Tyrie Cleveland broke into a huge grin and clapped his hands excitedly. For months, years even, he has been an outspoken proponent of a change in the NCAA allowing for athletes to profit off their likeness. And on Tuesday of the Georgia week just hours after news broke of the NCAA willing to look at a change—with a Top 10 matchup looming between the No. 6 Florida Gators and the No. 8 Bulldogs—Cleveland gladly put game talk on the back burner for a minute and talked about the monumental change that the NCAA is on the precipice of in relation to the desired change. "It's a big step to heading in the next direction. You know, just hearing from the NCAA, just sending out votes, that's a great thing for players, player-athletes. I'm overwhelmed, I can't even—I’m excited, excited for the future." In September, the state of California passed a law that would allow college athletes to profit off their likeness, meaning they could sign endorsement deals and agents to help broker said deals. This of course would benefit more those athletes that are more publicly known, like football players, and even then the ones with more recognizable names, like skill players. It’s been a deterring argument form some, that it wouldn’t be fair and could create division in locker rooms. But for the guys in those locker rooms, seeing a change that could help teammates is worth the risk. “I don’t know like players backgrounds or where they come from,” said receiver Van Jefferson. “It’s long overdue, definitely, definitely. But now that they’re making it an emphasis to do it, that’s great.” Added receiver Freddie Swain, “I love it, I love it. We do a lot of work, put in a lot of work in this program and school, and it’s kind of like a job, you know what I mean? So I think we should be rewarded.” On Tuesday the NCAA put the emphasis Jefferson mentioned on the change. With other states beginning to follow in California’s footsteps and Anthony Gonzalez, U.S. representative from Ohio, said he plans to introduce a fellow federal bill to the House to help further player compensation standards. Players will still have to wait as the red tape is inevitably criss crossed. The NCAA’s statement on Tuesday didn’t make any sweeping changes; mores just the promise to look into changes. The statement read: “In the Association’s continuing efforts to support college athletes, the NCAA’s top governing board voted unanimously to permit students participating in athletics the opportunity to benefit from the use of their name, image and likeness in a manner consistent with the collegiate model. The Board of Governors’ action directs each of the NCAA’s three divisions to immediately consider updates to relevant bylaws and policies for the 21st century, said Michael V. Drake, chair of the board and president of The Ohio State University. ‘We must embrace change to provide the best possible experience for college athletes,” Drake said. “Additional flexibility in this area can and must continue to support college sports as a part of higher education. This modernization for the future is a natural extension of the numerous steps NCAA members have taken in recent years to improve support for student-athletes, including full cost of attendance and guaranteed scholarships.’” The NCAA is asking each division to create new rules beginning immediately but no later than January 2021. The California bill will take affect 2023. As the fight by players to receive compensation for their likeness kicked up, it took out its share of victims, most notably, the video game “NCAA Football.” College players were implanted into the game with their faces, jersey numbers, schools and everything that could identify them except their name. It was a way around the NCAA rules. In 2013, in a landmark Ed O’Bannon case, the video game was discontinued by EA Sports all together. They company has long said they’d be willing to pay players for their usage within the game, if allowed by the NCAA. With the news on Tuesday that looks to legalize that sort of deal in the future, the video game could make a come back. “Me, personally, I feel like it wasn't really a big deal back then, but once they took away NCAA the game and stuff, everybody start questioning, like, 'Why you taking the game?' and stuff like that,” explained Cleveland. But change is on the horizon and that makes it a good day for Tyrie Cleveland and college athletes everywhere. Said Cleveland, “Most players agreed, 'Yeah, we should get paid for our likeness.' So just seeing them take steps in the right direction and not ignoring us. That's a good sign."

NO GUARANTEES OR BOLD TALK FROM TRASK Prior to the Super Bowl in January of 1969, Joe Willie Namath guaranteed the New York Jets were going to beat the Baltimore Colts. Most of the folks in the media didn't take Namath seriously, but a couple days after his bold announcement he backed up his words and led the Jets to a stunning, 16-7, win, the first time the thought to be inferior American Football league champions ever beat an NFL team for the world championship. As the Florida-Georgia game approaches with 8th-ranked Georgia (6-1, 3-1 SEC) favored by 6-1/2 points over the 6th-ranked Gators (7-1, 4-1 SEC), you won't hear Florida quarterback Kyle Trask channeling his inner Joe Namath. Nope, no bold predictions of a Florida victory from Trask. His face has turned red in the past when confronted with the fact he has a tendency to get a little wild and crazy at practice, but when he faces the media, he's quiet, polite and anything but bold and brash. Now the way Trask plays is anything but quiet and polite. Just ask the secondaries he's carved up since taking over for the injured Feleipe Franks in game three against Kentucky. This baby-faced assassin is in the process of becoming one of college football's feel good stories, made better by his quiet, unassuming demeanor. Even opponents would probably admit that it's really hard to hate a guy who's so nice. Trask is well aware of what's at stake Saturday in Jacksonville, but if you think for one second he's nervous about playing Georgia with the winner taking the upper hand in the SEC East championship race, then think again. When he faced the media Monday, Trask acted as if this game is important only because it's the next game on the Florida schedule and in doing so sounded quite a lot like Dan Mullen. "You want to treat every opponent the same way as it goes for preparation,” Trask said. “I think that's just buying into what Coach Mullen's preaching. Even if we're playing a lesser opponent we're still going to watch the same amount of film, take the same amount of notes and I think that's really stuck with me as to actually, truly, treating every game the same way and just, you know, we're not gonna take weeks off or anything like that. We've been getting better every single week and we just have to keep that going." Those aren't the words of a kid who's even the slightest bit nervous. It's just Trask being Trask and that means listening to the coaches, focusing in on getting better every day in practice and then on Saturdays executing on the field all the things that were part of the practice agenda. He'll let his play on Saturday do all the talking for him. So instead of some Joe Willie-like guarantee or prediction, this is the best you'll get out of Kyle Trask: “I think we’re treating it like the biggest game of the season just because it’s our next game, and we’re going to do our best just to execute at a high level and play to our standard.” And for that reason, you have to like Florida's chances Saturday with Kyle Trask at quarterback. SEC FOOTBALL STUFF #1 Alabama (8-0, 5-0 SEC): Saturday: Open Arkansas (2-6, 0-5 SEC): Starting with Saturday's matchup with a bad Mississippi State team, Arkansas HBC Chad Morris talks about “a November to remember.” That might be a stretch. The Hogs need to go 4-0 in November to become bowl eligible and one of the games (November 23) is LSU in Baton Rouge. Saturday: vs. Mississippi State (3-5, 1-4 SEC) #11 Auburn (6-2, 3-2 SEC): With Boobee Whitlow still limited in what he can do, freshman DJ Williams will most likely get the bulk of the carries against Ole Miss. Against LSU last week, Williams was 13-130 running the ball. Saturday: vs. Ole Miss (3-5, 2-3 SEC) #8 Georgia (6-1, 3-1 SEC): Concerns about the Georgia passing game are legitimate. With the exception of the Tennessee game where Jake From threw for 288 yards and two touchdowns while averaging 9.9 per attempt, the numbers have been rather ordinary against Power Five competition. Against Vandy he averaged 6.8 per attempt, 7.2 against Notre Dame, 5.8 against South Carolina and 2.9 against Kentucky. Saturday: vs. #6 FLORIDA (7-1, 4-1 SEC) in Jacksonville Kentucky (4-4, 1-4 SEC): This is a true statistical oddity. Through eight games, the Wildcats have generated 2,843 yards of offense (355.4 per game) and defensively have given up 2,843 yards. Saturday: Open #1 LSU (8-0, 4-0 SEC): Draft guru Mel Kiper says QB Joe Burrow is moving up rapidly on his board. Kiper said, “He reminds me of Tony Romo with his delivery and the way he manipulates the pocket. But Joe Brady has made Joe Burrow the player that he is, coming from the Saints with that new offense and all of a sudden Joe Burrow is a top 10 guy.” Saturday: Open Mississippi State (3-5, 1-4 SEC): Turnovers are the big concern for the Bulldogs right now. In the last two games (both losses) they've thrown three interceptions and fumbled the ball away three times without creating a single turnover on the defensive side of the ball. Saturday: at Arkansas (2-6, 0-5 SEC) Missouri (5-3, 2-2 SEC): Mizzou HBC Barry Odom assesses the 2019 season like this: “We're 5-3 and we've earned 5-3. It's not where anyone wants to be. Right now that's who we are.” Saturday: Open Ole Miss (3-5, 2-3 SEC): Freshman QB John Rhys Plumlee, who suffered a minor knee injury in the Rebels loss to Texas A&M a couple of weeks ago, will be limited in practice but is expected to play Saturday against Auburn. Plumlee is averaging 101.6 yards per game rushing (four touchdowns) and has thrown four touchdown passes (only one interception). Saturday: at #11 Auburn (6-2, 3-2 SEC) South Carolina (3-5, 2-4 SEC): Despite criticism from the outside about HBC Will Muschamp, South Carolina players aren't buying it. Corner Jaycee Horn said, “We know how great of a coach he is and how much trust he has in his players. So we have his back 110 percent and we're going to go out there and put it all on the line for him.” Saturday: vs. Vanderbilt (2-5, 1-3 SEC) Tennessee (3-5, 2-3 SEC): The QB situation seems chaotic at best. Jarrett Guarantano, who played his best football of the season against South Carolina, had surgery on a broken bone in his wrist Monday. HBC Jeremy Pruitt thinks Gurantano might play Saturday against UAB. Freshman Brian Maurer, who started three games but has had two concussions, may be cleared to play but that's not a certainty either. So the starter could be redshirt freshman J.T. Shrout, who was 7-11 passing against South Carolina for 122 yards and a TD. Saturday: vs. UAB (6-1) Texas A&M (5-3, 3-2 SEC): The Aggies have started five freshmen the last three games and seven have started at least one game this season. Right guard Kenyon Green and free safety Demani Richardson have started every game. Saturday: vs. Texas-San Antonio (3-4) Vanderbilt (2-5, 1-3 SEC): With buzzards circling the Vandy football complex and lots of locals convinced that Derek Mason's days as HBC are numbered, there are reports that former Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher could be a candidate to take over. Saturday: at South Carolina (3-5, 2-4 SEC) GOOD QUOTES FOR WEDNESDAY From Paul Finebaum of the SEC Network on what Notre Dame should do about football coach Brian Kelly: “He's good, not great. He's never going to win a national championship. The wise move for Notre Dame is to buy Brian Kelly out and bring in Urban Meyer. Urban Meyer is the best available coach in the country, he wanted to go to Notre Dame 13 years ago. Florida got him instead. There are a lot of reasons why that may have happened but Notre Dame is a national championship caliber program but Brian Kelly is not a national championship caliber coach.” From Joseph Goodman of Al.com on why Alabama doesn't have to play Tua Tagovailoa against LSU on November 9: “The College Football Playoff committee isn't going to keep one-loss Alabama out of the postseason based on a loss to No. 1 LSU that came without Tua at quarterback.” From Mark Heim of Al.com, Kirk Herbstreit of ESPN responds to former NFL GM Michael Lombardi's heavy criticism of Auburn's offense and HBC Gus Malzahn: “I don't buy into that. You're playing a true freshman quarterback with a great defense. Your four toughest games are all away from Jordan-Hare … I'm sorry man, I don't think you hang it on Gus Malzahn has a terrible offense. You're playing a young quarterback. When Nick Marshall was running that offense we didn't say it was a terrible offense. When Cam Newton was running that offense we didn't say it was a terrible offense. Watch Bo Nix next year and the year after that run that offense and he isn't even done this year. I'm a Bo Nix fan. I think he is going to be a great player.” From Bruce Feldman of The Athletic on Ohio State defensive end Chase Young, who has vaulted into the top tier of Heisman Trophy candidates: “The impact Young is having on opposing offenses when you dissect the numbers is remarkable. Through Week 8 he has a national-leading 13.5 sacks to go with 22 tackles, five forced fumbles, 21 hurries and 38 pressures, according to the Buckeyes defensive staff. Young has been in on 118 total pass rush plays. On those, the opponent has slid its protection to Young 53 times; he's been double-teamed 29 times and the quarterback has been rolled away from him 10 times. No doubt teams will gameplan to try and find more solutions to minimize his play-making which will probably end up making life a lot easier for the rest of the Buckeyes' loaded front seven. Young could, and almost certainly will, continue to have a profound impact on games, but he might not keep posting he jaw-dropping stat lines.” RANDOM THOUGHTS: Cincinnati Christian's NAIA football program, which won its first two games in school history this year, will be shutting down because the school is closing its doors at the end of the fall semester … Arizona HBC Kevin Sumlin fired his defensive coordinator Marcel Yates and linebackers coach Jon Rushing …Timothy Brown, a defensive tackle from Palm Beach Gardens and a Pitt commit, has been arrested with two of his teammates and charged with robbery, felony battery and kidnapping after they allegedly attacked an 18-year-old man, abducted him and then threw him out of their moving SUV. The two teammates – both still juveniles so unnamed – reportedly have (or had) offers to play Division I football … Tiger Woods has won 82 PGA events, tying him with Sam Snead for the all-time record. What makes his win at the ZoZo Championship in Japan even more impressive is he started the tournament with three consecutive bogeys … There will be a game seven of the World Series after the Washington Nationals stuck it to the Houston Astros, 7-2, in game six Tuesday night. This marked the first time in World Series history that the visiting team has won the first six games.

