GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The Gators reconvened over the weekend to begin preparing for their meeting with Oklahoma in Wednesday night's Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.
In only the second meeting between the programs, seventh-ranked Florida (8-3) is making its first appearance in the Cotton Bowl while the No. 6-ranked Sooners (8-2) are making their fourth appearance in the game.
We'll have much more on the matchup prior to kickoff, but for now, if you took a much-needed Christmas break like the guy typing these words, you might need a quick review of news and notes that perhaps flew under your personal radar as you sipped egg nog and opened gifts.
When the Gators arrived in Dallas on Monday night, head coach
Dan Mullen held a brief arrival press conference discussing the team's Cotton Bowl trip:
Meanwhile, here are some notable items for your perusal on what turned into a busy Monday:
Gators fourth-year junior receiver
Trevon Grimes announced Monday afternoon that he is skipping the Cotton Bowl and his final season of eligibility to enter the NFL Draft. Here is what Grimes posted on social media:
About an hour after Grimes announced his departure, fellow receiver
Kadarius Toney announced that he was skipping the Cotton Bowl to prepare for the NFL Draft. Toney blossomed in his senior season and missed by 16 yards becoming Florida's first 1,000-yard receiver in a season since 2002. Here is Toney's announcement posted on social media:
Florida's receiving corps took another hit on Monday when junior
Jacob Copeland posted on social media that he would not be making the trip to the Cotton Bowl due to testing positive for COVID-19. That means Florida's top four receivers in the regular season won't be playing Wednesday night.
The UF defense, already without senior safety
Shawn Davis for the bowl game due to an injury that sidelined him late in the regular season, will be without fourth-year junior cornerback
Marco Wilson against Oklahoma. According to multiple reports Wednesday, Wilson has decided to opt-out and enter the NFL Draft:
The Associated Press released its All-America Team on Monday and three Gators were selected: tight end
Kyle Pitts (first team), quarterback
Kyle Trask (second team) and receiver
Kadarius Toney (second team). You can check out the entire teams here:
It's that time of year when the door to the NCAA transfer portal starts flying open. This year is expected to be busier than usual because of the transfer rules in place due to COVID-19. Two Gators have entered their names in the portal over the past week, joining defensive back
Quincy Lenton and running back
Iverson Clement earlier this season:
The coaching carousel, like the transfer portal, is ablaze this time of year. As usual, former Gators coach
Urban Meyer is the subject of speculation. Meyer is one of those coaches that NFL executives could see make the jump from college to the pros. Florida's
Dan Mullen and Oklahoma's
Lincoln Riley are two others according to this analysis from
Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports:
These days, anything passes for trash talk. Gators linebacker
James Houston IV made headlines when asked how the Gators stack up with the Sooners. Must have been a slow news day:
There is a lot of speculation whether senior receiver Toney might follow the lead of Pitts and opt-out of the bowl game. Toney has not made his choice public as of this writing, but should he decide to play, he has a chance to join select company writes
Zach Abolverdi of
The Gainesville Sun:
The
Keyontae Johnson recovery is nothing short of amazing and head coach
Mike White discussed Johnson's outlook on a call with reporters Monday.
Neil Blackmon wrote this perspective piece about Johnson over the holidays. It's worth checking out:
