’re sound, limiting our mistakes, then we shouldn’t expect to win. If you want to be a great team, great teams get better every single week. Great teams don’t peak at the midway point of the season. Great teams peak in early, mid-December, and early, mid-January. Those are your peak moments as a team. For us, that’s got to be our goal and our focus this week. If we don’t improve, last week was really irrelevant if we don’t improve and get better this week.” What do you have to do to get other tight ends ready this week? And losing Kyle, what does that potentially do to your playbook? “If you look last week, we’ve always had guys who have that next-man-up mentality. Kyle is a great player. They know it. We feature him. You look, he goes out and Kemore has a great game. Zip has a catch and a long run afterward, he did a great job blocking. They executed really well out there on the field. To me, those guys have just got to come up and we’re going to run our offense. It’s their opportunity to go make plays, their opportunity to go show what they can do out there on the field. Every year you have that next man up mentality. This year, it’s probably even bigger because you’re adding in all the different things happening and what a crazy year it’s been. There’s even more chance for the next man up mentality. Or opportunity, the opportunity.” Appreciation for what Sam Pittman is doing at Arkansas? “Absolutely. One of the things, he went into a program, he obviously knows how to win. It’s a fun challenge. He’s got them playing hard, believing. They have some really good defensive guys. They play to the strength of their secondary and they’re one of the top interception teams in the nation. They’re physical, good tacklers. Linebackers are two excellent players. Excellent, excellent football players. And then they have disruptive defensive linemen up front on the defensive side of the ball. They fit the offense in. I know they’re going to run the ball well. And, obviously, Feleipe is running the offense pretty well on the other side of the ball. And so, I think he’s come in and done a great job of putting the guys in position to do what they do well. And he’s done even a better. … and also a great job, one of the keys is creating a winning mindset. And if you see this year, they play with that winning mindset and been really successful.” Where Kyle Trask has been so far, where does that rank among the QB performances over multiple games that you’ve seen? “He’s playing pretty well through five games. If we play a five-game season, he’d rank really high. The fact we play a longer season, I don’t know where he ranks. If they came out today and canceled the rest of the season, I’d say he played a really good season, sure. Let’s hope they don’t do that and let’s hope he continues so at the end of the year then we can rank and say, ‘Hey, you know what, he did have a really, really great, great year.” PITTMAN PROBABLY OUT. HOW MUCH DO YOU LOOK AT BARRY ODOM WITH GAME PREP? “I think this: I’ve known Barry. Barry’s obviously been a head coach in this league, understands the league and I don’t know if it’s been confirmed. I just heard on the way up. It could be a false positive. One of the other coaches in the league had a false positive. You just hope he’s well. You know what, Barry’s been a head coach in this league. I know Barry really well. Good coach, good motivator. Tough guy. He’s not going to walk in on a stage that is going to feel awkward or different for him. I can guarantee – I know Barry as a professional also, is going to give that message that Sam gives. They’re not going to change the personality they have as a team if Barry’s out there just having to manage the game.  I don’t know if they’ve named him the kind of – he’s going to be acting as head coach for the game. But if he is, they’re not going to change kind of the mindset that Sam’s already built here and what the program’s about.” HOW DO YOU CELEBRATE GEORGIA FOR 24 HOURS AND THEN MOVE ON? “It was only about 16, maybe less than that even. I don’t know what time the game ended. By the time I got home, it was probably closer to a celebration of eight hours. You’re just on to the next game. I think for coaches, it’s a little bit easier. We’re sitting there getting the game plan organized and trying to get prepared to go play an excellent Arkansas team. But also for our players. I think, you know, they have to understand. We didn’t come into the season and our goal on the season was to just beat Georgia. That wasn’t like the, ‘Hey what do you guys want to accomplish this year?’ That wasn’t part of it. I think our guys wanted to be in a position to compete for a championship. And we’re still in that position. But there’s a lot of work to do if we want to make that happen. That’s been the focus, and that’s the discussion. And if we don’t get better, it’s not going to happen. We have to get back to work and improve.” JUMPING IN THE STANDS? “Were allowed to have fun sometimes, you know? It’s like we’ve become a no fun year.” ANYWAY, Y’ALL HAVE MET ONE OF YOUR GOALS. YOU SENSE FANS ARE EXCITED ABOUT BEATING UGA? “Let’s hope that the fans are excited and that we — however many fans are allowed in The Swamp, come to The Swamp and create a great atmosphere. Right? That we – whatever the — whatever they say the number is, that they come and support their team and create energy, excitement and noise within the stadium, have a great time and come watch this team play. I hope that the response of fans.” GOOD ANSWER “I didn’t use the word pack this time, you know? But we want as many that can come to come.” WHEN YOU WERE INTRODUCED AS COACH YOU WANTED TO MAKE UF FOOTBALL FUN. THIS OFFENSE KIND OF WHAT YOU ENVISIONED WHEN YOU SAID THAT? "Uhh, yeah. Well, I mean, winning's fun. And I think our job is to find there's different ways that you win football games. I think for the Gator Nation, obviously, I saw coach Spurrier, he was walking in as I was coming up here right now. He set the bar of fun as not just winning but scoring a lot of points for the fanbase. So we're trying to make sure it's not just fun for us it's fun for the whole Gator Nation. So I guess in that way we're living up to it." TRASK HAVING GREAT START TO SEASON, NOW THAT WE'RE GOING INTO SECOND HALF WHERE CAN HE BE BETTER, WHERE IS POTENTIAL OF WHAT YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH? "Well, I think obviously you've got a huge challenge this week. I think one of the best pass defenses in the Southeastern Conference coming in here in Arkansas. So I think continuing to manage, continue his decision-making, accuracy. I do think one of the things that he has done a really good job of most of the time is he takes what the defense gives you. You look at that game, you say, 'OK, well our running backs, our running backs have 39 touches for 300 yards against Georgia.' I think most people would have looked and said, hey, if the running backs are going to dominate this game that it would be the other way around, that it wouldn't be our running backs dominating the game and putting up those numbers. But those were the matchups. And one of the things Kyle does a great job of, he's not going to force the ball to somebody. If you want to take somebody away, it's OK, he'll just go on to the next matchup. He needs to continue to do that. For the most part, he did. He missed a couple of reads on Saturday. I'm pretty critical. I like to be exact. I want us to be not 85 or 90%, I want us to be 100% detailed and exact in what we're doing. So I think he's the same way, so I think he's going to look at some of those, say, 'OK, I missed that one and I want to be exact in what I'm doing' and just making great decisions and taking what the defense is going to give us." RECURRING TREND TO HAVE STRONG FIRST HALF, WEAK SECOND HALF. WHY IS THAT? "Well, I don't, I mean, I think a lot is just how the game's going and how we manage the game. Every game plays out very differently. And then a lot of it has to do with certain in-game strategies and what you're trying to accomplish. So I wouldn't say we're playing bad at all in the second half this season. We're playing to what our second-half strategy to the game is." CAN YOU GO INTO THAT STRATEGY? "Sure, tell me a game situation and I'll tell you what the strategy is." OUTSCORED 7-6 THIS WEEKEND, SO WHAT WAS THE STRATEGY THERE? "We're up by huge numbers and we're going to control the clock and control the tempo of the game." Weird Feleipe on other sideline? “I think this, obviously it’s tough, but as competitors, I mean, we love to compete. And I know Feleipe’s a great competitor. He wants to come in here and beat my butt, beat everybody on the team’s butt, you know what I mean, and that’s what competitors want to do - and he’s a competitor, so he’s going to want to do it. But it’s not going to change the relationships or how you feel about each other when you’re out there on the field you get that competitive edge to you that you want to win. He’s that type of deal. I’m happy for him. The whole thing came down to: I want to make sure I’m on the field playing next year. And here he is having a great season. That’s what you want, so I’m really happy for him. I’m happy for how it’s working out for him. But I know, I mean, I want to go compete, I want to beat his butt on Saturday. That’s what we want to do. That’s what competitors do.” Tre Grimes said he remains tight with Feleipe, do you sense this among players, will it be a different vibe before and after game? “Yeah, I think they’ll have fun with it. I think, you know, but you see that I think there’s certain deals when the guys know each other. Every game that you play, there’s guys with friends that they’re playing against or guys that you competed against or guys you know. But this one’s probably different because it’s a guy that was your teammate for quite a long time. So I think this one’s probably a little bit different. I think it’d be huge motivation for him and for their team to get his back to try to help him win, and then motivation for our guys to go compete and beat one of their friends.” Feleipe’s legacy at UF? “I think he came in, I think before we got here and everything he had a rough go of it, with the fan base, with everything going on. He