Florida’s football team has met both unquestioned success and abject failure over the last four years.
Florida has undergone a turbulent season in 2019.
The Florida football team did its part to keep its slim SEC Championship hopes alive Saturday afternoon.
With cold in the air and snow on the sidelines, many predicted Florida to come out pounding the ball on the ground, using the run game to penetrate the Missouri defense.
The weather outside was almost as frightful as the Florida defense.
On paper, Florida should win its SEC finale at Missouri tomorrow.
The game seemed well in hand.
Yes, the Gators won the game. And yes, the box score looks good.
What a difference a week makes.
It wouldn’t have been much of a consolation. But at least it would have been something.
Before every game, Freddie Swain and Josh Hammond trot out to the 50-yard line, flanking David Reese II for the coin toss. After the coin has been flipped, possession decided and hands shaken, either Swain or Hammond will take a spot on the sideline.
Florida’s worst offensive performance of the season came at the most inopportune time this past weekend in Jacksonville. The Gators put up season-low offensive statistics across the box score in their 24-17 loss to Georgia, which dropped them to second place in the SEC East.
Florida, much like a lot of fans, promised it would behave better this year at The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. It wouldn’t let things get out of hand in Jacksonville, again — as they so often do, both on and off the field.
JACKSONVILLE — Zero sacks, zero turnovers.
JACKSONVILLE — The grills were hot, and the music was loud. The hype was real, and the excitement was high.
Three yards.
It doesn’t get much bigger than Saturday’s Florida-Georgia game in Jacksonville.
Players and coaches often won’t outright admit that some games mean more than others either out of political correctness or respect for their opponents. But the reality of college football — and sports for that matter — is that all games are not created equally, and that’s perfectly fine.
Dramatic endings, top-10 upsets and championship dreams busted. All Florida had to do was sit and watch.
Despite two losing seasons in the last 10 years (2013 and 2017), Florida’s football program has consistently turned out NFL-caliber athletes, establishing it as the FBS team with the third-most active players on a 53-man roster in 2019 with 35 — including five rookies (Vosean Joseph, Jordan Scarlett, Jawaan Taylor, C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Fred Johnson).
Solutions by The State News
