Tag: Jalen Kitna

Here’s what ESPN thinks you should know about Las Vegas Bowl

Here’s what ESPN thinks about this afternoon’s game.

The 2022 Las Vegas Bowl is nearly here with the Florida Gators and Oregon State Beavers queued up to face each other in Sin City on Saturday. It will be the first time the two schools have ever faced each other on the football field as well as the first game ever played in Nevada for the Gators while also representing the first time Florida has faced two Pac-12 teams in the same season.

Ahead of the final gridiron game of the season for both programs ESPN’s Andrea Adelson chimed in along with her colleagues for their guide to this year’s bowl games. Here is what she had to offer on the matchup in Las Vegas on Saturday afternoon.

Oregon State is going for its first 10-win season since 2006 after a surprising season, one that earned coach Jonathan Smith a new six-year contract. While the Beavers should be close to full strength, the opposite is true for Florida, which will be without starting quarterback [autotag]Anthony Richardson[/autotag], All-American guard [autotag]O’Cyrus Torrence[/autotag] and a host of other players who have either decided to opt out of the game or enter the transfer portal. [autotag]Jack Miller III[/autotag] is expected to make his first career start for the Gators at quarterback after [autotag]Jalen Kitna[/autotag] was dismissed from the team. Miller threw only 14 career passes at his previous stop, Ohio State.

The 2022 Las Vegas Bowl is set to kick off inside Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Dec. 17 at 2:30 p.m. EST with ESPN2 carrying the television broadcast and the Gators IMG Sports Network covering the radio broadcast.

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Who’s next at QB for Florida? Here are some transfer portal options

Here are some of the top names to keep an eye on in the transfer portal as the Gators look for their next signal-caller.

Florida football faces some serious attrition at the quarterback position after the departure of starter [autotag]Anthony Richardson[/autotag] to the NFL draft and the dismissal of [autotag]Jalen Kitna[/autotag] from the program due to criminal charges. Add the revocation of 2023 recruit [autotag]Marcus Stokes[/autotag]’ scholarship due to unacceptable behavior, and [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] has quite a pickle to deal with this offseason.

The good news is the program has done very well bolstering its depth under center for the long term, earning commitments from 2023 five-star signal-caller [autotag]Jaden Rashada[/autotag] as well as 2024’s [autotag]DJ Lagway[/autotag].

Unfortunately, there is only [autotag]Jack Miller III[/autotag] and a few other untested young gunslingers to help bridge the quarterback room in the interim, which means the Gators will need to dip into the NCAA transfer portal for at least one potential starter in 2023.

Take a look below at the list of potential transfer portal targets Gators Online’s Nick de la Torre put together in the second edition of his hot board, along with some relevant rankings and stats to go along with them.

Florida a possible landing spot for Coastal Carolina transfer QB

Florida’s looking to add a quarterback through the transfer portal and Grayson McCall looks like a perfect fit.

One of the hottest names in the transfer portal is Coastal Carolina quarterback [autotag]Grayson McCall[/autotag]. A three-year starter for the Chanticleers, McCall is one of many signal callers currently linked to the Florida Gators.

UF is in dire need of a quarterback after losing [autotag]Anthony Richardson[/autotag] to the NFL draft and [autotag]Jalen Kitna[/autotag]’s dismissal. With only three scholarship quarterbacks set to be on the roster next year, Florida has become one of the more attractive landing spots in terms of playing time and competition level.

McCall has two years of eligibility left and has completed 70.4% of his passes and thrown 78 touchdowns to just eight interceptions. He also ran for over 1,000 yards and 16 touchdowns with CCU. It seems like a perfect match for Florida, and a move to the SEC would give McCall the kind of exposure he’s looking for.

What makes Florida a serious candidate, though, is Billy Napier’s familiarity with McCall. Napier coached against Coastal Carolina while at Louisiana and even lost to McCall in a big conference matchup. CBS Sports listed Florida as one of the top landing spots for McCall based on that information, and his numbers might quiet any Gators fans that take issue with a Group of Five transfer (not to mention the success Napier saw bringing O’Cyrus Torrence and Montrell Johnson over from ULL).

