(Photo by Loren Meadows) Despite a decimated receiving corps and despite too many injuries on the defense the first half Florida Gators were the team we thought we had at the beginning of the season. The offense did its part with three touchdowns in three trips to the red zone. Defense did its part with two stands in the red zone that forced Ole Miss to kick field goals and an interception by Jayden Woods that set up a 5-yard TD drive. Special teams did its part with a 38-yard field goal by Trey Smack at the end of the first half.   Florida 24, Ole Miss 20. Oh, if the game could have ended then.   Then came the second half and Florida’s depth played a big part in what became a 34-20 loss that doomed the Gators  (3-7, 2-5 SEC) to their fourth losing season since 2020 and gave Lane Kiffin his third consecutive season of at least 10 wins at Ole Miss (10-1, 6-1 SEC).   There was plenty to like about these Gators in the first half. They took chances going downfield in the passing game. There was a 47-yard pass to TJ Abrams in the first quarter, a 57-yard DJ Lagway to J Michael Sturdivant touchdown pass in the second and a terrific 18-yard completion from Lagway to Abrams after a fumbled snap. Even in the third quarter there was a Lagway to Tony Livingston pass that went for 38 yards as Livingston tightroped the sideline.   The second half was more a case of a lack of depth catching up with the Gators than anything else. Despite Lane Kiffin constantly running in fresh troops the defense bent plenty but broke only once. Ole Miss earned one TD and that had everything to do with Kewan Lacy breaking through the line and racing 59 yards before he was stopped short of the goal. That put Ole Miss ahead 27-24. There was a second Ole Miss touchdown but it was a late game fourth quarter gift when the Gators were desperately trying to move the ball out of the shadow of their own goal posts.   Two other times Ole Miss got inside the Florida five only to get stuffed at the two in the third quarter, at the three in the fourth.   The Gators had a chance to take the lead in the fourth quarter after Ole Miss had taken the lead, but on the 11 th play of a drive that got them to the Ole Miss 30, Lagway had a pass tipped at the line and into the hands of Ole Miss linebacker Suntarine Perkins.   It was a loss and there are no moral victories in a season gone south. It’s a bottom line game and the bottom line is seven losses. It’s great to say next man up, but even those teams at the top of the SEC would have difficulties winning if they endured the number of injuries that have reduced the Gators to a shell of the team that was expected to win a lot of ball games.   There are two ways to look at the remaining two home games – Tennessee on Saturday and Florida State the following weekend. One is that this nightmare of a season can conclude mercifully and the folks who write the checks can aggregate the funds it will take to make a Godfather offer to Lane Kiffin. The second is that the Gators can see if they can string four halves of football together equal to or greater than what we saw Saturday night in Oxford.   I want Lane Kiffin as the next football coach at Florida, but I also want to see the Gators give the Vols and the Seminoles more than they bargained for. That’s not too much to ask, is it?     Associated Press top 25: 1. Ohio State 10-0; 2. Indiana 11-0; 3. Texas A&M 10-0; 4. Georgia 9-1; 5. Ole Miss 10-1; 6. (TIE) Oregon 9-1; Texas Tech 10-1; 8. Oklahoma 8-2; 9. Notre Dame 8-2; 10. Alabama 8-2; 11. BYU 9-1; 12. Vanderbilt 8-2; 13. Utah 8-3; 14. Miami 8-2; 15. Georgia Tech 9-1; 16. Southern California 8-2; 17. Texas 7-3; 18. Michigan 8-2; 19. Virginia 9-2; 20. Tennessee 7-3; 21. James Madison 9-1; 22. North Texas 9-1; 23. Missouri 7-3; 24. Tulane 8-2; 25. Houston 8-2   AFCA Coaches top 25: 1. Ohio State 10-0; 2. Indiana 11-0; 3. Texas A&M 10-0; 4. Georgia 9-1; 5. Oregon 9-1; 6. Ole Miss 10-1; 7. Texas Tech 10-1; 8. Oklahoma 8-2; 9. Notre Dame 8-2; 10. Alabama 8-2; 11. BYU 9-1; 12. Georgia Tech 9-1; 13. Vanderbilt 8-2; 14. Utah 8-3; 15. Miami 8-2; 16. Southern California 8-2; 17. Michigan 8-2; 18. Texas 7-3; 19. Virginia 9-2; 20. Tennessee 7-3; 21. Missouri 7-3; 22. James Madison 9-1; 23. North Texas 9-1; 24. Houston 8-2; 25. Tulane 8-2   SEC FOOTBALL (Associate Press Rankings) No. 10 Alabama (8-2, 6-1 SEC): Despite the loss to Oklahoma, Alabama needs only to beat Auburn in the Iron Bowl to make it to the SEC Championship Game. Bama beat Georgia in Athens and owns the tiebreaker.  