This story first appeared in Chomp, our Gators football newsletter. Subscribe here.
Recommended Videos
Hey, Gators fans.
The bowl game wasn’t too much fun to watch over the weekend...
But hopefully we’ll get some cheer this holiday season during the three-day early signing period, which begins Wednesday.
We’ll recap all of that next week, but for now, we wanted to go ahead and break down Saturday’s loss.
And happy holidays to all of you! We’re thankful to all of you for continuing to stick with us and the Gators through all kinds of weather.
🔨 Oregon State smashes Florida in Las Vegas Bowl
Florida was dominated 30-3 by Oregon State in the 2022 SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl on Saturday, falling to 6-7 to end the 2022 season.
The high of the game: Kicker Adam Mihalek’s 40-yard field goal with 37 seconds left put the Gators on the scoreboard, keeping their NCAA-record scoring streak intact. Florida has now scored in a record 436 consecutive games — 57 games longer than any other college football team in history.
Jack Miller III made his debut at quarterback for the orange and blue, and it showed. The redshirt freshman who transferred from Ohio State completed 13 of 22 passes for 180 yards. He was elevated to starter after the dismissal of backup Jalen Kitna, who was arrested on child pornography charges, and the announcement by Anthony Richardson, who started every regular season game in 2022, that he declaring for the 2023 NFL draft and forgoing the bowl game.
GAME RECAP: Oregon State dominates Florida to win Las Vegas Bowl
The loss marked Florida’s third consecutive loss under coach Billy Napier in his first season leading the Gators and the program’s second 6-7 record in a row — its first back-to-back losing seasons since 1978 and 1979.
“Sometimes I think the result doesn’t necessarily show the growth we have observed. I think the dynamic within our team and our locker room, where we started to where we are at today, the connection there, the relationship piece — I think our issues on the field are execution specific. You are always working on the culture part, but I do think we made a ton of progress in that area. What I observed in that locker room compared with some of the things we may have observed when I first got here is a completely different ball club,” Napier said. “I think today is probably an outlier to some degree. I think we had some momentum there and some missed opportunities, particular late in the year. I think that is something we have to learn from, that experience.”
In the latest episode of Gators Breakdown, host David Waters gives his initial reaction to a disheartening finish to a disappointing season.
For Oregon State, the win brought them to 10 victories for the third time in program history and the first time in 16 years. It was also the Beaver’s first win over a Southeastern Conference team.
To start the 2023 season, Florida will face another Pac-12 team to start the 2023 season. The Gators will take a trip to Utah to take on the Utes, who won the 2022 Pac-12 championship and lost 29-26 to Florida in Gainesville to start the season.
“We are going to turn the page and come back and work harder than ever,” Napier said.
🏀 Gators to face Sooners in Jumpman Invitational
The Florida men’s basketball team and Oklahoma will meet in the Jumpman Invitational this week in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Gators are 7-4 in non-conference play, while the Sooners are 8-3.
Tipoff is at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, with the game airing on ESPN.
This is the Gators’ first return to Charlotte since their Final Four appearance in 1994.
In the Gators’ previous matchup last Wednesday evening, they crushed Ohio 82-48 at Amelie Arena in Tampa.
“In terms of building our program and where we are, beating a team like this by 34 is not easy to do,” said coach Todd Golden. “That means a lot. It’s really hard against a team like Ohio to do this.”
Guard Kowacie Reeves scored a season-high 20 points off the bench, guard Kyle Lofton added 15 points, forward Alex Fudge had 13 points, and guard Trey Bonham scored 12 points.
“Our next step as a program, as a team, will be finishing the job against a Quad 1 opponent,” Golden said. “And Oklahoma is an opportunity to do that next week.”
✉️ Send us your Gators thoughts & questions
David and I want to hear from you. Do you have any thoughts or questions about the Gators football program? Agree or disagree with something we’ve said? Let us know here, and we’ll share our responses to your questions.
🎙️ Listen to more Gators Breakdown
You can catch up on previous episodes of Gators Breakdown at News4JAX.com/GatorsBreakdown or click one of the following to tune in: Megaphone | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | Google Podcasts | Stitcher