came in and took a four-win team and led ‘em to a New Year’s Six bowl victory and a top-10 finish and he helped the turnaround of the program to make that happen. I think, you know, it’s a foundation of a guy that came in and took a bad situation and turned it into a really good one and helped build a foundation and put Florida back to where everyone expects Florida to be as a top-10, national program.” With no obvious reschedule date, Sam Pittman positive and potential outbreak, tropical storm … any conversations on contingencies? “No, not at all. You certainly for Arkansas they’re able to get through it. That’s kind of how the year is right now. So, hopefully it’s a very isolated deal for them and for their team. We went through it. It’s a really hard deal for the team with everything going on. So hopefully, hopefully they’re able to get through it. If not, we got to try to jumble some things around. I’m sure they’ll let us know here pretty quickly. We’ll go out and play whoever we have to play.” What did Spurrier say to you about Georgia win? “He was excited. He was excited. He was fired up. I mean, like you said, he said, hey, that’s your first time winning? I said here at Florida. We had a win over Georgia at Mississippi State. But first time winning that game here as Florida coach. He thought that was cause for a little celebration. I know he was fired up for us.” Different recruiting this weekend? “It’s always better than going the other way. You know what, the excitement. You’re hitting up your guys that are committed to come play for you and they’re fired up, they can’t wait to be a part of where the program’s headed, the direction the program’s headed. Guys that aren’t committed and all these other guys you recruited and are excited about what the future of the program looks like. There is sure something positive around the program.” On Kemore Gamble: “I think he’s done a great job. He’s worked to continue to develop within the program. Everybody that knows, you see Kyle Pitts and you know this guy is a special talent. What I always tell players, you don’t have to be like him. You just have to be the best you can be, and if you’re focused on your development and working for you to be the best you can be, you’re going to be ready for your moment. I don’t know a year ago that he could have stepped and perform the way he performed on Saturday. But here it is a year later and you could sit there and say, ‘Hey, I’ve got this guy in front of me, I’m not playing,’ but again, like Kyle Trask did, he saw that and said, ‘I’m going to continue to prepare for when my moment was called.’ And when his number was called, he was ready to go in. He comes in right after Kyle gets hurt and scores a touchdown. I think that’s such a huge deal for him and it’s certainly a confidence-builder for him moving forward.” Is your team developing that killer instinct? “Yeah, we’ll see. We’ve got to keep going. I mean, we haven’t been in many crunch-times games at the end, so we’ve got to see. I think our team’s done a really good job of knowing how to win and putting ourselves in a position to win. The one that we did, we didn’t find a way to do. We had an opportunity and a game at Texas A&M. You’re talking about a one-possession game where they had one possession more than we did and we just weren’t efficient enough and didn’t get the stop and not efficient enough offensively to finish the game that way. But I do think the team certainly has built the confidence and understanding that there is confidence within the team about the defense. There is confidence within the team about the offense. There is confidence within the team about our specialists. I don’t think we have to get better special teams-wise. When I talk about special teams, I talk about the all 11 guys on the field for a special teams play. I think there’s some improvement we need to do. We need some guys to step up there and continue to do that and improve that way. But I think certainly building that confidence within the team to count on each other to win.” Feleipe said he still talks to the guys and he talked about that before but do you still talk to him when was the last time you talked to Feleipe? "Yeah, you know I mean I talked to him a week or two ago, he was texting me. You know, I think he texts Megan more than me even, you know, I mean but I would too. I mean that the, right, I mean usually, usually when people are getting a text from me it's because something, they did something wrong or there's a problem or, there's an issue. You know so I think you know Feleipe's a guy that is, uh, you know, went through a lot while he was here. Knows that we cared about him, knows that we believe in him and everyone in our family I think you know even, you know like like Megan will say, I mean even, you know, I mean, he was one of the first ones to send her a Happy Mother's Day text last year. So I think you know when you have that—we do —and you always have that great relationship with all, with all your former players.” Megan doesn’t yell at him for missed reads and interceptions. “No like I’m, that's why I don't think everybody always, like you know I mean like, you know, like yeah like I mean Kyle Trask after the game everybody was like 'well you threw for 474 yards.’ I’m like ‘well you did miss the read on this play,' you know, that's my first comment is, you know—I tried, and Megan reminds me—I'm like, I'm like, ‘Hey, great job. You did miss the read on that play.' I try to start with a great job first. So, the, I don't know I'm just always kind of, like, trying to coach and get everybody better all the time and so I have worked on trying to be, make sure I'm always very encouraging first before I get into how we're going to coach and get better.” Looking at the 40 plus snaps that you get out of Josh Braun on Saturday, sort of your reaction to how he stepped in? "I think it was huge you know, I mean he came in and, um, you know he's a guy that's taken advantage of some opportunity this year due to some, you know, some injuries and some other things of preparing himself the right way. You know I saw—I did see his dad after the game, I hit him like ‘Hey did you get nervous?’ He goes ‘Well, I really wasn't till my wife hit me and was like hey you know he's in right now and I did get a little nervous at that point.' But uh, no, I mean he's a, he's a, he's a very intelligent guy, came in with a great work ethic; has taken advantage of the opportunity of being out there on the field, in practice, and you know, when his number was called, he was ready to go step in the game and play.” That's a position where I guess if you enroll early maybe you can make some ground strength wise but especially with the offseason challenges you guys face for a lineman to step in and play like that is a little bit unusual right? "I think that's one of the hardest positions to come in and play right away as a freshman, you know, I think that you know, obviously, you know, offensive line, quarterback are probably two of the hardest positions to come in to play right away as a true freshman, obviously, offensive line being the hardest. You know the speed of the game, the adjustment, the checks of everything that's happening out there on the field. You’re trying to you know—a lot of these guys are big guys, are still growing into their body and their development, you know, and even for Josh who did, who did enroll roll early but didn't get a spring ball. He's done a really good job of being prepared and ready to go play.” I tallied it up and maybe I'm incorrect but I believe you guys through eight wheel routes for 217 yards, one of them being when Gamble had the one-handed catch that looked like it was going to Nay'Quan. Earlier in the year Jordan Rodgers also pointed out, I think, 10 plays against Ole Miss that you were able to call back back-to-back throughout the game. “Yeah.” With that being said, I mean, how important is it to be able to, even against the SEC's arguable best defense to call a play so many times successfully. And with that, I mean, maybe besides the wheel route, do you have a favorite route combo? “Ahh, no, I don't know if there's one. I think one of the things I think the offensive coaches we try to get into is, ‘How can we attack this attack the defense that we're playing? How do we create the matchups that are in our advantage? And how do we go take advantage of them?' And every defense you're gonna play is a little bit different and every matchup you're going to play is a little bit different. And, you know, so I think in, and as Jordan, you know, I mean, I think it’d be cool because I did see that breakdown he did earlier. I did some show, I mean I watched and I think Jordan does a great job, does an awesome job you know, and breaks down football for people, you know, to go watch and see and explain how we're doing things. I think if you watch that I don't know that we ever ran it out of the same formation. I don't think we've ever ran the same play out of the same formation twice. You know, you're always going to do it, now how you get people there's going to be very different you know we, the different ways, But ours is, we're a very conceptually based offense so you have this conception and now there might be 10 to 15 different ways that we're going to run this concept within the course of a game to attack it, because we feel that's going to create an advantageous matchup for us. You know, and, you know, the wheel route was something that was an advantageous matchup for us on Saturday and we created a bunch of different ways to do it. And we're able to execute it so it'd be, it'd be cool if Jordan does that again this week. I think he, he does a really good job of that so hopefully, he gets another little—I don't want him to give away all our secrets all the time to be honest with you but I do think he does a really good job of it and it'd be really interesting to see him break that down for everybody to see.” If I could have access to the all 22 I'd love to do it for him. “(Big laugh) We'll see. We'll see. I'll think about it. I'm not going to break it down and put it out there for everybody because you know I don't want it out there. “Good. Awesome. All right everybody have a great week. Go Gators.”

