There are big wins. There are convincing wins. And then there are downright beat downs behind the woodshed. The top-seeded Florida Gators showed little mercy on Friday defeating the LSU Tigers 80-58 in the orange and blue’s opening 2013 SEC Tournament game. The Gators advanced to the conference tourney semifinalists with the victory.
The win was the 25th win of the season for Florida. It is the third-straight season with 25 or more victories for the Gators and the eighth overall for head coach Billy Donovan. Donovan has been adding to his victory total for many years at Florida and we hope he continues to do so for many more to come.
Senior forward Erik Murphy was the Gators star in the win. Murphy had a career-high 27 points and completed his third double-double by adding 12 rebounds. The senior started hot and never cooled down. Murphy shot 11-for-15 from the field and made five of his seven three-point attempts. Over the course of his senior season–and it was no different on Friday–Murphy has been a matchup problem for opposing teams and few have found ways to slow him.
Junior guard Scottie Wilbekin added 16 points–one off matching a season-high–and junior center Patric Young and freshman guard Michael Frazier II joined him with double-digit scoring efforts. Perhaps the only down note of the game was the play of senior guard Kenny Boynton. Boynton continued his shooting slump, managing only a 1-for-7 day.
The Gators are up again at 1:00 PM on Saturday. Florida will face either the Alabama Crimson Tide or the Tennessee Volunteers. The Gators played both recently, losing 64-58 to the Vols in Knoxville, TN and beating the Tide 64-52 at home.
The Florida Gators men’s basketball team will begin their quest for the 2013 SEC Tournament on Friday. At 1:00 PM, the top-seeded Gators will face the LSU Tigers in Nashville, TN. LSU defeated the Georgia Bulldogs 68-63 on Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals.
The Gators are looking for their fourth conference tourney championship. Florida won its first three titles in back-to-back-to-back seasons from 2005 to 2007. The Gators, as you surely remember, would go on to win national championships after the final two of those three. Just a few short weeks ago, Florida was considered a national title contender again, but a 3-3 record over the final six games of the regular season has left many questions unanswered.
That 3-3 record is behind the Gators now. It doesn’t matter anymore. The postseason starts on Friday and Florida is only permitted one more loss. Not that we want that loss to occur, far from it, but there is one on the table.
We would prefer the Gators to make this easy on all of us and go 9-0 over the next few weeks. That would be the clean and simple end to this season’s story that we’re all looking for. We’ll take 8-1, 7-1, or even 6-1, but only if that loss comes in the next three days. Let’s throw those scenarios out though and go back to the 9-0 dream. Again, clean and simple.
The Gators and Tigers last faced each other in Baton Rouge, LA on January 12. Florida cruised to a 74-52 victory. Senior guard Kenny Boynton led the Gators with 20 points and junior forward Will Yeguete had a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. LSU struggled to find any sort of rhythm, only shooting 32.3% from the field.
The stakes are much higher this time around. For Florida, it’s about NCAA Tournament seeding. For LSU, it’s about survival. The Tigers will bring more against the Gators than they did two months ago. They have to. The Gators, on the other hand, look to prove they can live up to the lofty expectations that have faded in recent weeks. Florida is the team that should win not only on Friday, but on Saturday and Sunday as well. They question is if they will.
Week 8 of the college football season has come and gone, while my entry in the SB Nation College Football BlogPoll Top 25 has remained much the same. The players in the top 10 are the same names you saw one week ago, but there has been some movement. Even if that movement is minimal.
• While some have moved our mighty Florida Gators to No. 1, I haven’t gone that far just yet. However, I do move the Gators to No. 2 with an eye on the top spot. Both Florida and the Alabama Crimson Tide have looked impressive, but the Tide’s balance at the moment gives them the edge for me. The Gators scored 44 against the South Carolina Gamecocks with minimal offensive production. Imagine what they could have done if firing on all cylinders. Until that happens though, Florida is just off of that top spot.
• The Oregon Ducks take the hit for Florida’s success and the continued rise of the Kansas State Wildcats. Oregon has done nothing to hurt itself, but Florida and Kansas State have been that much more impressive against better competition. The Ducks are a great team that could play for a national championship, but not if that game were played today.
