His work paid off on the biggest stage in college basketball.

Simpson rattled in a tiebreaking jumper from the baseline with 2 seconds left, and 10th-seeded Colorado beat seventh-seeded Florida in a 102-100 thriller in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday. He finished with 23 points, five rebounds and five assists to set up Sunday’s South Region matchup against Marquette.

“We always go through preparation with time and score, situations like that in practice, and it was just another one of those times,” Simpson said. “Obviously, it was a play that was set up for multiple actions out of it. I happened to break free, was looking to just drive and create something, whatever was the best lane, and noticed the defender got a little off balance. I just shot what I shoot a bunch of times.”

Simpson’s shot hung on the rim for a moment before dropping through the net. When Walter Clayton Jr.’s half-court heave missed for Florida, the Buffaloes began a wild celebration led by 6-foot-11, 285-pound Eddie Lampkin Jr. running around the court, nodding his head and yelling with fans.

The Buffs (26-10) and Gators (24-12) produced the most impressive offensive game so far in this year’s March Madness, showing no fatigue after both played in conference title games. Colorado beat Boise State in the First Four on Wednesday, then extended its single-season school record for wins.

Barely.

“I thought to myself at halftime, if we don’t start guarding better … we’ve got to score 100 to win tonight,” Colorado coach Tad Boyle said. “And we needed 102. Actually we only needed 101, but we got 102.”

The Buffs’ astonishing offensive totals: 34 of 54 (63%) from the field, 6 of 10 on 3-pointers and 28 of 33 (84.8%) on free throws. The Gators made five more 3s (11 of 25) and shot 51.5% overall (35 of 68) to keep pace.

Colorado was nearly unstoppable for a long stretch in the second half and led 94-81 with 4:28 to play. Then Clayton single-handedly rallied the Gators, taking advantage of the Buffs’ mistakes and scoring Florida’s final 16 points.

Clayton converted a three-point play with 1:12 left. He buried a 3 with 37 seconds left to get Florida within 99-96, and then pulled up from well outside the arc for the tying basket to make it 100-all with 9 seconds left.

Clayton finished with a career-high 33 points. Simpson guarded him late, without much success.

“I thought he was right there a lot of times,” Boyle said of Simpson. “We were right there. He just made some tough shots. That last 3 at the end, I don’t think it was bad defense, we just came down and he raised up. He’s a good player.”

Lampkin scored 21 points for Colorado. Tristan da Silva added 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting, and J’Vonne Hadley had 16 as all five Buffs starters scored in double figures.

Will Richard scored 15 points and Zyon Pullin had 13 for Florida, which had won its previous nine first-round games, dating to a 2010 double-overtime loss to Brigham Young.

WHISTLE STOP

The Buffs appeared to swing the game their way when Florida coach Todd Golden drew a technical foul after Lampkin made a layup. Colorado converted that into a five-point play for an 82-72 lead with 7:44 to go.

Golden said he’s only received three technicals in his coaching career.

“It was just a confusing situation, a very delayed and-one call and then explain that he tried to blow his whistle, but his whistle wasn’t working,” Golden said. “But nobody saw him call foul until about five seconds after the play. I wasn’t very happy about it.”

Twice, referee Eric Curry raised his hand in the air to call a foul and blew into a whistle that made no sound. The first one led to the technical. After the second, Curry swapped out his whistle for one held by standby ref James Hicks.

“it’s never happened to me in my coaching career where somebody’s whistle doesn’t work and then five seconds later, we’re finding out it’s an and-one,” Golden said.

HONORING HANDLOGTEN

Florida’s players wore warmup shirts with injured teammate Micah Handlogten’s name and jersey number, 3, on the back. The 7-foot sophomore, who broke his left leg in last weekend’s Southeastern Conference Tournament championship game loss to Auburn, sat behind the bench.

The Gators were playing in the city where they first reached the NCAA title game in 2000 and then won their first of back-to-back national titles six years later. Former quarterback Anthony Richardson, now with the Indianapolis Colts, was in attendance, dressed in a bright orange shirt.UP NEXT

Colorado will try to win its third game in five days when it faces the second-seeded Golden Eagles.

Coach Todd Golden, who knelt over his player while Handlogten laid on the court, said he felt for the young center after the Gators lost 86-67 to No. 12 Auburn.

“You just hate to see it for him because he does everything the right way and works hard,” said Golden as he fought to control his emotions postgame. “That’s a super fluky injury you know that you don’t see very often in this game. Playing a big-time game like this, to go out that way, I just feel for him.”

Golden also thanked the medical staff from Florida, Auburn and the SEC for the quick response treating Handlogten. Florida officials were expecting Handlogten to have surgery later Sunday at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Handlogten had two rebounds in two minutes and was trying to come down with a third when he landed awkwardly on his left foot. He immediately went down in pain and rolled onto his side, putting his hands to his face.

The sound of bone apparently breaking could be heard on TV with blood immediately visible on the back of his calf.

Play continued as Aden Holloway took a pass and finished a layup on the other end for No. 12 Auburn. Play then stopped as trainers rushed out to tend to Handlogten, and everyone inside Bridgestone Arena went silent.

Auburn coach Bruce Pearl noted players from both teams returned to their benches and prayed. The Tigers’ pastor had tears in his eyes because he came to Auburn from Marshall and knew both Handlogten and his family.

“That’s the SEC,” Pearl said.

Handlogten’s parents were brought to the court from their seats in the stands. His mother, Danielle, wearing his No. 3 jersey, kneeled near his head as her son was treated on the court with his father, Ben, close by.

They stood together as Handlogten’s leg was placed inside an air cast before he was placed on a backboard, then lifted onto a stretcher. Teammates came over to him as Handlogten was taken off the court. Fellow sophomore Riley Kugel could be seen crying on the Florida bench.

Golden tried to use halftime to help his Gators refocus as they trailed 38-30.

The 7-foot-1 Handlogten ranked 11th nationally, averaging 2.3 shots blocked per game at Marshall where he was the Sun Belt Conference freshman of the year. He transferred to Florida, and the native of Huntersville, North Carolina, started 22 of 33 games including Sunday’s tournament final.

Handlogten came into this game ranked fourth nationally in offensive rebounding percentage. Forward Tyrese Samuel said Handlogten is so valuable to the Gators and they tried to focus with a SEC title on the line.

“Losing him really kind of affected us,” Samuel said. ”We’re going to go out there next week and keep on playing for him.”

With losses by regular season champ Tennessee and No. 2 seed Kentucky earlier Friday, this marked the first time the SEC’s top three seeds all lost their tournament openers since 1983. That tournament was played in Birmingham, Alabama, and Georgia won the title and wound up reaching the Final Four.

Zyon Pullin added 19 points, Tyrese Samuel had 18, Alex Condon 12 and Will Richard had 10 for Florida (23-10). The Gators will face No. 7 seed Texas A&M, a 97-87 winner over ninth-ranked Kentucky, in the semifinals Saturday.

This is Florida’s first berth in the semifinals since 2019 and second since winning its last SEC Tournament title in 2014. The Gators have won this tournament four times.

“Alabama’s a great team, but we beat them pretty comfortably tonight and I thought it was a great effort from our group,” Florida coach Todd Golden said.

Alabama (21-11) came in having won the SEC regular-season title and tournament championship two of the past three years under coach Nate Oats. Now the Crimson Tide is heading home early to start preparing for Sunday’s NCAA Tournament bracket announcement.

Mark Sears led Alabama with 22 points. Aaron Estrada added 17, Nick Pringle finished with 12 and Grant Nelson had 11.

The Crimson Tide scored the first eight points. Florida tied it up at 17 and again at 31. Then the Gators seized control with a 21-2 run to finish the half and take a 48-33 lead into the locker room.

“We’ve got to be better,” Oats said. “I’ve got to do a better job. Maybe I probably should’ve called a timeout in the middle of that six minutes there at the end of the half.”

The Gators started the second half where they left off, scoring the first four points and avoiding another slow start.

“Obviously a concerning start going down 8-0 in the first two minutes,” Golden said of the Gators’ slow start. “But after that, I thought we played fantastic the rest of the way.”

Florida led by as much as 82-58 on its way to scoring 100 points against Alabama for a second straight game between the teams.

Oats said his players have to decide how bad they want to win the NCAA Tournament, which means playing defense for a full 40 minutes.

“You decide to take 24 minutes off on the defensive end, it’s going to be hard to beat anybody in the NCAA Tournament,” Oats said.

BIG PICTURE

Florida: The Gators split during the regular season with Alabama, losing 98-93 in overtime on the road and winning 105-87 in Gainesville. The Gators advanced to the quarterfinals with an 85-80 victory over Georgia in the opening round. … They had a big edge at the free throw line, knocking down 31 of 36 compared to 16 of 23 for Alabama.

Alabama: Oats now is 7-2 in SEC Tournament games. He has signed an extension that will go to the Board of Regents next week. … Latrell Wrightsell, in his second game after returning from a concussion, was 0 for 4 from 3-point range. Ryland Griffen, who missed the last regular-season game with a strained calf, went 1 of 5.

UP NEXT

Florida lost 67-66 at Texas A&M during the regular season.

Florida (21-10, 11-7 SEC) came into the game riding high following a 105-87 win over No. 16 Alabama in its home finale Tuesday. The Gators advance to the conference tournament in Nashville as the No. 6 seed with a berth in Thursday’s second round. Vanderbilt (9-22, 4-14) will play a first-round tournament game Wednesday.