There were stretches – a couple of them lasting more than three minutes – that the Florida Gators looked every like the kids they are. Of the 11 players who got in the Gators' 89-71 exhibition game victory over Lynn University at the O-Dome Tuesday night, grad transfer Kerry Blackshear Jr. was the only one of the 10 players Mike White got into the game that wasn't a freshman or a sophomore. Blackshear played like he's been there and done that as did sophomores Andrew Nembhard, Keyontae Johnson and Noah Locke. As for the six freshmen, each of them had at least one or two impressive moments but each of them had some moments when they struggled, which was to be expected. Nembhard, who led the Gators with 17 points and six assists to go with four rebounds and a steal, caught fire offensively at the beginning of the second half when he hit three straight thee-pointers. Blackshear had 16 points and 10 rebounds to go with one assist, one blocked shot and one seal. Johnson had 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals and Locke had nine points, two rebounds, two assists and a steal. Then there were the freshmen. Tre Mann, who got the start on the strength of a good week of practice, scored 13 points but he wasn't pleased with his game. “I missed a couple open shots, missed a free throw and got burned on a couple of back doors defensively,” he said. “I've got to do better than that.” Omar Payne had nine points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots in 19 minutes. Scottie Lewis had five points, five rebounds, three blocked shots, one assist and one steal in 26 minutes. Ques Glover had six points, one rebound, one assist and one steal and Jason Jitoboh played surprisingly well in his 14 minutes on the floor, scoring two points to go with four rebounds, one blocked shot and a steal. Preferred walk-on Alex Klatsky played two minutes and didn't scratch. White was quite pleased with Jitoboh, who has shed approximately 40 pounds since arriving on campus. “Jason Jitoboh has had a heckuva month,” White said. “It took him awhile to make that big jump with his weight and his conditioning, but since then he's taken off with his confidence level. He struggled from the foul line (0-4) but he did some good things tonight.” The Gators held a 32-14 first half lead when they hit one of those stretches when nothing seemed to go right. Playing mostly with four freshmen, the Gators went more three minutes without scoring, a stretch broken by a Johnson dunk off a steal that increased Florida's lead to 34-18. That woke the Gators up and they finished the half ahead by 23 (49-29) on a step back three-pointer at the buzzer by Blackshear. After bolting to a 60-29 lead in the first three minutes of the second half when Nembhard started feeling it from deep, the Gators went into another funk, scoring only five points over the next 3:30. There was also a defensive lapse that allowed Lynn's Jordan Allen to get cranked up. Allen hit six of his nine three-pointers in the second half, finishing the game with 35 points. Some of Allen's shots were well beyond NBA range and fairly well defended, but White wasn't pleased with the effort he saw. “Defensively, I thought we were exposed a little,” White said. White pointed out a couple of areas on defense that have to get better, especially for the young guys: Rebounding: “A shot goes up you've got to block out and then go pursue the basketball. We didn't do that at a very high level.” Communication: “Our guys need to understand that communication is a two way street. It's talking and then it's listening. A lot of times we've got two guys out there screaming something at each other but nobody's listening.” The good news was this game didn't count and the film will provide plenty of teaching points as the Gators get ready for their first real game next Tuesday night when North Florida comes to Gainesville. White had to be pleased with the collective effort of his four veteran players since all four were productive at both ends of the floor. While he might seem critical of the freshmen, he saw enough to know they'll get better with experience. “Freshmen are freshmen,” White said. “They may be a little rusty tonight and great next week and then struggle two weeks later. When they start playing like sophomores, you've got really good freshmen.”

Stop Swift, stop the Dawgs. It may not be that easy. There's little chance it will be that easy. But it’s the best game plan to beating the No. 8 Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday and the No. 6 Florida Gators defense has their target acquired accordingly. D’Andre Swift, the do it all offensive tool for the Bulldogs, is the teams leader on the ground and also adds enough yards through the air to be the Dawgs fifth leading receiver. He has 900 total yards of offense so far this season; the next closest is receiver George Pickens with 318 yards. “He’s one of the best backs, if not the top back, in college football right now,” states Gators head coach Dan Mullen. Adds defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, “I think that anytime you have an elite player like that you’re going to find ways to get him the ball. They’ll get him the ball in the run game obviously but they’ll find ways to swing it and get him the ball that way in space. “He’s a guy that they try to get the ball out of the backfield. Anytime you have a guy that has his kind of speed and athletic ability, if he can catch just a simple option route in the flat, he can make a guy miss and turn it into a double digit gain. So, obviously, we’ve got to be aware of that and account for that.” Defenses never want to give all their attention to just one player, leaving opportunities open for others guys to gash an unprepared defense. But Swift’s impact on the 6-1 Dawgs is impossible to ignore. “Everything revolves around Swift,” explains BUCK Jon Greenard. “If he’s going, they’re going to keep feeding him. If he’s not, they’re going to find a way to get him the ball and get some other playmakers involved. Everything goes through him. He’s a dynamic player, one of the best in the country behind (Lamical) Perine. He can make plays.” Related: Watch Jon Greenard's media session for UGA week So if Swift is the linchpin for the Georgia offense, then it stands to reason removing him is the key to winning the battles for the Florida defense. At least, that’s how corner Marco Wilson feels. “It revolves a lot around 7. He’s a great running back so if we take him out of the game, we’ve got a good chance of stopping their offense. Really just gotta be physical, make sure we fit in our run gaps and don’t let him just hit the hole how he wants it.” Fellow corner CJ Henderson agrees; “He’s a real good player. Emphasis on us as defensive backs, we’ve got to make open-field tackles. That’s going to be held on us…I think if you stop the run, it will be a good game for us.” The numbers concur. Swift has had 140+ total yards in four games this season, all wins. The other three were: Murray State, a 63-17 UGA win in which Swift didn’t even play in the second half; Notre Dame, a 23-17 close UGA win in which the Fighting Irish held Swift to 100 total yards and the Dawgs needed three field goals to help with the win; and the last sub-140 game for Swift was two weeks ago when he was held to 121 total offensive yards. That was the double overtime 20-17 loss to South Carolina. It also works the other way. In a hard fought win over Kentucky, the Bulldogs didn't even enter Wildcat territory until the 3rd quarter. In the pouring rain with a 0-0 tie, Swift finally found footing to hoof it for a 39-yard touchdown and added another in route to his 171 total offensive yards, 123 of which were gained in the 2nd half. So how do you stop the nation’s 16th best statistical rusher? For starters, don’t make it a one man job. “You gotta get a bunch of guys to the ball,” says Mullen continuing, “he’s got breakaway speed, power, can make you miss in the open field. To sit there and say, ‘hey we’re one on one and you got to tackle him’, you got to get a couple guys to the party there and go tackle him.” For Greenard, that means staying in Swift’s face with more than one guy and not giving him any open field to work with because, well, even Greenard—arguably the Gators defensive MVP this season—is smart enough to know better. “We just gotta rally to the ball, tackle, put all 11 hats on him, make him feel us, make him feel uncomfortable. It’s going to be a tough one. He’s not going to give in easy. We’re not going to give in easy. “He can make some plays now, I'm not gonna say—I know myself and I know my boundaries, but you know…let's be real here, we already know who one-on-one, give him 10 yards, he's gonna make something happen. But two yards? I like my chances.” It’s more than just getting “11 hats on him” though. With someone elusive like Swift, bringing him down requires sound tackling, something that has admittedly been an issue for the Gators defense at times this season. “Just making sure you’re wrapping up in practice, getting your fits, not getting lazy, running to the ball and just wrapping up in practice,” says Wilson. Adds Mullen, “you got to fit your gaps. You got to be sound. If you give them an opening he’s got the speed to go take it to the house. If you leave him one on one he’s got the ability to make you miss. You got to do a great job of getting guys running to the football.” Related: Swift and UGA players say Florida game is for "all the marbles" The message is consistent team wide, because Grantham agrees and is preaching the plan this week. “The big thing with him is he’s got really good acceleration. He can run through tackles. You’ve got to make sure your bring your pads and bring your feet, and you’ve got to take the air out of the hole, you’ve got to shrink it and give him less room to run because he’s a guy that can make the first guy miss. He can put his foot in the ground and change direction. He’ll run where you’re not. “Playing defense against a guy like that it really gets down to team defense and making sure that we set the edge, build a wall and compress the running lanes to where he doesn’t have as much space to run the ball.” It seems simple on paper. Stop Swift, stop the Dawgs. It will be anything but easy. As Jon Greenard says though, that’s the best part. “It’s going to be a fun one.”