• No. 5 and No. 6 continue to be held by the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Oklahoma Sooners. That won’t be the case much longer as the two face off this coming Saturday. One will drop (if only slightly), while the other may find itself ranked even higher. Most have the LSU Tigers as their top one-loss team, but if the two faced off today on a neutral field, I think the Sooners would take it…easily. That’s a Fantasyland game that isn’t on the schedule, but I’d still imagine most would take Oklahoma.
• The West Virginia Mountaineers are in serious danger of falling right out of the top 25. Two weeks ago I had them at No. 4. After the blowout loss to the Texas Tech Red Raiders, they fell to No. 17. After another convincing defeat–this time to Kansas State–they have fallen to No. 24. Not only can’t the defense stop anyone, the offense is starting to struggle to score points as well. We have to all believe that those two losses won’t be the only ones the Mountaineers experience this season.
• Finally, the No. 19 Ohio Bobcats rose three spots this week. At 7-0, the Bobcats deserve the ranking, but even if they manage to get through the regular season undefeated, this isn’t a top-10 team.
The Florida Gators 2013 football schedule has been released and the debates have begun. Although, there weren’t really that many and all remains well in Gator Nation. Without delay, here’s what the Gators will face in 2013:
August 31 – Toledo – Gainesville, FL
September 7 – Miami – Miami, FL September 21 – Tennessee – Gainesville, FL
September 28 – Kentucky – Lexington, KY October 5 – Arkansas – Gainesville, FL
October 12 – LSU – Baton Rouge, LA
October 19 – Missouri – Columbia, MO
November 2 – Georgia – Jacksonville, FL November 9 – Vanderbilt – Gainesville, FL
November 16 – South Carolina – Columbia, SC November 23 – Georgia Southern – Gainesville, FL
November 30 – Florida State – Gainesville, FL
Not many surprises and there really shouldn’t have been. This is the bridge season. 2012 was the first season of the 14-team SEC. 2013 is the bridge to the future. And 2014 should show us what to actually expect in the future. For now, things remain fairly typical. For example, Tennessee remains in the third-game-of-the-season spot, LSU is still on the schedule and in October, and Florida plays Georgia in Jacksonville right around the same time of year they always do.
There are some points of note though; the first being the bye week. In 2012, the Gators were off the week before facing LSU. At that point, Florida had played four games. That won’t be the case in 2013. The Gators first bye comes after just two games. BUT…there is a second bye in late October between the games against Missouri and Georgia. Thank the calendar for that. 2012 was one of those weird years during which September had five Saturdays. In 2013, that would be November.
For the second season–and for obvious reasons–the Gators get only two SEC West opponents on the schedule. There was wonder whether the annual contest with LSU would stop, but it hasn’t…yet. For 2013, the Tigers are still on the schedule. The Gators also get Arkansas, who will visit Gainesville just one week before the Gators travel to Baton Rouge. So Texas A&M was one and done. They’ll be back, but we won’t know when for a while now.
We knew about the out-of-conference schedule, so there are no surprises there. No surprises overall really. 2013 will come and go and the schedule will look similar to those of the past (or at least the one 14-team SEC schedule we have to compare it to). Now we wait for the 2014 one to be released…a year from now.
• The Florida Gators lost four first-place votes, but moved up two spots. Basically, less believe the Gators are the nation’s top team, but more believe they should be near that No. 1 spot. It really came down to South Carolina and West Virginia losing. The two dropped and the Gators started their climb.
• Alabama is the overwhelming No. 1, as expected. Both Oregon and Florida received first-place votes, along with Kansas State, Notre Dame, and Ohio State. I’m assuming the Buckeyes ranking didn’t take their defense into account.
• LSU is the top one-loss team, but I disagree. The Tigers’ win over the Gamecocks’ was impressive and a check in the positives column. Their three outings before that showed that they may not be as good as many want to believe. I put them back in my top 10, but I’m not thinking this is an elite LSU team. I could see them losing again before all is said and done.
• Texas Tech one spot below West Virginia? Nope. That’s wrong. That wasn’t an upset, it was a destructive blowout. Plus, the Red Raiders one loss is to Oklahoma, who has one loss to Kansas State. Texas Tech deserves to be the higher team.
• Stanford belongs, but two losses already hurts. Especially when one of those losses isn’t to USC.