Florida started the second half with a 39-32 lead, but the Commodores rallied in their final home game, pulling even at 43-43 on a Lubin layup five minutes into the half. The Gators went back in front and Zyon Pullin’s layup with six minutes left gave them a 67-59 lead. Lubin hit a 3 and followed it with a layup to ignite a 9-2 run to get the Commodores within one, 69-68 with 2:41 left. Lubin tied the game at 73-73 a minute later.

Pullin hit two free throws with 35 seconds left to make it 78-75 and Lubin missed a 3-pointer to tie, but JaQualon Roberts snared the offensive rebound, drew a foul and hit both free throws to make it 78-77 with 24 seconds left. Lawrence forced a turnover and scored at the basket for the lead.

Lubin matched his season-high with 25 points and 11 rebounds to lead Vanderbilt. Lawrence finished with 14 points and seven rebounds.

Pullin scored 20 points and dished eight assists to lead Florida. Tyrese Samuel scored 16 points and Walter Clayton Jr. added 14.

The latest evidence came Saturday when Meechie Johnson had 25 points, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 43.4 seconds left, to fuel South Carolina’s rally from 10 points down in the second half in an 82-76 victory over No. 24 Florida.

“Lots of doubts around these guys,” Paris, the second-year coach, said with a grin. His team was picked by the media to finish last in the Southeastern Conference in October. Now, entering the final week of the regular season, the Gamecocks (24-5, 12-4) have a chance to win a conference title.

“I knew what we had, I knew what our guys were about,” said Paris, who went 11-21 his first season a year ago. “I knew we had winning guys, who wanted to win.”

That was evident in the second half when they came back from 56-46 down to win for the 10th time in their past 12 games.

Johnson led the way with 21 of his points in the final 20 minutes. He also had two critical steals as Florida tried to regain the lead. Johnson had three tie-breaking shots in the final five minutes, including his 3-pointer from the left elbow extended that put the Gamecocks ahead for good.

“I just felt good. I felt confident,” said Johnson, the Ohio State transfer.

The Gators (20-9, 10-6) had relied on strong defense to build their second-half lead, but could not contain Johnson, the team’s top scorer this season. His driving layup with five minutes to play gave South Carolina its first lead since early in the game, 65-63.

Florida tied things at 74-all with 1:12 left on Walter Clayton Jr.’s sixth 3-pointer before Johnson struck for the game-winner.

Collin Murray-Boyles, a freshman, finished with his first career double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Jacobi Wright had 16 points, 12 in the first half, to keep South Carolina close enough to rally down the stretch.

Clayton had 20 points and Zyon Pullin scored 18 for the Gators.

THE BIG PICTURE

Florida: The Gators, tied for fourth in the SEC coming in, had won nine of their past 11 and looked on the way to another victory. Their late fade may have cost them a shot at a top-four seed and a little extra rest before the SEC Tournament in two weeks.

South Carolina: The Gamecocks, third in the league, have a legit shot at coming away with an SEC title if they can beat No. 4 Tennessee in the season’s last home game.

DEFENSIVE CHANGE

Part of South Carolina’s comeback was a change in defense to a 1-3-1 zone. The switch worked with the Gamecocks forcing eight of Florida’s 12 turnovers in the winning rally. “We weren’t that aggressive in attacking it and we turned it over a lot,” Florida coach Todd Golden said.

UP NEXT

Florida: Closes its home season against Alabama on Tuesday night.

South Carolina: Ends its home season against Tennessee on Wednesday night.

Walter Clayton Jr. had 19 points for the Gators, who shot 46.7% from the field and 37.5% from 3-point range. Tyrese Samuel had 15 points.

“Our guys were super unselfish,” Florida coach Todd Golden said. “I feel like we had really good synergy on the floor.”

The Gators (19-8, 9-5 Southeastern Conference) are ranked in the AP Top 25 for the first time since December 2021. They bounced back from a 98-93 overtime loss Wednesday night to No. 13 Alabama.

Alex Condon, who was elbowed in the head by Alabama’s Mohamed Wague on Wednesday, finished with eight points and nine rebounds. Wague was suspended for one game by the SEC for the hit.

“Played great,” Samuel said of Condon. “He stayed solid, made sure he didn’t foul out today, made his free throws. It’s good for us.”

Vanderbilt (7-20, 2-12) did not lead in the game. The Commodores shot 35.7% from the field and 22.7% from 3.

Ven-Allen Lubin led the team with 15 points. Ezra Manjon and Evan Taylor had 10 points each.

The Commodores have won just four games since Nov. 24.

“We’ve got this team again in a couple of weeks and I think we found out something about them and their lack of handling pressure,” Vanderbilt coach Jerry Stackhouse said. “So maybe we can incorporate that a little bit more next time.”

Florida’s Zyon Pullin had two points, snapping his streak of 23 games in a row with double-digit scoring. That was the third-longest streak in school history.

“He’s a guy who’s been over double figures in every game and someone we’ve relied upon to get baskets for us a lot over the season,” Golden said. “So for him to only get two and for us to get close to 80 was really good to see. I’m not sure how many point guards in America you’d rather have right now.”

BIG PICTURE

Vanderbilt: The Commodores are at risk of recording their lowest SEC win total since Stackhouse took over the program ahead of the 2019-20 season. Vanderbilt has never finished a season with fewer than three conference wins under Stackhouse.

Florida: The Gators have just about locked up an NCAA Tournament appearance. They’ll get a rematch with the Crimson Tide on March 5.

UP NEXT

Vanderbilt: Visits Arkansas on Tuesday night.

Florida: Hosts Missouri on Wednesday.

Haugh’s driving layup with 1:47 remaining put the Gators ahead 83-77 then Noah Thomason hit a 3-pointer to get Georgia within 83-80. With 50 seconds left, Haugh grabbed the offensive rebound off a missed 3-pointer and drew a foul from Thomason. Haugh hit 1 of 2 free throws for an 84-80 lead and the Gators closed out the win when Zyon Pullin made four free throws in the final 22 seconds.

After shooting 60% in the first half and leading 46-40 at halftime, Georgia opened the second half in a 1-for-9 shooting slump and Florida surged ahead 61-53. Clayton scored seven points and Alex Condon five to lead the Gators’ rally. Florida also turned eight Georgia turnovers into 11 points in the first 11 minutes of the second half.

Georgia didn’t hit its second shot in the second half until Blue Cain hit a 3-pointer to make it 63-60 near the nine-minute mark. But the Bulldogs were cashing in at the free-throw line, making 11 of 15 in those first 11 minutes of the half. Two free throws by Jabri Abdur-Rahim made it 63-62 going into the under-8 timeout.

Pullin finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists for Florida (18-7, 8-4 SEC), which won for the seventh time in the past eight games. Condon and Will Richard finished with 10 points each for the Gators.

Thomason scored 26 points to lead Georgia (14-11, 4-8). Russel Tchewa scored 15 points, Justin Hill 14 and Abdur-Rahim 10.

Georgia made 9 of 10 shots to open the game, including four in a row from Thomason. The Bulldogs led 22-11 after a couple of free throws from Hill.

Florida kept it close by hitting five 3-pointers in the final 10 minutes of the half. Haugh hit the last of those 3-pointers to get the Gators within 42-40 with 2 1/2 minutes left but Hill and Thomason hit jumpers to give Georgia a 46-40 lead at the break. Thomason scored 17 in the first half on 7-of-10 shooting, including 3 of 5 3-pointers.

Florida leads the all-time series 124-103 with an 11-game winning streak that dates to the 2020 season.

Florida plays at Alabama on Wednesday. Georgia hits the road and will play at Vanderbilt on Wednesday.

The Gators (16-7, 6-4 Southeastern Conference) extended their home-winning streak against the slightly favored Tigers to 15 and picked up their second Quad 1 victory in two weeks. This one came in surprising fashion.

Florida dominated Auburn (19-5, 8-3) from the opening tip and — for a change — never let up. Coach Todd Golden’s team had lost three games this season (Wake Forest, Texas A&M and Kentucky) after leading at halftime and squandered huge leads before eking out wins against Georgia and Mississippi State late last month.

But Florida turned in its most complete game of the season, leading Auburn by as many as 29 in the second half, and may have done enough to lift itself off the proverbial NCAA bubble for good.

Zyon Pullin chipped in 19 points for the Gators, who shot 40% from the field and made 7 of 21 from 3-point range.

Florida scored the first nine points of the game and opened a 17-point lead midway through the first half thanks mostly to guard play. Clayton, Kugel and Pullin proved to be a handful for Auburn’s backcourt.

And the Tigers’ perceived advantage in the paint with Johni Broome never materialized. Broome, who leads Auburn in scoring with 16 points a game, finished with 12 points and seven boards. He had just five points with 10 to play and missed seven of eight free throws.

K.D. Johnson also scored 12 points for the Tigers. Auburn, which last won in Gainesville in 1996, missed 14 of 17 shots from behind the arc.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Auburn could fall some in the next AP college basketball poll, but the Tigers also enjoyed an impressive home victory against rival and 16th-ranked Alabama earlier in the week.

BIG PICTURE

Auburn: The Tigers looked poised to end a decades-long skid in Gainesville, but the O’Dome has been the program’s house of horrors since 1996. A road loss in league play, though, does little to impact Auburn’s chances of winning the SEC and potentially getting a top seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Florida: The Gators needed another Quad 1 win to bolster their NCAA resume. They won at Kentucky to end January and added another solid victory against the Tigers to give them a little more margin for error down the stretch.

