Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- There were plenty of reasons 11th-ranked Florida should not have beaten Vanderbilt on Saturday.

Center Patric Young wasn't a factor thanks to foul trouble, which meant the Gators had no one to handle Commodores center Festus Ezeli.

UF (19-4, 7-1 SEC) had trouble finishing around the basket, missing several layups and short runners.

The Gators were unable to extend leads into double digits, both in the first and second half, when they had the Commodores (16-7, 5-3) reeling.

Making up for all that, however, was UF's press. The Gators forced the Commodores into 16 turnovers, harassed point guard Brad Tinsley all afternoon, and made Vanderbilt work hard to get the ball across midcourt. The result -- the Gators' seventh consecutive victory and fourth in a row over the Commodores.

Player of the game: Bradley Beal had 16 points and seven rebounds and made two key plays late in the game to help the Gators secure the victory. He scored on a driving layup, sliding past Tinsley, to put UF ahead 66-60 with about two minutes remaining and then hit two free throws with 38.6 seconds to play to give the Gators a six-point cushion.

(Read full post)

ESPN The Magazine and RecruitingNation compiled the past five years (2007-11) of ESPNU 150 rankings and then crowned college football's top 10 recruiting programs.

Here's how they did it:

Our methodology was simple: We re-tallied the scores following signing day and ranked the schools based on total number of ESPNU 150 recruits (there have been 900) hauled in over the last six years. Of course, like success on the field, recruiting is cyclical -- and fans of programs both on and off this list might look back on Feb. 1, 2012 as the day their team began its rise (or fall) on the trail.

Here's the top 10:

1. Florida
2. Texas
3. USC 4. Alabama
5. Florida State
6. Notre Dame
T-7. Georgia
t-7: LSU
9. Miami
T-10. Ohio State
T-10. Oklahoma

Here's what it says about Florida:

(Read full post)

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida graduate assistant Kirk Callahan is leaving the program to become the defensive backs coach at Central Florida.

Callahan worked with the defense in his one season in Gainesville. UF finished eighth nationally in total defense and seventh nationally in pass defense.

Callahan was a defensive back at Central Florida and played in eight games from 2005-06. He graduated from UCF in 2008, spent the 2008 and 2009 seasons as a GA at North Carolina, and returned to UCF in 2010 as a student assistant.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The first part of Florida's Southeastern Conference schedule was not exactly treacherous waters.

The Gators' first seven games came against teams that are a combined 10-25 in SEC play. Only Mississippi State (17-5) and LSU (12-9) have winning records overall, and only the Bulldogs (4-3) have a winning conference record. Florida went 6-1 in the stretch -- the only loss a head-scratcher at Tennessee (10-12, 2-5) to open SEC play -- and won those six games by an average of 12.0 points.

Over the next four days, however, things get considerably tougher for the 11th-ranked Gators (18-4, 6-1). They play two of the league's top three teams -- at home against Vanderbilt (16-6, 5-2) on Saturday and on the road at top-ranked Kentucky (22-1, 8-0) on Tuesday. It's a two-game stretch that will show whether the Gators are legitimate contenders for the league title.

"Two huge games, two great teams," point guard Erving Walker said. "We feel like we're as good as either team. We know it's not going to be easy, so it should be two really tough games."

(Read full post)

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Five-star 2013 offensive tackle Jake Raulerson (Celina, Texas/Celina HS) committed to Texas on Friday.

Raulerson was once thought to be favoring Florida because he has family in the Gainesville area and said he grew up a Gator fan. But he said even though Florida was near the top of his list, it came down to Stanford and Texas. He's the Longhorns' first 2013 commit and plans to be the lead recruiter of his class.

"It's the coaching staff, the players there," Raulerson told ESPN's HornsNation. "They are going to win a national title in the next three years and I want to be a part of it. They have one of the best recruiting classes I have ever seen coming in. They are ridiculous."

Raulerson (6-foot-5, 250 pounds) plays right tackle and nose guard for Celina, but Texas is recruiting him as a defensive end and a tight end.

Florida landed only two offensive linemen in the 2012 recruiting class and now have lost out on Raulerson. The Gators will now turn their focus for 2013 to five-star Lake City (Fla.) Columbia offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil, who will be attending Florida's junior day on Feb. 18.