• Good for the nine of you that gave the Florida Gators first-place votes. No really. But you’re out of your minds. The Gators have performed admirably and better than expected thus far. They have put together some impressive wins and look every bit like a team that realistically belongs somewhere between No. 3 and No. 8. They aren’t the nation’s best team though.
• LSU deserved a bigger fall. They lost to what we are seeing is a good Florida team and an elite Gators’ defense, but that’s also the third-straight week the Tigers have not played like a top-10 team. With six games to look at and three less-than-impressive outings, No. 9 is a dream that just isn’t true at the moment.
• Florida State and Georgia took the biggest dives here and did in my ballot as well. The Bulldogs’ loss was worse by the looks of it, but also to a much better team. At the moment, I believe Georgia should be the (ever so slightly) higher team. Ask me again tomorrow though and I might change my mind.
• We’re all starting to wonder just how far Oregon State can go.
• If Clemson and FSU were to play again, what would the outcome be?
Another win, another new Florida Gators feature at The Bull Gator. The name is inspired by our quarterback Jeff Driskel and Sports Illustrated’s Peter King’s Monday Morning Quarterback, which discusses a plethora of topics concerning the week’s NFL games. We hope to do something similar, but on a minor, more pertinent-to-us level. Don’t worry, it won’t be nearly as long.
And another happy week in Gatorland.
Apologies for the fact that its Tuesday. Pink eye is the culprit.
If I were to tell you that six weeks into the season, Florida would be sitting undefeated at 5-0, AND Florida State would already have one loss despite beating Clemson, I doubt you would believe me.
But that’s just where we are. It’s almost funny. The Florida Gators, whose fans thought the Gators were facing a sure-loss against LSU and could be sporting a losing-record right now, is undefeated. The Florida State Seminoles, whose fans seriously thought of the year as “Championship or bust,” has suffered another tremendous setback in its loss to North Carolina State.
Oh, and as a pleasant bonus on the side, Georgia was blown out by a South Carolina team that looks increasingly-ferocious every week. Of course we have to play the Gamecocks, but we’ll enjoy the Georgia loss for the moment.
Back to our game. Many may have thought the game was ugly–and it would have been three years ago in the Urban Meyer-era–but Florida’s win Saturday over the then No. 4 LSU Tigers was a thing of beauty. It was a testament to the new era, one of down-hill running and stifling defense that Will Muschamp is bringing about as the new style of Gators Football.
What Happened
• The defense gave us the chance to win the game: Enough credit cannot be given to the defense this week, as they truly and completely man-handled an LSU offense that is usually not one to laugh at. The defense made the Tigers’ offense look so bad that it looked like what the opening game’s Bowling Green’s offense should have looked like. The Tigers only had 200 yards of total offense, and the Gators made one of the most-feared running backs, Spencer Ware, look pedestrian, as they held him to only 21 yards. Florida wouldn’t have had a chance to win this game without the defense performing the way it did.
• Mike Gillislee is a work-horse running back: Gillislee, who carried a career-high 34 times and added 146 yards, showed us something that perhaps we didn’t know before: Gillislee can carry the Florida offense by himself. And that’s just what he did. He scored the only two touchdowns of the game for either team.
• Florida proved that it is a much better team than we thought: I doubt most of us thought Florida would be this successful to this point in the season. It’s actually a very refreshing surprise. It’s almost like Auburn and the magic of Cam Newton.
• The game was taken from LSU: After trailing 6-0 at halftime, the Gators continued their trend of comebacks that are looking more and more impressive every week.
• The receivers didn’t do much: But they didn’t need to. Jordan Reed led the Gators with 30 yards, which pretty much sums up that the Gators didn’t do much passing on Saturday. Luckily, they didn’t need to. The running attack led the charge.
• The offensive line continued to show that it’s much better than last year: The O-line gave up a lot of sacks in the first half, but they recovered nicely. The line had their way with an injury-depleted Tigers’ line in the second half, and were responsible for Florida’s success on the ground. Also new was the new formation, ”God’s play”.
• Jeff Driskel’s participation: Driskel didn’t do much to win the game, but he did have a first down-earning play to allow the Gators to run out a good portion of the clock. Driskel was responsible for a few of his sacks in the first half and showed some qualities of a first-year starter, but he didn’t lose the game for the Gators. And that is something that I think we can live with, knowing that Driskel is continuing to improve.