GATORS SHOULD BE THE HEALTHIEST THEY'VE BEEN ALL YEAR The silver lining to all the injuries, bumps and bruises that have plagued the Florida Gators from the outset of the season is that Dan Mullen and his staff have had no other choice but to send young, inexperienced players on the field, often in sink or swim situations. The baptism by fire approach to coaching isn't what Mullen planned back in August prior to the season opener with Miami, but the Gators have adapted. Quite well, actually. “I think we’ve done an unbelievable job as a coaching staff this year and our players of next guy stepping up,” Mullen said at his Monday press conference. “Very few teams I don’t think in the country could have dealt with the injuries we’ve had and be in the position that we’re still in. That’s a tribute to our guys, next guy stepping up, and our coaches getting guys ready to play. When you start taking star players away from teams in big games and see what happens – a lot of them don’t win.” With the exception of the LSU game when the injuries really did take a toll, the Gators have won. Florida is ranked sixth nationally with a 7-1 record (4-1 SEC) heading into Saturday's encounter with eighth-ranked Georgia (6-1, 3-1 SEC) in Jacksonville and that is despite a slew of injuries that would have completely crippled lesser teams. Some of the more notable injuries: On the offensive side of the ball, quarterback Feleipe Franks went down with a dislocated/fractured ankle in the Kentucky game. Slot receiver Kadarius Toney, who scored a touchdown on Florida's second offensive play of the season in game one against Miami, fractured a scapula in game two and has been out ever since. Running back Dameon Pierce suffered a concussion in the Auburn game then had to sit the LSU game. Over on defense, corner C.J. Henderson, the guy who defensive coordinator Todd Grantham called the best player he's ever coached college or pro, suffered a high anke sprain in game two and then missed the next three. Defensive end Jonathan Greenard, who was on his way to an SEC Defensive Player of the Year award, suffered a high ankle sprain against Auburn, tried to play against LSU then had to sit the last 55 minutes and missed the South Carolina game completely. Jabari Zuniga suffered an ankle injury against Kentucky, missed the next three games and then played awhile against LSU before he was injured again. Then he missed the South Carolina game. Lesser teams would have struggled to stay relevant but the Gators have remained in control of their destiny in the SEC East race and have a chance to put a game between them and Georgia Saturday in Jacksonville when, with the exception of Franks, done for the year after surgery, the Gators will more closely resemble the team Mullen thought he was going to put on the field way back in August. This will be the healthiest the Gators have been all season, in part because the bye week the Gators enjoyed last week allowed some of the more banged up and battered Gators to get well. The extra week of rest was particularly beneficial for Greenard, Zuniga and Toney, who should all be back in action against Georgia. Toney can alter what opposing safeties do, which opens things up or Florida's other wide receivers. With Greenard and Zuniga as bookends off the edge, Florida has perhaps the SEC's best rush tandem. "We understand what we have when we're all healthy," Greenard said. "When we're all out there, we have one – in my opinion – we have the best defense in the country. With us healthy, we can make some really good plays. We've just got to play our game, don't do anything out of ordinary. Follow the game plan and follow the keys to victory." GATOR HOOPS FACES LYNN UNIVERSITY IN EXHIBITION GAME TONIGHT We get our first live look at Mike White's sixth-ranked Florida basketball team tonight when the Gators face Lynn University in an exhibition game at the O-Dome (7 p.m., SEC Network+). Three familiar faces will be in the starting lineup – point guard Andrew Nembhard, wing guard Noah Locke and power forward Keyontae Johnson – and they will be joined by center Kerry Blackshear Jr., who was the most coveted grad transfer in the country, and small forward Scottie Lewis, one of the nation's top ten freshman recruits. White figures to dole out the minutes generously, playing as many as 11 players including six freshmen to get the Gators ready for their season opener against North Florida next Tuesday. SEC FOOTBALL STUFF #2 Alabama (8-0, 5-0 SEC): At the Monday Morning Quarterback Club in Birmingham, Nick Saban responded to questions about whether Tua Tagovailoa will be able to play against LSU on November 9: “If he can perform to the best of his ability. We're not going to put him in a situation where he can't perform and if he can perform he'll be able to play. If he can't perform then he won't play.” Saturday: Open Arkansas (2-6, 0-5 SEC): Colton Jackson, who started 21 games on the offensive line during his Arkansas career, announced his retirement from football after undergoing back surgery. Saturday: vs. Mississippi State (3-5, 1-4 SEC) #11 Auburn (6-2, 3-2 SEC): Former NFL GM Michael Lombardi called Auburn's offense “the worst offense I've ever seen.” If might be noted that Lombardi is a FORMER NFL GM and Auburn HBC Gus Malzahn makes $7 million a year. Saturday: vs. Ole Miss (3-5, 2-3 SEC) #8 Georgia (6-1, 3-1 SEC): Wide receiver Lawrence Cager (shoulder), defensive lineman Travon Walker (wrist) and corner Tyson Campbell (turf toe) are all expected to practice this week and play against Florida on Saturday. Saturday: vs. #6 FLORIDA (7-1, 4-1 SEC) in Jacksonville Kentucky (4-4, 2-4 SEC): For his 206-yard rushing performance in Kentucky's win over Missouri, wide receiver turned quarterback Lynn Bowden Jr. was named co-SEC Offensive Player of the Week. Punter Max Duffy, who averaged 52.4 yards per punt and who had an impromptu 26-yard run on a fake punt, was named SEC Special Teams Player of the Week. Defensive lineman Calvin Taylor Jr., who had two sacks and forced a fumble, was named SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week. Saturday: Open #1 LSU (8-0, 4-0 SEC): Based on what the Tigers have done so far – three wins over top ten teams in eight games – Paul Finebaum of the SEC Network says Coach O is the national coach of the year. Saturday: Open Mississippi State (3-5, 1-4 SEC): A year ago Mississippi State's defense gave up only 171 points in 13 games (13.2 per game). Through eight games the Bulldogs have given up 248, an average of 31 per game, which ranks 12th in the SEC. Saturday: at Arkansas (2-6, 0-5 SEC) Missouri (5-3, 2-2 SEC): In addition to saying Mizzou looked completely unprepared Saturday night in Lexington where the Tigers were dominated by Kentucky, 29-7, Adam Spencer of Saturday Down South says “[HBC Barry] Odom and OC Derek Dooley were simply overmatched by the Kentucky coaching staff.” Saturday: Open Ole Miss (3-5, 2-3 SEC): Through eight games, the Rebels have already matched their sack total for all of 2018. Led by linebacker Sam Williams (4-1/2 sacks) the Rebels have gotten to opposing quarterbacks 22 times. Saturday: at #11 Auburn (6-2, 3-2 SEC) South Carolina (3-5, 2-4 SEC): Running back Rico Dowdle (knee), offensive tackle Dylan Wonnum and linebacker Damani Staley have already been declared out for the upcoming game with Vandy. Listed as doubtful is running back A.J. Turner (hamstring). Saturday: vs. Vanderbilt (2-5, 1-3 SEC) Tennessee (3-5, 2-3 SEC): Quarterback Jarrett Guarantano, the goat of the loss to Alabama and the hero of the win over South Carolina, has undergone surgery to repair a broken bone in his wrist. Saturday: vs. UAB (6-1) Texas A&M (5-3, 3-2 SEC): The Aggies won the turnover and third down conversion battles in their win over Mississippi State. The Aggies won the turnover battled 3-0, converted 8-11 on third downs and held Mississippi State to 4-11 on its third downs. Saturday: vs. Texas-San Antonio (3-4) Vanderbilt (2-5, 1-3 SEC): Mo Hasan, who has been in concussion protocol, will be the starting quarterback against South Carolina Saturday if cleared by the doctors. Hasan was 7-11 passing for 120 yards and a touchdown in Vandy's win over Missouri a couple of weeks ago before he left the game with a concussion. Saturday: at South Carolina (3-5, 2-4 SEC) GOOD QUOTES FOR TUESDAY From Adam Rittenberg of ESPN on the potential for Florida State to pink slip Willie Taggart: “FSU desperately wants to get Taggart to Year 3, given the school's financial constraints. Taggart would be owed about $17 million if fired after the season. But he might not leave Florida State with much choice, if the team misses the postseason in back-to-back years after snapping a nation-leading streak of 36 bowl appearances in 2018. FSU sits at 4-4 after thumping Syracuse on Saturday.” Paul Finebaum of the SEC Network on WJOX-FM in Birmingham on Mississippi State coach Joe Moorhead, who is rumored to be a strong candidate for the HBC job at Rutgers: “If you’re sitting up at Rutgers right now and you’re watching this unfold and you’re going, do we really want this guy? I’ve had some Rutgers fans when I’m in New York in the middle of the week ask me more about Greg Schiano as someone who has a better feel or grasp of that program than Moorhead. I’ve watched Moorhead pretty closely as you guys have, and I just don’t feel like he’s moved the needle very much. He took over a program last year that should have won nine or 10 games, and he was bragging about eight. Fit is important and it’s always a phrase that we use quite often to describe things, but he just doesn’t seem like a good fit. All you have to do is be around him in Starkville, Mississippi which I have several times to come to that conclusion.” From John Walters of The Athletic on Urban Meyer's “Urban's Playbook” segment each Saturday on Fox Sports Big Noon Kickoff show: “Meyer, as one may easily glean from these weekly tutorials, is an outstanding teacher. Why? Because he keeps the lesson simple, because he enumerates his points while demonstrating techniques with repetitions, and because he reviews his list of points as a summary. He holds his students/players/viewers’ attention, and while he may not garnish the lessons with humor, his earnestness and acumen is self-evident.” From Steve Hummer of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Ohio State QB Justin Fields' high school coach, Matt Dickman, on why Fields transferred from Georgia: “Who says he never beat out Fromm? [Fromm's] a great quarterback but I don't think Justin was ever given the opportunity to do that. I think he's showing everybody that if he had gotten more opportunities that he would have excelled.” RANDOM THOUGHTS: The NCAA has denied a transfer waiver to shooting guard Jahvon Quinerly, who transferred to Alabama from Villanova … Leonard Williams was traded by the New York Jets Monday. He won't have to change cities or even stadiums since it was to the New York Giants … Former Gator Chris Chiozza has started the NBA season on the Washington Wizards roster where he's averaging 3.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists … The Los Angeles Chargers, who are averaging just 19.6 points per game, fired offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt Monday … The two women who were flashing Houston Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole during game five of the World Series at Nationals Park have been banned from Major League Baseball stadiums. Game six of the World Series will be played tonight in Houston without the two women flashing anyone, at least in a baseball stadium.