HOMETOWN HERO

Former Florida star and Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson got a standing ovation while being introduced in the first half. Richardson, a Gainesville native, sat courtside with a friend and was shown on camera dancing the team’s mascot, Alberta.

UP NEXT

Auburn hosts South Carolina on Wednesday.

Florida hosts LSU on Tuesday.

Zyon Pullin hit a jumper to put Florida up 66-64 with 3:04 remaining, but the Gators would not score again. Radford made the second of two free throws with 2:37 to go and buried a go-ahead jumper with 35 seconds left. Florida had three shots at the winning basket on its final possession but could not get one to fall.

Radford made 10 of 16 shots with two 3-pointers and 4 of 7 free throws for the Aggies (13-8, 4-4 Southeastern Conference), adding five rebounds. Wade Taylor IV scored 15 but made just 5 of 18 shots, including 1 of 6 from beyond the arc. Solomon Washington had 10 points and Andersson Garcia pitched in with nine points and six rebounds off the bench.

Pullin led the Gators (15-7, 5-4) with 18 points and eight assists. Will Richard and reserve Riley Kugel both scored 12. Kugel added five rebounds and four assists.

Pullin had a hand in 20 first-half points, scoring 12 with four assists, and Kugel hit three 3-pointers and scored 10 as Florida took a 40-34 lead. Radford had 15 points to help keep Texas A&M close.

Richard hit a pair of 3-pointers to begin the second half and Florida upped its advantage to 12. Texas A&M whittled away at the lead until Taylor sank a 3-pointer and scored the last five in a 7-0 run to give the Aggies a 57-55 lead with 8:44 left to play.

Pullin hit a jumper to put Florida up 66-64 at the 3:04 mark, but the Gators would not score again.

Texas A&M has won five in a row over the Gators by a total of nine points.

Florida, which had a four-game win streak end, was coming off a 94-91 overtime victory at No. 10 Kentucky. Walter Clayton Jr. hit career-best seven 3-pointers and scored 23 to lead the way. It was the Gators’ first win over a top-10 team on the road since 2003. That year 11th-ranked Florida beat No. 7 Mississippi State 74-66. The Aggies held Clayton to eight points.

Texas A&M travels to play Missouri on Wednesday. Florida will host No 16 Auburn on Feb. 10.

The Gators made 5 of 7 shots in the extra period, with one of them a putback by Will Richard, and all seven free throws. That hot shooting came after they went 3 of 11 over the last 7 1/2 minutes of regulation with a 16-point lead.

Pullin opened overtime scoring with a three-point play, but it stayed a one-possession game until Blue Cain, Georgia’s hero in regulation, missed a 3-pointer. Pullin hit a jumper for a 94-89 lead halfway through. Richard pushed the lead to 96-89 with just under a minute left.

It was 100-98 when RJ Melendez converted a turnover into a deep 3 with 6.5 seconds let, but Pullin iced it at the line with 5.7 to go.

Richard and Walter Clayton Jr. both had 18 points and Alex Condon had 10 for the Gators (14-6, 4-3 SEC). Pullin distributed eight assists and grabbed rebounds. Handlogten, who had a 20-point, 19-rebound game as a freshman at Marshal, had seven offensive boards and was 10-of-13 shooting. Florida had a 48-27 rebounding advantage, 16-8 on the offensive end for a 12-3 advantage in second-chance points.

Melendez scored a career-high 35 points on 13-of-19 shooting with six 3s. Russel Tchewa had 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting with 11 rebounds for Georgia (14-6, 4-3). Cain had 14 points, 10 in the last 3:16 of regulation when Georgia closed on a 13-2 run, including the last 10.

Georgia had 11 3s and shot 52% (39 of 75) overall. Florida shot 55% (39 of 71) with seven 3s and made 17 of 20 from the foul line.

Richard led the Gators in the first half, scoring 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting and Clayton added 11, making 3 of 5 from 3-point range. The 5-of-9 shooting behind the arc and 59% overall led to a 47-24 lead.

Melendez kept the Bulldogs, who shot 39%, relatively close, with three 3s and 13 points.

Condon’s jumper five minutes into the second half had Florida’s lead at 62-41 and the teams traded baskets until a Georgia 12-2 run had the lead down to 11 with 9:14 to play.

Florida pushed the lead back to 16 and it was 81-67 with 5:35 to play before a closing 18-4 run.

Florida plays at No. 6 Kentucky on Wednesday when Alabama plays at Georgia.

Samuel made 5 of 9 shots and 7 of 12 free throws for the Gators (12-6, 2-3 Southeastern Conference). Walter Clayton Jr. sank three 3-pointers and scored 15. Will Richard and Zyon Pullin scored 13 and 11, respectively. Micah Handlogten had 10 points and 13 rebounds for his second double-double this season.

Tamar Bates scored a career-high 36 points for the Tigers (8-10, 0-5). Bates made 13 of 21 from the field with a 3-pointer and all nine of his foul shots. His previous high was 25 points, set earlier this season. Nick Honor hit two 3-pointers and scored 10. Bates is the only player in the country who shoots 50% from the floor, 40% from 3-point range and 90% at the free-throw line.

Clayton had nine points on 3-for-4 shooting from 3-point range, Samuel scored eight and Florida took a 37-34 lead into halftime. Missouri led 16-12 on Noah Carter’s jumper with 11:16 remaining. Clayton put the Gators up 22-20 with a 3-pointer at the 6:51 mark. Honor’s 3-pointer pulled Missouri even at 32 with 2:39 to go. Samuel hit the second of two free throws and Handlogten followed with a dunk to give the Tigers the three-point lead.

Florida grabbed the first double-digit advantage when Riley Kugel’s 3-pointer put the Gators up 63-52 with 7:36 left to play and Missouri got no closer than 10 from there.

The Gators lead the all-time series 10-4 and have a 4-3 record in Columbia.

Missouri travels to play Texas A&M on Tuesday. Florida returns home to play Mississippi State on Wednesday.

Tyrese Samuel scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for Florida (11-5, 1-2 SEC), which also ended a two-game skid after going 6-0 in December.

Kugel, who didn’t score while playing about four minutes in the Gators’ 103-85 loss at Mississippi on Wednesday, was 8-of-14 shooting and made a pair of 3s against Arkansas. Zyon Pullin added 15 points for the Gators. Will Richard chipped in 13 points and Walter Clayton Jr. had 11.

Layden Blocker scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half to lead Arkansas (9-7, 0-3). Jeremiah Davenport scored all 13 of his points in the first half for the Razorbacks, but he was 0 of 2 from the floor and played just eight minutes in the second. Tramon Mark and Joseph Pinion added 12 points apiece.

Florida opened on a 27-9 run and led 46-33 at the break. Pullin scored 11 first-half points, Clayton added nine and Kugel eight for the Gators, who made four 3-pointers and shot 49% overall in the first half.

The Gators opened the second half on a 13-4 run and led 57-37. Samuel scored six points during the surge and capped it with a dunk. Pinion’s 3 pulled Arkansas to 58-44 with 14:33 remaining, but the Razorbacks didn’t get closer.

Florida is on the road against fifth-ranked Tennessee on Tuesday.

Arkansas will look to end its three-game losing skid when it hosts Texas A&M on Tuesday.

The 7-foot-1 freshman hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 1:27 to play — just his third of the season — and No. 6 Kentucky rallied to beat Florida 87-85 on Saturday in the first Southeastern Conference opener between the rivals in 26 years.

Bradshaw finished with 10 points and seven rebounds for the Wildcats (11-2), who won their fifth in a row and ninth in 10 games.

This one went Florida’s way for most of the afternoon, right up until coach John Calipari called a shot for his big man coming out of a timeout. Bradshaw set a ball screen and then got the ball back for a straight-on trey that was nothing but net.

It silenced many of the 10,000-plus on hand in the O’Connell Center.

“It was fun. I like that,” Bradshaw said. “That’s a really good team. I find it real, real gratifying. It was real fun. I’m not going to lie. It was real fun playing in front of them and against them.”

Bradshaw entered the game having made two of three from behind the arc, so the Gators knew he could shoot. But he surely wasn’t atop the watch list.

“If you would have told me they were going to need a 3 from their freshman big to dagger you guys, you’d probably live with that,” Florida coach Todd Golden said. “He beat us with that shot. We didn’t really beat ourselves with that shot.”

The Gators (10-4) led by as many as 11 in the first half and were up for nearly 30 of the 40 minutes. But they went cold down the stretch, going scoreless for nearly three minutes in the waning minutes, and then fell behind on Bradshaw’s shot with the game tied at 76.

Kentucky never trailed again, thanks partly to Reed Sheppard hitting six free throws in the final 19 seconds to ice it.

Antonio Reeves led the Cats with 19 points, and D.J. Wagner added 14. Sheppard also had 14. Kentucky made 12 of 13 from the charity stripe after missing the front end of consecutive one-and-ones late.

“This is where you find out where you are right now,” Calipari said, praising his team for never backing down in a hostile environment. “I don’t care if they’re young. They’re dogs. They have a will to win.”

Florida’s six-game winning streak came to an end. Zyon Pullin and Walter Clayton led the Gators with 23 points apiece. Riley Kugel added 15 off the bench.

But Florida got little from starters Tyrese Samuel and Will Richard. Samuel scored three points on 1-of-6 shooting, and Richard missed all eight shots and finished with two points.

Equally problematic for Golden: His team missed 10 of 11 from 3-point range after making eight — including two bank shots — in the first half.

