We’re just over halfway through college football’s 2023 regular season and plenty remains to be seen in terms of the College Football Playoff race as well as the race for conference championships and plenty more.
That doesn’t stop many in the national media from putting together their bowl projections on a weekly basis, however. And if you’re a Notre Dame fan, a few of this week’s projections are especially interesting.
No Notre Dame fan will forget where they were when they heard the news that Brian Kelly was ditching South Bend for LSU. Could his replacement Marcus Freeman and the Irish be headed for a bowl game date with Kelly and the Tigers?
Here are a few projections following Week 8 of the college football season.
Get to know the Jaguars’ new linebacker Ventrell Miller.
The Jacksonville Jaguars didn’t have much of a need at linebacker entering the 2023 NFL draft after adding Foye Oluokun, Devin Lloyd, and Chad Muma last offseason.
But when the Jaguars went on the clock for the first of three fourth-round picks, they looked to the hometown school and added Florida linebacker Ventrell Miller.
So who’s the new Gators representative on the Jaguars roster? Here are five things to know about Miller:
The Saints are among the teams meeting with O’Cyrus Torrence before Florida’s pro day. The top guard prospect in the 2023 draft has a lot to offer:
The Draft Network’s Justin Melo reports that the New Orleans Saints are one of multiple teams catching up with Florida Gators right guard O’Cyrus Torrence before his school’s pro day this week, and it’s easy to see why: if an interior offensive lineman is going to be picked in the first round this year, it’s probably Torrence.
He’s played at a high level both at right guard (with Florida) and at left guard (earlier in his career at Louisiana-Lafayette) in college, and he’s done well enough in the pre-draft process to continue to earn first-round consideration. Melo also lists the Titans and Falcons as teams meeting with Torrence before his next workout, with the Steelers, Commanders, and Bills having scheduled private facilities visits later in April.
Do the Saints need to draft a guard that high? Probably not, but it doesn’t hurt to do their homework in case Torrence is the best player available at No. 29. Both Cesar Ruiz and Andrus Peat could leave in free agency next offseason and it would make sense to invest in a replacement plan too soon than scramble to address the problem too late. Torrence’s ability to man either spot is a big boon. The Saints have bigger fish to fry, but they’ve surprised us on draft day before.
The New Orleans Saints are among multiple teams to meet with Florida Gators QB prospect Anthony Richardson at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine:
The New Orleans Saints are among multiple teams to meet with Florida Gators quarterback prospect Anthony Richardson at the NFL Scouting Combine, per The Score’s Jordan Schultz. Richardson is seen as a top-10 prospect in the 2023 NFL draft and likely won’t be available anywhere close to the Saints’ pick at No. 29 overall, but it’s always worth giving your due diligence.
Richardson sees the field well and boasts a live arm with the ability to keep plays alive with his legs. He also struggles to make some routine throws and experienced stretches of inconsistency at Florida. He’ll need real practice reps in the NFL to meet his sky-high potential. Still, he’s as exciting as draft prospects can be coming out of college.
More importantly, though, we need to recognize that every team will have met with virtually every prospect by the time the draft kicks off in late April. The Saints scheduling a formal sit-down with Richardson at the combine does not mean they’re going to push all their chips in to trade up and pick him. It’s just another step in the process towards crafting their overall draft strategy and big board of prospects.
Todd Grantham can help the #Saints defensive line return to form. A former Gators player loves the hire, via @RossJacksonNOLA:
With several positions open on the defensive coaching staff, the New Orleans Saints have made their first hire. Per ESPN’s Chris Low, the Saints have hired former Florida Gators defensive coordinator Todd Grantham to be a defensive assistant. What position exactly he will hold has not yet been released.
The Saints currently have openings at defensive coordinator, defensive line coach and secondary coach. While Grantham has experience as a coordinator, it seems unlikely that the term “assistant” would refer to that position in particular. It sounds likely instead that he ends up working on the defensive line, in the secondary, or at another position such as defensive analyst.
Grantham’s defenses at Florida underwhelmed in terms of numbers. In his last full season (2020) his group ranked 83rd in the nation (9th in the SEC) in total defense allowing 428.0 yards per game, 71st nationally in run defense (10th in the SEC) surrendering 170.5 rushing yards per game and 90th across the country (8th in the SEC) in pass defense allowing 257.5 passing yards per game.
While those numbers may not inspire much confidence, it is worth considering the season he recently spent as a defensive analyst for Alabama head coach Nick Saban and that the Saints defense is in good hands led by head coach Dennis Allen. It’s also important to keep in perspective the circumstances of the 2020 football season.
What is impressive about Grantham is his connection with his players. This is an important element for the success of position coaches in the NFL and a particular emphasis on the Saints coaching staff. “Coach Grantham is a defensive line specialist,” former Gators defensive back Trey Dean told me Friday. He continued, “He is a great coach, one of the best defensive coaches. That’s a great addition for (the Saints) to add.”
Dean’s acknowledgement of Grantham as a defensive line specialist is especially interesting knowing New Orleans has an opening in that room. Ultimately, we will have to wait and see where the Saints’ new coach will land on the staff, but the process has begun in refilling spaces vacated by former co-defensive coordinators Ryan Nielsen and Kris Richard. No matter what role Grantham assumes, top Gators draft prospects like Dean, defensive tackle Gervon Dexter and edge defender Brenton Cox become names to watch in this year’s NFL draft.
High School recruiting notebook as 2023 kicks into high gear in the sports world.
