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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – On Wednesday night, with the turkey in the oven at home and practice over, Florida head coach
Billy Napier prepared for an early practice on Thursday so the Gators could have some time off on Thanksgiving.
In a rare position during his three-year tenure, national and state media are suddenly praising Napier for keeping the Gators together through a tumultuous season. You would never know it by listening to him talk.
"This game is extremely challenging and the league that we play in, it is very competitive," Napier said. "So, oftentimes, you may work for a long period of time — days, weeks, months, years at a time — and you're not quite getting the outcome and the result that you want. But you have to continue working. You gotta have some courage."
Napier is coming off his most significant victory, an upset of No. 9-ranked Ole Miss and Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin, the man many fans clamored to replace Napier should UF make a coaching change.
"It was amazing,'' defensive tackle
Caleb Banks said. "It was a good feeling."
But Banks quickly pointed out that the ever-steady Napier ensured the team knew the victory was not about him. It was about
them.
When the Gators (6-5) returned to practice this week for Saturday night's regular-season finale at Florida State (2-9), that was the tone Napier established. He carried it until the team boarded buses to drive to Tallahassee on Friday afternoon.
"Trying to finish the race,'' Napier said. "That's been the message. We all know the magnitude of the game. Regardless of record or regardless of outcomes, this game is always a very significant one."
Florida faces Florida State in search of its first win over the Seminoles since 2021. FSU has won the past two meetings, including a 45-38 win two years ago that prompted fans to rush Bobby Bowden Field to celebrate.
Much like Napier, the Gators are in an unfamiliar position. They are a 14.5-point favorite on the road, only the second time this season they have been favored. Coming off back-to-back wins against LSU and Ole Miss, the Gators are now bowl-eligible, and if they beat FSU and win their bowl game, it will be Napier's first four-game win streak at Florida.
But the race is not over.
"We've been pretty good at ignoring the noise and having the right combination of humility and enthusiasm,'' Napier said. "When you're going through struggles, and you've had some setbacks, to be able to maintain your enthusiasm is really important."
Enthusiasm engulfs the Gators heading into their matchup with the Seminoles.
In this edition of
The Opening Kickoff, here is a closer look at the Florida-Florida State game:
THREE STORYLINES
- These two programs are going in different directions on the momentum meter. The Gators are hot, flipping FSU commitments and coming off their first back-to-back wins over ranked opponents since 2018. The Seminoles snapped a six-game losing streak a week ago by defeating FCS-classified Charleston Southern. Florida must avoid a letdown against FSU to keep its newfound optimism bubbling. Meanwhile, a win over the Gators would make FSU's season. The Seminoles haven't finished a season with less than three wins since a 1-10 campaign under Darrell Mudra 51 years ago. He is the man Seminoles legend Bobby Bowden replaced.
- The Gators and Seminoles have played 68 times, and Saturday is set up as the first time both will start a true freshman quarterback in the annual rivalry game. Florida's DJ Lagway and FSU's Luke Kromenhoek are no strangers. They were roommates at the Elite 11 quarterback camp and Florida recruited both. Lagway landed with the Gators and has been a difference-maker in Florida's recent surge. Kromenhoek is coming off his first career start and provided a boost with 209 yards and three touchdown passes.
- Lagway has received the bulk of attention, and rightfully so, for much of Florida's turnaround over the past seven games. Still, the Gators have shown significant improvement with a bend-but-don't-break defensive attack. The Gators allowed 27.3 points and 425.5 yards before the first bye week. In the seven games since Florida has limited opponents to 24.6 points and 395.0 yards per game. While the numbers show modest improvement, the Gators have recorded 22 sacks and 10 interceptions in the last seven games to help thwart opponents at critical moments.
