Tag: Five Takeaways

Five takeaways from Florida football’s victory over Charlotte 49ers

Florida’s defense looks sharp and the Gators beat Charlotte, 22-7, but all is not well in Gatorland despite a 3-1 start.

The Florida Gators didn’t cover the four-touchdown spread against the Charlotte 49ers on Saturday night, but they did come away with a 22-7 victory that was never really in doubt.

Unfortunately, Florida’s performance raises just about as many questions as it provides answers. The defense continues to improve from good to great by the weak and Graham Mertz and Ricky Pearsall shined on offense, but the inability to finish against a lesser opponent with a sold-out crowd watching is concerning.

Florida needed to handle Charlotte in a way that told the rest of the SEC that the win over Tennessee wasn’t a fluke. The defense did its part, but things didn’t look great on offense.

Here are five takeaways from Florida’s win against Charlotte on Saturday.

Kowacie Reeves returns to Florida lineup, Gators cruise past FAMU

You know it’s a good game when Alex Klatsky and Jack May get to play. Florida routed Florida A&M, 102-62, Wednesday night.

Florida needed to make a statement after falling to West Virginia by 29 points in the Phil Knight Legacy Tournament, and the Gators answered with a 40-point rout of the Florida A&M Rattlers that ended 102-62.

The Gators came out of the gate hot and never really looked back against a lesser opponent. The big story coming into the game was how many minutes [autotag]Kowacie Reeves[/autotag] would get after playing minimal time in Portland. Injuries to Florida’s starting guards, [autotag]Kyle Lofton[/autotag] and [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag], forced Reeves back in the starting lineup, and the sophomore shined… at least in the first half.

[autotag]Trey Bonham[/autotag], who started at point guard, was lights out from three-point range, setting a school record on 7-of-7 shooting from deep, and he led all scorers with 23 points. [autotag]Colin Castleton[/autotag] wasn’t the dominant big man he was earlier in the season, but [autotag]Alex Fudge[/autotag] made up for it off the bench with a double-double.

Even [autotag]Jack May[/autotag] and [autotag]Alex Klatsky[/autotag] got some playing time against FAMU, which is the hallmark of a blowout Gators win. Florida needed this one badly, but it won’t mean much in the long run.

Stetson is up next on Sunday, and then it’s time for another test as Connecticut comes to town on Wednesday.

Major takeaways from Florida’s bounce-back win over Texas A&M

Florida got back on track Saturday with a 41-24 win over Texas A&M. Up next, South Carolina and Vanderbilt!

The Florida Gators went into College Station and walked out of Kyle Field victorious after a hard-fought battle against a weakened Texas A&M team.

The game started off very competitively, with both offenses firing on all cylinders. Each club scored on their first three drives, and Florida found itself trailing 24-21 at the half. Much like what happened in the Georgia game, the Gators’ defense came out of the half inspired and held the Aggies scoreless through the final 30 minutes of the game. Meanwhile, [autotag]Anthony Richardson[/autotag] and Co. picked up right where they left off and scored three more touchdowns to secure the 41-24 victory.

This is the best Florida’s offense has looked all year, and that might be true for the defense as well, especially in the second half. Now 5-4 with South Carolina and Vanderbilt up ahead, the Gators control their own destiny. A New Year’s Six game might be out of the question, but winning out would put Florida in a nice spot to finish out Year 1 of the Billy Napier Era.

Here are five major takeaways from Florida’s win over Texas A&M and what it means for the team’s future.

Here are the key takeaways from Florida’s Week 9 loss to Georgia

It wasn’t the outcome Florida wanted, but there’s plenty of good and bad to take away from the Gators’ loss to Georgia on Saturday.

The Florida Gators fell to the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday, 42-20.

Although the final score may seem one-sided, it doesn’t tell the full story of the game. The first half of the game was all Georgia. The Bulldogs jumped out to a three-score lead while facing little resistance, leading to plenty of the Florida faithful leaving the stadium at half time.

