GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Let's just say it had been a while.
You know, one of those nights when the Gators win a big game, and a party breaks out in the orange-and-blue corners of social media.
Florida's 94-91 overtime win over Kentucky on Wednesday night at Rupp Arena served as the party starter.
First, what a game.
Next, the Gators seek to capitalize on the biggest win of the Todd Golden Era with a road win at Texas A&M on Saturday. If they play like they did at Rupp, I like their chances.
Riding the wave of victory, here are Three Tidbits for Gators fans:
1. Florida opened and closed January against the Wildcats. In their first meeting on Jan. 6 at the O'Dome, the Gators led much of the game before Kentucky freshman forward
Aaron Bradshaw hit a 3-pointer with 1:23 to play put the Wildcats in front for an 87-85 victory. Afterward, Kentucky coach
John Calipari praised the Gators. "They're going to win a lot of games,'' he said. Fast forward 25 days, and the Gators won their biggest game of the season behind seven 3-pointers from guard
Walter Clayton Jr. If you missed it, colleague
Chris Harry was in Lexington with the Gators and
filed this story. Meanwhile, the first question Calipari faced at his postgame press conference Wednesday was why the Wildcats didn't foul Clayton near the end of regulation. Clayton's 3-pointer with three seconds remaining forced overtime. "There was a little more time than we wanted. But everything we were doing was to make them shoot some, too,'' Calipari told reporters. "And the kid drove it in the lane and one of my guys just left his man and he threw it out. So, if we were going to foul with that much time against a really good rebounding team, it's just dangerous and I would rather play it out. And I thought they played it out pretty good." Fortunately for Florida, not good enough. If the Gators get hot and make a postseason run this season, Clayton's shot is one we'll look back to as an important moment.
2. The offseason retooling of his staff continues for Gators head coach
Billy Napier, whose latest addition is
Joe Houston, an assistant special teams coach for the New England Patriots the past four seasons. While the Gators have yet to make an official announcement, the news broke over the weekend. "Houston does a great job working with all the specialists and also working with the core guys as well,'' New England special teams coordinator
Cam Archord told reporters in October. "I always think it's a special opportunity when you have a guy that's done it before — felt the ball off his foot, kicked the ball off his foot. It's a guy that can really talk about how it's feeling where you're hitting the ball. Joe is a great resource for those guys." Houston was a kicker at Southern Cal under Trojans coaches
Pete Carroll and
Lane Kiffin. He made previous coaching stops at El Camino (Calif.) College, Toledo and Iowa State, and Houston was an analyst at Alabama in 2019. Houston will serve as a senior analyst for special teams and work alongside analyst
Chris Couch. Houston's transition to the NFL with the Patriots proved successful in the kicking game. Patriots kickers
Nick Folk (2020-22) and
Chad Ryland (2023) converted 110 of 129 field goals over that span (85.3 percent) according to SI.com, the ninth-best accuracy rate in the league. Florida converted 18 of 24 field goals last season (75 percent) as
Trey Smack (17 of 21) replaced
Adam Mihalek (1 of 3) early in the season.
3. Former Gators punter Tommy Townsend is headed back to the Super Bowl. In his fourth season with the Kansas City Chiefs, Townsend is a veteran presence on one of the NFL's marquee franchises, living in the same orbit as Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift. Townsend was Florida's starting punter in 2018 and '19, and after going undrafted in 2020, he signed with the Chiefs and played in the Super Bowl as a rookie when the Chiefs lost to the Tom Brady-led Bucs. Townsend won his first Super Bowl last season and has a chance for No. 2 when the Chiefs play the 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas on Feb. 11. Townsend is the fifth UF player to play on three teams that made it to the Super Bowl, joining former Dallas Cowboys Burton Lawless (1975, '77, '78), Emmitt Smith and Godfrey Miles (1992, '93, '95), and Steelers offensive lineman Max Starks (2005, '08, 11). Not bad for a guy who started his college career at Tennessee, transferred to Florida in the summer of 2016 and sat out a season due to NCAA transfer rules, and then watched his brother Johnny Townsend serve his final season as Florida's punter in 2017. Once Tommy got his opportunity, he made the most of it and look at him now, preparing for his third Super Bowl in four years. And look at his mom, Susan Townsend, who gets a celebratory hug from Tay Tay after Kansas City's win over the Ravens in the AFC Championship Game.