“We missed some really good looks,” Golden said. “One shot here, one turnover there is the difference. … I thought it was a missed opportunity.”

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Kentucky could move up when the next AP college basketball rankings are released Monday.

BIG PICTURE

Kentucky: Calipari has his best team in years, one that entered the game averaging 91.1 points. The Wildcats could see that number dip in league play, but maybe not by much as evidenced by the opener.

Florida: The Gators are as talented and deep as they’ve been in a decade and will be a tough out in SEC play. They were actually favored by 3 1/2 entering the game, a clear nod to what’s going on in Gainesville.

“It’s all part of the growth of where we want to get,” Golden said. “But we led for 30 minutes. Shoot, that’s going to sting.”

UP NEXT

Kentucky: Hosts Missouri on Tuesday.

Florida: Plays at No. 22 Ole Miss on Wednesday.

Zyon Pullin, making his third start this season with Riley Kugel sitting out with a foot bruise, added 14 points and six assists for Florida (9-3). Pullin had a team-high 22 points in a 106-104 double-overtime win over Michigan in the Jumpman Invitational on Tuesday.

Thomas Haugh added 13 points and Denzel Aberdeen 11 for the Gators, who shot 62%, including 11 of 21 from the arc. They were plus-13 on the boards and outscored the Tigers 50-32 in the paint.

Antwan Burnett scored 14 points, Jourdan Smith 11 and Jalen Johnson 10 for the Tigers (2-10).

Florida never trailed and broke a tie with 11 straight points early in the game. Grambling got back within four with nine consecutive points capped by Terrence Lewis’ 3-pointer midway through the half but 3-pointers by Richard and Walter Clayton Jr. bookended a 12-0 run and the Gators led by double figures thereafter, going ahead 44-27 by halftime.

Florida is host to Quinnipiac on Dec. 30. Grambling is host to College of Biblical Studies on Jan. 2.

Samuel scored 18 points and gathered 14 rebounds for Florida (6-3). Zyon Pullin scored 14 points off the bench and Riley Kugel added 11. Micah Handlogten grabbed 10 rebounds.

Back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers from Richard helped give Florida a 62-46 lead at the under-12 timeout in the second half, but Richmond bounced right back. The Spiders got a jumper and a 3-pointer from Neal Quinn and Dji Bailey’s layup got Richmond within 62-53.

Richard delivered a three-point play to help the Gators go back ahead by double digits and the Spiders got within single digits just twice more in the final eight minutes, the second coming on a 3-pointer from Mikkel Tyne that made it 74-66 with 5:51 to go. But Pullin hit a 3 for Florida and the Gators held Richmond to one field goal until Tyne hit another 3-pointer with eight seconds left.

The starters dominated the stat sheet for Richmond (5-5). Quinn had 17 points, six assists and five rebounds; Isaiah Bigelow had 17 points and seven rebounds; Tyne hit five 3s and scored 16 points; Jordan King had 14 points, six rebounds and six assists; and Bailey had six steals.

In the first half, consecutive 3s by Jason Roche had Richmond within a point at 18-17 just inside the 10-minute mark. Three pointers by Handlogten and Pullin a few minutes later helped Florida go up by eight, then a five-point stretch by Kugel gave the Gators a 36-25 advantage. The Gators went on to lead 40-30 at the half.

Florida plays East Carolina in the Florida Tip-Off on Thursday in Lakeland, Florida. Richmond has a home game against Charlotte on Saturday.

Trey Benson ran for three touchdowns, including a 26-yarder on third down with less than three minutes to play, and No. 5 Florida State beat rival Florida 24-15 on Saturday night to extend its winning streak to 18.

Benson finished with 95 yards on 19 carries — he also got to break the rock in the postgame locker room — and took pressure off new quarterback Tate Rodemaker as the Seminoles (12-0) moved a victory from a potential spot in the College Football Playoff.

“It was an impressive rally for our team,” said coach Mike Norvell, whose team outscored Florida 24-3 after falling behind early.

It was a less-than-ideal finale for Florida (5-7), which lost its fifth consecutive game and will miss out on a bowl for the first time since 2017. Coach Billy Napier’s team had two players ejected, suffered more gaffes on special teams and failed to hold a fourth-quarter lead for the fourth consecutive week.

“We’ve got to learn to finish games,” Napier said.

The ‘Noles trailed 12-0 in the second quarter but were dominant in the second half, holding Florida to 48 yards in the final 30 minutes and minus-15 yards in the fourth quarter. FSU finished with six sacks, including 2 1/2 by standout Jared Verse.

With star quarterback Jordan Travis watching from the visiting athletic director’s suite with his left leg in a walking boot, Rodemaker came up huge when it mattered most. He completed a dart to Ja’Khi Douglas on a fourth-and-3 play from the Florida 34 in the fourth. It set up a short field goal that put the Seminoles ahead for good.

“Everybody hit another physical and mental gear for (Travis),” Verse said. “I looked him in the eye and said, ‘We did that for you.’”

Rodemaker was knocked out of the game for a few snaps on the ensuing possession, but he returned in time to hand off to Benson for the game-sealing score. Kalen DeLoach squashed any thoughts of a late-game miracle when he intercepted Max Brown’s pass on the next drive.

Rodemaker did little to make anyone forget about Travis, a Heisman Trophy candidate whose season ended with a gruesome injury last week against North Alabama. But he did enough to help Florida State beat its in-state rival for the seventh time in the last 10 meetings.

Rodemaker completed 12 of 25 passes for 134 yards.

Brown was less effective, finishing 9-of-16 passing for 86 yards in place of injured starter Graham Mertz (broken collarbone). Montrell Johnson led the Gators with 107 yards rushing.

“There’s no denying that we have work to do,” Napier said. “But what gives me confidence is what I see from the players, the growth I see, their words, their actions, the way they work, the selflessness, the sacrifice. They’re invested.”

POLL IMPLICATIONS

With No. 3 Michigan beating second-ranked Ohio State, the Seminoles should move up a spot in the next AP College Football Poll.

THE TAKEAWAY

Florida State: The Seminoles returned nearly every starter from last year’s team with their sights set on making the CFP. Now they’re one win away despite losing Travis for the season.

Florida: Napier fell to 11-14 after two seasons, including 1-5 in rivalry games, and took a step back in Year 2. The Gators missed a bowl game, a losing season that could, at the very least, shorten the amount of time Napier gets to continue his rebuild.

FORTUNATE FLORIDA

The Gators scored their first 10 points to two fortunate penalties. Florida State safety Akeem Dent sacked Brown for a 10-yard loss on third down, but an official flagged Dent for a personal foul – a questionable call considering Dent seemed to hit Brown with good form. Instead of having to settle for a short field-goal attempt, Montrell Johnson scored two plays later.

Florida State later executed a fake punt in the second quarter — the latest special teams woe for the Gators this season — but the Seminoles were penalized for delay of game.

GATORS EJECTED

Cornerback Jaydon Hill was ejected after the targeting call on Rodemaker. Florida freshman defensive lineman Jamari Lyons was ejected in the second quarter for spitting at Florida State guard Kelondre Jones.

TEBOW HONORED

Former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner, received one of the loudest ovations of the night while being honored at the end of the first quarter. Tebow is part of the 2023 College Football Hall of Fame class, which will be inducted during a Dec. 5 ceremony in Las Vegas. He also spoke to the Gators in the locker room before the game.

UP NEXT

Florida State plays No. 9 Louisville next Saturday in the ACC title game in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Florida tries to keep its top-five recruiting class intact before next month’s signing day.

“It’s what they brought me here to do,” Mevis said. “I’m an operation kicker. I’m supposed to go in and make those kicks for the team and help us win. It’s a testament to the offense for putting me in position to go do that.”

Cody Schrader carried the ball 23 times for 148 yards and a touchdown, Luther Burden III caught nine passes for 158 yards, and Mevis converted all four of his field goal attempts as Missouri (9-2, 5-2 SEC, No. 9 CFP) narrowly avoided losing to an unranked opponent for the first time this season.

Montrell Johnson Jr. had 12 carries for 85 yards and Trevor Etienne ran 15 times for 82 yards and a touchdown as Florida (5-6, 3-5) gained 261 yards on 40 carries in its fourth straight loss.

Gators starting quarterback Graham Mertz completed 14 of 21 passes for 183 yards and two touchdowns with an interception before exiting with 2:09 remaining in the third quarter with a non-displaced collarbone fracture.

Mertz left the field holding his collarbone after handing off to Johnson. Mertz appeared to hurt himself initiating contact with Missouri defenders Tre’Vez Johnson and Ennis Rakestraw Jr. on the previous play.

“He’ll be out for a little bit,” Florida coach Billy Napier said. “We’ll have more information whether it’s surgical or not. I think right now the belief is it may not be, but we’ll need to get more images before we make that decision.”

Redshirt freshman Max Brown completed four of five passes for 56 yards in relief of Mertz and gained 42 yards on seven carries.

“Give Max some credit,” Napier said. “Max settled in there a little bit and made a few plays. Obviously, he’s a good athlete and we were able to use his legs a little bit and the read game. He made some throws as well.”

Cook connected with Burden on a 27-yard reception with Missouri facing fourth-and-17 from its own 33-yard line with 38 seconds remaining to help put the Tigers in field-goal range for Mevis.

“It’s Luther,” Cook said. “He’s getting healthier and you can see that on the field. He’s confident. He’s back on the field making plays.”

Trey Smack kicked a 35-yard field goal with 1:35 remaining to give Florida a 31-30 lead.

