Tag: opening weekend

Full depth charts for Florida Gators vs Ole Miss Rebels

Depth charts for both teams were tweeted out on Saturday morning ahead of kickoff. Florida’s had a few interesting items of note. 

There are less than two hours before the start of the Southeastern Conference’s 2020 10-game football schedule with the Florida Gators and Ole Miss Rebels getting geared up to face each other on the gridiron starting at noon EDT.

Nathan Gabler, an Ole Miss and SEC writer for Sports Illustrated, tweeted out the depth charts for both teams on Saturday morning ahead of kickoff. Florida’s had a few interesting items of note.

At the STAR position, it had been expected that redshirt senior CJ McWilliams would get the starting nod, but a bit of a surprise came with Brad Stewart Jr. sitting second on the depth chart after being used in the box last year. We here at Gators Wire had incorrectly projected Amari Burney for the starting STAR spot, but instead, he finds himself as a starting linebacker.

Additionally, Florida did not name a long snapper ahead of the game, though presumably, it will be redshirt senior Brett DioGuardi.

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ESPN’s Bill Connelly gives win projections for Week 4 SEC matchups

ESPN’s Bill Connelly, creator of the SP+ analytics system, released his game breakdowns for each of the seven SEC matchups.

ESPN’s Bill Connelly, creator of the SP+ analytics system, released his game breakdowns for each of the seven SEC matchups during Saturday’s first day of competition for the conference.

Florida plays Ole Miss and new coach Lane Kiffin to open its season after the SEC shuffled schedules to adjust to a 10-game, conference-only schedule, and the numbers like the Gators to start Year 3 under coach Dan Mullen 1-0.

SP+ projection: Florida by 15.0 (34.2-19.2)
Florida covers if … a new pass-rusher is ready. The Gators return most of last year’s defense but lose rush end Jonathan Greenard, and the inaugural Lane Kiffin Rebels’ offense could be dangerous if Florida can’t get to the QB and get off the field on passing downs.
Ole Miss covers if … its newish secondary beats Florida’s newish receiving corps. Ole Miss returns only three of last year’s top six DBs, while the Gators return two of their top six WRs. No one doubts Florida’s talent, but Ole Miss has an opportunity to render UF inefficient.
Also noteworthy is Connelly’s breakdown of Georgia, who also faces a first-year coach in Arkansas’ Sam Pittman.
The Bulldogs are heavy favorites against the Razorbacks, and here’s what the analytics say.
SP+ projection: Georgia by 27.0 (36.3-9.2)
Georgia covers if … the starting QB is strong. Be it JT Daniels or
D’Wan Mathis, the quarterback of choice might be the most important player in college football this year. Georgia’s defense is going to be absurd, but a disappointing offense has to rebound, and Arkansas could offer it a fast start.
Arkansas covers if … Georgia’s offense isn’t ready. New Hogs defensive coordinator (and former Mizzou head coach) Barry Odom knows Georgia’s personnel well, and if last year’s UGA offense shows up, this could be a slog. It will be an easy Georgia win regardless, but maybe more of the 28-7 variety.
There are still lots of questions about both teams, and the answers to those questions will likely decide the division. But we’ll get our first sample from both in games that shouldn’t be particularly close.
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Florida vs Ole Miss is ESPN’s Game of the Week this Saturday

With less than a week before game time, ESPN has declared Florida vs. Ole Miss its Game of the Week for Week 4 of college football play. 

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Florida Gators football is set to kick off this Saturday, Sept. 26, in Oxford, Miss., against the Ole Miss Rebels at 12 p.m. EDT in one of a pair of matchups to start the Southeastern Conference’s 2020 season. With less than a week before game time, ESPN has declared the game its Game of the Week for Week 4 of college football play.

The Gators enter the weekend ranked No. 6 in the Amway Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY and No. 5 in the Associated Press Poll while the Rebels are unranked on both ballots. Florida is expected to vie for at least a New Years Six Bowl this year — and possibly a College Football Playoff berth — and is one of a handful of SEC teams at the top of both polls.

Ole Miss hold the edge in the all-time series between the two schools, with a record of 12-11-1. The two teams first met in 1926 when the Rebels hunted down the Gators on their own turf, 12-7. UF won its most recent matchup in 2015 with a 38-10 blowout victory at The Swamp.

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Texas Football: Look back at Sam Ehlinger on opening weekends

With opening weekend upon us for the Texas Longhorns, we look back at how Sam Ehlinger has performed in recent years.

Saturday night in Austin, Texas. Senior quarterback Sam Ehlinger will be leading the team onto the field for the start of his final campaign. For Ehlinger this marks his fourth opener to prepare for. Could it be the start of something special? Recently former Longhorn great Eric Metcalf joined the podcast and talked about his chances of putting on a show.