By KASSIDY HILL GatorBait Columnist Life is full of “what if’s.” What if I had gone to that meeting? What if I had said yes? What if I’d missed that train? Kyle Trask life’s has been a stream of what if’s. In what was far too long a cruel twist of fate, he was on the wrong side of the coin. What if he and D’Eriq King had been just a year apart, allowing him time to start at Manvel High School? What if any other FBS school besides Florida had offered a scholarship and given him a less crowded quarterback room and therefore greater probability to start sooner? What if he hadn’t gotten hurt — twice — prior to his redshirt freshman season and taken the snaps that instead went to Feleipe Franks, Malik Zaire and Luke del Rio? What if he hadn’t gotten hurt — again — prior to the South Carolina game in 2018, instead having to watch in a cast as Franks turned a corner and took full reign of the quarterback position and team? But then… What if Feleipe Franks hadn’t gotten hurt? What if Kyle Trask hadn’t been pushed into a moment that would have made most men stumble but instead saw him calmly step into a role that he seemed born to play? What if this had happened any other season, under a Dan Mullen offense that on paper Franks is more suited for but this year features a bevy of wide receivers that play into Trask’s pocket strengths? What if? Then he wouldn’t have come in to start the 4th quarter against Kentucky and scored 19 unanswered points to give the Gators their first league win of the season. That was the first time we truly saw the unflappable spirit of Kyle Trask. As Feleipe Franks was carted off the field, head coach Dan Mullen went to Trask and redshirt freshman Emory Jones and told them both to get ready. Trask grabbed his helmet, began warming up and waited for the call from head coach Dan Mullen. As the game progressed, the situations called for Trask to remain in the game. He began with four straight completions to Van Jefferson and Josh Hammond respectively, moving the Gators 54 yards down the field in a little over a minute. Once in the red zone, Trask showed fans his moves and proved how much he had been retaining in practice all these years, waiting for a chance to show it on the field. From the Kentucky eight-yard line, Trask ran left on an option play that had running back Lamical Perine tracking farther left for a pitch. Trask barreled forward with intentions of keeping the ball. Just before hitting the line of scrimmage, a Kentucky defender began to bring him down. He flipped the ball up to Perine and since the running back had not been a part of the play, he was uncovered and walked the eight yards into the endzone untouched. “Yea, that was definitely improvisation,” grinned Trask at the time. Two drives later, Trask did keep the ball on a QB power run, diving up the middle for the four-yard touchdown. By the end of the night, he had gone 9x13 for 126 yards while adding the rushing touchdown. After the game, Mullen complimented Trask not only on his performance in a stressful one quarter situation, but in staying focused when most would have put their name in the transfer portal or at the very least, pouted. “I can’t tell you how hard it is to do what Kyle did. Not what he got on the field, we have seen that, (but) to prepare yourself. If you’re backup wide receiver, you can play 30 plays in a game, if you’re on the D-line you are going to rotate and play, if you’re a backup running back we are going to roll those guys through. If you’re Kyle’s position, ‘I got to prepare…I have to be ready for everything they are going to do and then to play. Then I have to do that next week’ and that’s hard to do. I think people — it’s a tribute to him of his mental toughness and preparedness to be ready for that opportunity.” What if? Then he wouldn’t have returned home the next week, back in the friendly confines of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, ready for his first start since he was a freshman in high school. We wouldn’t have seen him take charge of a team that easily embraced their new leader, thanks in large part to the example set by Franks on the sideline. On the second play of the game, Trask dropped back in the pocket and waited, waited, waited until receiver Tre Grimes broke free from his defender. As the crowd audibly sucked in a breath, Trask dropped one in to Grimes for 43 yards. Game on. He faked, and ran one to the left for eight yards then hit tight end Kyle Pitts over the middle for 19 yards for the first of his two passing touchdowns that day. Once on the sideline, Dan Mullen pulled him aside before any celebrations could commence, and went back over each play from the drive and coming away with a more confident sense in what his new starter could handle. “I thought he did a really good job on those reads and those first few drives and managing what they were giving us,” said Mullen at the time. “I’m on the sidelines here, going OK he’s going to go here with the ball, uh-oh, they’ve rolled it completely different than what they showed, then he goes to where he should have gone before.” And the door cracked open just a bit more on Kyle Trask. “There was a little bit of nerves going into any game just like anybody,” he admitted. “Once you're preparing all week you feel confident so once you go out on the field you get locked in. You don't think about anything else. The crowd may be pretty loud but all you hear is silence when you focus on the task at hand.” What if? We wouldn’t have seen him realize just how much this moment and opportunity means while laying on the field after a sack, hurt and worried that his chance was over before it really started. “I had a million things going through my mind, to be honest, like I said I'm just so grateful that it turned out to be a lot better than it could have been,” he admitted after the game. And then feel the elation of a return, the crowd screaming as he jogged back out to the sidelines. "It was an amazing feeling. Our fans here are the best in the country, and to go back out there and finish the game for our team, it felt really good.” Then we wouldn’t have seen how Kyle Trask handled true adversity for the first time, perhaps overthinking himself too much in the Top 10 matchup against Auburn, letting himself question decisions and losing three fumbles in the process. Through the win, he exhibited perhaps the most important part of being a team’s leader; being the leader of an actual team. “(Auburn is) a tough team from top to bottom, and nothing was given to us in this game. It was all earned. That just comes from being resilient. This is one of the most resilient teams I've ever been a part of. That's just a result of us being dialed in throughout the week in preparation and that shows on Saturdays.” What if? There wouldn’t have been a bounce back from that game with arguably one of the most impressive performances from a Florida quarterback in years. On a Louisiana Saturday night in Death Valley, the imperturbable Trask stepped into the most intimidating venue in college football, looked across the sideline to a Heisman front runner in Joe Burrow, saw what the most currently prolific offense in college football was doing and said “I can match that.” Unfortunately for Kyle Trask performance, the Gators defense and team as a whole couldn’t quite match the No. 2 team in the country, but Trask walked out of the stadium with a stat line that read 23x39 for 310 yards and three touchdowns to one interception. It was the latter that was the only — proving costly — mistake in a game that was such a near flawless offensive performance from both sides that it was always going to come down to who made the one slip up, no matter how insignificant. Kyle Trask became the first quarterback Tim Tebow (Oct. 20, 2007 at No. 8 Kentucky) to throw for three touchdowns on the road against an AP top-10 team and did so with 310 yards passing. Trask became a runner at times, showed marked improvement with pocket awareness and pressure, and made smart decisions within a genius game plan from Dan Mullen. But he also walked out with eyes around the country attuned to what he was now doing. Mullen said after the game though that he didn't learn anything about Trask — or Jones — that he didn’t already know. “I thought he did a really good job. I thought Emory did a really good job, came in and gave a really good mix-up for us. Both those guys. I don't have a whole lot to complain with their performances tonight. I thought they handled the environment. It was an amazing environment. That's what makes the SEC so special. Everyone was worried: was the environment going to get to our young offensive line and get to our quarterbacks without much experience? It didn't. They handled it in every situation.” As he left the field, Perine pulled Trask off to the side and gave him a message. “He said they’ve got my back and I have their back. It sucks to lose, but we’re always there for each other and trying to make us better.” What if? We wouldn't have seen Kyle Trask begin to embrace the spotlight that comes with being quarterback at the University of Florida; not in any sort of pretentious or assuming way. He’s not capable of that. But instead still with the steady and calm personality that has brought him to this point and helped him flourish, accepting the attention that naturally comes with the role. He left South Carolina with a 38-27 win and a return to the quick decision making that won a game in Kentucky, while adding the pocket awareness that was learned from the Auburn win and building on the ice vein performance from LSU, needed in the Columbia tropical storm. With a 21-33 for 200 yards and four touchdown performance, he became the first Gator since Tim Tebow to throw four touchdown passes in a road game. (Tebow again with the Kentucky game from 2007). Afterwards, Trask answered questions from local media with a smile that came much easier, a laugh that echoed a little louder and a greater assurance to each question answered. He joked about the moment he shushed Gamecocks fans, a throwback to last season's win against South Carolina when Feleipe Franks shushed the crowd and turned the corner to become the quarterback Florida needed. He tweeted of the shhssing, “That was for Franks.” It's fitting that it was against South Carolina that Trask did the same. Because on Saturday, he became a complete quarterback, no questions asked. What if Kyle Trask was not currently the starting quarterback for the No. 7 Florida Gators? The answer doesn’t matter, only that he is and he’s making the moment his own.

