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Florida has won 33 of the last 34 meetings with Kentucky, but the Gators are looking to make that 34 in 35 when they face the Wildcats on Saturday night in their first Southeastern Conference road game.
There’s no shortage of memorable games between the Gators (3-1, 1-1 SEC) and the Wildcats (4-0, 2-0), including “Doering’s got a touchdown” for a 24-20 road win in 1993. In 2019, the last time the Gators played in Kentucky, Kyle Trask came in for an injured Feleipe Franks, rallying the Gators from an 11-point deficit to defeat the Wildcats 29-21.
Florida has not lost to Kentucky in Lexington in 35 years. Until Kentucky defeated Florida in the Swamp in 2018, the Gators had a 31-game winning streak against the Wildcats. The Gators beat Kentucky 34-10 last year in Gainesville.
Saturday’s matchup pits the nation’s ninth-ranked offense — Florida with 540.8 yards per game — against the country’s ninth-ranked defense — Kentucky with 260.0 yards allowed per game.
“They’re a big, physical defense and that’s what they play but they have a lot of experience,” Dan Mullen said. “They understand the scheme inside and out. They’re very sound in what they do and when you have your guys that are confident in what they’re doing and they know the scheme and defense, they’re there and able to make plays.”
On the other side of the ball, Kentucky’s offense features new coordinator Liam Coen’s pro-set scheme, former Penn State quarterback Will Levis and wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson, a Nebraska transfer whose name Mullen may or may not have known before Monday’s news conference.
“It’s a much more difficult challenge than, say, last week,” Todd Grantham said of the Wildcats’ offense while also taking a dig at the Volunteers.
As for the Gators’ offense, Mullen said on Wednesday’s SEC coaches teleconference that Anthony Richardson is “100% ready to go. We’re excited to have him back and ready to go play. He’s a dynamic player.”
Emory Jones, who Mullen has said has a better grasp of the playbook, also said he’s “definitely excited” to get AR 15 back.
In this episode of Gators Breakdown, host David Waters and Will Miles discuss the status of a few players that have been banged up the last couple of weeks and Jones making his first true road game start against the Wildcats.
Both teams are coming off wins against SEC East teams: Florida’s 38-14 victory over Tennessee in Gainesville and Kentucky’s 16-10 win over South Carolina in Columbia.
David is joined by Kevin McGuffey, with Last Word on College Football, in the latest episode of Gators Breakdown to preview the Wildcats and look at how Florida stacks up against Kentucky.
The game on Saturday kicks off at 6 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN.
🟠 Orange featured in Gators’ uniforms for Saturday
The Gators will certainly stand out from all that Kentucky blue when they debut orange pants on Saturday for the first time this season.
To go along with the orange pants, the Gators will be wearing orange helmets and white jerseys.
See the photos of the uniforms released on the Gators Football Twitter account here.
🏟️ Week 5 features bigtime SEC matchups
While you’re waiting for Florida’s game to start Saturday night, both No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Georgia will have tests against SEC foes.
At noon, the Bulldogs will host No. 8 Arkansas, with the Razorbacks coming off a big win over Texas A&M and now going for a third victory against a ranked team, which they haven’t done since 2011.
In the SEC on CBS game of the week at 3:30 p.m., No. 12 Ole Miss, fresh off a bye week, will try to knock off the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa. Nick Saban’s record against his former assistant stands at 23-0, but could Lane Kiffin spoil that perfect record?
Other SEC games of intrigue include Mississippi State at No. 15 Texas A&M at 7 p.m., and Tennessee at Missouri.
Outside the SEC, there’s a top-10 matchup between No. 7 Cincinnati and No. 9 Notre Dame in South Bend.
Here’s who all of the AP Top 25 teams are playing in Week 5 (all games are on Saturday unless noted otherwise):
- No. 12 Ole Miss at No. 1 Alabama — 3:30 p.m.
- No. 8 Arkansas at No. 2 Georgia — Noon
- No. 3 Oregon at Stanford — 3:30 p.m.