Image Courtesy of Locked on Longhorns

Ehlinger needs to not only continue to put up the same level of numbers of years past, but also can’t lose those games they expect to win. Much like a TCU, Iowa State or even play close to Kansas. They need to put their foot on the gas and put up style points to be in consideration.

We take a walk through history at how Ehlinger has performed in the first game of each of his first three seasons on the Forty Acres.

San Jose State in 2017

Stats Cmp Att Yards TDs INTs Rush Yards TDs Total Offense
Sam Ehlinger 15 27 222 1 0 7 48 0 270

Maryland in 2018

Stats Cmp Att Yards TDs INTs Rush Yards TDs Total Offense
Sam Ehlinger 21 39 263 2 2 7 30 0 293

Louisiana Tech in 2019

Stats Cmp Att Yards TDs INTs Rush Yards TDs Total Offense
Sam Ehlinger 28 38 276 4 0 8 34 0 310

Average on opening weekend for Sam Ehlinger

Stats Cmp Att Yards TDs INTs Rush Yards TDs Total Offense
Sam Ehlinger 21.3 34.7 253.7 2.3 0.7 7.3 37.3 0 291

Based on his average numbers, they aren’t bad. However, given the fact that the Longhorns are heavy favorites in this game will he get close to them? Probably not. Expect Ehlinger to be out of the game early on with Casey Thompson, Hudson Card or Ja’Quinden Jackson to get some playing time as this game wraps up on Saturday night at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

Gators News: September 4, 2020

It is Friday and that means we have nearly completed another week of this tumultuous summer of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

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It is Friday and that means we have nearly completed another week of this tumultuous summer of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Stepping deeper into September, we inch closer and closer to the beginning of the Southeastern Conference’s 10-game schedule, with the Gators facing off with the Ole Miss Rebels on Sept. 26.

While the SEC waits until the end of the month to start its gridiron action, college football’s official opening weekend is tomorrow. Postponements have left the Week 1 slate fairly sparse, with no teams ranked in the preseason Amway Coaches Poll in action.

However, things got started a little early last night, as Southern Miss lost the first Football Bowl Subdivision game of the 2020 season, falling to South Alabama 32-21. The eyes of the college football world were on Southern Miss on Thursday night, and Southern Miss didn’t live up to the situation.

Finally, Iowa athletic director Gary Barta said Thursday he’s gaining optimism that the Big Ten Conference can safely resume athletic competition before the new year, but said there would need to be a “miracle” in order to start a football season next month.

Around the Swamp

It’s great to be a Florida Gator!

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The Latest Update on Notre Dame/Navy in Ireland

“We’re looking at all of those possibilities for alternate sites.  We would still like to to play it there if it’s at all possible.  I think it’s prudent that we’ve begun the process of looking at alternative sites and well, not necessarily knowing truly what the situation will be.”

We’re just under five months from when the 2020 college football season is supposed to kick-off and Notre Dame gets a part this year in Week Zero as they’re currently scheduled to take on Navy in Dublin, Ireland to start the year.  Due to the Covid-19 outbreak world-wide though, that and the season as we know it are anything but guaranteed.

The head coaches of both programs, Brian Kelly and Ken Niumatolo of Navy, joined Full Ride on ESPN U Radio Thursday and made news in regards to the season opener.

Are there contingency plans or have they at least begun being made if this game can’t be played in Ireland?

“Oh, absolutely” Kelly said, “We’re looking at all of those possibilities for alternate sites.  We would still like to to play it there if it’s at all possible.  I think it’s prudent that we’ve begun the process of looking at alternative sites and well, not necessarily knowing truly what the situation will be.”

So no, it hasn’t been cancelled.

Yet.

Niumatolo didn’t get asked about the chances of the game being played in Dublin but did get asked about the amount of time that’d be necessary in order to be able to play that game as scheduled.

“I think if you ask coaches, we’d all want longer. I saw something, I think it was Brian Kelly, talked about a month and a month. A month to start doing physical conditioning with your strength coach and another month to start practicing. I’ve heard somebody say, ‘Hey, we probably could do it in a month. The product may not be the greatest, so to speak.’

“Maybe your guys are in good enough shape that they won’t get hurt. From a fan’s perspective, it will look like football and things will be great. And from a coach’s perspective, maybe you’ll look and see your routes aren’t as crisp. Your pad-level isn’t as great, or whatever the case may be. I think you can still play.”

I wish I had a good answer on it but I don’t.  My rule of thumb is usually splitting the extremes so if one says four and one says eight weeks, my guess is you’re looking at six weeks realistically and almost certainly not a day shorter than that to have to be able to get ready.

Kelly also went on to discuss the high expectations he has for the 2020 Fighting Irish, starting with his quarterback and offense and then complimenting his linebackers especially when praising the defense.

So no, nothing has been canceled but it doesn’t sound like anyone is anticipating going to Ireland at this point, either.