Anyone who chose to leave regretted it almost instantly. Florida started the second half firing on all cylinders. The Gators produced a pair of turnovers and put up 17 unanswered points to bring things down to a one-score game.

Quarterback [autotag]Anthony Richardson[/autotag] looked a lot more like himself in the second half, and the running game even picked up a bit against one of the top front sevens in the country.

It’s not the outcome any Gators fan wants to see, but this chapter of the Florida-Georgia rivalry could have wound up being far worse than it was. UF will be playing for a win next year, but there were plenty of positives (and negatives) to take away from this one.

5 major takeaways from Florida’s deflating home loss to LSU

Florida fell against LSU on Saturday night and the road doesn’t get any easier moving forward.

Florida made it interesting against LSU on Saturday night, but the Gators ultimately fell 45-35 to the Tigers at home in the Swamp.

[autotag]Anthony Richardson[/autotag] and [autotag]Montrell Johnson Jr[/autotag]. led UF to scores on the first two Gators drives of the night, but it took a muffed punt from LSU for Florida to score its third touchdown of the night. Meanwhile, the Tigers capped off each of their first seven drives with a touchdown, putting Florida in a small hole before the half that turned into a much bigger one after a sloppy start to the third quarter.

A sideline speech from linebacker [autotag]Ventrell Miller[/autotag] inspired the defense to get its first stop of the night, but there was not enough time to complete the comeback. Florida nearly had a shot to tie things up before the end of regulation, but a controversial roughing the passer call on [autotag]Gervon Dexter[/autotag] Sr. in the fourth quarter erased a crucial interception.

Florida ended up holding LSU to a field goal on that drive, but there was little hope to score the 10 points needed to push the game into overtime with just under two minutes left on the clock. A third-quarter drive that ended in a turnover on down on the LSU 12 would’ve set up a last-second shot for Florida had Billy Napier called for the field goal, but that’s a lot of hindsight to consider.

Before moving on to Georgia prep, here are five takeaways from Florida’s loss to LSU to consider over the next two weeks.

Key takeaways from Florida’s homecoming victory over Missouri

Florida’s rushing attack showed up and willed the Gators to a 24-17 victory over Missouri, the team’s first SEC win of the season.

The Florida Gators left the Swamp victoriously on Saturday after a tough battle against the Missouri Tigers. [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] and Co. claimed their first SEC win of the season, 24-17, thanks to some outstanding defense from the secondary and clutch performances from the Gators’ top two running backs in the second half.

The entire offense was weak in the first half. A long punt return and pick-six gave Florida a 10-point cushion to start the game, but the Gators only managed 65 yards of total offense in the first half. [autotag]Montrell Johnson Jr[/autotag]. and [autotag]Trevor Etienne[/autotag] picked things up in the second half, and that helped a scuffling [autotag]Anthony Richardson[/autotag] pull things together a bit. AR looked better as the game went on, but he turned the ball over twice and had an atrocious first half.

The defense looked a bit stronger than it has in the past. [autotag]Jaydon Hill[/autotag] picked off the first two passes of his collegiate career, and [autotag]Ventrell Miller[/autotag] was a leader on the field in every sense of the word. Heck, even [autotag]Trey Dean[/autotag] made a stop in the backfield early on.

That’s not to say everything was perfect on that side of the ball, though. Missouri converted on third down nine times and totaled 370 yards of offense. That number probably could have been lower, but it was enough to win the game.

Here are five key takeaways from Florida’s first conference win of the year.

Five takeaways from Texas’ 38-20 win over West Virginia

Takeaways from Texas’ much-needed win against West Virginia.

Texas is back in the win column after a dominant 38-20 victory over West Virginia on Saturday.

Steve Sarkisian’s squad put together its most complete performance of the season, playing complete games in all three phases.