Saturday: Eastern Illinois (3-8)   Arkansas (2-8, 0-6 SEC): The Razorbacks have lost eight in a row. They were held to 340 yards by LSU, their lowest total of the season. Saturday: at Texas (7-3, 4-2 SEC)   Auburn (4-6, 1-6 SEC): Cam Newton’s advice on the next Auburn football coach: “Number one, find yourself somebody who can recruit. You can’t go to the Kentucky Derby with donkeys. Need a stallion.” Saturday: Mercer (9-1)   No. 4 Georgia (9-1, 7-1 SEC): That Georgia is playing so well has a lot to do with the Gunner Stockton’s development. He has thrown 19 TDPs with only three interceptions and he has run for 350 yards and eight more scores. Saturday: Charlotte (1-9)   Kentucky (5-5, 2-5 SEC): The Wildcats need to only one of their final two games to become bowl eligible. Their recent improvement has probably punched Mark Stoops’ ticket as the UK coach in 2026. Saturday: at No. 12 Vanderbilt (8-2, 4-2 SEC)   LSU (6-4, 3-4 SEC): Backup QB Michael Van Buren, filling in for injured Garrett Nussmeier, led the Tigers to a win over Arkansas when he directed a 12-play, 92-yard scoring drive in the fourth quarter. Nussmeier was a pre-game scratch because of a lingering abdominal injury.   Mississippi State (5-6, 1-6 SEC): Although Mike Elko of Texas A&M is a mortal lock to be SEC Coach of the Year, Jeff Lebby should get consideration for the job he’s done with Mississippi State. The Bulldogs have won three more games than last year and with a break or two could easily be sitting 7-4. No. 23 Missouri (7-3, 3-3 SEC): Ahmad Hardy carried 25 times for 300 yards and three touchdowns against Mississippi State. He leads the SEC and the nation in rushing with 1,346 yards. Saturday: at No. 8 Oklahoma (8-2, 4-2 SEC)   No. 8 Oklahoma (8-2, 4-2 SEC): The Sooners gained only 212 yards but still beat Alabama because the defense forced three turnovers including a pick six and a late fumble that killed off Alabama’s chances to pull out the game. Saturday: No. 23 Missouri (7-3, 3-3 SEC)   No. 5 Ole Miss (10-1, 6-1 SEC): Kewan Lacy carried 31 times for 224 yards and three touchdowns in the Rebels’ 34-24 win over Florida. Lacy leads the SEC and is tied for the national lead in touchdowns with 19.    South Carolina (3-7, 1-7 SEC): For a half we saw the South Carolina we expected to see all year as the Gamecocks built a 30-3 lead over Texas A&M. Then came the second half and total collapse on both sides of the ball. The Gamecocks had 312 yards of first half offense, but only 66 in the second half. The defense allowed 371 second half yards after giving up only 132 in the first half. Saturday: Coastal Carolina (3-7)   No. 20 Tennessee (7-3, 3-3 SEC): Sophomore DB Boo Carter, suspended for the New Mexico State game, is no longer with the team as per an On3 report. Carter had 25 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and three forced fumbles. Saturday: at FLORIDA (3-7, 2-5 SEC)   No. 17 Texas (7-3, 4-2 SEC): Any chance the Longhorns have of making the College Football playoff depends on winning the last two games. Arkansas should be a no-brainers, but beating the Aggies at home Thanksgiving weekend could swing votes their way to make it as an at-large team.  Saturday: Arkansas (2-8, 0-6 SEC)   No. 3 Texas A&M (10-0, 7-0 SEC): The Aggies rewarded HBC Mike Elko with a six-year contract extension that will pay him in excess of $10 million a year. Saturday: Samford (1-10)   No. 12 Vanderbilt (8-2, 4-2 SEC): The Commodores could set the all-time schook record for wins in a season if they can beat Kentucky and Tennessee in the final two games of the season. Saturday: Kentucky (5-5, 2-5 SEC)   COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF PICTURE   ACC: There is a 4-team logjam at the top between Georgia Tech (9-1), Virginia (9-2), Pittsburgh (7-3) and SMU (7-3), all with one ACC loss. Pitt at Georgia Tech is a Saturday elimination game for the loser. If Georgia Tech wins it’s in the ACC championship game. If Pitt wins there is still Miami to deal with in two weeks. Virginia only has Virginia Tech to deal with in two weeks. SMU still has to play Louisville and California. Prediction: ACC championship game winner, nobody else.   Big Ten: Ohio State (9-0) and Indiana (10-0) are on a collision course to play in the Big Ten championship game. The question on everyone’s mind is will the Buckeyes be undefeated. They have to play Michigan (8-2), whom they haven’t beaten since 2019. Oregon (9-1), Southern Cal (8-2) and Michigan all have only one loss in league play. Oregon and Southern Cal play in two weeks, so one of them will be eliminated. Michigan has to play Ohio State. Win and the Wolverines probably get in. Lose and they’re out. Prediction: Ohio State, Indiana and Oregon.   Big 12: Texas Tech (10-1) has clinched the league championship game. BYU (9-1) can make the championship game with wins over Cincinnati and UCF. If the Cougars win two and then beat Texas Tech in the championship game, then there is a chance for two Big 12 teams. Prediction: Texas Tech   SEC: Texas A&M (10-0), Georgia (9-1) and Ole Miss (10-1)   Notre Dame: The Irish are 8-2 with two easy games to go. They’ll win, get in the playoff and spark another debate about how unfair it is that ND doesn’t have to play in a conference championship game. Prediction: Notre Dame   Group of Five South Florida (7-3) has played its way out of the picture. If North Texas (9-1) wins its last two and then wins the conference championship game that should seal the deal as the Group of Five rep. Tulane (8-2) seems the most likely American championship game opponent. Should the Mean Green falter it would open the door for James Madison (9-1) of the Sun Belt, provided of course that the Dukes win three more games. Nobody is paying attention to San Diego State (8-2) which actually might be the best team in the Group of Five. Prediction: North Texas

