Tag: Miami Hurricans

Wyatt Langford leads Florida over Miami in Game 1 of weekend series

Things got off to a bad start, but Florida eventually overpowered Miami on Friday night and claimed the first game of the weekend series.

Florida got off to a slow start against the Miami Hurricanes on Friday night, but the Gators never looked back once the offense got going and powered the team to a 10-4 victory in Game 1 of the series.

Three Gators combined for four home runs on the night, including a pair from [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] who has been waiting for the right game to make some noise. Langford’s first came in the bottom of the first inning and helped chip away at an early 3-0 Miami lead. The second came in the sixth to add to a three-run lead. He also drove in a run in the fourth on a double to finish the night with a team-high three RBIs.

[autotag]Richie Schiekofer[/autotag], who pinch hit for [autotag]Dale Thomas[/autotag] in the sixth, also homered in the inning, and [autotag]Cade Kurland[/autotag] hit a two-run shot to left field in the eighth to make bring the lead up to six. Kurland is now on a nine-game hitting streak to begin his collegiate career.

[autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag] and [autotag]Ty Evans[/autotag] drove in runs on back-to-back singles in the third, and [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] also drove in a run in the fourth.

With all the scoring happening throughout the night, it’s hard to believe that things looked grim at one point for Florida, but right-hander [autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag] did not get off to his best start. Despite pumping 100 mph in the first inning, Sproat gave up an early three-run home run to Miami’s best hitter, Yohandy Morales.

Sproat bounced back after the Morales big fly and lasted six innings for the Gators without giving up another run. He finished the night with nine strikeouts and four walks. Another run did score in the sixth while Sproat was still in, but it didn’t count against his record because of an error that lead off the inning.

The home run makes an otherwise strong start look average, but there’s no reason to worry about Sproat. He’s figuring out the consistency aspect of his game still, but the week-to-week improvements have been encouraging. The resiliency he showed today should get him a longer leash in big games.

Once Sproat came out of the game, Kevin O’Sullivan turned to freshman left-hander [autotag]Cade Fisher[/autotag], and the kid absolutely dominated. Fisher closed out the game for Florida, pitching three perfect innings and earning the save. The cherry on top: Fisher struck out Morales in the seventh to close out the inning.

Miami is not a bad team by any means, but Florida didn’t look particularly challenged after the first inning. Saturday’s matchup may be a bit different. The Hurricanes are throwing Karson Ligon, who has a 0.66 ERA, and Florida’s [autotag]Hurston Waldrep[/autotag] is coming off a 13-strikeout game against Cincinnati.

First pitch is set for 2 p.m. on Saturday at Condron Ballpark in Gainesville.

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D’Eriq King’s injury reminds us that bowl games are meaningless exhibitions and should be treated that way

Stop. Pretending. These. Games. Matter.

By my count, 14 bowl games have been cancelled, and that’s not nearly enough. We’re in the grips of a pandemic that forced “student-athletes” who are actually unpaid workers to put their health at risk and sequester away from friends and family; we probably could have done without each and every Corporate Entity You Forgot Existed Bowl this year.

Nevertheless, some are happening, and we’re having the same old dumb and bad conversations about what they mean and how they should be treated by the young men who actually make them interesting.

Bowing out of these games has become more popular in recent years, and more so this year, but still there are fans who muster up silly feelings about it all:

There’s a really simple reason players should want to skip bowl games. And here, on cue, it is:

Here’s the play where it happened.

This occurred, and I kid you not, in the Cheez-It Bowl. Look, Cheez-It: You make a good product. Cheese+Salt. The brand is strong. I’m going to buy those things for my kids no matter what. You don’t need to go sponsoring a bowl game in Orlando to make your business work. Just stop.

But I know you won’t. And these games, which are run by bowl executives who get rich off the notion that these games are meaningful for fans and the city’s that host them, aren’t about to cede any of this ground. So bowl games will continue to be a thing.

It’s just time we fully admitted that, outside of the College Football Playoff, bowl games are fake. They do not matter.

The true value of a bowl game for any team is that it gets to practice for an extra month or so. That’s a GIGANTIC benefit. The game at the end is … whatever. It could end up being an awful thing, like it was for Miami, which lost one of the most electric players in college football for an extended time. King will likely be fine, but the missed developmental time is a bummer and there remains a chance he’ll permanently lose strength in his knee.

Coaches continue to take bowl games seriously because the wins count toward their record and some of them have bowl-related bonuses. We need to wipe all of that out. There’s no point in pretending these games matter and that top players should take the risk of playing through them.

King should have played a series or two at most. He could have traveled to the game and taken part in whatever bowl festivities might have occurred (less than usual this year, I’m sure.) Continue the pomp and circumstance, sure, but downplay the game.

Perhaps this would hurt a bowl’s ability to generate money; maybe fewer fans want to travel to see the backups, and TV deals shrink if interest does. But college fans live to thing about what’s next. Sell them on resting known stars and giving young players a chance.

A true fan would be fine with King taking it easy, since it’s good for the long-term health of the program.

And why does Robin care about future pros opting out? They earned that right, and it’s ultimately good for the program anyway: Get their potential replacements some playing time and see what you’ve got. Surely a diehard Gators fan cares about those kids getting an opportunity, too.

Bowl games are the equivalent of a soccer friendly. Every Rudy on every roster should get snaps as starters phase out of the game and the score ceases to matter. That’d be an honest approach to these meaningless games, and college football needs to reach that point.

Florida coach Dan Mullen is getting ripped for his comments after blowout Cotton Bowl loss