USA TODAY High School Sports‘ Friday Night Notes is a weekly high school recruiting recap that looks at the latest news from around the country—from the Class of 2023 to ’24 and beyond.
Absolute chaos! That’s been the state of the transfer portal for several weeks now, as college players and high school recruits all over the country explore their options in a brave new world of long overdue compensation for student-athletes. Unfortunately, verifiable details about NIL deals can be hard to come by and reporting on them has presented unprecedented challenges for the industry.
This week the level of intrigue reached a new peak, embodied by the still-unfolding recruitment between one of the top QB prospects in the class of 2023 and the Power 5 school he’s (maybe) committed to.
Andrew Ivins, 247 Sports
Specifically, the ongoing drama between Pittsburg (Calif.) four-star quarterback Jaden Rashada and Florida is about as confusing as recruiting news gets. It’s also a highly-fluid situation. For the complete story of Rashada’s recruitment, we recommend G. Allan Taylor’s thoroughly detailed timeline this morning in an excellent piece for The Athletic.
Here’s the shorter version:
On June 26, Rashada announced his commitment to Miami even though Florida was considered his favorite. Things changed on November 10, when Rashada and the Gator Collective agreed to terms on a $13 million NIL deal to get him to flip. There’s understandably been a great deal of resistance to that figure being accurate, but that’s what Taylor’s source says. In any case, after signing his deal, Rashada officially flipped to Florida.
This is where things got really weird…
On December 7, Eddie Rojas, the CEO of the Gator Collective sent a termination letter regarding the contract. According to The Athletic, there are conflicting reports as to why.
Earlier this week, the Athletic got a report that said Rashada would not be enrolling at Florida. Then on Thursday, Pete Nakos of On3 reported that Rashada requested a release from his letter of intent with Florida. However, Rashada’s father Harlen has refuted that report.
Harlen Rashada, the father of 4-star Gators QB commit, tells The Athletic his son "has not filed for a release from Florida."
In a statement, Rashada’s father also said they’re in constant talks with Florida but admitted things would get challenging if he’s not enrolled by the end of today, which is the final deadline for students to start the spring semester.
This Saturday, the No. 1 ranked Georgia Bulldogs (7-0, 4-0) take on the Florida Gators (4-3, 1-3) in the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.
Georgia has won five of the last six meetings against the Gators, including a 34-7 victory last year in Jacksonville. This time around, the Bulldogs are a 22.5 point favorite in the rivalry game, which is set to kickoff at 3:30 p.m. ET and will air on CBS.
On paper, Georgia wins this game easily. The Dawgs rank better statistically offensively, and way, way better defensively. But the game’s not played on paper and as we know, anything can happen when these two teams meet in Jacksonville.
Here’s a look at how Georgia and Florida stack up statistically ahead of this weekend’s game. If you’re looking to do some last minute betting research, you’re in luck as we give you the stats and information you’ll need to make the smartest bet at BetMGM.
You can only have one: Duke’s Mayo or Tony the Tiger?
Monday we looked over what one of the computers had to say about Notre Dame as we examined how their loss against lowly Stanford impacted how ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI) graded them. In a not-surprising move, significantly worse is the best way to describe what FPI found.
What may be surprising however is where Notre Dame is now projected by the major prognosticators to end up this bowl season. Remember, at 1-2 a few weeks back the USA TODAY Sports bowl projections had Notre Dame staying in South Bend for the winter.
After what one could argue was just as bad of a loss as Marshall, all of the outlets we track still have the Irish bowling. Here are the latest places they’re sending them:
Where do you most want the Irish to head this post-season?
After a brutal 0-2 start to the 2022 season, Notre Dame has bounced back with a narrow escape over Cal before thrashing North Carolina this past week. 2-2 might not be where Notre Dame fans expected to be at this point but compared to how things looked a couple short weeks ago, the 2-2 mark is pleasing.
How did the latest Notre Dame win change where prognosticators have the Irish heading this bowl season? The last few weeks we’ve seen a few baseball stadiums featured as possible landing spots for the Irish but none appear this week. Is that a sign that things are pointing up for Marcus Freeman and the Irish?
One outlet that hasn’t even had Notre Dame playing in a postseason game the last couple of weeks finally does again this week. Here are eight different national projections as to what bowl game Notre Dame will play in this year:
Former Gators QB Tim Tebow talks about an upcoming documentary on the 2008 Florida Gators.
One of the most famous, or infamous, depending on how you look at it, college football teams in the history of the sport is getting its close up.
After months of speculation, Florida Gator legend Tim Tebow confirmed a documentary is in the works for the 2008 Florida national title team to Mackenzie Salmon on Sports Seriously.
“I’m not sure what I’m allowed to say about it yet,” said a reluctant Tebow, trying to not spoil any of the details. “But I want to get a chance to actually see it.”
Tim Tebow confirms a documentary on the Florida Gators 2008 season is coming soon. pic.twitter.com/VOjWVNYYoN
Of course, the 08’ Gators are remembered for going 13-1 and defeating the Oklahoma Sooners in the national championship game that season. But today, it’s mostly known as the Gators team that had the likes of Aaron Hernandez, Riley Cooper and Percy Harvin on the roster.
Head coach Urban Meyer and Tebow are expected to be key figures interviewed in the documentary. The Gator legend didn’t want to give away too much but admitted it was fun to look back at this legendary season in college football.
“It was fun having the chance to be able to film it and I will tell you what those were some really fun years. It’s some of the most special times of my life and to be able to look back at it with some of my teammates will be really fun.”