DON'T GIVE THE GAME AWAY A year ago the Florida Gators were certainly good enough to beat Georgia. After all, the same LSU team the Gators beat 27-19 hosed Georgia 36-16. Yet when the Gators faced Georgia in Jacksonville, the Poodles put together a 13-0 fourth quarter to win easily 36-17. There is a simple explanation for what happened. Against LSU, the Gators didn't shoot themselves in the foot time and time again. Against Georgia, the Gators fumbled three times and lost two, threw an interception, averaged only 5.0 yards per pass attempt, committed seven penalties and converted only 4-12 on third down while allowing Georgia to keep the chains moving on eight of 14 third downs. In other words, the Gators gave the game away. Georgia really didn't go anything spectacular but the Poodles avoided the big mistakes, kept grinding away and wore the Gators down. In the fourth quarter, Georgia was pretty much unstoppable while Florida lacked the necessary energy to get the Poodles off the field. All you have to do is look at what Florida did last year to understand exactly how the 6th-ranked Gators (7-1, 4-1 SEC) can put 7th-ranked Georgia (6-1, 3-1 SEC) out of its misery Saturday afternoon in Jacksonville – make the fewest mistakes, get stops on third down defensively, keep the chains moving on third down offensively and win the turnover battle. It sounds simple enough but those key points depend on Florida maintaining its poise throughout the football game. Last year, it wasn't until that final four game winning streak that the Gators eliminated the emotional roller coaster rides by learning how to stay poised no matter the situation. Once the Gators figured the poise thing out, they outscored their final four opponents 49-12 in the fourth quarter. There has been carryover to 2019 where Florida has outscored opponents 85-21 in the fourth quarter and have scored two come-from-behind wins. This is a very winnable game Saturday. A year ago the Gators were still learning how to handle the pressure of big games when they faced Georgia. This year, they know what to do. It's just a matter of putting it together. GATORS MOVE UP TO #6; LSU TAKES OVER #1 IN AP Losses by Oklahoma and Notre Dame enabled the Gators to move up to #6 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, their highest ranking this season. The biggest move, however, was by LSU, which leapt Alabama for the #1 spot. With Georgia occupying the #8 spot, the Southeastern Conference has four of the top eight teams in the country. The Associated Press Top 25 Poll (1) LSU 8-0; (2) Alabama 8-0; (3) Ohio State 8-0; (4) Clemson 8-0; (5) Penn State 8-0; (6) FLORIDA 7-1; (7) Oregon 7-1; (8) Georgia 6-1; (9) Utah 7-1; (10) Oklahoma 7-1; (11) Auburn 6-2; (12) Baylor 7-0; (13) Minnesota 8-0; (14) Michigan 6-2; (15) SMU 8-0; (16) Notre Dame 5-2; (17) Cincinnati 6-1; (18) Wisconsin 6-2; (19) Iowa 6-2; (20) Appalachian State 7-0; (21) Boise State 6-1; (22) Kansas State 5-2; (23) Wake Forest 6-1; (24) Memphis 7-1; (25) San Diego State 7-1 The Coaches Top 25 Poll (1) Alabama 8-0; (2) LSU 8-0; (3) Clemson 8-0; (4) Ohio State 8-0; (5) Penn State 8-0; (6) FLORIDA 7-1; (7) Georgia 6-1; (8) Oregon 7-1; (9) Oklahoma 7-1; (10) Utah 7-1; (11) Baylor 7-0; (12) Auburn 6-2; (13) Minnesota 8-0; (14) SMU 8-0; (15) Michigan 6-2; (16) Notre Dame 6-2; (17) Wisconsin 6-2; (18) Cincinnati 6-1; (19) Iowa 6-2; (20) Appalachian State 7-0; (21) Boise State 6-1; (22) Wake Forest 6-1; (23) Memphis 7-1; (24) Texas 5-3; (25) Kansas State 5-2 RANKING THE SEC TOP TO BOTTOM (1) Alabama (8-0, 5-0 SEC): No Tua, no problem. Of course it was Arkansas that Alabama was playing, but just the same, Mac Jones going 18-22 for 235 yards and three touchdowns was impressive. It's being reported that Tua will be back to practice by Wednesday. Next Saturday: Open (2) LSU (8-0, 4-0 SEC): The win over Auburn was a total grind but it was LSU's third over a top ten opponent in eight games. That is impressive. So is an LSU defense that is just starting to round into the kind of shape that can carry it to a national championship. Next Saturday: Open (3) FLORIDA (7-1, 4-1 SEC): The Gators will be healthier than they have all season with the return of bookend edge rushers Jonathan Greenard and Jabari Zuniga and deluxe playmaker Kadarius Toney. Next Saturday: vs. #8 Georgia (6-1, 3-1 SEC) in Jacksonville (4) Auburn (6-2, 3-2 SEC): The baptism by fire of freshman QB Bo Nix continues. Although he struggled against LSU he made just enough really good plays to let people know that when he grows up he's going to be a force to be reckoned with. Next Saturday: vs. Ole Miss (3-5, 2-3 SEC) (5) Georgia (6-1, 3-1 SEC): In his last two games (South Carolina and Kentucky), Jake Fromm has thrown for one TD, three picks and is averaging only 5.23 yards per attempt. Next Saturday: vs. #6 FLORIDA (7-1, 4-1 SEC) (6) Texas A&M (5-3, 3-2 SEC): When good Kellen Mond shows up, the Aggies look like a very good football team. Against Mississippi State Saturday, Mond threw for 234 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 76 and two more scores. Next Saturday: vs. Texas-San Antonio (3-4) (7) Kentucky (4-4, 2-4 SEC): Converted wide receiver Lynn Bowden Jr. ran for 204 yards and two touchdowns and passed for 54 yards but punt Max Duffy was the unsung hero. He punted five times for a 52.4 average (longest 70 yards) and when Mizzou was threatening a comeback broke their backs by running 26 yards on an impromptu fake punt. Next Saturday: Open (8) Missouri (5-3, 2-2 SEC): Wasn't Clemson grad transfer Kelly Bryant supposed to be the next great thing at Mizzou? He got benched in the second half of the Tigers' 29-7 loss to Kentucky Saturday. And that vaunted Mizzou defense was shredded for 297 rushing yards by the Wildcats. Even with eight in the box the Tigers couldn't stop Kentucky running the football. Next Saturday: Open (9) Tennessee (3-5, 2-3 SEC): Last week's goat became this week's hero. Jarrett Guarantano came off the bench to throw for 229 yards and two touchdowns to help the Vols beat South Carolina. With four games to go, three are very winnable which means UT might actually go to a bowl game. Now that would be a real shocker. Next Saturday: vs. UAB (6-1) (10) South Carolina (3-5, 2-4 SEC): How can a defense play so brilliantly against Georgia only to play so poorly two weeks later against a bad Tennessee team? This was the second very winnable game the Gamecocks have let slip through their fingers this year. Next Saturday: vs. Vanderbilt (2-5, 1-4 SEC) (11) Ole Miss (3-5, 2-3 SEC): The Rebels need to win three of their last four to go bowling, a rather daunting task since they have to go on the road to face Auburn and have a game at home with LSU still on the agenda. Next Saturday: at #12 Auburn (6-2, 3-2 SEC) (12) Mississippi State (3-5, 1-4 SEC): There is no question Joe Moorhead has lost the MSU fan base. He might have also lost his team. The Bulldogs bear a strong resemblance to a team that is ready to mail it in the last four games. Next Saturday: at Arkansas (2-6, 0-5 SEC) (13) Vanderbilt (2-5, 1-3 SEC): To save Derek Mason's job, the Commodores probably have to go 4-1 the rest of the way to become bowl eligible. Next Saturday: at South Carolina (3-5, 2-4 SEC) (14) Arkansas (2-6, 0-5 SEC): As bad as the Hogs have been this year, they could actually win an SEC game next week when Mississippi State comes to Fayette Nam. Next Saturday: vs. Mississippi State (3-5, 1-4 SEC) ELSEWHERE IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL This guy is the best player in the country, period!: The Heisman Trophy is SUPPOSED to go to the best college football player in the country. The best player – and second place isn't even close – is Ohio State defensive end Chase Young, an absolute man among boys. Against Wisconsin he had four sacks, five tackles for loss and two forced fumbles, one of which a teammate ran back for a TD. This in spite of being double or triple teamed on every single play. He has 13-1/2 sacks, five forced fumbles and a blocked punt through eight games. Bad day at Black Rock for the Big 12: The Big 12 began Saturday with four ranked teams and three of them – #5 Oklahoma, #15 Texas and #23 Iowa State – lost to unranked opponents. That leaves Baylor, which had an open date, as the only unbeaten team in the league. Stick a fork in Notre Dame: The same Michigan Wolverines who were hammered by the same Wisconsin Badgers who got their doors blown off by Ohio State, exposed Notre Dame Saturday night. The 45-14 beatdown at the hands of Michigan not only eliminated Notre Dame from playoff and New Years Six contention, but diminishes Georgia's close call win over the Irish in Athens a few weeks ago. This was only the second time that Jim Harbaugh has beaten a top ten ranked team in his tenure at Michigan. As for Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly, he's 4-12 for his career against ranked teams on the road. Lucky Les Strikes again: With the score tied at 34-34, Kansas lined up for a game-winning field goal only to have it blocked by Texas Tech. Tech's Douglas Coleman II scooped the loose ball up and tried to run it back, but for some reason elected to lateral to a teammate only to have Kansas recover with two seconds remaining. Given a second chance, Kansas kicker Liam Jones drilled a game-winning field goal giving “Lucky” Les Miles his first Big 12 win as KU's head coach. Other than Clemson the ACC sucks: If you need proof consider the fact that the same Miami Hurricanes who lost to the same Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets who lost to The Citadel beat Pitt, 16-12. Miami torched the Pitt defense for 193 yards. When the second best team in the league is Wake Forest Gump you know the league is really bad top to bottom. In the ACC Coastal Division, four teams have two losses and three teams have three losses. And speaking of Clemson: Beware of the Tigers. They've played bored the first seven weeks of the season but Saturday against Boston College they flipped the switches and were scary good. Trevor Lawrence averaged 14.5 yards per pass attempt and didn't throw a pick with three touchdown passes. Clemson ran for 302 yards and finished with 674 yards to go with 59 points while holding BC to seven points and 177 yards. The question now is can the Tigers sustain the motivation? GOOD QUOTES FOR MONDAY: From Marcus Spears of the SEC Network on what ails the Georgia offense: “You know what Georgia has become? Vanilla, offensively, that’s what they’ve become. The creativity has left. They’re leaning more on the fact that they have good players as opposed to schematically. Look where we are today (LSU). A scheme changed to get them to where they are today.” From Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com on the dominance of Ohio State defensive end Chase Young in the Buckeyes' 38-7 win over Wisconsin: “Young shot himself not only into the Bednarik Award conversation (nation's best defender) but also Heisman Trophy consideration. It just wan'st his six tackles (five for loss), school-record tying four sacks and two forced fumbles that drew attention. It was his ability to seemingly affect every play.” RANDOM THOUGHTS: Former Gator Jacoby Brissett is elbowing his way into AFC most valuable player talk as the NFL season nears the midway point. Brissett has led the Indianapolis Colts to a 5-2 record with 14 touchdown passes (just three interceptions) and a 101 quarterback rating. I still shake my head that he wasn't given an adequate chance to play while at UF … It was a day to forget for former Gator kicker Eddy Piniero. Although he had three field goals in the Chicago Bears 17-16 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers he missed a 33-yarder that hit the upright and then missed a 41-yarder that would have won the game … Former Gator defensive coordinator and Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Quinn will have his status evaluated by team owner Arthur Blank this week although Blank says he has no plans to change coaches … Former UNLV offensive coordinator Barney Cotton had a heart transplant earlier in the week … With play suspended and seven holes to go in the ZoZo Championship in Japan, Tiger Woods holds a three-shot lead. If Woods wins the tournament he will tie Sam Snead for the most PGA wins of all time with 82 … The World Series is headed back to Houston with the Astros needing only one win to finish off the Washington Nationals after their 7-1 win Sunday night.