Florida Gators Offensive Coordinator Brian Johnson met with local media on Monday. He recapped the game plan used to defeat the Georgia Bulldogs, how he prepares for defenses with one of the country's best offense's at his disposal and what it will be like to face former Florida quarterback Feleipe Franks on Saturday night. As a valued GatorBait subscriber, we are offering this transcript in full. NEEDED TO WIN 1-ON-1 JUMP BALLS LAST WEEK, HOW PLEASED WITH SOME OF THE CATCHES VS. UGA? "Yeah, they did a great job. We talked about it all week. We had to make contested catches to go out there and perform, because you're going to get match coverage and you're going to have to make plays against really good players. We were able to do that and score some points." HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO TRY TO GET BETTER EVERY WEEK DOWN THE STRETCH? "Yeah I think that's obviously extremely important. We talk about it all the time, just playing at a high level on a consistent basis and consistency of performance, going out there and executing and doing what you're supposed to do every single snap. So obviously you never want to peak in the middle of the season, so the goal is to be playing your best ball and continue to build throughout the course of the season and execute at a really high level on a consistent basis." WHAT ARE YOU SEEING FROM FELEIPE THIS YEAR? "Yeah, he's having a great year. Really proud of him. Feleipe is like family to me. I love him to death so really excited for him. I know he's probably excited to get back here and get the chance to play in the Swamp, so he's done a great job all year long. He's had those guys playing some really good football." LAST WEEK HE THREW A BOMB EFFORTLESSLY "Yeah, I mean I've seen that in person plenty of times. His ability to throw that deep ball that he threw to the left corner last, I think that was last week I saw in the highlights, so yeah, he's extremely talented. Great player, great person and has a great family. I'm excited that he has an opportunity to go out there and showcase what he can do each and every week." Guessing if Toney can out throw you now, Feleipe can too? “For sure. I won’t even try to compete with those guys. They can have that.” Do you keep in contact with Feleipe “For sure. We have a great relationship. I still talk to him quite often. The reason you get into coaching is really about the relationships. Regardless if he’s here or not he’s someone we spent a lot of time with. He’s family to me. We keep in constant contact. I’m really proud of what he’s been able to accomplish this year. I’m looking forward to seeing him in person this weekend.” On Arkansas defense “Well, I mean, each game takes on its own personality. The thing (Arkansas) does a great job of doing is they play with great vision on the quarterback. They see the ball in front of them and they break and they tackle well. We have to do a good job of creating situations where we get our playmakers in space and just be really consistent in our execution. They’ve had some games where they’ve gotten multiple turnovers. We’ve gotta do a great job protecting the football and be ready to take what the defense gives us. If they stay over top you’ve gotta be ready to check the ball down and drive it. We may have to go on some longer drives but you just gotta play the game the right way. Trust your reads and trust your execution.” Catch up with Feleipe before the game or wait until its over? “I’ll see him, I’m sure I’ll see him out there warming up if he’s out there pregame. We talk almost every week, probably every other week. I’ve been keeping tabs on him. I’m glad to see he’s doing really, really well.” Insight into second-half slowdowns? How avoid? “I think the biggest thing is we weren’t on second and third down, particularly third down. Obviously, which is why we had to punt or kick a field goal. You know, we had some opportunities. We just have to be better. A couple things: we got obviously make some more plays, but we also have to be more aggressive, as well. You go back and forth because you absolutely want to play complimentary football, our defense was doing a great job of stopping those guys. So we get into a situation like that and that second half ball security really becomes a premium. We got to do a great job taking care of it. Obviously, we would have liked to have scored. A couple times I think we had some opportunities. We just have to do a better job being aggressive and making some plays.” RB receiving? What do for all players to produce? “I think that’s the beauty of our system and our offense of how we try to find ways to create matchups that are advantages for us. We were able to do that last week. This week’s a different game. The ball might go somewhere else this week. It’s really, really important that all five skill players contribute to the success of the offense. I think it makes it really hard on defenses to focus in on just one guy or try to take a certain thing away when you have the ability that whoever touches the ball has a chance to make a big play.” Progression of Malik Davis? What expected? “Yean, I mean we expect all our players to be super productive. Obviously he had some injuries early in his career that he’s done a fantastic job battling back and getting himself to a place where he’s really explosive and doing a great job understanding the game. I think Coach Knox does a fantastic job of getting those guys ready to play, them understanding what they’re sending. And they do a fantastic job of making plays when the job comes their way. It’s a very, very unselfish group. All three guys go in there and do their job and are happy when anybody makes a play. That’s what you want in your team, really, really proud to be a part of that.” Different plays out of the same set? Do you know which one will work each game? “You have a good idea throughout the week as you implement your game plan in terms of OK, where are your matchups, how do you want to attack the defense. As the game goes along, you want to try to find different ways to exploit that matchup and be ready to adjust when they adjust. It’s definitely a back and forth, and we were able to get that done. Each game takes on its own personality, just the style of defense that they played just happened that way where we created some matchups and the tailback was able to win some one on ones.” Wheel route always open? “Always.” O-line depth? “Yeah, props to the offensive line. Coach Hevesy does a great job of developing, getting those guys ready to play. I was excited for them to get an opportunity and I’m sure they’re just as excited to get in and showcase what they can do. That’s a part of the game, but it’s nice when we have guys that can come in and step up and perform at a high level when their number’s called.” Long-term depth? Ethan White contributing? “Yeah, for sure. Obviously, experience is life’s best teacher. The more you play, the better you get. It was good to get those guys in and they all have really, really bright futures here at Florida. It was good for them to go in there and kind of get a taste of what real SEC football is.” Route combo you love? “I think you kind of go back … obviously we made some plays on the tailback coming out of the backfield. I think it’s just everyone having a great understanding of the defensive leverage and how the ball should come. For example, the play that stands out the most if not even the wheel route. It’s probably the touchdown to Pitts, when he threw the go route right off the right hash. Based on how that defender was playing him, he was obviously kind of playing for a back shoulder and he was kind of trailing Pitts, thinking we would just back shoulder up high to him, and Kyle saw it and threw it over the top and he was able to make the play. I kind of go back to saying it’s part art, part science. The biggest thing is when you’re playing man coverage, throw it where they ain’t. Throw it away from the defense, give our guy a chance to make the play and we were able to do that.” Kyle Pitts questionable, Gamble and Zip benefit from more attention in practice this week? Confidence level in them? “I’m extremely confident in those guys. They came in and played really well and made plays. Kemore got the touchdown, Zip had a huge play on a corner route early in the game, when we had to make an explosive play to get us down in the redzone, so there’s no doubt in my mind that those guys will be ready to play. Coach Brewster is one of the best tight end coaches in all of America, and those guys practice really hard and they showed when they got out on the field they were able to make some plays.” Justin Shorter development? “Justin does a great job, he’s extremely physical. He’s caught two touchdown passes the last couple weeks, he practices really, really hard .He’s an excellent contributor on special teams as well. He’s a big, powerful, strong, fast guy that can really make plays, so it’s been a pleasure to have him here and watch him continue to grow and develop.” Most weapons you’ve had on a team? “We have a couple good players, so great players make good coaches, so I never lose sight of that. I think it’s just a fantastic group of guys to be around that love football and a really, really good coaching staff that loves developing football players, and everything’s kind of in sync right now. The challenge is to, like we say, remain consistent and continue to have great habits at practice and have that translate to the game.”

