Tag: Las Vegas Bowl

Good, Bad and Ugly: What positive takeaways are there from Florida’s loss?

The Gators Wire staff reacts to Florida’s complete collapse in the 2022 Las Vegas Bowl.

Florida football floundered in the 2022 edition of the Las Vegas Bowl against the Oregon State Beavers, who pummeled the Gators to the tune of a 30-3 defeat that nearly snapped the Orange and Blue’s nation-leading scoring streak. That run nearly came to an end until a late fourth-quarter field goal spared [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] from ignominy as he wraps up his debut campaign.

Make no mistake about it, this was a difficult game to watch for the Gator Nation as its beloved football team looked completely lost on offense while the defense was simply outmanned by the top-20-ranked Beavers. While many expected OSU to finish on top, few foresaw Florida’s impotence on offense.

The Gators Wire gang convened after the conclusion of the embarrassing postseason loss to give its collective takes on what they saw on the field Saturday afternoon. Take a look below at what each of us had to offer on the final game of Florida’s 2022 season.

Pat Dooley’s Six Pack: Quick reactions to Florida’s near-shutout loss vs OSU

Pat Dooley dishes out his instant reactions to Florida’s flop in the Las Vegas Bowl.

This wasn’t the way anybody in orange and blue wanted the season to end. Even if a lot of the Gator Nation is happy it’s just over.

Florida’s first game in the state of Nevada turned into a mess. It was vulgar in Vegas, and we all know that a lot of things happen there that need to be forgotten.

This was one of them.

Florida came really close to being shut out for the first time in 435 consecutive games, the longest streak in college football.

Oregon State capped a memorable season with a 30-3 win. One team looked like it wanted to be there. One team looked like its best players stayed home.

This edition of Pat Dooley’s Six Pack finishes a bad season.

PHOTOS: Florida football’s Las Vegas Bowl loss vs. Oregon State

Take a look at some of the best photo highlights from the Florida Gators’ XXX vs. Oregon State Beavers in Las Vegas Bowl on Saturday.

Florida football hit a brick wall in the 2022 Las Vegas Bowl against the Oregon State Beavers, who almost shut the Gators out for the first time since 1988 en route to a 30-3 win on Saturday afternoon. To be perfectly honest, it was a game the Orange and Blue faithful will want to forget as their beloved gridiron warriors looked impotent on the field in Sin City despite almost snapping the scoring streak.

The running game went limp and quarterback [autotag]Jack Miller III[/autotag] looked way out of his element against the top-20-ranked Beavers, who simply had an answer for everything Billy Napier threw at them with his shorthanded squad. It was clear from the opening series that the Gators were not going to finish the season on a high note.

Take a look below at some of the best photographs from Saturday’s Las Vegas Bowl loss for the Florida Gators against the Oregon State Beavers.

Major takeaways from Florida’s embarrassing Las Vegas Bowl loss vs Oregon State

The Gators didn’t stand a chance against Oregon State on Saturday, but at least now the team can move on to next year. There’s always the scoring streak, right?

Florida’s nightmare season has finally come to an end, and the team is down about 40 players from the start of the year. Armed with that knowledge, it may come as no surprise Florida was embarrassed by Oregon State on Saturday in the Las Vegas Bowl, 30-3.

It was ugly on all fronts, but the offense looked particularly inept against a Beavers team giving it all to secure the third 10-win season in program history. In the end, Oregon State completed its task easily and almost held the Gators scoreless — something that hasn’t happened since 1988. [autotag]Jack Miller III[/autotag]’s audition clearly didn’t go as planned, and now the panic meter for Florida to get a quarterback in the transfer portal is at an all-time high.

The offensive line also needs retooling after losing its anchor, [autotag]O’Cyrus Torrence[/autotag], to the NFL. In truth, the whole team has things to work on over the offseason after losing like this, but that’s expected in Year 1 of a rebuild, right? Billy Napier is doing things his way, and his way has a track record of working.

Here’s what we learned from Florida’s Las Vegas Bowl loss to Oregon State.

Social media’s reactions during Florida’s 30-3 loss to Oregon State in Las Vegas Bowl

Social Media reacts to the Florida Gators’ 30-3 loss vs Oregon State in the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl. They end the year at 6-7.

The Florida Gators lost to the Oregon State Beavers, 30-3, in the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl.

The first half saw the Gators put up a bit of a fight against the top-15 Beavers. Defensively, Florida held Oregon State to seven points in the first quarter, and a few big hits made waves on social media. The second quarter is when the wheels started to fall off. The Gators recorded two yards of offense in the second quarter.

The second half was difficult to watch. After taking a 10-0 lead into the half, Oregon State put its foot on the gas. It scored two touchdowns in the third quarter and had its way with the Florida defense.

Offensively, Florida never jelled. Its three points came with less than a minute to play. If the Gators had been shut out, it would have been their first time since 1988. Their scoring streak extends to 436 consecutive games. The streak is the longest in NCAA history and 57 games longer than the closest team.