TAKING THE NEXT BIG STEP The people who debate these things on television and other media outlets don't seem to think the outcome of Saturday's annual Florida-Georgia get together in Jacksonville will have much impact on the College Football Playoff. Most of the people with the loudest voices don't think a whole lot of the Gators and those same people are still in a state of shock over Georgia's last two games (loss to unranked and 21-point underdog South Carolina and a seriously ugly win over a one-dimensional Kentucky team). Because both the Gators and Poodles each have a loss under their belts and there are still seven Power Five conference teams without a loss, the Florida-Georgia winner will have to finish the rest of the regular season unbeaten and then knock off either #1 LSU or #2 Alabama – both of which are unbeaten at present – in the SEC Championship Game. That's a tall order but do-able. Whether or not the Gators make it to the College Football Playoff this year, however, this is the single most important game since Dan Mullen became the head coach. Win it and the Gators have taken the next big step on the road back to national prominence. Lose and the Gators can still have a 10-win regular season, which would be one better than last year and certainly a worthy achievement, but the big step – the one that would have the greatest impact and send shock waves through the Southeastern Conference – is to beat Georgia. Dating all the way back to their narrow loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game in 2018, this has been declared Georgia's year to assume the mantle of the SEC's most dominant team. The Poodles made it to the national championship game and lost to Alabama in 2017 and then last year they once again snatched defeat from the jaws of victory with the Crimson Tide, this time in Atlanta. Given the closeness of the two losses to Alabama and the success Kirby Smart has had on the recruiting trail, this was declared a boom or bust year for Georgia dating all the way back to that 35-28 heartbreaking loss last December. It's win a national championship in 2019 or it's a disaster in the minds of the Georgia faithful who are well aware that it has been 14,179 days (39 years) since the last time since the Poodles claimed the big trophy. Since then Poodle fans like to talk about their “near national championships” such as 2002 when their 20-13 loss to Florida prevented an unbeaten regular season and a chance to play in the BCS National Championship Game. They lost twice in the regular season in 2007 and didn't make the SEC Championship Game but because they finished ranked second in the AP Poll (LSU was the national champion with two losses), they claim that as a “near national championship.” Of course, there was also that 2012 SEC Championship Game loss to Alabama, a 32-28 cliffhanger in which the clock expired with Georgia on the Alabama five. Prior to the last play and Georgia out of time outs, Mark Richt didn't have Aaron Murray clock the ball to set up a potential winning play. So it has been one almost after another for Georgia, which was hosed by LSU 36-16 last year in the Poodles last game before Florida-Georgia. The Georgia faithful point out that the Poodles whacked the Gators 36-17 and finished the regular season 11-1 before tanking in the fourth quarter of the SEC Championship Game against Alabama. One loss last year, one loss this year, what's the difference? Well, for starters, LSU won 10 games last year and was an excellent football team. Nobody but nobody is going to accuse 2019 South Carolina (20-17 winner in double overtime) of being a great football team. So things are not the same, not by a wide margin. Georgia fans tend to think that all these close calls and near misses have edged the Poodles closer than they've been since Herschel Walker in 1980 to a national championship. But, is Georgia really closer to a national championship? Maybe, but maybe the Poodles are actually the Buffalo Bills of college football. The Bills, for those of you who don't recall, made it to four straight Super Bowls (1990-93) but never won the big one. And that brings us to Florida and this year's encounter with Georgia. Although the Gators began the season as a top ten team and are higher ranked than Georgia (Florida #6, Georgia #8), the Las Vegas oddsmakers have made Georgia a four-point favorite. Georgia, after all, is supposed to be on the brink of national supremacy while Florida is supposed to be happy as clams to finish second in the East. It's rather odd that Georgia is favored since the Poodles haven't played anywhere close to a team on the verge of greatness. It's always possible that the last two games have been Georgia's wake up call that could send the Poodles on a tear, but the South Carolina and Kentucky games were eye-openers. South Carolina isn't going to be mistaken for anything but average and the Kentucky game was dog's butt ugly. That 23-17 win over Notre Dame in Athens back in September doesn't look so impressive, either. Notre Dame was #7 then but as we saw Saturday when those same Michigan Wolverines that were undressed in public by Wisconsin whomped the Irish by a mere 31 points, Notre Dame is more or less a fraud. Now Florida hasn't exactly been the most impressive team in the SEC every single outing, but the one loss the Gators suffered was to now #1 LSU (8-0) and that was a game when the Gators had chances to win. Florida owns a win over then #7 Auburn, its only other game against a ranked opponent. But here is what separates – at least on paper right now – Florida and Georgia. The Gators have battled their way through a string of injuries and have been playing since the fourth quarter of the Kentucky game with a QB in Kyle Trask who hadn't started a football game since he was in the ninth grade back in Texas. Jake Fromm of Georgia began the season hyped as just a smidgen less talented than Tua Tagovailoa but Fromm hasn't been nearly as good as Trask, who just keeps getting better every single ball game. From an experience standpoint, Fromm has it all over Trask, but if you look at the way Trask seems to grow with whatever circumstances he faces, you get the feeling that he's ready to handle whatever Georgia throws at him. The way he performed against Auburn when he had to play hurt in the second half, the way he threw four touchdown passes at night in Death Valley and the way he bounced back from the LSU loss and a shaky first half to lead the Gators past the same South Carolina Gamecocks that a week before picked off Fromm three times are nice indicators of good things to come starting, perhaps, with this week's game with Georgia in Jacksonville. Another point to ponder: Florida lost to LSU without its bookend edge rushers Jonathan Greenard and Jabari Zuniga plus the Gators were without Kadarius Toney, who might be one of the most difficult players to defend in the entire SEC. Could those three have made a real difference? Absolutely. When the Gators take the field Saturday, this will be as healthy as they've been all season. Greenard and Zuniga will be back and when they're pressuring quarterbacks the entire Florida defense is much, much better. Toney, I'm told by someone who tends to know these things, will also be available and all those other beat up Gators are healthy and ready to go. This sets up as a unique opportunity for the Gators to take that next big step. There will still be three other regular season games (two SEC and FSU) on the schedule beyond Georgia that have to be won, but the importance of winning this game can't be stressed enough. Beat Georgia and the Gators are not only in control of winning the SEC East, but they've carved out the collective hearts of the Poodle Nation with a seven inch K-Bar Marine fighting knife. Win and the Gators open up possibilities on the recruiting trail that could swing serious and necessary talent Florida's way. One other thing that happens with a Florida win – the doubts return for Georgia. When Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer were coaching the Gators, Georgia expected to lose to Florida. Spurrier was 11-1 against the Poodles. Meyer was 5-1. Even Ron Zook was 2-1 and the one loss was only by a touchdown just five days after he had been fired. Back in those days, Georgia came to Jacksonville expecting the worst and usually left with their doubts confirmed. A Florida win Saturday in Jacksonville will go a long way toward bringing back the days when the Gators not only expected to win but Georgia expected something bad would happen that left them shaking their collective heads.

OPEN WEEK MEANDERING: SOME EARLY THOUGHTS ABOUT GEORGIA WEEK The Vegas oddsmakers have established Georgia as an early 5-1/2 point favorite for next Saturday's Florida-Georgia game in Jacksonville. I can't imagine Dan Mullen is disappointed. I doubt he'd admit it, but I expect he's just a teensy bit giddy. It's a lot easier for Mullen to play the underdog card and put a great big chip on the shoulders of the Gators than it is to play the role of the favorite. Meanwhile in Athens, it wasn't all that long ago that folks were claiming Georgia was the best team in the SEC and College Football Playoff bound. That was before Kirby Smart outcoached himself and did his part to help South Carolina upset the Poodles in Athens of all places. And Kirby didn't exactly bring back memories of Vince Lombardi the way he coached and Georgia played last weekend against Kentucky, either. The seeds of disrespect that Mullen will be preaching were sown in the season opening win over Miami. Many in an unimpressed national media called Florida vastly overrated then and when Feleipe Franks went down with a season-ending injury against Kentucky, some of those same pundits were predicting a 6-6 or 7-5 season for UF. Kyle Trask has certainly answered the bell at quarterback and quite frankly, he might be a better fit in the Florida offense than Franks but there are still a lot of disbelievers out there. Not only does Vegas consider Georgia a favorite to beat the Gators, but in the week ahead expect a rather hefty number of media types to predict a Georgia win. All of this is only going to play right into Mullen's hands. He learned from one of the real masters of turning disrespect – whether real, perceived or manufactured – into an art form. What Urban Meyer did to create an advantage for the Gators prior to their 41-14 national championship win over Ohio State in 2006 was pure psychological warfare at its best. Don't think for a second Mullen won't use some of those same tactics in the week ahead as he gets the Gators ready to play Georgia. There is doubt, meanwhile, in the Georgia camp. The Poodles spent months as the media darling, told they were the new Alabama that was going to unseat the Crimson Tide at the top of the SEC and perhaps the entire nation. All that has changed in the last two games when the Poodles have proven they are anything but invincible. Maybe they could write off that loss to 21-1/2 point underdog South Carolina as a bad day at the office, but weather aside, there is no excuse for a second straight bad game like the dog's butt ugly win over Kentucky. In the immortal words of Yogi Berra, “That's too coincidental to be a coincidence.” Georgia is quite beatable. For Florida to beat the Poodles it will take a super effort. From a talent standpoint, Georgia has enough talent to stick with anyone in the country, but talent alone won't win this game. The coaching and psychological advantages all belong to the Gators. THE SEC SOOTHSAYER #1 Alabama (7-0, 3-0 SEC) 42, Arkansas (2-5, 0-4 SEC) 10: Alabama is starting Mac Jones for the injured Tua Tagovailoa. It doesn't matter. Alabama is going to win by five touchdowns and Arkansas is going to continue its quest for a second straight reverse run of the table. #2 LSU (7-0, 3-0 SEC) 31, #10 Auburn (6-1, 3-1 SEC) 17: After the way he lit up the Florida defense, if Joe Burrow lights up Auburn he might very well take a rather hefty lead in the eyes of the Heisman voters. This may be close for awhile but LSU is going to win handily in the end. Missouri (5-2, 2-1 SEC) 21, Kentucky (3-4, 1-4 SEC 7: If Lynn Bowden has to play QB then Kentucky isn't going to win this game since he can't hit a bull in the butt with a bass fiddle from point blank range. If Sawyer Smith is healthy enough to take at least some of the snaps and give the Wildcats a semblance of a passing game, then Kentucky will have a chance to spring an upset. South Carolina (3-4, 2-3 SEC) 28, Tennessee (2-5, 1-3 SEC) 17: From all indications, Jeremy Pruitt is going to start J.T. Shrout at QB rather than play Jarrett Guarantano. But whether it's Shrout or Guarantano, the Vols probably aren't going to win this game. South Carolina