“Richardson made plenty of highlight-reel plays in Napier’s first season at Florida, but his inaccuracy hampered the offense as he completed just 53.8% of his passes. McCall’s career 70.4% completion percentage might look awfully appealing to Napier right now. McCall also threw fewer interceptions in three seasons as Coastal Carolina’s starter (eight) than Richardson did just this season (nine).”

The other programs CBS Sports lists as possible landing spots are Auburn, Liberty, NC State, Oregon State and UCLA. Florida certainly seems like the most desirable destination of the six, but McCall could follow his coach to Liberty.

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USA TODAY Sports sees UF among teams in search of transfer portal QB

USA TODAY Sports sees the Gators as major players in the transfer portal at the quarterback position.

Florida football is currently dealing with significant depth issues at the quarterback position after starter [autotag]Anthony Richardson[/autotag] declared for the 2023 NFL draft while his backup [autotag]Jalen Kitna[/autotag] was dismissed from the team following child pornography charges. To make matters worse, four-star 2023 commit [autotag]Marcus Stokes[/autotag] had his scholarship offer rescinded after a video of him using racist slurs surfaced in the media.

It has not been a great time to be a Gators signal caller of late. But at the same time, a tremendous opportunity has opened up in Gainesville for the right quarterback to fit into [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag]’s system.

According to USA TODAY Sports’ Paul Myerberg, who published his 10 Power Five teams looking for gunslingers in the transfer portal, Florida is among those in most need of some help via college football’s de facto free agency system, landing at No. 10 on the list. Here is what he has to offer on the Gators’ situation.

The Gators recently hosted Wisconsin transfer Graham Mertz, indicating coach Billy Napier’s need for a plug-and-play starter after Anthony Richardson opted into the NFL draft. Mertz is an interesting recruit not just for his experience – he battled through extended runs of inconsistent play as a multiple-year starter for the Badgers – but for being more of a traditional pocket passer. If the Gators sign Mertz or someone with a similar skill set, what would that indicate about how the offense will look in 2023?

The Badgers transfer certainly appears to be one of the best bets for the program at this point but there are still a lot of moving parts to address. However, the long story short is that the Gators will need to seek help from somewhere because 2023 commit [autotag]Jaden Rashada[/autotag] will unlikely be ready for the SEC grind while [autotag]Jack Miller III[/autotag] is still a wildcard.

Eventually, someone will have to step up, and it is very unlikely that person is currently on the roster.

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Florida QB Jalen Kitna arrested Wednesday, per report

Florida QB Jalen Kitna was arrested on Wednesday afternoon.

According to Sports Illustrated’s Zach Goodall, redshirt freshman QB Jalen Kitna was arrested Wednesday afternoon.

Goodall reports that Kitna was booked into the Alachua County Jail at 3:20 p.m. EST on Wednesday morning. Charges for Kitna’s arrest were not immediately made available.

Kitna is the son of former NFL quarterback Jon Kitna and arrived in Gainesville as a part of the 2021 recruiting class. He did not appear in any games in 2021, electing to take a redshirt season. In 2022, he became the backup to starter Anthony Richardson after a thumb injury to Jack Miller took him out for most of training camp and the beginning of the season.

He made four appearances for the Gators in 2022, putting threw one touchdown, and had 181 passing yards on 10 of 14 pass attempts. He got valuable snaps in a critical part of the Florida State game due to an injury to Anthony Richardson.

He is expected to compete for the starting job next season if the rumors that Anthony Richardson will declare for the NFL draft become a reality.

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Gators flip 4-star QB Jaden Rashada from Miami

The Gators shocked the world overnight and got their quarterback. Jaden Rashada has flipped his commitment from the University of Miami to the University of Florida.

In a surprise turn of events, four-star quarterback [autotag]Jaden Rashada[/autotag] flipped his commitment from the University of Miami to the University of Florida.

Rashada committed to the Hurricanes back in June, and it was the start of a string of wins for UM that made Florida fans anxious. The Gators have since put together a top-10 class, and flipping Rashada moves them up to No. 8 on both 247Sports and On3’s team rankings for the class of 2023.