A few thoughts to jump start your Tuesday morning: Kirby Smart and his defensive coordinator Dan Lanning probably thought they had a very good game plan going into last Saturday’s game with the Florida Gators. They planned to bracket tight end Kyle Pitts as much as possible and get physical with Kadarius Toney to prevent him from catching the football in space. On paper it must have seemed solid and sound, but it didn’t take into account Dan Mullen calling pass plays for his running backs on wheel routes up the sideline. Georgia was caught flatfooted, trying to cover Florida’s swift running backs with linebackers who simply couldn’t keep up. On a day when UF quarterback Kyle Trask was in a zone (30-43 for 474 yards and four TDPs), the running backs combined to catch 10 passes for 212 yards. Malik Davis (5 catches, 100 yards), Nay’Quan Wright (3-71) and Dameon Pierce (2-41) exposed the fatal flaw in Georgia’s defensive preparation. They outran the Georgia linebackers and Trask hit them in stride. Davis had big gainers of 37, 22 and 18 yards. Wright had a 50-yard reception and Pierce had one go for 35 yards. In many respects, the passes to the running backs were just an extension of the running game. Instead of pounding it between the tackles or trying to run sweeps, Mullen isolated a running back on a linebacker and got the ball to him in space. It was easy pitch and catch for Trask, who saw the field so well that he completed passes to 10 different players. “I know everybody says whoever runs for the most yards wins, but maybe it’s whoever’s running backs get the most yards win,” Mullen said Saturday after the Gators took out Georgia 44-28 to gain the upper hand in the race for the SEC East Division championship. In addition to throwing so often to his running backs, Trask also found tight ends not named Pitts four times for 90 yards (Kemore Gamble 3-51, 1 TD; Keon Zipperer 1-39). When Georgia focused on neutralizing Florida’s wide receivers, Mullen was prepared with an alternative. Mullen had creative answers to every look Georgia presented. Georgia’s defenders played much of the game like lost balls in the very tall grass. Georgia tried very hard to adjust but Mullen always seemed at least one or two steps ahead. This was the first game of the season in which the running backs were so essential in the passing game. When Pitts (2-59, one TD) went down with an injury in the second quarter Mullen got the ball to the backup tight ends. The next man up theory worked to perfection. This is a Florida offense that is capable of hanging huge point totals on any team in the country. Saturday was a textbook version of why that’s not only possible but almost probable every time the Gators strap it on. RUMBLING, STUMBLING, BUMBLING IN THE SEC #1 ALABAMA (6-0): Running back Trey Sanders, who took a redshirt last year after undergoing foot surgery, will miss the rest of the season due to injuries suffered in an auto accident. Sanders, who ran for 134 yards while playing in four games, ran for 80 on 12 carries against Mississippi State in Bama’s last outing. ARKANSAS (3-3): Unless he can pass three Covid-19 tests between now and Saturday, HBC Sam Pittman will be out for Saturday’s road trip to #6 Florida. If Pittman is unable to make the trip, defensive coordinator Barry Odom, formerly the HBC at Missouri, will be the interim head coach. #24 AUBURN (4-2): The Tigers’ game at Mississippi State has been postponed and rescheduled for December 12 due to a Covid-19 outbreak among the MSU team. #12 GEORGIA (4-2): Stetson Bennett IV gets far too much blame for what has gone sideways for Georgia this season. Instead of pointing fingers at Bennett, maybe it’s time to take a good hard look at an offense that has shown very little creativity under new coordinator Todd Monken and a defense that has allowed 85 points and 1,135 yards in the two losses. There has been no discernible development at the quarterback position and both Alabama and Florida picked apart that vaunted defense, which doesn’t come anywhere close to matching the hype. KENTUCKY (2-4): At his Monday press conference, HBC Mark Stoops seemed to indicate that Terry Wilson will start at QB vs. Vanderbilt. Wilson, who has thrown for 602 yards and four touchdowns, did not play in the Wildcats 14-3 loss to Georgia a couple of weeks ago. LSU (2-3): As of Monday, LSU was scrambling to find enough players to meet the Southeastern Conference minimum of 53 for Saturday’s game with #1 Alabama. It is being reported that LSU has only one scholarship QB available (freshman TJ Finley), no tight ends or long snappers. If this game is not played, there is not a possible makeup date since both have already had their open date and LSU is scheduled to play Florida in a makeup game on December 12. MISSISSIPPI STATE (2-4): Mississippi State athletic director John Cohen said the Bulldogs couldn’t have fielded the SEC-mandated minimum 53-man roster for Saturday’s game with Auburn, which has been rescheduled for December 12. Maybe with the time off, Mike Leach can figure out how to run the football. The Bulldogs average just 21.5 yards per game on the ground, easily the worst mark in both the SEC and the nation. MISSOURI (2-3): There is no shortage of optimism that Missouri could finish with a break even or better season. Following Saturday’s home game with 12th-ranked Georgia (Georgia is an 11.5-point favorite), Missouri’s last four games are (at) South Carolina, Arkansas, (at) Mississippi State and Vanderbilt. Mizzou will likely be favored to win at least three of the four. OLE MISS (2-4): Wide receiver Elijah Moore leads the SEC in receptions (61) and receiving yards (829). He will be working Saturday against a South Carolina secondary that has given up an SEC worst 14 touchdown passes. SOUTH CAROLINA (2-4): The South Carolina fan base has become enamored with Liberty head coach Hugh Freeze (7-0) but would Freeze leave Liberty, where he has plenty of job security, not a lot of pressure and a $2.5 million per year salary, for the pressure cooker that is the Southeastern Conference? Of course, there is also that matter of a buyout for current South Carolina HBC Will Muschamp, a mere $13.2 million. Unless the South Carolina fans put together the cold hard cash to buy Muschamp out, there is no way athletic director Ray Tanner is going to let him go, particularly in a year in which $50-80 million of red ink is bled. TENNESSEE (2-4): Quarterback Jarrett Guarantano, who left the Arkansas game after taking a hit to the head, is listed day-to-day by HBC Jeremy Pruitt. In the event Guarantano can’t answer the bell for 5th-ranked Texas A&M Saturday, the likely starter is true freshman Harrison Bailey, who completed six passes to his UT teammates and two to Arkansas in the Vols’ 24-13 loss. For the season, Bailey is 7-13 for 89 yards. Also, defensive lineman Latrell Bumphus, who suffered a leg injury in warmups for the Arkansas game, is out for the rest of the season. #5 TEXAS A&M (5-1): After one player and one staffer tested positive for Covid-19 after the South Carolina game, Texas A&M put a pause on all football activities while waiting on further tests to determine if the outbreak is confined to those two or has spread among the team. The entire team and football staff were tested Monday and while no results have been released, HBC Jimbo Fisher stated, “Right now, everything is full go” for Saturday’s game at Tennessee. VANDERBILT (0-5): The Vanderbilt offense has generated eight touchdowns this season. That’s six fewer than Alabama running back Najee Harris has scored this year. ELSEWHERE IN THE COLLEGE TACKLE FOOTBALL PLAYING WORLD On WJOX in Birmingham, Paul Finebaum went into his rip and shred mode when the subject of Michigan coach Him Harbaugh was brought up on the radio show Monday morning: “Jim Harbaugh has now become a Saturday Night Live parody. Where else do you go? He says the same thing after every loss, which is great. His message is as delusional, win or lose these days. [Michigan] needs to rectify that. You can’t take that kind of damage into your brand every weekend.” Just a week ago Finebaum reported that Harbaugh and Michigan have reached an amicable divorce that will take place after this season ends. With so much expectation that Harbaugh is leaving, the speculators in the media are trying to come up with a list of potential successors. Here is what seems like the current short list (not in order of preference): (1) Luke Fickell, Cincinnati; (2) Matt Campbell, Iowa State; (3) Hugh Freeze, Liberty. Utah’s game with UCLA has been moved from Friday to Saturday, that is, if it is played at all. Utah’s season opener with Arizona was postponed due to Covid-19 and there are lingering problems with the virus. TUESDAY PITHY THOUGHTS: Sergio Garcia has tested positive for Covid-19, which means he will miss The Masters in Augusta. I’m sure we will all miss Sergio regripping his club about 15 times before he takes a shot … I’ll be seriously surprised if Tiger Woods contends for the championship at The Masters. I think last year’s surprising win at The Masters was the last major Tiger will win …Tom Brady completed more passes to the New Orleans Saints (3) than he did TDPs for the Tampa Bay Bucs (0) Sunday night ... The governor of Massachusetts signed an executive order banning large crowds at stadiums which means the New England Patriots won’t have fans at their remaining home games. As badly as they have been playing, Bill Belichick probably welcomes the move … The Associated Press released its top 25 basketball poll Monday. The Gators weren’t picked (no surprise there) as only two SEC teams (Kentucky #10 and Tennessee #12) made it.

A few thoughts to jump start your Monday morning: In the two games since the Gators lost 41-38 to Texas A&M on the last play of the game, Florida’s beleaguered defense has allowed a combined 525 yards on 121 offensive snaps, an average of 4.33 yards per play. In the three games prior to wins over Missouri and then 5th-ranked Georgia, the Gators gave up 1,485 yards on 235 snaps, an average of 6.32 yards per play. The defensive improvement is dramatic, not only because it has kept the 6th-ranked Gators (4-1) from winning games in shootout fashion. In the Gators’ 44-28 win over Georgia Saturday, they gave up 136 yards and two touchdowns on the first seven plays of the game but settled down afterward to allow just 141 yards on 51 plays, an average of 2.76 yards per play. The Gators gave up 112 passing yards on 29 attempts and 165 rushing yards, also on 29 attempts. Georgia had 92 of its 165 rushing yards on its first four attempts of the game, one of which was a 75-yard TD run on the game’s first play. Georgia picked up 45 of its 112 passing yards on the second series. From that point on, Georgia averaged just 2.48 yards per pass attempt, which is dramatic considering Ole Miss was good for 13.4 per attempt and the Aggies 9.4. The defense remains a work in progress, but the Gators are starting to play up to their talent level in part because coordinator Todd Grantham finally has pretty much all of his roster to work with. Perhaps the most important piece of the equation was getting nose tackle Kyree Campbell back, which allowed Zachary Carter to move outside instead of trying to make a go of it inside. Carter, who missed the first half of the Georgia game, didn’t have a single tackle but was credited with five of Florida’s seven pressures on the QB (the Gators also finished with three sacks). The Gators also picked off three passes, their first interceptions since freshman Gervon Dexter got one off a deflection in the Ole Miss game. It is worth mentioning that during the two weeks off due to Covid-19, Grantham and his assistants simplified the defense. The Gators are relying more on instinct and reaction instead of complicated reads. There are still some glitches that will have to be worked through but the improvement the last two weeks tells us Florida is well on its way toward becoming a complete team. ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25 POLL (1) Alabama 6-0; (2) Notre Dame 7-0; (3) Ohio State 3-0; (4) Clemson 7-1; (5) Texas A&M 5-1; (6) FLORIDA 4-1; (7) Cincinnati 6-0; (8) BYU 8-0; (9) Miami 6-1; (10) Indiana 3-0; (11) Oregon 1-0; (12) Georgia 4-2; (13) Wisconsin 1-0; (14) Oklahoma State 5-1; (16) Coastal Carolina 7-0; (17) Marshall 6-0; (18) Oklahoma 5-2; (19) SMU 7-1; (20) Southern Cal 1-0; (21) Texas 5-2; (22) Liberty 7-0; (23) Northwestern 3-0; (24) Auburn 4-2; (25) Louisiana-Lafayette 6-1 COACHES TOP 25 POLL (1) Alabama 6-0; (2) Notre Dame 6-0; (3) Ohio State 3-0; (4) Clemson 7-1; (5) FLORIDA 4-1; (6) Texas A&M 5-1; (7) Cincinnati 6-0; (8) BYU 8-0; (9) Miami 6-1; (10) Indiana 3-0; (11) Georgia 4-2; (12) Oregon 1-0; (13) Oklahoma State 5-1; (14) Wisconsin 1-0; (15) Marshall 6-0; (16) Iowa State 5-2; (17) Coastal Carolina 7-0; (18) Oklahoma 5-2; (19) SMU 7-1; (20) Southern Cal 1-0; (21) Auburn 4-2; (22) Liberty 7-0; (23) Northwestern 3-0; (24) Texas 5-2; (25) Army 6-1 RUMBLING, STUMBLING, BUMBLING IN THE SEC #1 ALABAMA (6-0): By ascending to #1 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll, Alabama extended its record to 13 consecutive seasons in which the Crimson Tide has been ranked #1 for at least one week. Alabama received 59 out of 62 first place votes while Notre Dame had two and Ohio State one. In the Coaches poll, Alabama is also #1 after receiving 55 of the 62 votes. Next week: at LSU (2-3) ARKANSAS (3-3): Feleipe Franks set the stage for a homecoming at the University of Florida by throwing for three third quarter touchdowns to lead the Razorbacks to a 24-13 win over Tennessee. Through six games, Franks has thrown for 1,428 yards and 14 touchdowns against only three interceptions while leading Arkansas to a most improbable 3-3 record. The Hogs are 16.5-point underdogs against Florida. Next week: at #6 FLORIDA (4-1) #24 AUBURN (4-2): With the offense coming around (83 points combined in the last two games) there is optimism for a strong finish. The Tigers will be heavy favorites to win the next two games (Mississippi State, Tennessee) then they close out with (at) #1 Alabama and #6 Texas A&M. Win one of those two and Gus Malzahn is safe for next year. Win both of them and the Auburn fan base will be in love with him again. Auburn is a 13.5-point favorite to beat Mississippi State. Next week: at Mississippi State (2-4) #12 GEORGIA (4-2): Georgia has lost two football games and its chances to make the College Football Playoff are basically below the green grass that grows over the septic tank. And why is that? It’s because Kirby Smart gave the keys to the Cadillac to the cabana boy, as in Stetson Bennett IV. Since Smart took over the Georgia program, he’s run Jacob Eason and Justin Fields out of the program in favor of a game manager in Jake Fromm (State Farm). Bennett is a game manager also, although not nearly as talented as Fromm. Georgia fans have to be asking if Kirby is smart enough to figure out that he’s not going to win championships without a dynamic playmaker at QB and without an offense designed to eat up huge chunks of yardage in the passing game. Next week: at Missouri (2-3) KENTUCKY (2-4): The Wildcats have lost four in a row and they have the worst passing game in the SEC (118.5 yards per game, which is also 117th out of the 123 teams that have played a game so far). The Wildcats are coming off a bye week and if they weren’t able to do something to juice up their passing game the last four games are going to be very boring against a very bad Vandy team. Kentucky is a 17.5-point favorite to beat Vanderbilt Saturday. Next week: vs. Vanderbilt (0-5) LSU (2-3): In a season already gone south, LSU fans got another dose of bad news last week when Coach O announced that Myles Brennan is “very doubtful” for Saturday’s game with #1 Alabama. If Brennan doesn’t heal in a hurry the Tigers will have to go with true freshman TJ Finley, who is coming off a two-interception performance in the Tigers’ 48-11 loss to Auburn. LSU is a 22.5-point home underdog to Alabama. Next week: vs. #1 Alabama (6-0) MISSISSIPPI STATE (2-4): The Bulldogs were outgained 478-204 and managed -22 on the ground, yet they avoided their fifth straight loss because they picked off three Vanderbilt passes and recovered two fumbles. Freshman QB Will Rogers threw for 226 yards, averaging 4.9 per attempt against Vandy’s rush three, drop eight defensive scheme. MSU will be an underdog in the four remaining games on its schedule. Next week: vs. #24 Auburn (2-4) MISSOURI (2-3): Catching Georgia the week after a big loss to Florida and dealing with all sorts of injuries makes Saturday’s game intriguing. Mizzou can throw the ball all over the yard (see LSU, 406 yards) and they have done a decent job protecting QB Connor Bazelac. Can they load the box, dare Georgia to throw and get away with it? The Tigers are a 12.5-point home dog against Georgia. Next week: vs. #11 Georgia (4-2) OLE MISS (2-4): Lane Kiffin has to be salivating at the thought of going against a South Carolina defense that has given up a combined 100 points in its last two games. Kiffin’s offense ranks fifth nationally in yards per game (541), 16th in passing (325.3 yards), 18th in scoring (38 points) and 22nd in rushing (215.67 yards). Matt Corral is hitting 71.7% of the passes he completes to his own team with 18 TDPs. Next week: vs. South Carolina (2-4) SOUTH CAROLINA (2-4): It’s taken long enough but South Carolina has opened up its quarterback competition. Collin Hill did indeed play QB for South Carolina offensive coordinator Mike Bobo when the two were at Colorado State, but he’s been largely ineffective at South Carolina. He hasn’t been very accurate, he’s too quick to go to a dump off receiver and he’s been sacked 18 times, which ranks 100th in Division I. Last year’s starter Ryan Hilinski and true freshman Luke Doty will get a chance. If they aren’t better than Hill it will be a long last four games. Next week: at Ole Miss (2-4) TENNESSEE (2-4): Jeremy Pruitt on what he told the Vols after their loss to Arkansas – “I told them I’m not discouraged, I’m not disappointed with where we’re at. I’m pissed off where we’re at, obviously.” Now imagine where Tennessee fans are with Pruitt. They’re starting to ask what the hell were we thinking when we ran Butch Jones off? And, they’re starting to think Phil Fulmer as the AD is a complete and total disaster. The Vols are 12.5-point home underdogs to Texas A&M Saturday. Next week: vs. #5 Texas A&M (5-1) #5 TEXAS A&M (5-1): Ever since the Alabama game, Kellen Mond has been playing at a very high level with 13 touchdown passes and only one interception. He has to play well in the last four games if the Aggies are to stand a chance of making the College Football Playoff as an at large team. They will be favored in the next three games. The only one that seems a bit iffy at this point is the final game at #21 Auburn. Next week: at Tennessee (2-4) VANDERBILT (0-5): The Commodores quest to avoid a reverse run of the 2020 table was shot in the foot (several times) by turnovers that negated the best offensive output of the season. Turnovers led to two Mississippi State touchdowns and a fourth-and-two gamble at midfield gave the Bulldogs a short field that led to a field goal. The Commodores will be favored to lose Next week: at Kentucky (2-4) TACKLE FOOTBALL PLAYED SOMEPLACE OTHER THAN THE SEC The inappropriately named Big Ten (14 teams so how is it the Big Ten) should be renamed Ohio State and the 13 Dwarfs. Penn State (0-3) and Michigan (1-2) were supposed to be right there with the Buckeyes for the league title but both are going to struggle to break even. Paul Finebaum says that Jim Harbaugh and Michigan will be parting ways after this season. The folks at Penn State aren’t exactly enamored with James Franklin, either. Both Harbaugh and Franklin knock down $8 million a year so fans expect to get a few more bangs for their bucks. The Fighting Flames are 7-0 after knocking off their second Power Five team. Hugh Freeze has Liberty on the verge of an unbeaten season. Standing in the way are a North Carolina State team that can run up points but can’t stop anyone and unbeaten (7-0) Coastal Carolina in the final game of the season. Freeze left Ole Miss under the cloud of NCAA suspicion (he was never implicated but the school took a hit), made worse by less than flattering revelations about his personal life. Freeze might be considered damaged goods but he’s 15-5 at Liberty and they’re paying him a cool $2.5 million Illinois punted on fourth-and-goal Saturday in its 41-14 loss to Minnesota. Here is how that happened. On second-and-goal from the Minnesota 10, there was a 23-yard loss by Illinois QB Coran Taylor, who then threw incomplete on third down. So on fourth-and-goal from the Minnesota 48, Illinois punted with a fair catch call at the 11. It’s that kind of season for Lovie Smith, who probably will keep his job even with a winless season because Illinois can’t afford to pay him off. Utah State (0-3) is in the market for a new head coach. Gary Andersen, who went 7-6 last year, was fired Saturday night after three losses by a 114-29 deficit. Andersen was making $1.2 million. FEELING PITHY ON MONDAY: Bill France has to be rolling over in his grave. NASCAR held its championship (won by Chase Elliott) Sunday in Phoenix, Arizona, which was a slap in the face of a fan base rooted in the south. When it comes to the races that decide the championship, they need to be held in Daytona, Charlotte, Talladega or Darlington. No place else. You don’t take the championship away you’re your grass roots support. Phoenix? That’s just dumber than dumb … It’s Masters Week. Fortunately, it’s always played at Augusta National and there isn’t anyone dumb enough to move the tournament somewhere else. NASCAR should take note … The warmup for the Masters was played at Houston this weekend, a tournament won by Danny Ortiz, the first Mexican to win a PGA event in 42 years. There were people in the gallery in Houston, something we won’t see in Augusta … Tua Tagovailoa led the Miami Dolphins to a 34-31 come-from-behind win over the Arizona Cardinals in just his second start as an NFL quarterback.