Here’s how Twitter reacted to Florida’s 30-3 loss to Oregon State.

Social media hype ahead of Florida’s Las Vegas Bowl matchup

Last game day of the season. Here’s the social media buzz ahead of Florida’s Las Vegas Bowl matchup with Oregon State.

The final game of Florida’s 2022 season is finally here and Gator Nation is ready to end things on a positive note after an up-and-down year. UF has a chance to close out the first year of the Billy Napier era the same way it started it — with a win over a ranked Pac-12 opponent.

The big difference between Florida’s game against Utah and its Las Vegas Bowl matchup with Oregon State is depth. The Gators are down a good number of starters and depth players thanks to the upcoming NFL draft and transfer portal departures. Most notably, quarterback [autotag]Anthony Richardson[/autotag] is sitting out to preserve his health for the draft, and there’s no telling what [autotag]Jack Miller III[/autotag] will look like in his first collegiate start.

Still, Florida will push through those issues and fight tooth and nail to upset an Oregon State team that’s ranked No. 16 on the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll. The good news is that the Beavers are also playing their backup quarterback after an injury and subsequent transfer put them into a tight spot.

Here’s what experts and fans are saying ahead of the big game.

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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Sports Illustrated breaks down Gators-Beavers matchup in Las Vegas Bowl

With game time not too far off here’s a look at how Sports Illustrated broke down today’s matchup.

Kickoff for the 2022 Las Vegas Bowl between the Florida Gators and Oregon State Beavers is just hours away as the battle between the SEC and Pac-12 quickly approaches. The two programs had very different seasons this fall with the Orange and Blue limping across the finish line while OSU wrapped things up on a high note.

Saturday’s matchup 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; it also represents the first time Florida has faced two Pac-12 teams in the same season.

Take a look below at how Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde broke down the Saturday afternoon matchup in Sin City along with his final score prediction.

CBS Sports predicts a tight contest between Florida and Oregon State

The Gators are down a ton of players for Saturday’s Las Vegas Bowl matchup with Oregon State, but CBS Sports thinks the game will be close.

Florida is dealing with a ton of roster changes as players depart for the NFL and hit the transfer portal, but there’s still a bowl game to be played on Saturday and CBS Sports thinks the depleted Gators have a shot to keep the game closer than many are expecting.

CBS Sports has the Gators losing to Oregon State by just three points this weekend, 24-21, despite the Beavers entering the game as a two-score favorite. Both teams are down a starting quarterback, so the assumption here is that neither offense will be particularly effective.

“Considering how inefficient the Gators’ offense was all year (79th nationally in success rate), it’s hard to imagine things improving without the one player who seemed capable of making something out of nothing,” CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli wrote.

That might be writing off the tandem of [autotag]Montrell Johnson Jr[/autotag]. and [autotag]Trevor Etienne[/autotag] in Florida’s backfield, but their success is not guaranteed this weekend with the anchor of the offensive line, right guard O’Cyrus Torrence, sitting out.

The good news is that Oregon State’s best quarterback is in the transfer portal and the Beavers’ offense “hasn’t been great,” with Ben Gulbranson under center. Florida’s defense will return most of its regular starters, but it’s been an up-and-down year for that side of the ball and there’s no telling which version will be on the field Saturday. That matchup should be the difference-maker in this one.

It’s no surprise to see CBS Sports peg this game to be “an ugly, low-scoring affair,” but Florida could pull off an upset that ends the first year of the Napier era on a positive note.

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Florida football sets team captains ahead of Las Vegas Bowl

Napier named just two Gators to lead the team in the Las Vegas Bowl. Here’s who he picked.

Just a day ahead of Florida football’s matchup with the No. 16 Oregon State Beavers in the 2022 Las Vegas Bowl the Gators announced the two players who will serve as team captains on early Friday afternoon. Linebacker [autotag]Amari Burney[/autotag] and offensive lineman [autotag]Richard Gouraige[/autotag] both earned the honor in what will be the final game wearing the beloved Orange and Blue for the two.

Typically, [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] anoints four captains per game this season but decided the buck the trend in the bowl game — perhaps due to the roster attrition experienced as the regular season came to a close.

Burney played in all 12 games this fall, recording a career-high 71 tackles as well as two forced fumbles and a pair of interceptions — one of which sealed the season-opening win over the Utah Utes. It was the third-straight season the linebacker saw action in every game the Gators played and saw him finish on top with his best overall performance in Gainesville.

Gouraige helped anchor an offensive line that was among the best seen in Gainesville since the mid-1980s, also appearing in every game this season. The redshirt junior still has a year of eligibility remaining but decided to test the waters in the professional ranks by declaring for the 2023 NFL draft.

Nonetheless, unlike some of his peers, the offensive lineman will still play in Florida’s bowl game as well as the Senior Bowl. Burney’s future after Florida is still largely unknown.

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