Lane Kiffin has everything he needs…at Ole Miss By Loren Meadows, GatorBaitMedia.com , Host of the Lowdown with Loren Meadows Lane Kiffin (GatorBait photo) After review, I am convinced that Lane Kiffin is a pretty good football coach. He runs an imaginative offense that is diverse and designed to attack talented defenses in different ways. His defense led by defensive coordinator Pete Golding is aggressive and possesses physical and mental attributes that make life hard for opposing offenses. Along with that Kiffin has the Manning Performance Center, the Grove Collective, and a mastery of the transfer portal that have allowed him to grab talents such as Jaxson Dart, Tre Harris , Trinidad Chambliss, Kewan Lacy, and the Umanmielen brothers. The Lane Kiffin that presented himself to Ole Miss and Florida fans last night has created a culture of belief and arrogance that has been absent from the Florida program for quite some time.  With that belief and arrogance there is the x-factor that Ole Miss showed that again is frustratingly missing from the Florida fan base. While Florida fans have spent the last 20 plus years looking for the next Steve Spurrier and failing to commit to the changing landscape of college athletics, the folks at Ole Miss are all in on all things Rebels especially football. As you move through the town square in Oxford there is no doubt who is at the center of their collective hearts. There is no shortage of red and navy (sometimes powder) blue throughout the downtown area of Oxford. From Ajax Diner, to The Library, to Boure patrons are as dialed into their football team and the pregame experience that dwarfs what you see in Gainesville. In Oxford even the upscale clientele at Neilsen’s knows exactly when and who Ole Miss is playing and you will see them at the game. I wish I could say the same for those in Gainesville.     After leaving the square for the short drive to campus you notice the speed limits set to 18MPH and 10MPH respectfully to honor the schools best passers with the same name. More red and navy blue is in full bloom in every age and we haven’t even made it to The Grove yet. Upon arrival the walk to The Grove is full of Ole Miss fans that are eager to welcome you to Ole Miss and thank you for coming. One particular fan, Milton Stenet goes a step further to not only welcome us but act as our personal tour guide complete with a historical tour of the center campus and its oldest building The Lyceum. The pride and love for the university is evident, how many Florda fans greeted Ole Miss fans in an equal manner a year ago? Upon arriving in The Circle which begins or ends The Grove depending on your perspective, the sensory overload is incredible as there is a cornucopia of welcoming tents complete with chandeliers, beverages, food, and unique dishes including a stuffed grilled alligators. Cardboard cutouts of Mississippi’s most popular employee are adorned with crowns, jewelry, and even a few even include Kiffin’s dog Juice. This is an embrace that you just don’t see everywhere and it is palpable from the moment you step into the mix at Ole Miss. Cut to gametime, after speaking with several fans that told me that they would gladly accept a couple .500 seasons from Lane Kiffin the atmosphere is incredible as the fans cheer when they first see THEIR coach onscreen as  he walks out the tunnel. Dan Mullen won ten games twice at Florida and I don’t think they ever showed him on the screen let alone did fans cheer as he stood on the logo with his whistle. The atmosphere in Vaught-Hemingway is 3-parts football game one part dance club as the fans groove in unison to the sounds of the stadium in a collective dance of support for their team. The crowd makes life hard on the opposing offenses as they cheer throughout each play, timeouts are marketing gems of all things Ole Miss, and early in the game with Florida driving someone accidentally turns off the lights, OOPS!! Upon vanquishing the Gators, many in the crowd snap belts that represents what they believe just occurred sans the profanity and for good measure the last song Florida hears as they leave the field is “Won’t Back Down”, genius. Ole Miss is enjoying their success and letting Kiffin know that they appreciate what he is doing with the football program. Florida jettisons its most successful coach in over ten years and throws a parade for its worst since World War II. Wishful thinking or things to come? (GatorBait photo) Lane Kiffin would be wise to encourage Florida to take a hard look in the mirror and then