THREE PLAYERS TO WATCH
- Florida DB Trikweze Bridges has excelled since moving into the starting lineup midseason. Bridges leads the team with 64 tackles and has 12 stops (six solo) in the past two games. He has also been solid in coverage to help ease the burden of losing starting cornerbacks Jason Marshall Jr. and Devin Moore to injuries. The Gators face the Seminoles without another injured defensive back, STAR Aaron Gates, who went down early in the game against Ole Miss and did not return. Napier said Gates will not play Saturday, which means the Gators will need veteran Bridges to continue to perform at a high level in a young secondary.
- Senior RB Montrell Johnson Jr. returned from injury to have a 107-yard game against the Rebels, including the go-ahead touchdown midway into the fourth quarter. Johnson followed Napier from Louisiana and does not know what a victory over the Seminoles feels like. He ran hard and physical against Ole Miss and needs just 64 yards to reach 3,000 for his career.
- Freshman LB Myles Graham took a while to find his footing, but Graham is playing the best of his young career. He had five tackles in the win over LSU and added four stops against Ole Miss. Graham is quick and has a lower center of gravity, which makes him a problematic roadblock to run through. Graham has 26 tackles, tops on the team among first-year players.
Jordan Castell, No. 14, has a personal stake in the Florida-Florida State rivalry. (Photo: Lorenzo Vasquez/UAA Communications)
FIVE QUESTIONS WITH … GATORS S JORDAN CASTELL
A sophomore from Orlando, Castell is the only UF defensive back to start every game this season. He knows a thing or two about the Florida-Florida State rivalry, too.
Jordan Castell
Q: What does this rivalry mean to you?
A: That game means a lot. I had family that's Florida State fans. My grandma, she graduated from Florida State. They beat us last year. The whole year I had to hear about it.
Q: What does she say to you?
A: You can't beat us, all that. I'm ready to talk after this game.
Q: She's pretty harsh, huh?
A: She likes to flip it. The first half she said she's going to wear her Florida jersey, my jersey. She said the last half she is going to take it off. I told her, once you take it off, just leave it off.
Q: How has the secondary held up with all the injuries?
A: I say it's just opportunity. Guys know they have to step up. That's something I had to do last year. My spot was open. I had to step up, take that part. Doing that last year and just having young guys that look up to me … making it easier for them, breaking it down.
Q: What did you see on the play against Ole Miss you delivered the big hit?
A: At first, I was just banging the buzz, trying to get him out the seam. As I was hinging, looking at the quarterback, reading the quarterback, as soon as I seen him throw it, I wanted him.
THREE DIGITS
13 – Consecutive games between Florida and Florida State from 1990-2000, including two Sugar Bowls, when both teams were ranked in the top 10.
11 – Consecutive games in the rivalry, including 2024, since both were ranked in the top 10 (2012: UF No. 6, FSU No. 10).
0 – UF coaches who have lost their first three games in the Florida-Florida State rivalry.
Billy Napier is 0-2 against the Seminoles and seeks to avoid that distinction.
INJURY REPORT
FLORIDA — OUT: DL
Jamari Lyons (ankle, out for season), WR
Kahleil Jackson (knee, out for season), QB
Graham Mertz (knee, out for season), WR
Eugene Wilson III (hip, out for season), CB
Jason Marshall Jr. (shoulder, out for season), DB
Ja'Keem Jackson (undisclosed), S
Asa Turner (leg), CB
Devin Moore (knee), RB
Treyaun Webb (leg, out for season), OL
Devon Manuel (undisclosed), DB Aaron Gators (knee).
QUESTIONABLE: LB
Grayson Howard (undisclosed), OL
Damieon George Jr. (lower body), OL
Roderick Kearney (undisclosed).
FLORIDA STATE — OUT: WR Deuce Spann (transfer portal), WR Destyn Hill (lower body), LB DJ Lundy (undisclosed), RB Jaylin Lucas (undisclosed), WR Camdon Frier (undisclosed),
Richie Leonard IV (undisclosed, out for season).