Etienne scored his second touchdown of the game on a 9-yard run with 7:49 left to cut Missouri’s lead to 30-28.

Missouri went up 30-21 with 13:14 to go when Theo Wease Jr. hauled in a 77-yard touchdown pass from Cook two plays after Kristian Williams recovered a fumble by Brown as he attempted to hand off to Montrell Johnson Jr. at the Missouri 19-yard line.

“I thought it was really big, the takeaway in the red zone and then to score to go up nine,″ Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “I really felt like that might have been the dagger that put them away. Defensively we were just not consistent tonight. We had them behind the chains, we let the quarterback scramble and they were able to get the fourth down. We were just really leaky in our run fits and we’ve got a lot of work to do this week to get that stuff fixed.”

Burden hauled in a 48-yard reception from Cook with a roughing-the-passer penalty tacked on, but Florida’s defense held in the red zone for the third time as Mevis kicked a 25-yard field goal to give Missouri a 23-21 lead with 3:53 remaining in the third quarter.

Florida pulled ahead 21-20 when Ricky Piersall scored on an end around from 38 yards out.

Cook scored from inside Florida’s 1-yard line with 8:53 remaining in the third quarter to put Missouri back on top 20-14.

Etienne pulled in a 37-yard touchdown reception with 11:54 to play in the third to push Florida ahead 14-13.

Mevis connected on a 38-yard field goal with 1:49 left in the first half to expand Missouri’s lead to 13-10.

Missouri pulled ahead 10-7 after Schrader ran unimpeded for 43 yards into the end zone on the Tigers’ second play of the second quarter.

Mertz connected with Eugene Wilson III on a 9-yard touchdown pass to put Florida up 7-3 with 7:49 remaining in the first quarter.

TAKEAWAY

Florida: The Gators struggled to consistently move the ball early but found success running it in the second half while being able to hold Missouri to two touchdowns in six red-zone attempts.

Missouri: The Tigers struggled at times defensively without senior linebacker Ty’Ron Hopper but leaned on Schrader until Cook started finding his groove in the passing game.

“I was concerned because of the emotion we had to play with the previous two weeks,” Drinkwitz said. “What I was concerned about was that lack of execution. I think when we watch the tape we’re going to see that we’re just a little bit of mis-execution away.”

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Missouri could move into the AP Top 10 but will be hard-pressed to move up from ninth in the College Football Playoff ranking.

UP NEXT

Florida: Hosts rival Florida State next Saturday night needing a win to earn bowl eligibility.

Missouri: Plays at Arkansas on Friday.

Pullin was forced to sit out the first three games of the Gators’ season for taking part in exposure games during a spring workout for the NBA draft evaluation process. In his debut Friday, Pullin also grabbed five rebounds, distributed four assists and committed just one turnover. The 6-foot-4 point guard transferred from UC Riverside.

Tyrese Samuel scored 15 points, Riley Kugel 10 and Thomas Haugh grabbed 10 rebounds for Florida.

Cam Corhen scored 18 points for Florida State and Jamir Watkins 15.

Clayton made a 3-pointer nine minutes in and that gave Florida (3-1) its first 20-plus point lead of the night at 27-5. The Seminoles (2-1) didn’t reach double digits in scoring until Darin Green Jr.’s layup made it 36-11 with 8:18 before halftime.

Florida led 52-22 at halftime, shooting 64.3% (18 for 28) including 6 for 12 from 3-point range. The only shooting blemish occurred at the foul line where they went 10 of 17 (58.8%) at the stripe. Overall, Florida finished 30-for-58 (51.7%) shooting.

The Seminoles shot 8 for 30 (26.7%), including 1 for 9 (11.1%) from 3 and 5 for 11 (45.5%) from the foul line in the first half. Florida State finished 24-for-65 shooting overall.

Florida now leads the all-time series 46-29, including wins in each of the last two seasons after FSU reeled off a run of seven straight victories that marked the longest victory streak by either program in a series that dates to 1951.

Daniels continued to make his case for the Heisman Trophy, leading the Tigers (7-3, 5-2 SEC) to touchdowns on five consecutive second-half possessions, completing 17 of 26 passes for 372 yards and three touchdowns, and running 12 times for 234 yards and two touchdowns.

“If (Daniels) didn’t win (the Heisman Trophy) tonight he has got to be the leading candidate,” LSU head coach Brian Kelly said. “Unless the Heisman is just about popularity. If you want to be the most popular then fine, but he is the best player in college football.

“He did something tonight that no one has ever done. If that doesn’t make you the leading candidate, then maybe the Heisman isn’t really for the best player.”

In concussion protocol throughout the week leading up to the game after an injury suffered last week against Alabama, Daniels was quick to credit his teammates and supporting cast.

“God created me to be tough and get through stuff quickly,” he said. “This was my first concussion to get over and I did everything they said I needed to do to play and progress daily. It all worked out.

“I try to be as patient as I can in the pocket and let plays open up, but when I see a lane open up, I’m going to be decisive and take it.”

Florida (5-5, 3-4 SEC) took its only lead in the third quarter 28-24 on a 21-yard touchdown run by Trevor Etienne and Graham Mertz’s 1-yard run.

But Daniels scored from 51 yards out on the ground and then on LSU’s ensuing possession found Noah Cain for a 38-yard touchdown pass to make it 38-28.

His career night continued into the fourth quarter when he connected with Brian Thomas for a 37-yard touchdown to make it 45-35.

Daniels connected with Thomas again late in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.

Thomas had 150 yards on six catches and a pair of scores.

LSU took a 10-point lead early in the second quarter. Damian Ramos had a 28-yard field goal and Daniels added an 85-yard touchdown run, the longest in LSU history for a quarterback, to make it 17-7.

“Usually those guys tire out,” Kelly said of his quarterback’s long run. “Smokey the Bear usually jumps on his back at about 30 yards and lactic acid kicks in and they are gone. (Jayden) kept going. He’s a phenomenal athlete. He’s the best playmaker in the country. I’ve watched them all.

“You can say whatever you want, we are 7-3 and whoever else is undefeated. That doesn’t mean anything. What matters is who is the best player and he is the best player. A night like tonight kind of solidifies that.”

Both teams scored on their opening possessions. LSU took a 7-0 lead on a 1-yard touchdown run by Josh Williams to cap a 7-play, 75-yard drive.

Florida answered, going 75 yards in 8 plays, tying the game at 7 when Mertz found Eugene Wilson for a 9-yard touchdown.

Etienne led the Gators, rushing for 99 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries.

THE TAKEAWAY

FLORIDA: The Gator defense struggled to contain the high-powered LSU offense, giving up a season-high 702 yards.

LSU: The Tigers continued their dominance over Florida, winning their fifth consecutive game in the series, the longest streak in a rivalry that dates to 1937.

TARGETING MISFIRES

A week after losing their quarterback to a controversial hit in a loss on the road against Alabama, LSU senior safety Andre’ Sam was ejected for targeting on a hit on Florida running back Montrell Johnson near the end of the first half.

PASSING TEBOW

Wearing the same number as former Florida quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow, Mertz broke Tebow’s school record of consecutive passes without an interception with 204 attempts on the Gators first drive of the second half.

UP NEXT

FLORIDA: Travels to No. 14 Missouri on Saturday.

LSU: Plays host to Georgia State on Saturday.

Walter Clayton Jr. scored at the basket to tie the game at 69-69 with 1:18 to play, but his free throw with 51 seconds left to pull the Gators within one, 71-70, was the last point Florida would score. Buchanan hit the first of two from the foul line with 11 seconds left that made it 72-70 and Reece Beekman hit the second of two free throws to set the final margin.

Buchanan hit 10-of-16 free-throws and finished with 18 points to lead Virginia (2-0). Beekman added 13 points, five assists and four steals and Jacob Groves scored 12 points.

Riley Kugel led four Gators (1-1) into double-figure scoring with 17 points and Will Richard added 16 points. Micah Handlogten scored 14 points and grabbed 14 rebounds and Tyrese Samuel added 10 points and 11 rebounds.

UP NEXT: Virginia plays host to North Carolina A&T Tuesday. Florida plays host to Florida A&M Tuesday.

This was one to savor for several reasons.

KJ Jefferson connected with Tyrone Broden for a 4-yard score in overtime that lifted Arkansas to a 39-36 victory at Florida on Saturday, ending a six-game skid for the Razorbacks and giving them their first win in the Swamp in six tries.

“We played our hearts out for each other,” Jefferson said. “It’s been a frustrating season, but to be the first team to ever win here is something we can always hang our hat on.”

The Razorbacks (3-6, 1-5 Southeastern Conference) stopped Florida’s six-game, home-winning streak and may have knocked the Gators (5-4, 3-3) out of bowl contention in embattled coach Billy Napier’s second season.

“I’m really proud of our team,” Pittman said. “In this two week’s time a lot of things went on in the program, and they kept in it. … You’re either quitting or fighting in life. That’s it. I’m really proud because we fought.”

Jefferson threw for 255 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 92 yards and a score. Much of his damage came late, but the most memorable one was a 20-yard scamper in overtime in which he ran over several defenders. He found Broden for the winner two plays later.

“Part of what makes him a challenge is getting the guy on the ground,” Napier said. “We struggled to tackle the guy. … Very evident that his legs were a factor.”

Arkansas finished with a season-high 481 yards after firing offensive coordinator Dan Enos and naming receivers coach Kenny Guiton the interim play caller two weeks ago. Guiton tweaked parts of the offense during the team’s bye week, and the Razorbacks looked nothing like the team that averaged 227 yards in its previous four games.