after that take a look north to Oxford. If he should arrive in Gainesville sometime in January it will not be because of what Florida has to offer but more what he can bring to Florida with help from one of its little brothers in the SEC. I told someone earlier tonight that when looking at both programs it is not that Ole Miss is better than Florid. It is that Ole Miss is better at being Ole Miss than Florida is at being Florida. How can one of the nations most noted brands be so far behind the curve on what matters most in today’s landscape? Will it matter to Kiffin at all, or is a visor with a Gator enough to get him to attempt to match the success of his idol. If it doesn’t Florida has only themselves to blame, and after a night in Oxford I wouldn’t blame Kiffin at all.

With some collaborative assistance of a few old school friends, here's a bonus column subbing today for the bed-ridden Franz Beard (strep, overworked and underpaid) as we count it down for the 7 pm (EDT) kick on ESPN.

By Carlton Reese GatorBait Media Lane Kiffins plays around pre-game of the Florida contest. In his fourth try, he finally beat the Gators, and may soon be the head honcho in Gainesville. Okay, let’s get the platitudes out of the way. Yes, we’re proud of the effort. Yes, it’s good to see the Gators not playing as though this is a lost season. Yes, it’s nice to go toe to toe once again with one of the country’s best teams and nearly win, thereby showing this team is not as bad as its record would indicate. Now to the reality: the Gators lost to Ole Miss Saturday night, 34-24, in that old familiar way: botching a play late in the game on a drive the in the opponent’s territory in which you could tie or take the lead. Here’s the rundown: Against South Florida and leading 16-15 with 2:39 and possession near midfield, failure to convert on third down meant life for the Bulls instead of the Gators icing away the victory. USF then marched to win the game with a field goal on the last play. Against Miami, it was failed conversion on 4 th -and-3 in field goal range when you were down by six and that led to a Hurricanes touchdown and the end of all hope. Against Texas A&M, down 24-17 in the fourth quarter, an incomplete pass on 4 th -and-6 in Aggie territory led to what amounted to the game-securing drive. Against Georgia, it was failure to convert on 4 th -and-1 from the Bulldog 18 when you were leading 20-17 late in the fourth quarter. Convert and you likely beat Georgia, failure to convert resulted in a sustained Bulldogs drive that concluded with a game-winning touchdown. Then there was Saturday night in Oxford and the needle kept skipping, this time on 3 rd -and-5 at the Rebel 30 trailing by just three. Quarterback DJ Lagway rolled out to his right, spotted an open receiver then had his pass tipped and intercepted by Wydett Williams, Jr. The last time a pass was tipped in this game it was Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss’ 4 th -and-6 throw that ended up in his own arms and he ran for the conversion. Such fortuitousness went Ole Miss’ way and not Florida’s. Well, there was Michai Boireau’s interception late that spoiled Mississippi State’s comeback, but that’s it. Why rehash all these bad memories? Because after a while they all blend together and it’s hard to tell one game from the next for these Florida Gators. The only break they get from this recurring nightmare is playing against a bad football team that will beat them silly as what happened a week ago in Lexington. The loss to Ole Miss was not a moral victory and neither was the Georgia loss before that or Texas A&M, either. They are only losses and nothing more. This team is 3-7 and is not the same 3-7 as South Carolina which hasn’t beaten anybody and been blown out on at least three occasions. They’re not the same 3-7 as Virginia Tech, Stanford or Syracuse, all terrible teams in a terrible conference. They’re not the same 3-7 as Colorado, the Neon Joke of the Rockies. They’re not the same 3-7 as UCLA, Wisconsin and Michigan State, all Big 10 teams that would be lucky to score against any SEC team. We get it – the Gators have played a brutal schedule that was tailor-made for pink slips and red faces if not everything fell perfectly into place. But this is the Florida Gators and only two things remain to keep our attention: 1. Florida State coming to The Swamp and, 2. Will that guy coaching against us Saturday night be coming to The Swamp? On the first point, there’s no reason despite Florida’s record that the Gators should not handle a bad FSU team easily in two weeks. Well, one reason: Florida likes to sleep on games it should win (see South Florida and Kentucky, and nearly Mississippi State). On the second point, we all saw what it means to be coached by Lane Kiffin, the man it seems the University of Florida has gone chips-all-in to be its head coach in 2026. Saturday night was not his finest hour and certainly not a tape he wants to show those schools