QUESTIONABLE: QB DJ Uiagalelei (hand), RB Roydell Williams (undisclosed), DB Fentrell Cypress (undisclosed), DE Marvin Jones Jr. (undisclosed), S Conrad Hussey (undisclosed), OL Jaylen Early (undisclosed).
NEWS, NOTES, NUGGETS
- Florida and Florida State are meeting for the 68th time, and 30th time in Tallahassee. The Gators lead the all-time series 37-28-2. The rivalry is tied 14-14-1 in Tallahassee.
- Only four of the last 16 matchups in the rivalry have been decided by single-digits, but the last three have: UF 24, FSU 21 (2021), FSU 45, UF 38 (2022) and FSU 24, UF 15 (2023).
- The Gators are coming off back-to-back wins over ranked teams as an unranked team for the first time in 21 years (2003 vs. No. 6 LSU, No. 11 Arkansas).
- Gators QB DJ Lagway has completed 12 passes of 40 or more yards, including a 41-yarder to WR Chimere Dike in last week's win over No. 9-ranked Ole Miss. Florida started three quarterbacks this season (Lagway, Graham Mertz and Aidan Warner) for the first time since 2017 (Feleipe Franks, Malik Zaire and Luke Del Rio).
- The Gators are averaging 32.8 points, 403.8 yards and 252.8 passing yards in Lagway's five starts. Florida is 4-1 in those games, its only loss to Georgia when Lagway left the game in the second quarter with a strained left hamstring.
- Florida's defense has combined for 20 tackles-for-loss, 10 sacks, 12 pass breakups, 10 quarterback hurries, three forced fumbles and two interceptions in the past two games, victories over LSU and Ole Miss.
- Florida S Bryce Thornton, who picked off two passes in the victory over Ole Miss, added a career-high 14 tackles, the most for a UF player this season.
- Gators DL Tyreak Sapp has a team-high 11 TFLs and career-high six sacks. Sapp has six TFLs in the last two games after five through the season's first nine games.
- Former Gators OL Richie Leonard IV, who transferred to FSU after last season, announced he is returning for a sixth season of eligibility in 2025. Leonard played in four games before a season-ending injury. Leonard played in 12 games a season ago at Florida and led UF's offensive line with 755 snaps.
- Montrell Johnson Jr., who rushed for 107 yards last week after missing three games due to injury, needs only six yards Saturday for a fourth consecutive season of 500 or more yards.
THEY SAID IT
- "I feel like we've never wavered in our confidence. We just know that every day we got to come in the building and go to work. Our confidence has been pretty consistent throughout the season." — Gators OL Knijeah Harris on team's mindset after LSU and Ole Miss wins
- "They're always very sticky in coverage, just by conceptually, the format of their defense, they are in good coverage position. They play with leverage. Oftentimes they are a gap short in the run game and they're doubling a lot of your skill guys. So, I think they do a really nice job. I have a ton of respect for the schematics of their defense, having played against it a couple years in a row." — Gators head coach Billy Napier on FSU's defense
- "It's going to take every bit of energy, focus, passion, fight that you have in your body for 60 minutes, or however long this game is called to go." — FSU coach Mike Norvell on his message to Seminoles playing in their first UF-FSU rivalry game
THEY WROTE IT
WHY GATORS WILL WIN
They show up ready to play against the downtrodden Seminoles. Lagway will take his share of shots down the field, but the Gators should be able to establish the run against a Florida State defense ranked 106th nationally (180.1 ypg). Meanwhile, Florida's resurgent pass rush will pressure Kromenhoek repeatedly if FSU falls behind and turns almost exclusively to the passing game.
WHY FSU WILL WIN
This is a bad FSU team that had not scored 21 points in a game until last week's victory over Charleston Southern. The Seminoles' best shot is to limit Florida's rushing game and force Lagway into multiple turnovers. If that happens, they will get the crowd into the game, and their confidence will grow. Otherwise, they will be lucky to stay within two scores if Lagway is on point and Florida's defense continues to play tough and hungry.