Raheim “Rocket” Sanders had a lot to do with it. A preseason All-American who ran for 1,443 and 10 touchdowns in 2022, Sanders finished with 103 yards on 18 carries in his return from a knee injury.

Florida donned all-black uniforms to honor those who served, a somewhat fitting look for the darkest day in Napier’s two seasons. The favored Gators rallied from a 14-0 hole early and a 30-26 deficit late. They had a chance to win it at the end of regulation, but Trey Smack missed a 44-yard field goal wide right.

It was the latest issue for Florida’s special teams. The Gators botched an extra point in the third quarter and forced Smack’s attempt to be 5 yards longer than expected because of an illegal substitution penalty. Florida’s kicking team ran onto the field even though the offense was scrambling to line up to spike the ball with seconds left.

“There’s no question there was confusion there,” Napier said. “That one I haven’t been around before.”

The Gators probably needed a victory to make a bowl. But now, win No. 6 looks to be a long shot.

Florida’s final three games are at No. 13 LSU, at 14th-ranked Missouri and at home against No. 4 Florida State, and Napier’s team could be double-digit underdogs in each.

“This was a big deal to come to Florida and win,” Pittman said. “There ain’t but one first.”

FLORIDA INJURIES

The Gators played without three defensive starters, including leading tackler Shemar James, defensive tackle Cam Jackson and defensive end Tyreak Sapp. Florida also lost linebacker Jack Pyburn and defensive end T.J. Searcy in the second half against Arkansas.

ARMSTRONG HURT

Arkansas receiver Andrew Armstrong, who had three catches for 103 yards, was slow to get up following a pass-interference penalty in the fourth quarter. Trainers rushed to Armstrong in the end zone, but he started moving his legs and eventually sat up and left the field without assistance. He did not return.

THE TAKEAWAY

Arkansas: Although the Razorbacks were previously winless in SEC play, everyone knew they were a few plays away from being above .500. They hung tough with LSU, Ole Miss and Alabama on the road — losing by a combined 13 points — and fell 7-3 to Mississippi State at home.

Florida: Napier’s ultra-conservative ways seem to be wearing on his team’s fan base. He was roundly booed several times, including once for burning 20 seconds off the clock before calling timeout and settling for a short field goal in the second quarter and again early in the third for calling a third-down run when backup Max Brown replaced Mertz for a play.

UP NEXT

Arkansas: Hosts Auburn next Saturday.

Florida: Plays at No. 13 LSU next Saturday, the start of a daunting three-game stretch against ranked teams.

The two-time defending national champion Bulldogs (8-0, 5-0 Southeastern Conference) have now won three in a row and six of seven in the rivalry known as “The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.”

Georgia could have cracked open celebratory drinks at halftime. Coach Kirby Smart’s team scored on its first four possessions and stuffed the Gators (5-3, 3-2) early and often.

The Bulldogs sniffed out two trick plays, including a fourth-and-inches pass at the Florida 34-yard line that proved to be the turning point. Florida faked a quarterback sneak and snapped the ball through Graham Mertz’s legs to running back Trevor Etienne.

Etienne was trying to throw but got tackled for a 3-yard loss. The play highlighted a mismatch at the line of scrimmage, one Florida clearly saw coming because coach Billy Napier didn’t feel comfortable trying to run when his team needed to gain a foot or two.

Edwards scored three plays later for a 17-7 lead. Mertz fumbled on the ensuing possession, and Georgia turned that into another touchdown by Edwards.

The outcome was decided at that point, hardly uncommon in this series. Six of the last seven meetings have been decided by 16 or more points.

Georgia’s three-game streak over Florida has been by a combined score of 119-47, an indication of how significant the gap is between the two Eastern Division foes.

Beck, a Jacksonville native who led Mandarin High School to its first state title in 2018, completed 19 of 28 passes for 315 yards. He was not sacked and rarely pressured.

Edwards ran for 95 yards and now has four TDs in the last two games in the series. Ladd McConkey had six receptions for 135 yards and a score, helping fill the void left by injured star Brock Bowers (ankle).

Florida’s Mertz ran for a touchdown late and threw for 230 yards and two scores, including a 25-yarder to Tre Wilson on the opening drive. It was the first time the Gators have scored first in the series since 2015. But they managed just a yard on their next 18 plays, which included two turnovers and four sacks.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Georgia should extend its No. 1 streak to 20 consecutive weeks in the next AP College Football Poll, which will be released Sunday. The 20-week streak would rank third in poll history, one behind Miami (2001-02).

THE TAKEAWAY

Georgia: The Bulldogs looked ready to quiet any doubters. Plenty of pundits had them on upset alert considering they had looked vulnerable at times this season and now were without Bowers. But they dominated the Gators for the third consecutive season.

Florida: Napier’s team showed signs of progress while beating Vanderbilt and South Carolina in back-to-back weeks. But it came against two of the worst teams in the East. This was a reality check for the Gators and for Napier’s rebuild, which is still a years-long project.

FIELD CONCERNS

Jacksonville’s re-sodded field was the subject of some criticism, mostly because the seams were noticeable from the field and on television. But league and stadium officials insisted the edges of the sod rolls simply burned in transit and were not an issue.

“While the sod faced a week of warm Florida weather and was dry upon arrival, the field was tested and passed prior to the game and there is no safety issue for players,” the city said in a statement.

The spotlight on the field intensified when Florida linebacker Shemar James appeared to tweak his left knee during pregame warmups. He ended up putting on a brace and playing before leaving in the fourth.

UP NEXT

Georgia: Hosts No. 16 Missouri next Saturday, the start of a three-game stretch against ranked teams.

Florida: Hosts Arkansas next Saturday, a chance for the Gators to become bowl eligible for the second time in as many seasons under Napier.

The Gators (5-2, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) looked finished when Spencer Rattler connected for his fourth TD to Joshua Simon for a 37-27 lead with 9:11 to play.

But Mertz followed with a pair of 75-yard touchdown drives to pull off the comeback. He hit tight end Arlis Broadingham on a 4-yard scoring pass to cut the lead to 37-34 with 4:40 left.

The Gators forced a punt on South Carolina’s next series and Mertz was off to the races once more. Pearsall caught a 26-yard pass on fourth-and-10, then Eugene Wilson III collected a pass that bounced off a teammate’s hand to reach the Gamecocks’ 16.

Mertz gave a shoulder fake on the game-winning throw and Pearsall was wide open for the catch.

Safety Miguel Mitchell picked off Rattler on South Carolina’s final possession. The Gators took a safety with 4 seconds left for their second straight SEC win.

The comeback ruined a brilliant performance by South Carolina’s Rattler, who passed for 313 yards and four touchdowns.

The Gamecocks (2-4, 1-3) have lost two straight and three of their last four.

The Gamecocks trailed 27-24 on the last of four Trey Smack field goals midway through the third quarter. Two series later, Rattler led the go-ahead drive that included his 27-yard run into Florida territory and a 20-yard scoring toss to Trey Knox for a 31-27 lead.

Rattler was at it again the next time he got the ball, finishing a 70-yard drive with a 33-yard scoring toss to tight end Joshua Simon.

The first half was a classic shootout with the teams trading long drives and big plays. The teams combined for 521 yards and 26 first downs in a half where neither defense could make a stop.

Florida scored on four of its five first-half possessions and Smack’s fourth field goal, from 28 yards, sent the team into halftime ahead 24-21.

Rattler connected with four different receivers on his touchdowns, including a 20-yard toss to tailback Mario Anderson where the Division II transfer leaped over safety Miguel Mitchell to reach the end zone.

THE TAKEAWAY

Florida: The Gators pulled off the comeback behind Mertz, who came into the game second in the nation in pass completion percentage (80 percent). They shook off a lackluster first 20 minutes of the second half and got hot when it counted most.

South Carolina: During their bye week, the Gamecocks had hoped they could fix what went wrong in a 41-20 loss at Tennessee two weeks ago. It looked they had solved some problems before their pass rush got caught flat-footed at the end and let Mertz and the Gators pull off an unexpected rally.

UP NEXT

Florida gets a week off before heading to Jacksonville to play No. 1 Georgia on Oct. 28.

South Carolina starts a two-game road trip at Missouri on Saturday.

One week after an embarrassing road loss to the Wildcats, the Gators “got off the mat” and delivered a resounding victory against the Commodores.

Graham Mertz threw three touchdown passes, including two to converted tight end Arlis Boardingham, and Florida handled Vanderbilt 38-14 on Saturday and improved to 4-0 this season in the Swamp.

“If you get knocked down, you got to get back up,” Mertz said. “That was kind of our theme this week.”

Added defensive end Tyreak Sapp: “Wipe the dirt off. You try to not let that happen, but it does. The thing is how do you respond?”

The Gators (4-2, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) bounced back from a 33-14 drubbing in Lexington and avenged a stunning loss in Nashville a year ago.

Mertz and Boardingham came up big in the rematch. Mertz, who got knocked to the ground several times and once that forced him to miss two plays, completed 30 of 36 passes for 254 yards before giving way to Max Brown in the fourth. Mertz had scoring throws of 2 and 15 yards to Boardingham, who spent all week lamented a tipped pass that turned into an early interception against Kentucky.

“It was a lot,” Boardingham quipped.

Boardingham, who entered the game with six receptions for 51 yards, finished with seven catches for 99 yards and two end-zone celebrations.

Florida’s defense, after getting gouged for 329 yards rushing last week, gave up 64 on the ground against Vandy.