- Indiana at No. 4 Penn State — 7:30 p.m.
- No. 5 Iowa at Maryland — 8 p.m. Friday
- No. 6 Oklahoma at Kansas State — 3:30 p.m.
- No. 7 Cincinnati at No. 9 Notre Dame — 2:30 p.m.
- No. 10 Florida at Kentucky — 6 p.m.
- No. 11 Ohio State at Rutgers — 3:30 p.m.
- No. 13 BYU at Utah State — 9 p.m. Friday
- No. 14 Michigan at Wisconsin — Noon
- Mississippi State at No. 15 Texas A&M — 7 p.m.
- Louisiana Monroe at No. 16 Coastal Carolina — 2:30 p.m.
- Western Kentucky at No. 17 Michigan State — 7:30 p.m.
- No. 18 Fresno State at Hawaii — 11 p.m.
- No. 21 Baylor at No. 19 Oklahoma State — 7 p.m.
- Arizona State at No. 20 UCLA — 10:30 p.m.
- No. 22 Auburn at LSU — 9 p.m.
- Louisiana Tech at No. 23 NC State — 6 p.m.
- Louisville at No. 24 Wake Forest — 12:30 p.m.
- Boston College at No. 25 Clemson — 7:30 p.m
Ex-players detail abuse by former Gators women’s basketball coach
Several former Florida women’s basketball players have accused former coach Cam Newbauer of abusive behavior during his time with the Gators.
According to a story published Monday in the student-run newspaper, The Independent Florida Alligator, Newbauer made verbal and racist comments toward players, degraded players with his actions and mistreated assistants.
Newbauer was hired in March 2017 and went 46-71 in his four seasons at Florida before resigning on July 16 due to personal reasons. His resignation came one month after he signed a three-year contract extension.
In a statement sent out to several media outlets, athletic director Scott Stricklin said they addressed issues that were brought to their attention each time. You can read that full statement here.
On Tuesday, Stricklin met with four members of the media, including the Associated Press, providing more details about what happened during Newbauer’s tenure.
“We, as a department, have a responsibility to provide our student-athletes leadership for their particular programs, their sports,” Stricklin said. “They’re going to provide them the best atmosphere possible, and we failed in this situation. And ultimately that’s my responsibility for the culture of this department.
“I’ll take responsibility for that. It’s incumbent upon us going forward to make sure — not just in women’s basketball but in all our sports — we have the right leadership, creating the right culture in those sports.”
Sticklin said in Newbauer’s “first year and a half, two years, we had some reported behavior that was a little concerning from a cultural standpoint.” Stricklin responded by “putting a lot more structure around” Newbauer and sending a senior staff member to practices and games.
Stricklin eventually gave Newbauer a contract extension to help with recruiting. Stricklin also altered Newbauer’s termination terms, which essentially made it a one-year deal.
Four months later, Stricklin said, Newbauer was involved in another situation that made it clear Newbauer was “still having an issue on the treatment part of people. And so we sat down, told him what his options were, and he chose to resign.”
Newbauer gets a $283,250 buyout that will be split into installments. Stricklin named Kelly Rae Finley interim head coach for the 2021-22 season and plans to hire a permanent replacement after the season.
You can read more details about what Stricklin told the four media members in the AP article.
Johnson not cleared to practice
Nearly 10 months after collapsing on the court, Keyontae Johnson has not been medically cleared to practice, Florida men’s basketball coach Mike White said Tuesday.
The AP reports White said Johnson will remain a key part of the team, and “Coach Key” resumed his role as an extra coach during the team’s first practice Tuesday.
“(We hope) he continues to be the awesome young man that he is, continues to stay ready for whatever’s ahead for him, continues to be a great person, a great teammate, an extension of our staff, of course,” White said. “He’s a big-time Gator. He’s a Gator great in my mind.
“No change in status. Has not been cleared to this point, but he’s very much a big part of what we’re doing.”
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