courting him. His dark moment came with Ole Miss trailing 24-20 and enjoying 1 st -and-goal at the 4. Lane’s hammer, running back Kewan Lacy, bulled his way to the two and barely held on second down. That’s when Kiffin panicked and called for a gadget play and a quick pass, both which blew up in his face while Lacy could only watch. This was Raiders Kiffin, and Tennessee Kiffin, and USC Kiffin all coming back to haunt Ole Miss. In the end, however, Kiffin’s game plan worked, and Ole Miss held on to win the game against a team that lost by 31 to a weak Kentucky team and whose head coach has been visiting practices in Athens. He did, though, learn his lesson and stuck with Lacy the next time Ole Miss knocked on the Gators’ doorstep, going to Lacy who would score easily. There is a game before FSU comes to Gainesville, and it should have mattered. Alas, Tennessee week carries no shine, only low expectations. The Ole Miss loss, competitive as it was, failed to convince anyone that the Vols are in trouble next week. As such, we will continue to ponder more Kiffin’s pending arrival than Tennessee’s or FSU’s. So it’s all about Kiffin, and has been ever since Oct. 19. Today, it’s about Kiffin, this week and next week it will be about Kiffin, and when the playoffs start, it will be about Kiffin. If ever there is a reason to beg for the end of the season, it is this. Talking about football is much more fun than talking about human resources.

The 2026 signing class hails from across the country, with California, Georgia, Texas and Louisiana each represented this year.

I’ve been doubting he would take the Florida job. But now I am beginning to wonder if maybe he’s coming to save the Gators after all. Is Lane Kiffin a done deal? People keep telling our executive producer Brenden Martin it is. “I have heard he has agreed to job at UF ...  Supposedly happened prior to Citadel game in Miami” was one of several posts. From the jump, I’ve been doubting he would take the Florida job. But now I am beginning to wonder if maybe he’s coming to save the Gators after all, even though I can see why Lane Kiffin feels like Oxford is special to him, beyond the pale of just the resurrection of his family ties. And that doesn’t even include my own personal affinity for Oxford, it being a hotbed of distinguished authors. Just being there among them makes me hope a tiny speck of literary genius will breathe through my nostril for a  nano-second. The honest answer is that probably nobody knows yet, including Lane, who wants to see how this season plays out. The rest is nuances — including the money. But that won’t decide it, else LSU would have him locked up. Oxford has much to offer. According to Oxford PR folks: “Whether visiting Oxford’s historical sites or walking in the steps of William Faulkner, you are sure to find inspiration in a town that inspired Nobel Prize winner William Faulkner, as well as other authors like John Grisham, Wright Thompson, Barry Hannah and Willie Morris.” My kind of town. Indeed, the sweet, soft spirit of the place mixed with the glow of high-grade literature is a powerful draw. I will always treasure a 1966 trip there during the first SEC Skywriters Tour when my friend Tommy Kelly and I took a ride outside town to view the home of deceased William Faulkner. Once we reached it, we were unable to view his residence from our roadside vantage point, so we climbed the gate fence and walked 50 yards down a pebbled path where we caught a glimpse of the shuttered shrine and  stood there in awe as the brilliant moonlight cut through the Mississippi Pines like a silver laser.  His spirit spoke to us as would-be authors in a manner that was unforgettable. We stood there speechless, in awe, for almost 10 minutes. Then we turned and went back to our car, never forgetting that moment frozen in time. I look back fondly and nostalgically at all my trips to Oxford. Once with my late friend and diehard Gator Whit Palmer Jr. We arrived on a private plane right at the waning six-time SEC championship Coach Johnny Vaught’s career, when he had enjoyed such dominance, but suffered a hiccup after a rare one-point loss to Alabama the week prior. I  marveled at how he had coached so brilliantly. “Yeah,” growled the cabbie, “but a beats a beat.” This was about to become the Rebels’ third straight “beat.“ That year he would suffer a third straight loss from junior quarterback Steve Spurrier, 17-0. Those were  two of several special trips I made to Oxford.  One of the more (or less) notable ones came in 1967 on the second visit ever by the original SEC Skywriters. My roommate Neil Amdur, then of the Miami Herald and later the New York Times sports editor, had written a very caustic lead about the demise of Vaught’s reign toward its end after last year’s trip there. And the angry folks at Oxford were  at the airport to remind Neil of his words “Age, apathy and apartheid …” used to describe the Mississippi struggle to overcome a racially charged  history. I went there again in 1994, highlighted by a 38-14 Gator victory. My late wife Joni and I drove to Oxford from Denver and were able to drink in the delights of The Grove, including the accoutrements of the well-dressed skirted,  shirt-and-tied Rebel fans resplendent with Chandeliered tailgates.   