“Sometimes you don’t play the way you want to play,” Gators coach Billy Napier said. “You’ve got to get up off the mat and go back in the ring as a competitor. … We played a little more like we want to today.”

The Commodores (2-5, 0-3) have dropped five in a row, including three consecutive league games by at least 17 points each.

Florida racked up 495 yards, including 215 rushing. Montrell Johnson led the way with 135 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries.

Vanderbilt can point to three failed fourth-down plays as the difference. Quincy Skinner fumbled on one. Kamrean Johnson dropped another. And Ken Seals was sacked on the third.

“The key for us today was missed opportunities,” Vandy coach Clark Lea said. “We have to be better in those moments to give ourselves a chance to win.”

VANDY QB

Seals, getting his second consecutive start in place of AJ Swann, finished 19 of 34 for 276 yards with two touchdowns. He had completions of 52 and 85 yards in the first half, but he was mostly ineffective down the stretch.

ODD CALL

Leading 7-0 and in Vanderbilt territory, Napier dialed up a trick play that was a head-scratcher even for Florida’s lackluster offense. The double pass started with Graham Mertz throwing backward to Kahleil Jackson, who then floated a deep ball to running back Montrell Johnson.

Safety CJ Taylor jumped in front for the team’s eighth interception of the season.

“He’s going to get it for that,” Napier said. “Can’t get more open than that.”

Vandy scored two plays later, when Seals connected with Will Sheppard for 85 yards to tie the game.

THE TAKEAWAY

Vanderbilt: The Commodores don’t seem to have the offensive firepower or the defensive fortitude to compete in the SEC. So it could be another long season for Lea, who is now 2-17 in league play in three seasons.

Florida: The Gators needed a victory to get back on track, but their season gets tougher from here. Florida plays two of its next four away from home, where the Gators have dropped 15 of 17.

UP NEXT

Vanderbilt hosts two-time defending national champion Georgia on Saturday. The Commodores were outscored 117-0 in the last two meetings.

Florida plays at South Carolina next Saturday. The last two meetings have been blowouts, with the Gamecocks winning 40-17 in Columbia in 2021 and the Gators winning 38-6 last year in the Swamp.

He totaled 33 yards and was on the way to one of the best games a Wildcats running back has ever had.

Davis rushed for a career-high 280 yards and scored four touchdowns, including three in the first half, as Kentucky overwhelmed the 22nd-ranked Gators 33-14 on Saturday.

The Wildcats (5-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) turned a matchup considered critical toward establishing an East Division challenger behind top-ranked Georgia into a rout before halftime thanks to Davis’ dominant day.

The Vanderbilt transfer established a career rushing best with 206 yards before the break alone in addition to scoring runs of 3 and 75 yards, the latter virtually untouched after bursting through a hole on the left side.

Davis also charged for a 9-yard TD reception that made it 10-0, getting a little assist at the goal line from guard Eli Cox. He added 2-yard TD run early in the third quarter on the way to a 26-carry day for the third-highest single-game rushing total in program history and the first 200-yard effort since Chris Rodriguez Jr. had 207 against Missouri in September 2021.

A week after rushing for 78 yards and a TD on 17 attempts against his former team, Davis figured he needed redemption in a game that Kentucky needed.

“I really didn’t do a whole lot today,” Davis said. “You’ve got to give credit to the O-line and the receiver corps. These guys were blocking downfield. I was just staying with it.”

Kentucky outrushed Florida 329-69, its first 300-yard performance since gaining 362 against Louisville two years ago.

More impressively, the Wildcats totaled 398 yards against the SEC’s top overall and scoring defense, which entered the game yielding just 224 yards and 13.5 points per outing. The Wildcats also beat the Gators (3-2, 1-1) for the third consecutive time — their first such streak since winning four in a row from 1948-51 — and fourth in six meetings.

“We were far from perfect,” coach Mark Stoops said, “but when we did put it together, we were humming on all sides. … Our guys came out strong and that’s something I said we needed to go back to, establishing the line of scrimmage. That’s who we are.”

Graham Mertz threw a 4-yard TD pass to Hayden Hansen just before halftime and a 33-yard score to Ricky Pearsall in the third quarter. Mertz completed 25 of 30 passes for 244 yards, but was sacked three times.

He was also intercepted by Trevin Wallace, who snatched defensive tackle Deone Walker’s deflection of a pass intended for Arlis Boardingham and returned it 21 yards to the Florida 15 and set up Davis’ first score.

“Not a lot of positives to talk about today,” Florida coach Billy Napier said. ”Hats off to coach Stoops and Kentucky. They were ready to play and they were the more physical team.”

Florida has lost seven of eight away from Florida Field under Napier and five of six in true road games.

THE TAKEAWAY

Florida: The Gators reached the end zone after settling for five field goals against Charlotte, but it was too late by then as just about everything else failed against Kentucky. Their defense barely laid a hand on Davis, whose big TD run came after the special teams was flagged for a costly leaping penalty on a punt.

“I think the early morning game had a factor in it, to be honest,” inside linebacker Shemar James said. “We came out very flat defensively and we kind of got it together in the second half, but you have to start fast to finish (on) top in the SEC.”

Kentucky: Davis took a huge step toward establishing himself as the SEC’s top runner with a monster day. Alex Raynor made two field goals, including a career-long 50-yarder. The Wildcats were aggressive in most every phase, just what they needed with a bigger challenge looming at Georgia next week.

BETTER EXECUTION

Kentucky didn’t allow quarterback Devin Leary to be sacked, finished without a turnover and were penalized just three times for 25 yards, a big shift after four games in which they looked shaky and penalty prone.

“The O-line came off and mentioned they felt like they could get some movement in the run game,” offensive coordinator Liam Coen said. “We got the (illegal jumping) penalty on the punt, and the 75-yarder, you’re like, ‘Ok, we have something.’ The offensive line played great, the tight ends blocked, the receivers blocked.”

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Florida should exit the rankings after being swamped by Kentucky, which made a strong case toward getting in after earning 41 votes last week.

UP NEXT

Florida hosts Vanderbilt next Saturday.

Kentucky visits the top-ranked Bulldogs.

The Gators (3-1) won their third consecutive game since losing at then-No. 14 Utah, but they looked far from ready to go on the road and end a two-game skid to Kentucky next week.

Graham Mertz completed 20 of 23 passes for 259 yards, with a touchdown and a fumble. Pearsall finished with six receptions for 104 yards, none better than his leaping snag down the seam that led to a field goal and a 10-0 lead in the first quarter.

But the Gators delivered few highlights the rest of the night. A week after a 20-point second quarter against Tennessee, the Gators managed 18 yards — including minus-1 rushing — in the second against one of the worst defenses in major college football.

The 49ers (1-3) allowed nearly 1,100 yards in back-to-back lopsided losses to Maryland and Georgia State. Coach Biff Poggi promised better production and had Florida out of sorts for much of the night.

After scoring on their first four possessions, the Gators went punt, field goal, turnover on downs, punt and field goal. It was far from what anyone expected from a team that was a 27 1/2-point favorite, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

Florida finished with 395 yards, but its defense was stout all game and allowed just 10 first downs and 210 yards.

Jalon Jones, who originally signed with Florida in 2019, led Charlotte with 65 yards rushing and a touchdown. He completed 11 of 16 passes for 111 yards.

Jones was accused of sexual battery twice in the same night after a few months on campus. No charges were filed. He transferred to Jackson State, where he played one season before moving on to Mississippi Delta Community College and then Bethune-Cookman.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

The Gators could fall out of the next Associated Press college football poll, which will be released Sunday.

THE TAKEAWAY

Charlotte: The 49ers are getting $1.55 million to make the trip south. It’s a significant payday that will help fund the entire athletic program. Athletic director Mike Hill, who spent nearly 25 years at Florida, set up the game and treated it a little like a homecoming.

Florida: Does anyone know which Florida team will show up in Lexington next week? It could be the one that mostly dominated Tennessee or the one that looked disorganized at Utah and struggled to put away McNeese and Charlotte.

NOT-SO-SPECIAL TEAMS

Special teams continue to be an issue for Florida despite Smack providing a bright spot the last two weeks. Smack, who supplanted errant Adam Mihalek against Tennessee, had made all six of his field-goal attempts, including a 54-yarder against Charlotte that tied for the fourth-longest in program history.

But the units have otherwise been less than ideal for the Gators, who have an analyst serving as special teams coordinator.

The Gators were penalized on their first two punt returns, getting flagged for holding and an illegal block. Those were Florida’s fourth and fifth penalties on special teams in four games and the latest special teams woes.

Florida has dealt with two shanked punts, a missed field goal and a missed extra point that prompted a kicker change, a high snap on another extra point, eight men on the field while trying to block a field goal against Utah and two players wearing No. 3 during a punt return against the Utes.

The Gators also had just 10 men on the field twice, once for a field-goal attempt and once for a punt return.

UP NEXT

Charlotte: Plays at SMU next Saturday in the American Athletic Conference opener for both teams.

Florida: Plays at Kentucky next Saturday, an 11 a.m. start locally that will be the Gators’ first day game of the season.

The Gators have been on a roller coaster of sorts since that foggy night in the Swamp in December 2020. Win one, lose one. Win two, lose three. Up and down with no noticeable progress or sustained momentum.

It’s been a head-scratching, stomach-churning three years for a fan base accustomed to winning and competing for championships. Coach Billy Napier might be on the verge of providing some relief.