Will Muschamp is a tell-it-like-it-is guy. Always has been and always will be.

So when he says he feels “leaps and bounds” better about the Florida football program than he did this time a year ago in the immediate aftermath of his first signing day as Head Gator, you know he means it.

“The number one thing is that I have a better feel for our football team,” Muschamp said. “We were a disconnected group this time last year. We were not on the same page. We were pulling in a lot of different directions. We lacked trust in the program. We lacked discipline in the program, and we were careful to make decisions for the long term.

“I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: We’re building a program and not a team. We’re building this for the long haul. We’re building this into something that’s going to withstand, and that’s what I’m excited about. We’re doing it the right way, and with this recruiting class, we certainly helped ourselves.”

Even with the Gators’ ho-hum 7-6 finish last year in Muschamp’s first season, a sturdy foundation was laid.

In fact, one of Muschamp’s best decisions might have come off the field, and it’s a decision that sent a very pointed message to his players.

The Florida Way isn’t just another catchy phrase.

Muschamp kicked his best player, All-SEC cornerback Janoris Jenkins, off the team prior to the season following Jenkins’ second marijuana-related arrest.

Everybody sat up and took notice -- the Gators’ current players, prospective recruits and certainly the parents of those prospective recruits.

(Read full post)

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida survived its worst 3-point shooting game of the season thanks to one of its better performances from the free-throw line.

The Gators shot a season-low 25 percent from the 3-point range (7-for-28) -- at one point missing nine consecutive long-range attempts -- but made up for it by making a season-high 23 free throws in front of 10,003 at the O'Connell Center Thursday night. Florida went 23-for-32 from the line, including making 16 of its final 18 attempts after starting 7-for-14. It was UF's seventh-best performance from the free-throw line this season.

"I guess we got a little frustrated. Everybody wasn't making their [3-point] shots," freshman guard Bradley Beal said. "When we have shooting nights like that, that's when we have to turn up the defense. We were really frustrated with our 3s but we have to be better than that."

The 11th-ranked Gators (18-4, 6-1 Southeastern Conference) made six of their first 12 3-point attempts in the game's first 14 minutes, but missed their next nine consecutive 3-point shots. Kenny Boynton stopped the streak with 7:17 remaining -- a span of nearly 19 minutes.

(Read full post)

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Jacksonville (Fla.) First Coast linebacker Daniel McMillian committed to Florida last Saturday but made it public on Thursday.

McMillian, a four-star athlete who holds offers from Alabama, Florida State, Miami and Clemson among many others, made the decision while on an unofficial visit to Gainesville.

“To be honest, it caught me by surprise. I have a great relationship with coach [Will] Muschamp, coach [D.J.] Durkin and coach [Dan] Quinn and this is where I wanted to go,” McMillian said. “It’s close to home -- it's right in my back yard.”

Florida’s third verbal commitment for the 2013 class said that he plans to enroll early at Florida, but will likely take other visits.

“I’ll probably take some visits, but I’ve pretty much made up my mind,” McMillian said. "This is where I want to play for the next three 3-4 years."

McMillian, who stands 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds, joins five-star defensive tackle Caleb Brantley and four-star running back Adam Lane as 2013 Florida verbal commits.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The tendinitis in Patric Young's ankle has kept the sophomore center from participating fully in practices for about two weeks, which in turn has kept him out of the starting lineup.

That isn't bothering Young a bit, though. He doesn't mind coming off the bench -- the role he had last season -- while Will Yeguete starts in his place for the 11th-ranked Gators. He just wants to play.

"I think I’ve done a really good job being efficient with the minutes I’ve had so far," Young said. "Whatever coach asks me to do I’m going to do it."

Tonight's game against South Carolina (9-11, 1-5 Southeastern Conference) will be the fifth in a row in which Young comes off the bench. He was limited to only 13 minutes against South Carolina on Jan. 14, but since then has averaged 24 minutes, 11.7 points and 5.7 rebounds -- numbers which are pretty close to what he was averaging before the tendinitis flared (11.8 ppg, 7.1 rpg).

(Read full post)