has a better coach, better QB (Ryan Hilinski) and a better team. Texas A&M (4-3, 2-2 SEC) 35, Mississippi State (3-4, 1-3 SEC) 20: Kellen Mond is a rather good quarterback when he plays at Kyle Field. Fortunately, for Texas A&M, this week's game is at Kyle Field. As for Mississippi State, the boosters are starting to get very restless about HBC Joe Moorhead. It might get hostile if the Aggies blow the doors off MSU. COUNTDOWN TO FIRING DAY: EDITION NINE Extinct Species List Chris Ash, Rutgers: Here's a new name for the coaching search at this graveyard – K.C. Keeler. He's at Sam Houston State but won a D1AA national title at Delaware and coached Rowan (NJ) to the DIII national championship game five times. On Life Support Lovie Smith, Illinois: The only thing that win over Wisconsin did for Lovie is make the alumni and boosters ask if he can beat Wisconsin then why can't he beat enough of the lesser teams on the schedule to go to bowls every year? Jeremy Pruitt, Tennessee: His sideline rant at Alabama only furthered the notion that he's unfit for the job. He desperately needs to beat South Carolina this week. Bob Davie, New Mexico: The thin ice he's standing on started cracking in every direction when his starting QB allegedly exposed himself to a woman in an on campus parking garage. Phil Montgomery, Tulsa: By American Athletic Conference standards, the rest of the schedule is brutal. A 2-10 record is in the works. He's being paid $1.6 million and the folks at this financially strapped institution of higher learning (and bad football) expect better. Mike Bobo, Colorado State: Bobo is riding a one-game winning streak heading into Saturday's game with Fresno State. Of the last five games, only the UNLV game looks winnable and anything less than six wins will end Bobo's gainful employment. Tony Sanchez, UNLV: A week after scoring a win over SEC Vanderbilt, the Rebels lost by 29 to Fresno State. UNLV has two wins and five games remaining. If Sanchez can't win four of the last five to get bowl eligible he's a goner. Endangered Species List Randy Edsall, UConn: What can be said that hasn't already? He's a terrible football coach at the dumbest school on the planet when it comes to fiscal integrity. It would be smart to fire him because he's a bad coach. It would be dumb because the athletic department bathes in red ink. Clay Helton, Southern Cal: If he wins four of his last five games – or all five even – and takes the Pac-12 South, will they fire him? An 8-4 or 9-3 finish isn't out of the question. Or do they wait until they have a new AD and let him deal with the unrealistic expectations for this job? Derek Mason, Vanderbilt: Despite the euphoria of winning an SEC game, the cold hard facts are that Vandy is last in the SEC in both total offense and total defense. This is year five. The brie and chardonnay tailgate set expect better. Kilani Sitaki, BYU: They're asking themselves how can you lose to Holy Toledo and South Florida on consecutive weeks then beat Boise State? If he loses to Utah State this week he will be oh-fer the state of Utah and that is unacceptable. Chad Morris, Arkansas: Auburn beat him by 41. Alabama is likely to beat him even worse with the backup QB. Not even a $10,004,167 buyout will save him if he can't figure out a way to win 2-3 more games. Bobby Wilder, Old Dominion: One more loss guarantees a losing season, which will be the third straight for the Monarchs. Barring some sort of fast finish ODU and Wilder will part ways, a sad day for everyone since he's the only coach they've had since they revived football back in 2009. Beads of Sweat Forming Steve Addazio, Boston College: A blowout win over North Carolina State was just what the doctor ordered. Two more wins and it's yet another 6-6 season for The Daz, just good enough to keep them from firing him. Charlie Strong, South Florida: Barring a miracle of feeding the 5,000 proportions, the Bulls aren't going bowling this year. They would prefer not to fire him and nobody seems inclined to go about begging the boosters to come up with the $10 million they'd need to buy him out. Justin Fuente, Virginia Tech: Just when he was about to go On Life Support, Fuente and the Hokies went on a three-game win streak. One more win means bowl eligible which will save the boosters the $15 million they'll have to raise to buy him out. Saved by the Buyout Willie Taggart, Florida State: In addition to not having the $17.7 million they would need to buy him out, school prez John Thrasher and interim AD David Coburn are retiring after this year and they would prefer to let whoever is next deal with all the economic nastiness of getting rid of a coach. Chip Kelly, UCLA: That $9 million buyout will save him this year, but if he doesn't win at least 7-8 games next year the buyout will be far more affordable. GOOD QUOTE FOR FRIDAY From Andy Staples of The Athletic on the dilemma facing Florida State if the Seminoles can't pull off a drastic turnaround under Willie Taggart: “Now Florida – which is 17-4 since Dan Mullen took over – could cement itself in the top spot for a long time unless Florida State or Miami finds a way to improve. We have a large enough data set from Mississippi State and Florida to know that Mullen is elite as a tactician, as a gameday coach and as a developer of underappreciated talent. The only question mark has been whether he can sign enough elite talent to take a team to national title contention. If Miami and Florida State don’t offer much resistance, Mullen may be able to collect that talent as recruits in Florida who want to play in their home state choose the best performing program at the moment. (This means the rest of the SEC also is hoping Florida State can pull out of this dive, because those people don’t want to see Dan Mullen with a bunch of five-star recruits, either.)” RANDOM THOUGHTS: They got rid of Terry Bowden at Akron because he wasn't winning enough football games. The Zips are 0-7 under first year coach Tom Arth. Little Terry wasn't nearly that bad … SMU became the first Division I team to go 8-0 with a 34-31 win over Houston Thursday might … After an incident with D-line coach Bret Bielema that got him suspended for a game, the New England Patriots traded DE Michael Bennett to the Dallas Cowboys for a seventh round draft choice … LSU booster John Paul Funes was sentenced to 33 months in Club Fed after he pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $500,000 from a hospital foundation and then giving some of the money to the parents of two LSU football players.

By CHAD RITCH GatorBait Staff Writer Gators women’s basketball is currently the only women’s sports program at Florida never to have won an SEC conference championship, but under Coach Cam Newbauer that’s maybe about to change. Last season the Lady Gators were 3-13 in conference play.  There has only been one NCAA appearance past the second round since 1998. With the returning roster, highly regarded recruiting class and Coach Newbauer’s passionate dedication to the program, perhaps  2019-20 could be a breakthrough season. Women’s basketball is going into its third season with Newbauer as head coach.  The Fort Wayne, Ind. native has a rich hoops resume: He played for Madonna College in Livonia, Mich, and finished his education at Indiana University-Purdue University in Fort Wayne. He also completed his Masters in Recreation and Leisure Studies from the University of Georgia in 2009. Cam began his coaching career as a men’s basketball assistant at Siena College from 2001-2005.  He then was a Georgia assistant from 2005-2011. In the 2012-13 season he joined Louisville as an assistant for the women’s team that had a magical run as a No. 5 seed to the national championship game that year ultimately losing to Connecticut.  From 2013-17, Cam took on his first head coaching position with Belmont University, located in Nashville. He led the Bruins to three postseason appearances, including two NCAA tournament berths his last two seasons. Also impressive during his time at Belmont was him helping guide the team’s cumulative GPA at 3.5 his final three seasons -- in the top 15 nationally each year. It was with this great success at Belmont along with enthusiasm and passion for people and the game of basketball that UF Athletic Director Scott Stricklin took notice and he made Newbauer his first new hire after arriving in Gainesville. (I saw this first-hand when my daughter Kaitlin participated in Cam’s first Gator Women’s Basketball Camp.  The atmosphere that Coach Newbauer and his staff created -- including assistant coach John McCray and recruiting specialist Miriam Rutzen -- was impressive.) The Lady Gators start this season with eight of their 12 players as underclassmen, including four freshmen. They will have to replace two of their leading scorers in Funda Nakkasoglu and Delicia Washington who transferred to Clemson. Those two accounted for 27.1 points per game and 9.4 rebounds. The team will return two veteran guards in Junior Kiara (Kiki) Smith and Junior Danielle Rainey.  Smith started every game at point guard except one this past season. After coming off the bench last season, Rainey sparked the team with 8.2 points per game and hit 28 three pointers. In SEC play Rainey scored 15 points six times and averaged 9.5 points per game. In the post the Gators relied heavily on 6-foot-2 Senior Zada Williams and 6-foot-1 Kristina Moore. This year the Gators will have more help and size in the frontcourt with 6-foot-5 Texas A&M transfer Emer Nichols and incoming freshman 6-foot-4 Faith Dut. This year’s lauded incoming recruiting class includes four 4-stars as labeled by Prospect National: Brylee Bartram (Tampa), Lavender Briggs (Provo, Utah), Faith Dut (Vancouver, B.C.) and Nina Rickards (Queens, NY). Bartram, from Seffner Christian Academy, is a 5-foot-8 guard who broke and then set the National high school career 3-point record at 533.  Briggs, a 6-foot-1 guard, is the Gators‘ highest rated recruit at #48 on the ESPN 100 that Cam has signed thus far.  She averaged 32.2 points per game in her high school senior season which is a Utah state record. Faith Dut was a member of the Canadian National Team. At 6-foot-4 she brings size and defense to the front court.  Nina Rickards 5-foot-9 is a combo guard that led her high school team to a 29-1 record and a No.1 USA Today ranking late in the season last year ultimately finishing 7th in that poll. At the recent women’s basketball SEC media days, returning starter Kiara Smith talked about the team forming a very close bond off the court and says “having that relationship with the other players helps to not be afraid to coach up your teammate if someone is slacking” Coach Newbauer was asked about his running style of play and the Gators taking 235 three point shots last season. How much more shooting does his team need to do? “The style of play has so far been pre-determined by depth or lack of depth and from an offensive and defensive standpoint it was thought that was the best way to play at the time,” he replied. Cam went on to say that this year may be different considering the added depth and defensive capabilities. “It could lead to more offense,” he said. “We will still shoot the threes if we have them open. 📷

Urban Meyer reminded me of this in our recent interview. Gator fans need appreciate his achievements more. It always befuddles me that the media’s relationship with Urban has been so poor at times — that some Gator fans carry a grudge for what they perceive as his conspiracy for ditching the Florida job. Let’s not adjudicate that issue today. (But it’s a bald face lie). I was reminded this week why I’ve always considered Urban a friend and hold him in such high esteem when we did a 16-minute interview on The Buddy Martin Show (see link below). To me he has always been forthright in his answers, engaging, reflective and conscious of trying to deliver good content. Which he did Wednesday night when we did this interview. Admittedly I have had a privileged position as the writer of his biography, Urban’s Way, which led to our friendship. And admittedly it can be frustrating for media when they’re digging for information and he shuts them down. So I get it. As for me, I hope no matter what the future holds that there can be a peace offering of some kind between Urban and those hostile Gator fans who stand in the way trying to block Meyer’s return to The Gator Nation where he should be celebrated as a member of The Ring of Honor alongside his good friend Steve Spurrier. It’s time for Gator fans to bury the hatchet and welcome home one of their own. After all, as it was once said of Spurrier, Urban’s resume is in the trophy case. Enjoy my interview with Coach Meyer and share it with Friends of the Orange & Blue.