Dan Mullen did his best to be diplomatic about Florida’s 44-28 win over then 5th-ranked Georgia Saturday in Jacksonville, tough to do since he had more or less tipped his hand when he leapt into the stands to celebrate what can only be described as a signature accomplishment after the clock struck zero. You could tell by the way he answered questions with the media post game that he was still feeling giddy about the Gators assuming control of their own destiny in the SEC East Division. Asked if beating Georgia got the Gators over a hump, Mullen replied, “Uh, I don’t know about that. I know I mean, I was … really it was a big win for us. Uh, you know, anytime you have a top ten matchup, you know, I mean, those are … those are big games. So, I don’t know the hump … I mean hopefully we get, if we can, we can find a way to continue to improve we night get more top ten matchups as the year goes on and we’ll see how that goes.” Excuse Mullen if he was caught up in the moment and was having problems putting his words together. This is the kind of thing that happens when a rather large monkey – in this case it probably felt like an 800-pound gorilla – that has been riding on your back for 2-1/2 years is removed and sent to live among the rhesus macaques who have called Florida home since they were introduced to the jungle around Silver Springs back when Tarzan movies were filmed at the iconic tourist landmark. This was the most significant win of the Dan Mullen era at the University of Florida because unless the Gators find a way to lose twice in their last five games they will supplant Georgia at the top of the SEC East for the first time since 2017. Georgia won the 2017 SEC title, lost in overtime in the national championship game that year and then lost in the final seconds of the SEC championship game in 2018. The perception has been that Georgia would stay perched at the top of the SEC East and contend for national championships while leaving everyone else in the dust so Florida’s road to the top of the division hasn’t been an easy one. Florida’s path back began when athletic director Scott Stricklin had to fire Jim McElwain during the 2017 season after McElwain claimed at a press conference that he and his family had received death threats from disgruntled Gator fans. Firing McElwain weighed heavily on Stricklin but he was left with little choice when McElwain refused to substantiate the allegations. But, there was more to it than that. Stricklin knew the program was heading in the wrong direction ever since the bulk of what amounts to an NFL defense left behind by Will Muschamp moved on to play for pay on Sunday leaving McElwain to his own devices. Subtly put, McElwain had the Florida program on a downward spiral. Fortunately, Stricklin had the antidote for Chief Yellow Teeth and that was Mullen, hired from Mississippi State after the 2017 season came to a crashing halt. By the time Mullen arrived, Georgia and its head coach Kirby Smart were widening the gap between Florida and everyone else in the SEC East. It has taken Mullen 2-1/2 years to bring that to a screeching halt and get the Gators to eye level with Georgia. Whereas Smart has done it by stockpiling enormous amounts of talent, Mullen’s approach has been far more subtle and puts more of a premium on finding kids who are good fit in the football and academic culture at UF and who respond well to coaching and player development. The perfect example of the player development approach was in the play of the offensive lines Saturday. Georgia’s collection of 5-star talent helped produce 136 yards in seven plays for two touchdowns on the first two offensive series of the game. In the subsequent 10 series, Georgia managed one offensive touchdown and only 141 yards (67 passing, 84 rushing) on 51 snaps. The math on that adds up to 2.76 per offensive play after the first two series which means the O-line wasn’t getting the job done. Georgia allowed three sacks and seven quarterback pressures as Florida attacked relentlessly. There isn’t a single 5-star talent on Florida’s offensive line, yet the Gators accumulated 571 yards on 80 snaps (7.14 per play) and allowed only one sack. Florida’s O-line has allowed only five sacks all season and the Gators are averaging 495.4 yards (7.42 per play) and 42.4 points per game. That is more total yards, more yards per play and almost as many points as the 2008 Florida national championship team (averaged 43.6 per game). Of course, the best example of player development is at quarterback. Georgia’s situation could be best described as whatever is just above disastrous. Smart ran off 5-star talents Jacob Eason (now in the NFL) and Justin Fields (could win the Heisman at Ohio State) and when Jake Fromm graduated he was left without an experienced QB. Wake Forest grad transfer Jamie Newman was supposed to be the savior sent from heaven but he opted out back in August. Southern Cal transfer JT Daniels wasn’t medically cleared to play until a few weeks ago but he’s still waiting to see the field for the first time. Former walk-on Stetson Bennett IV has been starting, backed up by redshirt freshman D’Wan Mathis and true freshman Carson Beck. There isn’t much evidence of any player development at the position. Florida, meanwhile, has Kyle Trask, who wouldn’t have gotten even a sniff from Georgia’s recruiters. Florida was Trask’s only Division I offer. He was a fourth-year junior who had seen the field only four times when Feleipe Franks was lost to a season-ending injury in 2019. When Trask took over as the starting QB it was the first time he had started a football game since he was a high school freshman. He is now 12-3 as a starter and a legitimate Heisman candidate. Against Georgia, Trask passed for 474 yards and set an SEC record by throwing for four (or more) touchdown passes in five consecutive games. For the season, Trask has thrown for 1,815 yards and 22 touchdowns. In just 21 career games Trask his totals are 4.918 passing yards and 48 touchdowns, which is more yards and TDPs than Steve Spurrier threw in 30 games of his Florida career. Judging by what we saw of Trask Saturday and what we have seen throughout this season, it could also be argued that Florida’s two backup QBs – Emory Jones and freshman Anthony Richardson – are vastly superior to anything on the Georgia roster. Beating Georgia is a big deal, even more so because it’s proof that Mullen’s approach is working. There is nothing wrong with landing the best talent available, but all the 5-stars in the world don’t necessarily win national championships. In the last four years, Georgia has won the recruiting championship twice and finished top three the other two years yet Kirby Smart doesn’t have a single national championship to show for it. Mullen keeps chipping away, adding recruits who fit his system and who don’t mind being developed. He is supremely confident that he has Florida on the right path and that he has the right coaching staff to get the Gators to a perennial championship level. Of course, nothing helps recruiting more than winning. Mullen is 25-6 since arriving at Florida in 2018. Over that same span, Kirby Smart and Georgia are 27-7. The gap has narrowed considerably and Florida should begin eliminating Georgia’s advantages on the recruiting trail on a more regular basis. It just also be noted that through the first 31 games of his tenure at Florida, Mullen’s record is the same as Steve Spurrier’s (1990-92). Only Urban Meyer (26-5) had a better record through 31 games than Mullen. Spurrier had the best record in the SEC in 1990 (couldn’t win the league title due to NCAA sanctions from the Galen Hall era), won the SEC in 1991 and played for the SEC title in 1992 when the league first broke into divisions. Meyer won the SEC and national championships in 2006. It doesn’t take much convincing to see that the program Mullen took over was in far worse shape largely due to recruiting deficiencies than the ones Spurrier and Meyer inherited. While Hall did leave behind an abysmal offense that was totally reliant on Emmitt Smith, he left Spurrier with the makings of a world class defense plus a future two-time All-SEC Player of the Year in quarterback Shane Matthews. It must be noted that Matthews was buried on the depth chart (sixth string) when Spurrier arrived. Of the 22 starters on Meyer’s 2006 national championship team, 21 were recruited by Ron Zook and there were very few holes that had to be filled on the two-deep. Beating Georgia was an important step in taking Florida to the dominant levels experienced under Spurrier and Meyer but it is only the first step. The Gators still have to finish strong to take the SEC East title which will take them to Atlanta where it is expected they will square off with #1 Alabama, which has dominant wins over Texas A&M and Georgia. Prior to the Gators’ 44-28 win over Georgia, most experts would have predicted a blowout win by Alabama in the event the two met in Atlanta. From what we saw of Florida Saturday, the Gators are quite capable of hanging with Alabama. Alabama racked up 564 yards and beat Georgia by 17. Florida rang up Georgia for 571 yards and won by 16 so maybe instead of talking about how the Gators have bridged the gap with Georgia perhaps we should be talking about how UF has overtaken Georgia and has narrowed the gap considerably with Alabama. When you’ve accomplished something of that significance, you deserve to leap into the stands with the fans to celebrate and then act a bit giddy at your press conference.