So I got to thinking that it would be interesting to write a piece with artificial inelligence through the voice of the famous author with a touch of nursery rhyme, Humpty Dumpty, as the  metaphor.  Here is that effort. With my apologies to William Faulkner: I remember, as one remembers the long shadow cast by late autumn, the far and flickering gleam of floodlights upon red clay, how Lane Kiffin came walking across the hush of grass soaked through with the memory of a thousand Friday nights, bearing the weight of names and rumors and the heavy hush of expectation, the kind that curls along the eaves and settles in the bones until even eggshell shivers with the knowledge.  They hollered for him, called him redeemer, called him a scoundrel, his steps falling soft as rain after drought, each one disturbing silted secrets and older wounds unhealed. I sat atop my wall, watcher and waited-on, more a monument to the folly of hope than a sentry, my shell grown brittle not from the wind but from the long patience of time. He passed beneath, Lane Kiffin, and all the king’s horses turned their black liquid eyes, all the king’s men leanin’ on fences where the white paint peels in sheets, and they whispered, too, about what a man carries and what he must lay down — none knowing it is not the fall that undoes you but the thought, the foreknowledge of the plummet.  I held my piece, cracked but not yet shattered, while on the field below him eyes shone with that same silty faith that maybe, just maybe tonight, the reckoning could be postponed. There in the hum, the chill before the snap, I saw it plain: men like Lane living betwixt silver whistle and the long gray hush, loving a game where your victories run through your fingers like Sunday water and your losses last as long as twilight. I am Humpty, and I have fallen; I know the song and the silence that follows, the gathering, the hands that cannot fix what was, and I know that Lane, too, hears footsteps on gravel, the wall at his back not stone but hunger and hope and time itself. We are kin by falling. We are revealed by what cannot be put back together. — What does that mean? I haven’t a clue, do you? I never got The Sound And The Fury, either.

You Mean There’s A Chance Of Rebounding?

(UAA Photo) When the 3-point shots begin to fall as eventually Todd Golden believes they will, the Florida Gators might be as good as any college basketball team in the country. But until the Gators start making shots with any measure of consistency some games are going to resemble a bare knuckles street brawl, decided by the biggest and strongest team.   When it comes to finding the bottom of the net from the 3-point line, the Gators are off to a miserable start. They’ve made 19 threes in 90 attempts, a dismal 21.1 percent. Tuesday night against unranked Florida State at the O-Dome, the Gators were 6-31 from behind the arc and they compounded matters by turning the ball over 18 times. If not for a 58-36 margin on the backboards, the 10 th -ranked Gators would have gone down in flames.   “They outrebounded us by 22 and to me, that was the difference,” Florida State first year coach Luke Loucks said after the Gators eked out a 78-76 win that came down to a wide open three from the corner by Urban Klavzar and four free throws in the final 15.8 seconds, two by Boogie Fland and two by Alex Condon.   The rebounds had plenty to do with the outcome, but it really shouldn’t have been close. Florida led the game 69-60 with 6:32 left in the game, but instead of pounding the Seminoles into submission, the Gators got sloppy. Five turnovers and five missed threes allowed FSU to go on a 10-2 run that made it a 71-70 game with 1:24 left when Robert McCray V hit a pair of free throws. After a 30-second time out, Xaivian Lee found Klavzar in the corner for a wide open shot that broke a streak of six straight 3-point misses.   That shot was critical because McCray scored three straight points to once again whittle the lead down to a single point. Fland expanded the lead to 76-73 when he nailed a pair of free throws with 15.8 seconds and then Florida’s defense did its part, forcing a McCray miss from three that could have tied the game. Condon grabbed the miss, was fouled immediately and calmly dropped in two foul shots with 5.7 seconds left.   A 5-point cushion shrunk to two when McCray once again bombed away, nailing yet another three less than a second to go, forcing the Gators to inbounds the ball with four-tenths of a second remaining. FSU fouled Tommy Haugh, who missed both free throws. Chauncey Wiggins rebounded for FSU but his desperation heave came up short.   