IT'S AN OFF WEEK SO MY MIND WANDERS (1) If you saw Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt go ballistic on the sideline last Saturday night after a botched quarterback sneak at the goal line ended up a 100-yard fumble return for a defensive touchdown by Alabama, then you probably think this guy and sanity walk a very fine line. Well, add this to your reasons to think he's nuts. Wednesday after practice, Pruitt said, “We were leading Florida going into the fourth quarter. Those guys have a pretty good football team.” He is correct about the Gators having a pretty good football team, but Tennessee never led Florida at any point during UF's 34-3 win over the Vols. It was 17-0 at the half and 24-3 heading into the fourth quarter. I'm reminded of this from Yogi Berra: “I really didn't say everything I said.” (2) SEC commissioner Greg Sankey issued a lengthy statement Wednesday in which he defended the integrity of his football officials. Nobody should have expected anything different but no matter how he defends his officials and stresses how the league is always trying to improve the way the games are called, it doesn't change the fact that far too many calls are blown. Now, I understand that officials aren't going to get all the calls right and I understand completely that there are split second judgment calls that have to be made but may or may not be overturned on replay. I totally understand that. My problem isn't with that split second call that gets overturned by people seeing slow motion replays from several different angles. My problem is the no-call that happens five feet away from an official. I watch a lot of college football and every single week I see defensive linemen getting tackled by offensive linemen with a zebra standing a few feet away swallowing his whistle. Those are the things that drive me crazy. But back to Sankey, I'm reminded that Yogi Berra once said: “Listen up! I've got nothing to say and I'm only going to say it once!” (3) You know you're in trouble as a football coach when your athletic director uses an analogy that begins with “If Coach were hit by a bus tomorrow ...” Florida State athletic director David Coburn said that when asked about rumors that he was going to pursue Urban Meyer as the replacement coach for Willie Taggart, who is a most unremarkable 8-11 since taking over the program in 2018. Taggart's unaffordable $17 million plus buyout is made worse by the average attendance in FSU's four home games so far: 52,691 in 79,500-seat Doak Campbell Stadium. The late, great Bill Peterson, who brought FSU football out of the dark ages in the 1960s, once said, “I'm the football coach around here and don't you remember it.” The majority of FSU fans would probably choose to not remember Taggart if only they could. (4) Jim Harbaugh is denying that he has an exit strategy to walk away from Michigan and return to the NFL. In a letter written to parents of current players and recruits who have committed to Michigan, Harbaugh called the rumors “total crap” and claimed the rumors are all part of a conspiracy to disrupt the Michigan program. Okay, maybe he isn't thinking about leaving although I would ask why not considering he's 1-10 in his Michigan career against teams ranked in the top ten and he's oh-fer his career against Ohio State. A good Yogi-ism seems appropriate right now: “You wouldn't have won if we'd beaten you.” Michigan is 5-2 and there is every good chance the Wolverines will finish 8-4 since they still have to play Notre Dame (this week) and Ohio State. An 8-4 record would mean Michigan is shelling out a mere $938,000 per win. SEC FOOTBALL STUFF #1 Alabama (7-0, 3-0 SEC): Nick Saban got what he thought was a dumb question after practice Wednesday. Someone asked if he was going to try to get some game reps for Taulia Tagovailoa, the younger brother of Tua Tagovailoa and now the backup QB with Tua sidelined for Saturday's game with Arkansas. Saban said: “We’re focused on winning the game, all right, so we’re going to try to win the game, and we’re going to play the best players that we can play to win the game. And we’re not assuming that it’s going to be an easy game, aight, and we’re not assuming that we’ll have an opportunity just to play anybody that wants play, to expedite anything except winning the game. So, we’re going to play everybody who can expedite winning the game, that’s what we’re going to do. So, I don’t think anybody should expect us to do anything else.” Saturday: vs. Arkansas (2-5, 1-3 SEC) Arkansas (2-5 ,1-3 SEC): HBC Chad Morris says he has yet to decide who will start at quarterback vs. Alabama – Ben Hicks or Nick Starkel. Hicks was the starter last week against Auburn, completing 19-39 passes for 182 yards with a TD and an interception. Saturday: at #1 Alabama (7-0, 3-0 SEC) #10 Auburn (6-1, 3-1 SEC): Edge rusher Nick Coe, who has had a disappointing 2019 and who was held out of last week's win over Arkansas, has reportedly responded in practice to the challenge of getting back into the good graces of HBC Gus Malzahn but on the SEC Coaches Teleconference Malzahn said he will “know much more once we get to Thursday.” Saturday: at #2 LSU (7-0, 3-0 SEC) #9 Georgia (6-1, 3-1 SEC): On the SEC Coaches Teleconference, HBC Kirby Smart talked about the way Georgia struggled offensively against Kentucky and South Carolina: “I think 50% of that is conditions against Kentucky, it was tough to palm the ball, throw the ball, catch the ball… vs. SC, there were a lot of opportunities to pass it … some of it was route running, some of it was receiver route running … some of it accuracy, some of it pass protection.” Saturday: Open Kentucky (3-4, 1-4 SEC): Redshirt freshman corner Stanley Garner has entered his name in the NCAA transfer portal. Garner played in seven games in 2019 and was in on one tackle. Saturday: vs. Missouri (5-2, 2-1 SEC) #2 LSU (7-0, 3-0 SEC): The key for LSU's defense Saturday will be stuffing Auburn's running game. Auburn leads the SEC in rushing (239.6 yards per game), averaging 5.2 per carry with 20 touchdowns. LSU's is giving up 93.3 yards per game and a mere 2.8 yards per carry. Saturday: vs. #10 Auburn (6-1, 3-1 SEC) Mississippi State (3-4, 1-3 SEC): The Bulldogs have pretty much decided to roll the dice with freshman quarterback Garrett Shrader over Penn State grad transfer Tommy Stevens. Shrader is 62-102 passing for 828 yards and four touchdowns and he's run for 440 yards and three touchdowns. Saturday: at Texas A&M (4-3, 2-2 SEC) Missouri (5-2, 2-1 SEC): Freshman safety Martez Manuel will get the start Saturday with Tyree Gillespie suspended the first half due to a targeting call in the second half of last week's loss to Vanderbilt. Saturday: at Kentucky (3-4, 1-4 SEC) Ole Miss (3-5, 2-3 SEC): Eight of the 11 offensive starters are either freshmen or in their first year as a starter. Of the Rebels 3,068 yards of offense, 84.6% has been gained by freshmen. Saturday: Open South Carolina (3-4, 2-3 SEC): Running back Rico Dowdle (knee sprain) is out for the Tennessee game while running back A.J. Turner (hamstring) is listed as doubtful … South Carolina is a 4-1/2 point favorite for Saturday's game. Saturday: at Tennessee (2-5, 1-3 SEC) Tennessee (2-5, 1-3 SEC): Freshman QB Brian Maurer has yet to be cleared to play in Saturday's game and is listed as extremely doubtful. J.T. Shrout, who has spent the entire season as the third teamer, has been taking the first team snaps at QB. No word yet if Jarrett Guarantano will play although HBC Jeremy Pruitt said, “I think they [fans] trust we're going to play the best players who give us the best chance to win and have success.” Saturday: vs. South Carolina (3-4, 2-3 SEC) Texas A&M (4-3, 2-2 SEC): It's a different Mississippi State defense the Aggies will face Saturday than the one that led the nation in defense last year. This year, the Bulldogs are 12th in the SEC in scoring defense (28.4 points per game), 10th in rushing defense (152.3 yards per game), 11th in pass defense (244.4 yards per game) and 11th in total defense (396.7 yards per game). Saturday: vs. Mississippi State (3-4, 1-3 SEC) Vanderbilt (2-5, 1-3 SEC): If there is a bright spot for Vandy's dismal offense (14th in the SEC at 335.4 yards/18.4 points per game) it is running back Ke'Shawn Vaughn, third in the SEC in rushing (131-703 for six touchdowns) and second in the league in all-purpose yards (926 for 132.3 yards per game). Saturday: Open GOOD QUOTES FOR THURSDAY Stewart Mandel of The Athletic on what's happened with Georgia the last two games (loss to South Carolina, ugly win over Kentucky): “As bad as that Illinois loss was for Wisconsin (the Illini came in 2-4), it did not alarm me the way Georgia has over the past two weeks. It’s hard to say that South Carolina game was fluky when the Dawgs came back the next week and looked arguably even worse against a Kentucky team playing a receiver at quarterback. A week after throwing three interceptions against the Gamecocks, Jake Fromm passed for a grand total of 35 – yes, 35 – yards against the Wildcats. Rainstorm or not, something’s going on there.” From Ross Tucker of The Athletic on why Lamar Jackson is so dangerous as a running quarterback for the NFL Baltimore Ravens: “In order to get an extra guy to stop the run, the defense can no longer have a safety in the deep middle of the field, which puts your coverage players into strict man to man with no help anywhere – an almost impossible task. Plus, there is nobody at the third level of the defense so if the run does break through the second level it could go for a long way.” RANDOM THOUGHTS: New Mexico quarterback Sheriron Jones, who originally signed with Tennessee in 2015, has been suspended indefinitely for exposing himself to a woman in an on-campus parking garage … New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees plans to return to the team this week against the Arizona Cardinals after being sidelined five weeks with a thumb injury. In his absence Teddy Bridgewater led the Saints to a 5-0 record ... Former Major League Baseball umpire Joe West is suing former MLB player Paul LoDuca, who claimed in a podcast that West accepted a bribe from former closer Billy Wagner in exchange for a favorable strike zone when West was behind the plate … Former Gator catcher David Ross, who retired after winning a World Series ring with the Chicago Cubs in 2016, has been hired as the team's new manager … Call them the Disastros after Houston was hammered, 11-2, by the Washington Nationals in game two of the World Series Wednesday night. The Nationals hold a 2-0 lead as the series shifts to Washington.