Tag: The Athletic

Florida football cracks The Athletic’s top 5 in SEC ‘vibe check’

The Athletic ran a “vibe check” for the SEC and the Florida Gators made it into the top 5, despite an easy cruise through the bye week.

The bye week for the Florida Gators has officially come and gone, so it’s time to gear up for the long-awaited meeting in Jacksonville with the No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs.

It’s safe to say the vibes are exuberant in North Florida.

Although the Gators were on a hiatus, The Athletic included Florida football in its top 5 for the weekly SEC “vibe check.”

Senior writer Seth Emerson keeps a close eye on the powerhouse conference and likes to rank the football programs based on the overall “vibes,” meaning how good the team is and how the fan base is reacting.

Emerson ranked the Gators at No. 5, even though head coach Billy Napier and his squad were simply resting at home and enjoying some game film.

The senior writer still has faith in the football program and thinks the Florida faithful shares the same feeling. He references former UF coach Steve Spurrier, who’s also high on the Gators, per usual.

“Native son Tom Petty’s birthday was last week,” Emerson said. “And Gators fans are runnin’ down a dream: Graham Mertz looks like the best version of his Wisconsin self, and Steve Spurrier is crowing that, ‘We’ve got a chance to beat Georgia. And if we do that, we’re right in the middle of winning the Eastern division.'”

“And he’s right! About all of that! Also, Billy Napier’s recruiting keeps going well, getting top-100 (defensive lineman) LJ McCray on Saturday,” Emerson wrote. “Maybe the good feelings hit a wall in Jacksonville — Georgia is a three-touchdown favorite for a reason. It’s good to be king, as Petty also sang. But the Gators are in a much better place than they were when the season started. They aren’t free fallin’. (Sorry.)”

McCray is a five-star recruit from Daytona Beach, Florida and is ranked No. 6 in the Class of 2024 and No. 2 at his position. The high school senior live-streamed his commitment on YouTube.

The Gators will challenge the Bulldogs on Saturday in Jacksonville for The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. EDT and will broadcast on CBS Sports.

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Texas A&M LB Taurean York named to The Athletic’s Midseason Freshman All-American team

Texas A&M freshman linebacker Taurean York has been honored one again, making The Athletics Midseason Freshman All-America team.

As we near the end of Texas A&M’s (4-3, 2-2 SEC) bye week, the focus has, of course, shifted to head coach Jimbo Fisher’s shaky future with the program, as the same tired side-by-side Aggie records of Fisher (43-24) and former Aggie head coach Kevin Sumlin’s (45-22) after 77 games is notable, but not important from a contextual standpoint.

However, despite the Aggie’s disappointing 2023 record, Texas A&M’s 10th-ranked defense, also leading the country in sacks (29), is led by the productive linebacker duo of junior Edgerrin Cooper and freshman Taurean York.

York, who is second on the team in tackles with 41, has surprised all of us who cover the program due to his youth and collegiate inexperience. He has played like the top freshman defender every week thus far, leading to his selection to The Athletic’s Midseason Freshman All-American team.

Coming off of his team-leading nine-tackle performance in the loss to Tennessee, his second-highest output of the season. York’s in-game responsibility as the defensive playcaller at the MIKE position is even more impressive, with less than an entire collegiate season under his belt.

Already earning multiple accolades this season, including 247Sports Freshman of the Week and SEC Player of the Week, York was also named to FWAA’s (Football Writers Association of America) Freshman All-America Watch List earlier this week.

Five games remain on A&M’s schedule, and York must continue playing at a high level to produce stops in the run game while providing adequate pass rush when needed. Congratulations again, Taurean!

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The Athletic admits preseason prediction for Florida was wrong

The Florida Gators are starting to make believers out of the doubters.

Florida football is a game past the midpoint of its 2023 regular-season schedule and the Gators are looking pretty decent so far. The campaign opened with a disappointing loss on the road, but Billy Napier’s boys won three in a row for the first time since 2020.

Of course, the loss at Kentucky was a gut punch, but the Orange and Blue seem to be putting things together for the second half of the season.

Among the many members of the media dropping their midpoint reviews are The Athletic’s Ari Wasserman and David Ubben, who checked on their college football preseason hot takes. For the Gators, the take was, “Florida finishes the season as the second-best team in the SEC East.”

Ubben responded with a sharp rebuke back before the season started.

“No. What are we doing here?” he rhetorically asks. “The Gators won’t be much better than last year, but almost everyone in the SEC East will be improved from a year ago. If I was ranking the team most likely to finish in the SEC East, I believe in South Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky way more than I believe in Florida. Zero percent chance this happens. Florida might not even finish third.”

On the other hand, Wasserman was not as reactionary to the suggestion ahead of the 2023 schedule but still was still skeptical of Florida’s football program.

“It’s not a zero percent chance,” he points out. “This is a slow build. And the Gators have a major quarterback problem. But it’s implausible.”

However, with seven games now under Napier and Co.’s belt, they have been forced to change their tune.

“Anyone who watched Florida’s season-opening 24-11 loss to Utah probably saw a team that was going to be one of the worst in the SEC,” the verdict begins. “There was chatter after that game about Billy Napier potentially already being on the hot seat and the entire Florida world crashing down.