It wasn’t an aesthetically pleasing game for Golden, but it was a win just the same. This early in the season, you take a win however you have to pull it out. The Gators missed too many open threes. Too many of the 18 turnovers were unforced errors. FSU’s press caused too many problems in a first half that the Seminoles led 40-37 at the break.   “I thought we were a little sporadic and erratic in the first half,” Golden said. “… Listen, when you play a team that plays this way defensively, you’re going to turn the ball over some. Like that’s going to be a part of it, but the ones that we can’t live with are the unforced turnovers … breaking the press, no pressure, throwing it out of bounds, or, you know, spinning baseline and firing out of bounds with three minutes. Like, we can’t afford those turnovers, because this team has the capacity to be a really good ball-handling team. And I think we have to be a great ball-handling team if we want to be as good as we hope to be because I think one of our strengths is our ball-handling, our IQ and our feel. And, you know, in a game like this, I thought for a majority of the second half we did a good job, but late it bit us. And I thought early it bit us. We wanted to hold that number [of turnovers] under 12, and obviously that got up to 18.”   Florida’s big guys were difference-makers. They combined for 45 points, 41 rebounds, six assists and seven blocked shots. Every bit as important was the Gators’ ability to defend on the perimeter with big guys 23 feet from the basket. Tommy Haugh, Chinyelu, Condon and Micah Handlogten not only were tough for the Seminoles to shoot over, but quick enough to cut off the driving lanes.   Florida’s got some big boys,” Loucks said. “It’s one thing to see it on film, another thing to see it in person … they’ve got size everywhere.”   The Seminoles organized chaos approach was effective in a first half that saw the Gators playing from behind the last eight minutes. Things changed in the second half when Haugh elevated his game. The Gators were trailing 44-40 when Haugh pretty much took over the game on both ends of the floor.   It started with a driving layup with 17:12 left in the game that cut the FSU lead in half. Following an FSU three by Kobe McGee, Haugh answered with a three of his own. Over the next two minutes he had a rebound, a blocked shot and an assist as the Gators gradually took control of the game. Haugh tied the game at 55-55 with 12:09 left on an offensive rebound dunk-back and he gave the Gators the lead for good at 59-57 with 9:38 left on a driving layup.   Haugh’s second half numbers were nine points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots. He finished the game with 20 points and 13 rebounds.   With the momentum created by Haugh, the Gators went on a 20-7 run fueled by an 11-point burst by Fland, who hit his first two threes as a Gator.     “I thought he played his best half as a Gator in the second half, obviously,” Golden said. “I’m sure it felt good for him to see the ball in the net from the perimeter in the jersey. But I thought he was really just aggressive and did a great job finding his spots. I’m not sure how many he had at halftime, but he had double-digit scoring in the second half, two threes, got to the line a couple times. He was really good. And his floor game, listen, he only had one turnover. When you’re playing on the ball for the majority of the game against this group is hard to do. Four steals, got on the glass. I thought he rebounded really well from the guard position. And credit to him, he stepped up big time and gave us some really good minutes in the second half.”   Haugh (20 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, two blocked shots) and Fland (18 points, five rebounds, one assist, four steals) led a contingent of four Gators in double figures. Chinyelu had a career high 16 rebounds to go with 10 points, one assist and two blocked shots. Condon finished with 13 points, six rebounds, two assists, two blocked shots and a steal.   This wasn’t a write home to Mom kind of game for the Gators, but it was a good all-around effort. When the Gators start hitting the threes they will have a chance to go from good to outstanding.   It is just a matter of time before that happens.   SEC BASKETBALL No. 12 Louisville (3-0) 96, No. 9 Kentucky (2-1) 88: Former Gator Denzel Aberdeen  had 26 points, seven rebounds, three assists and a steal but it wasn’t enough as Kentucky suffered a road loss at Louisville.   No. 21 Arkansas (2-1) 93, Central Arkansas (1-2) 56: Freshman Darius Acuff had 21 points, six rebounds, four assists and a blocked shot while Karter Knox had a double double with 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Razorbacks.   No. 22 Auburn (3-0) 93, Wofford (1-2) 62: UCF transfer Keyshawn Hall filled up the stat sheet with 20 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, two steals and three blocked shots as Auburn remained unbeaten.   Ole Miss (3-0) 83, Memphis (1-1) 77: Ilias Kamardine, who played in the French Pro A league last year hit 11-14 shots including 3-4 from the 3-point line to lead Ole Miss with 26 points.   Oklahoma (2-1) 95, Arkansas-Pine Bluff (0-4) 69: Notre Dame transfer Tae Davis had 13 points, 15 rebounds, four assists and three steals to lead Oklahoma.   Wednesday’s games North Florida (0-1) at No. 20 Tennessee (2-0) Presbyterian (3-1) at South Carolina (2-0) Eastern Kentucky (1-1) at Vanderbilt (2-0) Minnesota (2-0) at Missouri (3-0) Fairleigh Dickinson (0-2) at Texas (1-1)