Offensive Most Valuable Player
Running back Mike Gillislee: Gillislee couldn’t have been much better. He dominated the game and none of his carries resulted in a loss.
Defensive Most Valuable Player
Safety Matt Elam: Elam showed proved his case as the best safety in the NCAA. He led the Gators with seven tackles and looked like the strongest player on the field, despite the fact that he is an undersized safety.
Special Teams Most Valuable Player:
Punter Kyle Christy: Christy’s booming punts were the main reason the Gators won the field-position battle.
Play Of The Day
Matt Elam tackles anything in sight: Louichez Purifoy was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Normally, putting your first points on the scoreboard with only 5:15 remaining in the third quarter of a game would mean doom…unless, you’re the Florida Gators. The Gators wouldn’t score until late in the third, but that first touchdown would give them the lead for good against the LSU Tigers. With the 14-6 win, Florida moved to No. 4 in the AP Poll and No. 6 in the Coaches’ (but more on that later).
Like any good Florida fan, I was nervous heading into the game. Sure, I had my glass-half-full attitude with me, but I was internally nervous all the same. After all, this was October and this was LSU. Despite the Tigers’ apparent regression over the last couple of weeks, it was still a big team with a lot of wins in the past few seasons – something that can’t be said about the Gators. So nerves battled hope and that war would wage on throughout most of the game. I won’t say the entire 60 minutes because second-half Florida lifted my confidence with each passing minute, but it was close.
I won’t say I was happy with the offensive performance, but I was pleased with what the Gators did late in the game when they had to do it. Remember, this was a good/great LSU defense that Florida was facing. This wasn’t a run-of-the-mill defense the Gators were up against; this was one that has been considered among the best the past few seasons. Despite an average of 3.0 yards per carry (remember, that includes sacks), the run game held it’s own against the Tigers. When Florida needed drives late in the game, it got them. It wasn’t picture perfect, but it fell right in line with the just win philosophy we live by here at The Bull Gator. It doesn’t always have to look good and style points will only get you so far. In the end, you just need to do whatever you can to win. That was Saturday for the Gators. Only 237 total yards on offense. Only 14 points score. A win all the same.
Despite a relative lack of offensive fireworks, there was a star among the unit. One you would expect, but a star nonetheless. It was, of course, senior running back Mike Gillislee. If one player has put this team on his back this season, it’s Gillislee. Lofty predictions will only take you so far, but Gillislee seems determined to get close to his while leading the Gators to victory after victory. He carried the ball 34 times (10 more than his previous career-high) for 146 yards and found the end zone twice. It was a workhorse performance and put Gillislee at 548 rushing yards, 5.3 yards per carry and seven touchdowns on the season. As goes the senior, so go the Gators.
It all came together on the defensive side of the ball. We heard a lot this offseason about how good the Florida Gators’ defense would be. Some even threw out “best defensive line in the nation.” Other would praise the talent in the secondary. Although linebacker play has been inconsistent over the past few seasons, the experience of leaders Jon Bostic and Jelani Jenkins would shine. Overall, the Gators’ defense was going to win them games and keep them in others. The offense’s job was to limit mistakes, while the defense carried the team. Basically, exactly what we witnessed in the win over LSU.
There are plenty of defensive players to be mentioned here, but let’s go with one for the moment. Matt Elam, Matt Elam, Matt Elam. Elam was determined to knock someone into Sunday. Friend or foe, Elam was out to lay hit after hit. After nearly taking teammate Loucheiz Purifoy out of the game, Elam set his sites on LSU players (a good decision on his part after Purifoy gave him a bit of a death stare). Despite flying all over the field throwing his entire body at Tiger after Tiger, it wasn’t a big hit that will be remembered. Elam’s strip on Odell Beckham was a game-changer. Had LSU maintained the ball, they could be the ones celebrating now. Instead, Elam made a heads up play and one that was more important than we may remember one day. Game ball one goes to Gillislee; game balls two, three, four, and five to Elam.
A hard-fought victory for sure, and one we’ll remember for a long time. While the Florida Gators are still improving and have much to work on, with each week we see a team on the rise. One that does more right than it does wrong, and one that is now more than worthy of that top-10 ranking.