“In the time since Florida has rattled five wins in its past six games and sits at 5-2 with an open week before the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party,” it continues. “Maybe Florida is just going to get pummeled by Georgia, but the Gators have been nothing if not resilient.

“And they rank, gulp, second in the SEC East behind only Georgia.”

The Gators have a bye this week ahead of the biggest game on the schedule, which will take place at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Florida, on Oct. 28, with a kickoff time of 3:30 p.m. EDT set. The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports.

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Two Gators win SEC midseason superlatives, per The Athletic

Graham Mertz has been one of the best transfers in college football, and Ricky Pearsall might have made the catch of the year.

Florida quarterback [autotag]Graham Mertz[/autotag] and wide receiver [autotag]Ricky Pearsall[/autotag] are taking home midseason superlatives from the folks at The Athletic after impressive first-half performances in 2023.

Kennington Smith III named Mertz the best out-of-conference offensive transfer, and Pearsall’s ridiculous Week 4 catch against Charlotte got the nod for Best Play.

“Somewhat quietly, Mertz is having a strong season in Gainesville,” Smith wrote. “The Wisconsin transfer leads the SEC in completion percentage (76%), is tied for the lowest interception total among starters (2) and has the fourth-most passing yards (1897).”

Florida also earned an honorable mention in the best surprise category. Missouri has ultimately been the most exciting team to watch overcome the low expectations set during the offseason, but the Gators’ 5-2 start has earned some praise.

“Left for dead after an ugly Week 1 loss at Utah, the Gators sit at 5-2 overall,” he wrote. “Their preseason projected win total: five.”

The tandem of Mertz and Pearsall should play a key role in Florida’s second-half success. A loaded back half of the schedule features a neutral site game against top-ranked Georgia, back-to-back road games against No. 19 LSU and No. 20 Missouri, and No. 4 Florida State at home to close things out.

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Florida to play ACC juggernaut in The Athletic’s midseason bowl projections

At the halfway point of the season, the folks at The Athletic are updating their bowl projections, and Florida’s draw isn’t too bad.

While some outlets have kept bowl projections rolling from the preseason onward, others — such as The Athletic — opted to wait and update their projections until the halfway point of the college football season.

The Florida Gators are 5-2 through seven games, including an upset against Tennessee. That’s moved them into the bowl conversation, according to The Athletic’s experts — staff writer Scott Doctherman and editor-in-chief Stewart Mandel.

Florida is now projected to play in the Gator Bowl (how original) against Clemson, which sounds like a New Year’s Six matchup from three to five years ago. The Tigers have been shaky this year, but it would still be a strong win for the Gators in Year 2 under Billy Napier should they come out victorious in this hypothetical matchup.

Speaking of Napier, he coached under Dabo Swinney at Clemson before being fired. There’s a nice revenge game narrative there if you look hard enough.

Of course, all of these projections typically assume Florida losing to Georgia, Florida State, LSU and perhaps even Missouri. Upsetting one of those teams could drastically shake up the postseason picture.

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Florida dips back down The Athletic’s stop rate rankings after Week 7 win

Florida’s defense allowed a lot of points on Saturday against South Carolina, so it’s not too surprising to see UF’s stop rate ranking plummet.

Florida’s defense didn’t do a great job stopping South Carolina’s offense on Saturday, but the Gators still walked out of Columbia with a victory at the end of a 41-39 shootout.

There’s a lot of good to say about the offense, but The Athletic’s Max Olson doesn’t care one bit about all that. No, Olson is locked in on defensive metrics this season, more specifically stop rate.

What exactly are stop rates and how does a sports news website keep track? Olson explains it very well.

“It’s a basic measurement of success: the percentage of a defense’s drives that end in punts, turnovers or a turnover on downs. This simple metric can offer a more accurate reflection of a defense’s effectiveness in today’s faster-tempo college football than yards per game or points per game.”

This week, the Orange and Blue is ranked No. 54 overall with a 65.1% stop rate while allowing 2.08 points per drive. Those numbers are all heading in the wrong direction compared to Week 6’s results, but that’s expected after giving up more than three dozen points. Also, every week isn’t Vandy week.

The good news is that Florida gets a bye and can’t do any damage to itself, at least when it comes to stop rate. But the bad news is that Georgia is up next, and it’s going to be hard to slow the Bulldogs down.

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Florida football’s future looks bright in The Athletic’s ‘vibe-check’

Florida Gators future looks bright in the The Athletic’s “vibe-check”

Hope was restored this past weekend when the Florida Gators pulled out its first road win of the season — and in stunning fashion.

The Gators won a shootout with the South Carolina Gamecocks, grabbing a lead late in the fourth quarter with the help from quarterback Graham Mertz. The redshirt senior threw a dart to wide receiver Ricky Pearsall who beat his man to the ball and collected it for the go-ahead touchdown.

The Athletic’s senior writer Seth Emerson is taking notes of Florida’s ups and downs but overall sees a bright future in his midseason “vibe check” of the SEC.