Dan Mullen appeared positively weightless. Florida Gators fans bent at the waist, over the high bar of the stands in TIAA Bank Field and collectively grabbed the head coach by his arms and lifted him into their celebration with ease. It’s a move oft pulled by players of the jubilant winning team following the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, but rarely is a coach seen executing a Florida version of the Lambeau Leap. But the ever exuberant Mullen couldn’t help himself as fans clamored for him to continue his victory lap in the stands. "You have to enjoy it. I may be 48 years old but I am still really young on the inside, so I got to enjoy some of that stuff.” Enjoy it Mullen did because in his third year as the Florida Gators Head Coach, he’d finally done what was just out of reach his first two seasons and what was necessary for the Gators to reach their perpetual goal of a SEC Championship…defeat Georgia. By a score of 44-28, Mullen and what is turning out to be one of the nation’s best offenses racked up 571 yards and led the No. 8 Florida Gators to a win over the No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs. Quarterback Kyle Trask firmly inserted himself into the Heisman Trophy conversation with 474 yards, a 70% completion rate and four touchdowns. Throwing for four touchdowns for the fifth game in a row broke the record he’d already set last week for most by any player in SEC history. Three interceptions by the defense while holding the Dawgs to 277 total yards and 2-13 on 3rd down certainly helped as well. And as Mullen was effortlessly pulled into the stands by grateful fans, it was evident, he was buoyant and weightless because at that point—and please pardon us the cliche—the monkey was off his back. “I’m just so happy for our guys,” gushed Mullen. “I’m proud of our guys. I told them before the game I was really excited to watch them play tonight because they’ve worked their tail off to be in this situation - and I enjoyed them play and I enjoyed celebrating. “It feels great, obviously, winning this big-time game. It’s put us in a good and decent position. It’s put us in position to get ready to go beat Arkansas. We have Arkansas in seven days.” Coach speak aside though, players were well aware of the importance placed on this particular game. Just ask receiver Tre Grimes. “It means a lot to all of us, you know last year that feeling, leaving the, leaving the stadium, not being victorious is a bitter feeling and we've, we've worked hard all year to come back for this game on. Whether people say or not this is our, this is our biggest game. “All year we've been, we've been waiting for this game, and to be able to come out here and do what we did, it's just a feeling that's indescribable." In the grand scheme of rivalries and annual games, losing three in a row isn’t a vast chasm of despair. After all, before 2018, Florida owned the nation’s longest win streak over an opponent having defeated the Kentucky Wildcats 31 times. That is a streak. But so much of Mullen’s first two years in Gainesville held promise and hope and then quickly developed expectations. The last remaining hump has been the Georgia Bulldogs who, while maybe not the biggest of Florida’s rivalries, is certainly the bitterest. Before kickoff Steve and Jerri Spurrier wandered into the press box, catching up with journalists that had become friends and recalling days of yore like only Spurrier can. But we forget for however much Spurrier is regarded as a lovable lovely of college football now, there was a time he was hated. Opposing fan bases didn’t think his quips were amusing, media members thought he was out of line and there was a sense of worry that he wouldn’t do enough on the field to back up the blood he’s spilled with 1-inch jabs all offseason. That is the playbook by which Mullen is operating and it’s an attitude that can only work in Gainesville…but he had yet to notch the truly signature win that would allow him the leeway Spurrier operated in during his tenure as the Gators head coach. The 2018 LSU win was huge and the 2019 Auburn win was impressive. But Mullen had to beat Georgia. These players had to beat Georgia. The fan base needed a win over Georgia. On Saturday night, under a cloudy sky that had opened throughout the night, the Gators did just that. As Florida players took a victory lap with their coach and celebrated with the reduced number of fans in attendance, junior tight end Kemore Gamble—who caught his first career touchdown on Saturday in a display of the ridiculous wealth Florida has put together on offense this season—had one thought continually tripping through his mind. “‘Bout time, ‘bout time. It means a lot dog. We’ve been working hard each and every year. Just making it to the S—" but here he stopped himself, a massive grin overtaking his face as he realized the jinx he was about to place on his team by saying they’d already made it to the SEC Championship. “Never mind I'm not saying that. Just working hard every year and finally got it.” While Gamble was right to stop himself, his logic isn’t far off. For the past five years, the path to Atlanta and the SEC Championship has gone through Jacksonville in what has essentially been a divisional championship game. Overall even, of the 28 SEC Championship games since it’s implementation in 1992, the Gators are tied with the Alabama Crimson Tide for a league most 12 appearances in the game. Georgia is second with eight appearances. The win over Georgia on Saturday means the Gators would pretty much have to try not to make it to Atlanta now. The entire 10-game schedule is famously made up of only league games this season, and of the five remaining games on the schedule, Florida has three more East divisional match-ups: Vanderbilt, Kentucky and Tennessee. Getting to that point—Atlanta and ideally the College Football Playoff—is why every Florida player decided not to take the opt out option due to COVID-19 and why they committed to offseason Zoom workouts and why older guys like Tre Grimes came back for one last ride. “I came back for a specific reason, that was to go on this national championship run. We know we had to get through Georgia first, that's what we just did. So we're looking forward to facing our next opponent and going out there and playing on these high level games.” Even for those who still have a year or two of college ball in front of them, like corner Kaiir Elam, the win was sweeter watching veterans celebrate. “Just to be able to celebrate with the seniors, you know. Guys who have been here four years. Shawn Davis, Brad Stewart, Donovan Stiner, Zach Carter, Marco Wilson, those guys they really deserve it you know. Kadarius Toney, Rick Wells, a lot of guys, they’ve been here four years and they’ve never beat Georgia, and for us to capitalize like we did, I was very grateful for that and I was so proud of them.” Kyle Trask exhibited his pride as well, walking up and down the sidelines as the clock wound down to congratulate every teammate he passed. When the always affable and steady passer was tackled by offensive lineman Richard Gouraige in his on field post game media, it flipped a switch and allowed the redshirt senior who is currently fifth in the country in passing yards per game to let loose. “It means so much, you know, having that losing streak that we had with them the past couple years, you know, it just means the world to this team to finally get over that hump and get a win against this very good, and well-coached Georgia team. I just, I can't be more proud of our guys right now,” bragged Trask. “There was a play where, where we—it could have been an interception and it wasn’t and there was a play where we almost had an interception and it wasn't so you never know,” recalled Grimes. “It came down to the last second, but I feel like probably when there's like a minute, two minutes left, that’s when we knew we had it. The ice started getting thrown, the water started getting sprayed and it was just an enjoyable moment.” The ice, the water and whatever libations fans spewed around the stands soaked the already rain saturated field. Dan Mullen went to the locker room and showed off objectively horrible dance moves that his guys still loved. Players and coaches and even the most hardened of observers couldn’t help but smile. Afterwards, Mullen would talk of those smiles and how they were earned through an incredibly hard year that so many in Gator Nation and the United States have been forced to stumble through with a global pandemic and civil unrest. And how for at least one night in Jacksonville, there was a great celebration. But this celebration was about more than just 2020. This was three years of pent up anger and frustration with a dash of blame and guilt over missed opportunities in recent years. It all came pouring out at once. It made grown men weightless and players turn into little kids and gave an entire program permission to stop thinking of a championship as a dream but rather an attainable goal.