Tommy Haugh and Franz Beard with the big trophy (Photo by Chris Spears) April 2, 2007. Sitting on a podium at the now extinct Georgia Dome, the Oh-Fours swayed the Luther Vandross recording of “One Shining Moment.” A tear streaked the face of Corey Brewer, who mouthed the words. Were they tears of joy that the Florida Gators had repeated as NCAA basketball champions? Or was it the reality that this would be the last time he would play basketball with Al Horford, Joakim Noah and Taurean Green, roommates and true soul brothers since the day they met as freshman recruits back in the summer of 2004?   Who could know that night in Atlanta that it would take 18 years before the song “One Shining Moment” confirmed another championship? The years were like novocaine. Even for someone who grew up in an era when “Wait ‘til next year” Gator fans were known as the Southeastern Conference’s most eternal optimists, the years weighed heavily. When you’re in your seventies and it seems a week doesn’t go by without word that another classmate or teammate has passed, you begin to wonder if there will ever be another year to wait for.   And then something truly magical happens. This pied piper named Todd Golden tells you “We got some dudes” over breakfast at the Mi Apa Latin café on 34 th Street in Gainesville. That is in the summer. Then, starting in November the “dudes” begin to gel and you start remembering the Oh-Fours and designated baby faced 3-point assassin Lee Humphrey were like this. They really and truly don’t care who scores the most points as long as the Gators win.   November becomes December and then comes January with the first loss in Lexington. Disbelievers start coming out of cracks in the woodwork, but Todd Golden doesn’t waver. Neither do Walter Clayton Jr., Will Richard, Alijah Martin, Rueben Chinyelu and Alex Condon. Those are Golden’s starters. On the bench he’s got Denzel Aberdeen and Thomas Haugh. In February, when the injury bug hits, Micah Handlogten, who literally broke his leg in half at the 2024 SEC Tournament championship game, burns his redshirt and just like that the Florida Gators go from contenders to favorites to bring home Florida’s third NCAA basketball championship.   The SEC Tournament is a walk in the park. Experts predicted the Gators might lose to Missouri. They didn’t. There were also some who thought Alabama would stick it to UF. Didn’t happen. Finally, there was Tennessee. The Gators and Vols split two games during the regular season. This one was all Florida.   Jay Bilas, who said the Gators would win it all even before the SEC Tournament title, is joined by Seth Greenberg predicting the Gators would cut down the nets in San Antonio now that the NCAA Tournament was on the way. The NCAA was white knuckles and fingernails bit to the quick. Heart attack city as Bennie Kimble, my old high school coach in Mississippi would call it in that shrill, high-pitched voice. A thunder dunk by Alijah Martin highlighted the Gators come from behind win in Raleigh to end UConn’s dream of a third straight title. In San Francisco, the Gators were down nine when Tommy Haugh and Walter Clayton Jr. went into shooter’s comas to down Texas Tech. In San Antonio Walt was a one-man wrecking crew to end Auburn’s dreams. Houston put the clamps on Walt’s scoring but Will Richard made the key defensive plays as the Gators held Houston without a shot the Cougars’ last four possessions. A defensive gem by the whole team punctuated by a fly-by stop courtesy of Walter Clayton Jr. sealed a 65-63 win, maybe the most intense and exciting NCAA championship game in years.   And with that, the numbness wore off. Eighteen years vanished and “One Shining Moment” signaled a championship for the Florida Gators.   “The Golden Season” is my recollection of Florida’s run to the NCAA title starting with breakfast at Mi Apa with Todd Golden and ending with the Gators turning Houston into runners-up. Again. The book won’t be sold in bookstores. It can be ordered at this email address: thegoldenseasonbook@gmail.com .   Pre-ordered books can be picked up at three Ocala locations: Koontz Furniture on south Pine, Cogent Bank downtown, and Prestige Auto on SR 200. Pick-up locations in Gainesville and surrounding areas will be announced at a later date. Any requests for mailed copies will include a postage charge.   We will run a Black Friday special of two books for $30. Any email dated Black Friday will secure the deal.