Team booster Hugh Hathcock teased a big announcement on Wednesday, and Rashada’s Thursday night/Friday morning announcement did not disappoint. Although it hasn’t been explicitly stated that Rashada got a nice NIL package, the puzzle pieces are there to put together. Hathcock is the biggest donor the football program has and Rashada posted a video of him in Hathcock’s Lamborghini to make the announcement.

Rashada’s commitment makes him the highest-rated recruit in the class of 2023 and there’s room for early playing time. If [autotag]Anthony Richardson[/autotag] departs for the NFL, which many believe he will, Rashada could compete for the starting job as a true freshman with Ohio State transfer [autotag]Jack Miller III[/autotag].

Miller was the clear No. 2 to Richardson coming into the season, but his thumb injury has propelled [autotag]Jalen Kitna[/autotag] into the backup role this year. There’s also freshman [autotag]Max Brown[/autotag] to consider and incoming quarterback [autotag]Marcus Stokes[/autotag] in that race. Rashada has the right tools to make it happen, but it wouldn’t be too crazy to see him spend a year in a backup role.

The 247Sports composite ranks Rashada No. 57 overall in the class of 2023 and No. 7 among quarterbacks in the class. The On3 composite agrees with that opinion, placing him at No. 61 nationally and in the same spot among players at his position.

Rashada is now the highest-ranked recruit on Florida’s lit of verbal commitments, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see more of Miami’s commits jump ship. The Hurricanes still have commitments from the top cornerback in the class [autotag]Cormani McClain[/autotag] and the top offensive tackle in the class, [autotag]Francis Mauigoa[/autotag]. If Florida was pushing on Rashada, they are probably pushing on those two still as well.

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Billy Napier impressed with backup QB Jalen Kitna’s performance against EWU

We finally got to see Jalen Kitna in action and the results were pretty impressive. Here’s what Billy Napier had to say about his second-string quarterback.

Plenty of Florida’s backups and second-teamers got noticed after Sunday’s win over Eastern Washington, but head coach [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] took time to praise quarterback [autotag]Jalen Kitna[/autotag], specifically.

Kitna has been listed as the team’s backup since [autotag]Jack Miller III[/autotag] went down with a thumb injury, but this was his first time actually seeing the field. He impressed with a pair of deep passes and ended up with 152 yards and a touchdown on 8 of 12 passing. While that kind of performance may surprise some fans, Napier has seen Kitna develop into a decent quarterback.

“I’m going to tell you, the last probably two weeks, he’s really grown up a lot. You go back to training camp, probably the fourth or fifth day of training camp, he got injured, so he missed significant time. But since Jack’s injury and he started getting those twos, you’ve seen some growth there.

“All the guy does is throw completions in practice and that’s what he did today. Two Thursdays ago he was 100% completion percentage in practice. I don’t know if that’s ever been done. The guy’s a pretty smart player. He’s learned our system. For the most part, the ball went where it was supposed to go today.”

Kitna played most of the second half for the Gators, but he was called into action early when [autotag]Anthony Richardson[/autotag] went down in the first half. Richardson returned after that series, but Kitna made the most of his time on the field and found [autotag]Ricky Pearsall[/autotag] for a 22-yard gain.

“We were still in the meat of the game and I know we are trying to put the drive together and are not going to change up the game plan for any of that,” Kitna said. “I know Coach has a specific way he calls things and I know my job is to come in there and to operate the system. All the quarterbacks in the room are taught to operate that system the same way. Whoever came in, we were calling the best play for that situation. Obviously, I got that play call and ran it how we were taught.”

When Kitna returned to the game, it was smooth sailing on offense. Kitna found true freshman [autotag]Caleb Douglas[/autotag] for a 62-yard touchdown in the third quarter, but the offense eventually let off the gas after going up by nearly 50 points. Kitna didn’t mind and enjoyed leading the team to a win.

“Man, it felt good,” he said. “Obviously, being there, being prepared for my team, I got a job to do and going out there, it just kind of feels a bit like practice, it’s not too hard. We got our plays, we got our game plan, it was exactly what we saw. We were preparing for it all week. Just going out there and doing my job.”

As well as Kitna performed, Napier was cautious to label him as an elite backup. Sure, Kitna did well against an FCS program, but can Napier trust him in the fourth quarter of the Georgia game if Richardson goes down? Probably not. At least, not yet.