A large chunk of the Gator Nation has been pleading to throw head coach Billy Napier to the wolves, despite his ability to build future squads with highly-touted recruits.

“The heat is off! For now,” Emerson wrote. “Billy Napier still has a long way to go, especially when you look at the remaining schedule: Georgia, Arkansas, at LSU, at Missouri, Florida State. A 7-5 finish is very much realistic. But that still would be an improvement over last year, and Napier’s recruiting class currently ranks No. 3. That should be enough to stave off the wolves for a year.”

The Florida Gators ranked at No. 7 on Emerson’s list, in terms of overall “vibes.” The Athletic’s senior writer didn’t rank the teams based on their performances on the field, but more on how the teams and the fanbases are feeling right now.

The road win over the Gamecocks bolsters the Orange and Blue’s stock for this season, maybe not enough for an invite to a New Year’s Six game, but a winning record at the least.

The Florida Gators are back home in Gainesville and celebrating the victory during a bye week. Florida’s next contest will be in Jacksonville for the annual grudge match with Georgia on Oct. 28.

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Gators make up some ground in The Athletic’s Week 7 rankings

It is not a huge boost, but the Gators are creeping back toward The Athletic’s top 25 after the Week 7 win.

A battle on Saturday between two Southeastern Conference East football programs that have struggled of late was a nail-biter. Fortunately for the Gator Nation, Florida emerged victoriously from its road game against the South Carolina Gamecocks, 41-39, to improve to 5-2 just past the halfway mark of the 2023 schedule.

Last week, Chris Vanini of The Athletic had the Orange and Blue ranked No. 29 overall in his weekly edition of rankings for all 133 Power Five teams. Following the Week 7 win, Billy Napier and Co. moved up to No. 27, representing a two-spot improvement.

The Georgia Bulldogs come in at No. 2 with the Alabama Crimson Tide at No. 9 to represent the SEC in the top 10. The Ole Miss Rebels (No. 17), LSU Tigers (No. 19) and Missouri Tigers (No. 20) wrap up the league schools among the top 25.

The Gators have a bye this week ahead of the biggest game on the schedule against Georgia. The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party will take place at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Florida, on Oct. 28, with a kickoff time of 3:30 p.m. EDT set. The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports.

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Gators improve in The Athletic’s stop rate rankings after Week 6

The Gators saw some improvement in their numbers according to The Athletic’s stop rate metric.

It is hard to believe it but half of the college football season is now in the books — at least for most teams, like the Florida Gators. As they say, time flies when you are having fun.

Well, to be fair, it has not been all fun and games for the Orange and Blue this season, which faced one of the toughest schedules in the nation coming into the fall. Six games in, the Gator Nation has already seen peaks and valleys ranging from the victory over the Tennessee Volunteers to the defeat at the Kentucky Wildcats.

The latter loss was a significant gut punch to Billy Napier’s plans for the school’s first winning season since 2020. However, the team did bounce back last weekend in its homecoming game against the Vanderbilt Commodores.

That victory showed some improvements on both sides of the ball, but The Athletic’s Max Olsen is more interested in the defensive metrics. This season he has been analyzing teams using a novel metric he calls “stop rate” and has been tracking Florida along with the rest of the Football Bowl Subdivision.

What exactly are stop rates and how does a sports news website keep track? Olson explains it very well.

“It’s a basic measurement of success: the percentage of a defense’s drives that end in punts, turnovers or a turnover on downs. This simple metric can offer a more accurate reflection of a defense’s effectiveness in today’s faster-tempo college football than yards per game or points per game.”

This week, the Orange and Blue is ranked No. 32 overall with a 69.2% stop rate while allowing 1.81 points per drive. That represents a solid improvement over last week’s numbers when they ranked No. 52 with a 65.9% stop rate while allowing 1.95 points per drive after the Kentucky loss.

Next up for Florida is a trip to Columbia, South Carolina, to face Spencer Rattler and the South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday, Oct. 14, inside William-Brice Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 3:30 p.m. EDT and the game can be watched on the SEC Network.

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Gators drop another spot in The Athletic’s college football rankings

The Gators lost a spot in The Athletic’s 1-133 rankings but still remained in the top 30.

Florida football came away from Week 6 with a win over the visiting Vanderbilt Commodores, improving its record to 4-2 at the midway point of the 2023 campaign. Of course, Vandy remains a perennial doormat in the Southeastern Conference, every victory counts in a season that gave the Gators one of the toughest schedules in the nation.

Following the 38-14 homecoming win, the team did not see a lot of positive gains among the sports media, mostly standing pat in the rankings with just a pair of votes in the US LBM Coaches Poll this week.

Last week, Chris Vanini of The Athletic had the Orange and Blue ranked No. 28 overall in his weekly edition of rankings for all Power Five teams. This time around, the Gators slipped to No. 29 — just behind the Texas A&M Aggies and ahead of the Tennessee Volunteers at Nos. 28 and 30, respectively.

Next up for Florida is a trip to Columbia, South Carolina, to face Spencer Rattler and the South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday, Oct. 14, inside William-Brice Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 3:30 p.m. EDT and the game can be watched on the SEC Network.

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