Texas Baseball: Longhorns Finish Off Lamar For Fifth Straight Win

The Texas Longhorns win their second-straight game at home and fifth overall with a 6-1 win over Lamar at DischFalk Field.

The Longhorns (4-0) hosted Lamar (2-1) in their second game at the Disch this year after sweeping the Rice Owls in Houston over the weekend. Texas got started in the second inning with a bases clearing double by leadoff hitter Austin Todd to drive in three runs. After two, the Longhorns carried their 3-0 lead into the fourth inning.

With Cam Williams on second, Douglas Hodo II drove a ball right up the middle to bring the hammer home to extend the lead to four. In the sixth inning, Texas loaded up the bases once more and scored two runs without the benefit of a hit for with one. Brendon Dixon walked to bring D.J. Petrinsky home. Murphy Stehly flied out to right field but Trey Faltine scored on the sacrifice fly. With three inning remaining in the game the Longhorns were up 6-0.

In the seventh inning, Lamar was finally able to get on the board. This snapped a streak of 10 straight innings without giving up a run. Will Swope gave up the lone Lamar run on the afternoon and he lasted just 0.2 innings. He gave up a sacrifice fly to Cole Girouard to bring Logan Berlof home. Freshman pitcher Andre Duplantier II came in with two out and the bases loaded. He struck out the lone batter he faced to end the threat.

Duplantier came back out in the eighth to pitch another frame, striking out two more to get to the ninth inning and Mason Bryant. Bryant gave up a couple of hits but he was able to wiggle out of any trouble to get the win for Texas. Starter Kolby Kubichek got his first win on the season after three scoreless innings.

Texas Baseball: Longhorns Outlast UTSA to Stay Perfect

The Texas Longhorns stay perfect after riding a five-run fourth inning to help them to a 6-2 victory at the Disch.

The Texas Longhorns returned home for their first baseball game of the 2020 season at DischFalk Field in Austin. The Longhorns fell into an early 2-0 hole against the UT-San Antonio Roadrunners heading into the bottom of the fourth inning. Cole Quintanilla was on the mound and gave up just one earned run in four innings with five strikeouts.

In the bottom of the inning, the Longhorn bats came to life. With runners on the corners and one out, Trey Faltine would drive in the Longhorns first run of the game.

Texas would go on to take the lead with catcher Silas Ardoin would get his first hit as a Longhorn and it was a big one, driving in two more runs on a double.

But wait, there’s more. With runners on second and third, the man they called the hammer, Cam Williams came to the plate looking to do more damage. He hit a two-run double to left field to plate two more Longhorns. Williams was thrown out at third going for the triple to end the inning. The damage was already done and Texas led 5-2 after a five-run inning.

Texas didn’t just show off the bats in this game as they were able to show off the leather as well. In the sixth inning, Faltine scooped up the ball from deep in the hole and fired it to first to get the out. Great throw by Trey and even better scoop by Zach Zubia.

Tristan Stevens and Pete Hansen would pitch the remaining five innings of shutout baseball for Texas. They gave up a combined five hits over that span. Stevens would pick up the win and Hansen with the three-inning save. For the play of the game, that came from Austin Todd who gunned down a runner at the plate to end their scoring threat in the seventh inning.

How sweep it is, Texas finishes off Rice in series finale

The Texas Longhorns completed their opening series sweep of the Rice Owls, thanks to Donny Diaz who closed the door on the comeback.

The Texas Longhorns and Rice Owls met in the final game of their opening series. The Owls were looking to avoid the sweep on opening weekend. Texas hasn’t lost to the Rice Owls since they opened the 2017 season when the two teams split a four-game series.

Coy Cobb was on the mound for the Longhorns and went 4.1 innings, striking out four and allowed six hits. He was pulled in favor of Tristan Stephens who walked one batter but finished the inning unscathed. Texas had to go to the bullpen early, using six pitchers on the day.

Texas built up a 5-1 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth. The Longhorns had a doubles party with Austin Todd, Zach Zubia, D.J. Petrinsky and Trey Faltine all getting into the act. Zubia drove in two for Texas. Petrinksy, Faltine and Brendan Dixon each driving in a run apiece. It would fall on the bullpen to bring it home for the Longhorns.

Kamron Fields came into the game for Stevens and immediately gave up a home run to Rice’s Austin Bulman to close the gap to three runs but he settled down to get out of the inning with no further damage. Fields got into trouble in the seventh allowing two runners. Andre Duplantier came on in relief. He was able to get out of a bases loaded jam when Bulman hit into a fielder’s choice.

In the eight inning it was up to Dawson Merryman to get this game to the ninth inning. Merry walked the first hitter. After a strikeout, the Owls hit into an inning-ending double play. Merryman returned to the mound in the ninth and gave up a two-run homer without recording an out. Donny Diaz came in to record his second save of the season. The Owls left the tying run at first following a strikeout and two pop ups to end the game.