On Saturday, the Florida Gators play host to the cross-divisional rival LSU Tigers. Only three schools have won BCS National Championships and these are two of them.1 But that’s not the story line for tomorrow. No, the story line is a match-up of top-10 teams and the arrival of October. This month doesn’t present much of a scare for that team from Louisiana, but for the Gators, it’s frightening.
Frightening because of last season and what October brought to the Gators. 0-4 one year ago put Florida at 4-4 on the season and an even worse 2-4 in the SEC. But this time around it feels different. I’m generally positive (to a fault) heading into most games, but it seems many more others are as well. October will once again be a battle, but a battle the Gators are ready for, not one we fear.
It starts with LSU this October. The Gators have a quarterback; one that is still learning and growing, but a quarterback all the same. One year ago, no one really knew what Florida had at the position. John Brantley had been knocked out of action against Alabama. For a few moments at least, it felt like the Gators were in the game. When Brantley went down, Jeff Driskel came in and only attempted six passes. Fast forward one week and it was Jacoby Brissett under center against LSU. The game was effectively out of reach by the half.
But 2012 should be different (even if the results could be the same). The Gators have more confidence on offense and Brent Pease has parts he has yet to unveil. The Tigers on the other hand appear to have taken a step back in recent weeks. This is a game that has an NFL feel to it. The likelihood of a college-style shootout seems rare. Instead, clock control, smart defensive play, and a steady running attack may win it. And realistically, that could be either side.
LSU is ranked higher, but it doesn’t feel like it did one season ago. There wasn’t much hope in the land of the Gators in 2011. While we all know hope can be a dangerous thing, it appears to be back. We’re roughly five hours until kickoff, giving us plenty of time for that hope to grow. There is a win out there that both teams need for different reasons, but for the Gators, that reason could be a return to prominence.
1First, yay for footnotes! Second, the other team is the Alabama Crimson Tide, but you knew that because you’re a Southeastern Conference fan and, well, SEC, SEC, SEC!
The Florida Gators enter their bye week in a better position to compete than many may have thought. Florida is currently 4-0 (3-0 SEC) and sitting just outside the top 10 in both polls as the AP has the Gators No. 11 and the Coaches has them No. 12. Browse the sports betting sites and you’ll see Florida is still a long-shot to win it all, but we’re all just taking this one game at a time and not even allowing Atlanta or beyond into our minds.
It’s hard to say exactly what we expected of the Gators at this point. There were so many questions entering the season. Who will be the starting/primary quarterback? Can Florida finally produce another 1,000-yard rusher? Will the receiving corps step up? Can the defensive line dominate? Can the offensive line hold up? Will the linebackers remove their invisibility cloaks? Can all the talent in the secondary come together for a truly special season? Will the rigors of an SEC schedule eventually bog down the Gators?
Some have been answered and others are still questions. The way the schedule began, 4-0 was a real possibility, but even then many weren’t sure because of the last two seasons the Gators had produced. Some fans had even settled on 3-1 with 2-2 meaning 2012 would be a disaster. After starting 4-0 and getting an early jump on the SEC East, things are looking up and October doesn’t seem as daunting as it did just one year ago.
The Gators enter their bye week with a familiar foe on the horizon. The LSU Tigers sit at No. 3 in both polls and have a first-place vote in each. After their less-than-impressive victory over the Auburn Tigers on Saturday, that first-place vote should really go elsewhere though. Not that LSU can’t be a top team, but there’s a reason the Oregon Ducks took over the No. 2 spot.
After starting the season strong, the LSU offense sputtered against Auburn. The Tigers’ defense was as dominant as ever, but the offense could best be described as efficient and not otherworldly. 12 points has Florida fans believing the Gators stand more of a chance than they did maybe one month ago; and they do. Steady improvement, stellar fourth-quarter play, and a team that looks to be playing like a team has the Will Muschamp-led Gators believing they deserve to be 5-0 in two weeks time.
Like Florida, LSU is also in the midst of a bye week (sorry Towson, but this could be ugly). It’s a scrimmage-like warm-up for the Tigers and one during which they will attempt to erase the memory of those 12 points and a narrow victory. LSU will be ready on October 6, but so will Florida. The Gators could very well be a top-10 team at that time and should not be overlooked.
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