Xavier Worthy was the star of the show for the Longhorns. The sophomore wide receiver hauled in seven passes for 119 yards and two touchdowns. He even added a 33-yard touchdown pass on a beautiful trick play in the second quarter.

Quarterback Hudson Card played his best game of his college career. Card picked apart the West Virginia secondary for over 300 yards and three scores. The redshirt sophomore is looking more and more comfortable each week.

Texas’ defense kept the dynamic West Virginia offense in check all game with great tackling and improved pass rush. The Longhorns sacked JT Daniels three times while linebacker Jaylan Ford lead the way with 14 tackles.

Here are five takeaways from Texas’ bounce-back victory over West Virginia.

Five takeaways from Texas’ 52-10 win over UL Monroe

Ja’Tavion Sanders is a future star.

Texas took care of business on Saturday night in the season opener against UL Monroe. The Longhorns controlled the game from start to finish en route to a 52-10 victory.

Texas special teams’ unit set the tone for the game early on. D’Shawn Jamison, normally known for his return skills, blocked a punt UL Monroe punt which was scooped and scored by Keilan Robinson.

Quarterback Quinn Ewers had a nice debut after an early interception. Ewers finished throwing for 225 yards and two touchdowns while completing 67% of his passes. Steve Sarkisian would like to see him connect better on his deep ball, but it was an overall good start to Ewers’ Texas career.

Ja’Tavion Sanders was the best player on the field for the Longhorns. The tight end caught six passes for 85 yards and a touchdown. He proved great support as a run blocker as well. Sanders looks the part of a future star.

UL Monroe provided Texas a good tune-up before its heavyweight matchup with No. 1 Alabama next week.

Here are five takeaways from Texas’ season-opening victory over UL Monroe.

Jordan Spieth’s incredible reaction, Rickie Fowler’s love for links among five takeaways from second round of Scottish Open

The wind wasn’t the only thing that went up Friday, so did the scoring.

Low scores were anything but rare Thursday, highlighted by Cameron Tringale’s course-record-tying 61 that had him three shots in front heading into the second round.

Friday was a different story.

The wind was consistent on day two of the Genesis Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club.

After both opened with 71s, Collin Morikawa and Will Zalatoris, two of the best ball-strikers on the planet, stumbled to 74s and missed the cut. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler needed a birdie at the last to make the weekend but carded a bogey. All three will likely head to St. Andrews for early Open prep.

Tringale still holds the lead, but he too struggled on Friday, at one point making four bogeys in a row. He signed for a 2-over 72, is 7 under after two days and enters Saturday with a three-shot lead over Gary Woodland and Doug Ghim.

Scottish Open: PGA Tour Live on ESPN+

Here are five takeaways from the second round, starting with a charge from the most recent major champion.

5 takeaways from Florida’s big win over rival Florida State

Florida reached bowl eligibility with its third-straight win over Florida State on Saturday.

It wasn’t exactly how you draw it up.

The Gators probably could have won this game by a wider margin if it weren’t for three turnovers and committed 13 penalties that gifted the rival Florida State Seminoles more than 100 yards.

But when the clock hit triple zeros, Florida had earned a 24-21 win over the Seminoles to take its third-straight victory in the series. With the win, UF moves to 6-6 on the season and secures bowl eligibility, while the Seminoles fall to 5-7 and miss the postseason yet again.

After a low-scoring first half that saw the teams knotted up at seven heading into the locker room, the Gators jumped out to a 24-7 lead after benching quarterback Emory Jones for Anthony Richardson. But that didn’t hold, and FSU scored a touchdown with under a minute to play to cut the lead to just three points. It went for an onside kick to get the ball back, but the kicker whiffed, barely knocking it off the tee which resulted in an illegal touching penalty, essentially ending the game.

Interim coach Greg Knox has a win under his belt, and this staff handled what was a tumultuous week very well. With that in mind, here are the takeaways from this one.