“Let’s be careful here,” Napier said. “We’ve been through this once before, I think. The guy completed some balls today, he also made a few mistakes today, too. The beautiful thing about today is he got to play, so he’s going to have more confidence. He’s going to be able to learn from this experience. He’s going to realize that the work he’s been doing paid off.”

Kitna might not be a stud SEC backup on the brink of transfer, but that’s not what he’s expected to be. Napier is clearly satisfied with his progress and now the kid has some reps under his belt in case an emergency does come up.

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5 major takeaways from Florida’s blowout win over Eastern Washington

Florida got out to an early lead against Eastern Washington and never looked back. Here’s what we learned about the Gators from the victory.

The Florida Gators dominated the Eastern Washington Eagles on Sunday,  52-17.

A blowout win is expected whenever Florida gets the chance to host an FCS squad, but last year’s debacle against Samford proved that these games can’t always be taken for granted. The defense didn’t look hot through the first few drives of this game, but the offense seized the momentum early and the rest of the team fell in line.

Eastern Washington managed to score a pair of touchdowns once the second team came in, but this was a Florida win all the way. It’s hard to learn anything from a contest with a skill gap as big as this one, but the second team coming helps us assess Florida’s depth at certain positions. With that in mind, this week’s takeaways will focus on the freshmen, backups and reserves that impressed the most.

Florida needed a big win after facing three top-20 opponents through the first four weeks of the season, and this should help boost the team’s confidence heading into another conference matchup.

Social media reactions before Florida’s Week 3 matchup with USF

It’s almost time for Florida to take on USF and social media is buzzing about what’s expected to be a lop-sided game in favor of the Gators.

It’s once again game day in the Swamp, and the Florida Gators are expected to put a hurting on the USF Bulls after falling to Kentucky a week ago.

The loss left a bad taste in the mouth of everyone involved on the Gators’ side and that’s what has fans and experts thinking that the score might be very, very lopsided tonight. The Bulls gave up 50 to BYU in the season opener and 20 to Howard in Week 2, so it’s reasonable to expect Florida’s offense to rebound nicely this week.

[autotag]Anthony Richardson[/autotag] struggled in particular against UK, so this should be good for his confidence. Last year, he threw a pair of touchdowns on just three pass attempts against USF as the backup, and he also added another score on the ground while rushing for over 100 yards. If he can come close to replicating that sort of efficiency as the starter this time around, we may get to see the debut of [autotag]Jalen Kitna[/autotag] or [autotag]Kyle Engel[/autotag] at quarterback in the fourth quarter.

It’s almost game time, so let’s go over some of the last-minute buzz on Florida’s Week 3 matchup with USF.

Florida QB Jack Miller III ‘getting closer’ to return

Billy Napier didn’t say much about Florida’s injured players during his Monday press conference, but he did give an update on quarterback Jack Miller III.

Florida has operated the first two weeks of the 2022 college football season without backup quarterback [autotag]Jack Miller III[/autotag]. Head coach Billy Napier announced in August that Miller had a procedure done on his thumb to repair an avulsion fracture, and he provided a bit of an update during Monday’s press conference to open Week 3.

“Yeah, Jack is making progress,” Napier said. “He’s not quite ready for action, but he is in the process — getting closer. He’s kind of moved into the next stage there of return to play.”

In August, Napier said that the team was hopeful they would get Miller back by Week 3. That timeline might be delayed a week or two, but Napier’s update doesn’t indicate any major setback. His willingness to speak on Miller’s return timeline is telling, especially considering he brushed off the back half of the question regarding [autotag]Ventrell Miller[/autotag] and other injured players on the team.

In Miller’s absence, the Gators have redshirt freshman [autotag]Jalen Kitna[/autotag] listed as the backup to starter [autotag]Anthony Richardson[/autotag]. Kitna hasn’t seen any action so far this season and isn’t likely to unless Richardson is unable to go. Napier made that clear when he stuck with Richardson through Saturday’s disappointing loss to Kentucky.

Had Miller been healthy, it’s not too hard to imagine him coming in for a series to give Richardson a moment to calm down. Miller isn’t going to take over the starting role once he’s back, but he’ll provide a much stronger safety net for Richardson and Co.

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