The No. 8 Florida Gators defeated the No 5 Georgia Bulldogs 44-28 on Saturday, assuring the Gators senior class would leave with at least one win over the Bulldogs. Gators Head Coach Dan Mullen met with local media following the game to discuss what it felt like to get the win for the first time in three years, Kyle Trask's record setting game, Kyle Pitts injury and more. As a valued GatorBait subscriber, we are offering this transcript in full. How does it feel beating Georgia? How big is this for you and this program? “It feels great, obviously, winning this big-time game. It’s put us in a good and decent position. It’s put us in position to get ready to go beat Arkansas. We have Arkansas in seven days. That’s what it’s put us in position to do. We have to do that seven days from now. We’re at the midpoint of the season, we’re in first place in the East. Big win. I’m really proud of how our guys played and responded against one of the top defense’s and one of the top overall teams in the country.” I’ve got to ask. What was going through your mind about four minutes into the game down 14-0? “One of the funny things is you’re sitting there and saying, ‘Hey, we want to start fast. It’s a big deal to us.’ Because last year, with the game, how it played out last year, you’re looking if it’s going to be that again. We wanted to try to play with a lead. And force to kind of extend the game and not let them slow the game down. Obviously, we didn’t get lined up correctly on the first play. We gave up a 75-yard touchdown play. Then they convert a pass and score again. Down 14-0. Our guys were kind of maybe a little shell-shocked coming out at that point with what was going on. We did a nice job settling down. Nobody panicked. Everyone was kind of like, ‘Whoa.’ But I think we once down and got that first offensive touchdown, I think the attitude on our sideline changed and everybody kind of remembered, ‘Hey, you know what, we can play pretty good defense, getting 11 guys running to the ball as hard as we can. We can score points.’ I think everybody all of a sudden realized we’re fine, we’re going to be OK in this game. We came back and got hot offensively and guys started making plays.” What do you say about Kyle at this point? Another four-touchdown performance, he’s eight yards short of Tebow’s school record for passing. Really, really carried you guy? “Yeah, I think Kyle did a really good job managing the game. I think he missed a couple of things. You look, we had some missed assignments out there on the touchdowns we gave up. Even the pick six, you had a receiver kind of go the wrong way. But, couple of decisions I think he’s got to improve on that could have cost us there in the game. But a lot of great decisions as well. I thought he did a really good job of managing the game, making the throws he needed to make. Obviously, we would like to have been a little more efficient there in the second half. Kind of slowed down a little bit in the second half. But we’re also playing with the lead and trying to manage the game how the game was going at that point. We needed to get another touchdown. We didn’t end up doing that. But, overall, he prepares really hard, studies the game a lot, puts a lot of time in. He’s an accurate guy with the ball and he’s a confident guy. And the guys believe in him. But we’re also we’re playing, you know, playing with a lead and trying to manage the game and how the game was going at that point. Obviously we kept talking, ‘We need to get another touchdown. We need to get another touchdown.’ We didn’t end up doing that, but overall Kyle he prepares really hard, studies the game a lot, puts a lot of time in. He’s an accurate guy with the ball and he’s a confident guy, and the guys believe in him. He’s not afraid, he doesn’t hone in one guy, takes what the defense gives us - he does a nice job doing that. You see that by all the different receivers that get catches.” Long time since stranglehold on East, saw you celebrating? “Yeah. You got to. It’s, you know, we got to have some fun and enjoy this, too. I know it’s been a very tough, difficult year for everybody in every aspect of things. But when great things happen to you, like this win for us tonight, we still got to be able to put a smile on our face and enjoy it. I’m just so happy for our guys. I’m proud of our guys. I told them before the game I was really excited to watch them play tonight because they’ve worked their tail off to be in this situation - and I enjoyed them play and I enjoyed celebrating. It’s a great celebration. I’m going to celebrate tonight, too, and then we’ll come in early tomorrow morning and get on to Arkansas.” More possessions (eight) in the first half than entire game last year (seven)? How key for D to get off the field after rough start? “Well, it was huge for us. I think, you know what, Todd, then all of the sudden you give that up and we get it drawn and figure out what they’re in and how they did it. We had a misalignment on the long touchdown run to start off, that’s a frustrating couple things. But I think our guys started to settle down and I think as a team we’re coming together as a team. Our guys looks and say, hey, it’s fun to play defense when you know your offense can score points and it’s fun to play offense when your defense can make stops when they need to. I think that’s how you see the team starting to come together, enjoy it and trust each other a lot.” RB catches? “I don’t know all the stats. But that’s a good day for them. I know everybody says whoever runs for the most yards wins, but maybe it’s whoever’s running backs get the most yards win. Those are the matchups, when you look at matchups. Kyle Trask does a great job. He’s not going to force the ball. They’re going to bracket and take away and double people. He’s going to go to who you’re not bracketing or double-covering.” What impressed you most about the offense? I was pleased with our efficiency. I thought we made a lot of big plays too. One thing in the second half, I think we did a good job managing the game. We really wish we would have made another play or two there in the second half to open it up. With all the injuries we had, you are going in there at times, Ethan White was still on the edge, hopefully he will be back next week as a starter. Stewart Reese went out as a starter, Jean DeLance was out for a little bit as a starter. You know you’re down three starting offensive linemen; you’re down one of the best playmakers in college football in Kyle Pitts; you’re down a lot of different guys but we did a good job managing there in the second half and finding ways to make plays How is Kyle Pitts? We’ll see. We’ll see. That was a big hit, so the trainers said that he would be out the rest of the game. We will check out as that goes the rest of the week. Why did you jump in stands? I guess with all those people there, it seemed like there were a lot of students and they were juiced and they were trying to get me to jump into the stands tight there. You have to enjoy it. I may be 48 years old but I am still really young on the inside, so I got to enjoy some of that stuff. Some of our players were up there and I decided to jump in there with them. Changing of the guard in the SEC East? I think last year everybody was like, ‘where are we at after the game?’ We’re at, we got to prepare for Arkansas next week at home and that’s really where we are at. I don’t know if this will have an effect on next year’s game, like last year’s didn’t affect this year's, so I mean.. I think everybody likes to look at that. I think it puts us in first place in the midway point of the East. Now we got a tough schedule ahead of us and we have to try to stay there and find a way to get to Atlanta. Was this the hump you needed to get over? “Uh, I don't know about that, I know, I mean, I was, really it was a big win for us. Uh, you know, anytime you have a top 10 matchup, you know, I mean, those are those are, those are big games, so. I don't know the hump, I mean, hopefully we get, if we can, if we can find a way to continue to improve we might get more top 10 matchups as the year goes on, and we'll see how that goes.” Not having a bye week help prevent a typical slow start this week? “Yeah, I, you know, I don't know. I, the bye week thing is to me is such, like a toss up deal, you know, that sometimes, hey, if we if we're coming off a bye week, we start slow, then other times you're coming out the game and you're banged up and you don't have guys healthy, where if we had a bye week we could have gotten them healthy. I don't know that it's a big deal, either way, you know. I'm not jumping up and down so we have to have a bye week before this game. The, uh, I do think it, though, the league, and I know it is such a big game, they, they try to keep it even that way. Either both teams have a bye or both teams don’t. And I think that's not that a, that's a fair thing to do, because both teams enter in the same situation.” How was practice this week/focus changed trying not to get complacent after this win? “Well, I think, you know, the biggest thing we did is we, you know, we're, if we, our guys know it's going to be a big game, and I think our guys are going to be excited to play in the game, and, uh, we just kind of left it at that. It wasn't, you know, we didn't put, put more on it than anything else, uh, we didn't, we didn't put more on this game than other games, uh, in the week of practice. Uh, because I think everybody kind of knew, hey, you know, this is a big matchup game. You know, I mean two top-10 teams, so, to be honest with you, we really, I think we kind of really downplayed it a little bit in that way of let's just take care of our business the right way. It's going to take everybody, every single person, you know. I mean, there's a lot of guys that weren't on the sideline today that had a lot to do with us winning this game and the preparation all week. There were guys in sideline that played minimal snaps that had a lot to do with us winning this game today, uh, that everybody, we talked, that's the only thing we talked about, that it was going to take all of us to to win and, and it did.” Harder to stay in the top spot than move up ladder? “What did we go, 10 and 11? And we're trying to go, I don't know even know if we can go...Going to 12 this year would be a big deal, right?” That would be a very big deal. “Is that possible even at this point? I was told there would be no math. That's it, you're asked a bunch of journalists to do math, it's not going to end well. That would be all of it, right? We’d finished 12-1, national champions? And then it's definitely harder to go from 11 to 12 than it is to the other ones. I'll take it. I hope we do.” [Is it harder to stay at the top spot than to get there?] "What did we do? Ten to 11 and we're trying to go, I don't even know." "Going to 12 this year would be a big deal, right?" "Is that possible even at this point? I was told there would be no math." "That would be all of them, right? We finish 11-1, then national champion? Then it definitely is harder to go from 11 to 12 than it is the other ones. I'll take it. I hope we do." [What's the team's ceiling?] "Oh, I don't know you know I mean, we're playing, playing good football. I'd love to see us be able to play, with our team, the full team. You know we've been short-handed. Just about every game this year you know and like I said at times this weekend, this game we were short-handed I know George was too a bunch. ou know, but I don't know where we're in the point right now we're first place in the East at the midway point. How far can we go? I don't know. Hopefully, we can you know get back to work tomorrow and find a way to beat Arkansas this week. And if we're worried about anything but that, then we're not going to continue to enjoy the great things that we've been enjoying so far this year. You know, I mean it. You know I know our guys have played hard, every single week, I think we've improved every single week I think there's a bunch of things we can improve off of this game. You know, and that's on us as coaches to make sure that we're getting the players coached up in the right position doing what's right and up, you know, and get ready for Arkansas next weekend, that's, that's what that's what's in our control right now." [Is Kyle Trask in the Heisman race?] "Yeah, well, we'll see I don't know because I don't get, they don't ask me that question. I don't get a vote on that. So that's up for you guys to decide and discuss." *inaudible because a question was asked that he didn't hear* "... preparing him to get ready for Arkansas next week I think he's doing a heck of a job having a great year. Um, you know, and, and I think he keeps his checks and balances in there pretty well you know I will see. You guys, you guys get to figure all that stuff out. You know, my job is to make sure he's ready to go against Arkansas mentally, and you know what if he keeps playing well, I think this: if you play well, and your team plays well individual words follow. So if we continue to play well he continues to play well as a team we keep doing great things. Usually, that's when individual awards come in, you know, if we keep winning and playing well I'm sure he'll have the opportunity to get some individual awards."