Coming off a 29-16 upset of then-No. 11 Tennessee, the now-25th-ranked Gators (2-1, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) hope to handle success better than they have in recent years. For Napier, it’s as simple as keeping his players on edge as they prepare for Charlotte (1-2) and a potential three-game winning streak Saturday night.

“When you get beat and you go to the locker room and you’re on the bus after the game, you got zero text messages, right?” Napier said. “When you win and you play on national TV, you’ve got 268 text messages.

“All of a sudden, everywhere you go, somebody wants to compliment you rather than looking at the ground, kind of going the other way. That’s what I’m getting at here.”

Napier has experience keeping teams grounded, relying on principle-centered leadership that he explains as “trying not to compromise your approach relative to the outcome.” It helped Napier turn Louisiana-Lafayette into a Sun Belt Conference power between 2019 and 2021.

Can he do the same in Gainesville?

Stacking wins would be a start. Florida lost 18 of 30 games between Wilson’s cleat throw against LSU and a season-opening loss at then-No. 14 Utah on Aug. 31. Stunning Tennessee in front of a raucous home crowd could prove to be the turning point — for the program and for Napier.

Napier had made it clear that last year’s team “couldn’t handle momentum.” The Gators beat then-No. 7 Utah to open the season, soared from unranked to No. 12 and responded by losing at home to No. 20 Kentucky. They won at Texas A&M and hammered South Carolina in back-to-back weeks in November, then lost at Vanderbilt for the first time since 1988.

“Reality is that you don’t accomplish anything significant by staying in your comfort zone,” Napier said. “I think we were uncomfortable for two weeks (after losing to Utah). We were frustrated. We were angry. We were embarrassed. That allowed us to have an edge and certainly affected the way we prepared for Tennessee and helped us play the way we played.

“It’s important that we keep that. We have discipline. Discipline ultimately is making yourself do things that you don’t want to do. Our consistency is going to be key.”

It starts against Charlotte, which precedes three straight league games against Kentucky, Vanderbilt and South Carolina. Win all four and Florida would set itself up for an Eastern Conference showdown against two-time defending national champion Georgia in Jacksonville.

Of course, Napier won’t let his team look that far ahead. And for good reason.

“Last season, when we got a bit of success, I feel like it kind of blew our heads up a little bit,” cornerback Devin Moore said. “This year, we’re putting more emphasis on the approach of ‘OK, that happened Saturday. Sunday (is a) new week. Let’s get to it.’”

Added guard Richie Leonard: “Another point of emphasis was don’t let this carry over, don’t linger on this Tennessee win too long.”

Napier had 268 texts when he checked his phone after the victory. He wanted to delete them all, but he ended up going through them “as fast as possible.”

“It’s magnified here,” he said. “They want to tell you all about it when it’s bad and they want to tell you all about it when it’s good.

“I think it’s important that we have something that we can stand on independent of that, a process and a system, and we can eliminate the external and say, ‘Hey, am I doing the best I can for the team today?’”

He was in no hurry to get through the adulation, either.

“We’ll celebrate tonight, I promise you,” Napier said.

Trevor Etienne ran for a career-high 172 yards and a touchdown, Montrell Johnson scored twice and Florida upset No. 11 Tennessee 29-16 on Saturday night to extend the Volunteers’ losing streak in Gainesville to 10.

The victory was the first in a rivalry for Napier, who last year became the first coach in school history to lose to Tennessee, LSU, Georgia and Florida State in the same season. Getting that initial one under his belt should quell outside noise about Napier’s long-term viability with the Gators (2-1, 1-0 Southeastern Conference).

“It validates your plan, what you’re selling to a degree,” Napier said. “That’s what you want as a leader. … That’s a lot more fun.”

For the Volunteers, the 550-mile trip from Knoxville ended much like all the others over the last two decades: in heartache. Tennessee last won at the Swamp in 2003. The skid started with Phillip Fulmer and spans the Tennessee coaching tenures of Lane Kiffin, Derek Dooley, Butch Jones, Jeremy Pruitt and now Josh Heupel.

Tennessee (2-1, 0-1) looked like it had as good a chance as any to end its road drought in the series — the Vols were 6 1/2-point favorites, according to FanDuel Sportsbook — but quarterback Joe Milton and his offensive line seemed lost at times just trying to get plays started.

The Vols, who now have dropped 17 of 19 in the series, were flagged for five false starts and had to burn two timeouts early in the second half to avoid delay-of-game penalties.

“The pre-snap penalties killed us,” Heupel said.

The crowd noise may have even affected the refs, who seemingly erred by allowing Florida to substitute before Tennessee’s fourth-and-1 play in the third quarter. Scooby Williams stuffed Jaylen Wright in the backfield to cause a turnover on downs.

“The official kicked or moved the ball and re-spotted it,” Heupel said. “They allowed the substitution. Been a long time since I’ve seen an official kick a ball.”

The Vols failed again on fourth down on their next drive, with Milton throwing incomplete to end it. Tennessee finished the night 0 for 3 on fourth down.

Graham Mertz and Florida were much more comfortable in front of 90,751, the 12th-largest crowd at Florida Field.

“Man, it got loud,” Mertz said. “I was on the sideline and I couldn’t hear my coach (standing) in front of me. It got rocking. … They truly affected the game.”

Mertz completed 19 of 24 passes for 166 yards and a touchdown. He also juked a defender on a third-down play and later ran for a score. Etienne broke a 62-yard TD scamper in the first quarter. Johnson had a short scoring run and an 18-yard TD reception that made it 26-7 in the second.

“There were a lot of mistakes on our end,” Vols linebacker Aaron Beasley said. “We were undisciplined on our part. We misfit a lot of things.”

A key error down the stretch for Tennessee: Leading 29-16, Florida lined up to go for it on fourth and 1 at its own 34. But Kurott Garland jumped offsides, handing the Gators a first down and prompting Napier to raise both arms in celebration.

Two things went wrong for Florida: freshman receiver Tre Wilson, who caught Mertz’s first six passes, bruised his collarbone and was on the sideline in sling in the second half, and kicker Adam Mihalek was way short on a 46-yard field goal early and had an extra point blocked.

Napier benched Mihalek in favor or Trey Smack, who hit both extra points and drilled a 26-yard field goal to give Florida a little cushion.

UGLY ENDING

The game ended with a scuffle and penalty flags on both teams. Mertz took a knee and then took exception to defensive lineman Omari Thomas running into him. Benches cleared, and Tennessee defensive back Kamal Hadden and Florida guard Micah Mazzccua squared off like boxers. Mazzccua clearly threw a punch. Florida right tackle Damieon George was initially flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, and Thomas for targeting. But neither flag was enforced.

“That was just the weirdest ending to a game I’ve ever had,” Mertz said. “I guess that’s Florida-Tennesse.”

Heupel and Napier had an icy handshake at midfield before the teams had to return to the field for one final play.

“Do we want to be composed in that situation and all situations? Absolutely,” Heupel said. “Their guy is dancing, and you have to go tackle him.”

THE TAKEAWAY

Tennessee: The Volunteers outgained Florida 393-349 in yards, but Milton threw an interception in the first half — his first in 250 pass attempts at Tennessee — and never found a rhythm. He completed 20 of 34 passes for 287 yards, with two touchdowns and an interception. He also recovered his own fumble.

Florida: The Gators have rebounded nicely from an error-filled opener at then-No. 14 Utah. They manhandled McNeese last week and beat Tennessee to give themselves a chance in the Eastern Division.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

The Volunteers are sure to drop in the next Associated Press Top 25 college football poll, which will be released Sunday.

UP NEXT

Tennessee: Hosts University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) next Saturday.

Florida: Hosts Charlotte next Saturday.

Bryson Barnes threw a 70-yard touchdown pass to Money Parks on Utah’s first play of the game, rushed for another score and the No. 14 Utes beat Florida 24-11 on Thursday night in the opener for both teams.

Nate Johnson split time at quarterback with Barnes for the Utes with usual starter Rising still recovering from a knee injury he suffered in the Rose Bowl.

Utah clamped down on defense in Rising’s absence, forcing a turnover and getting five sacks. The Gators converted 1 of 13 third downs and 2 of 5 fourth downs while totaling 13 yards rushing on 21 carries.

“If you had to say what was the one phase or one thing that was the biggest difference in the game, it was the way our defense played,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said.

Graham Mertz threw for 333 yards, a touchdown, and an interception in his first start for the Gators. Ricky Pearsall had 92 yards on eight catches. Florida drove inside the red zone four times but totaled only 10 points on those drives.

“They just always seemed like they had one extra guy,” Mertz said.

Making his second career start, Barnes wasted no time making an impact with the scoring strike to Parks. Barnes completed his first four passes and had 150 yards passing by halftime. He finished with 159 yards.

Barnes said he learned he was starting for Utah 1 1/2 weeks before Thursday’s game. His first play touchdown gave the entire team a major energy boost.

“That’s the type of stuff you think of as kids, so it was great to go out there and actually put it on tape,” Barnes said.

Johnson also put Florida’s defense on its heels when he checked in during the second quarter. He faked a handoff to Micah Bernard and raced 27 yards to extend Utah’s lead to 14-3 midway through the second quarter.

Special teams mistakes set up both second-quarter scoring drives for the Utes. The Gators committed a fourth-down equipment infraction penalty to negate a punt and keep the Utes’ second touchdown drive alive. Then, a 21-yard Florida punt to set up a 51-yard field goal from Cole Becker.

Sione Vaki tipped an interception to himself inside the Florida 15 to set up Utah’s third touchdown. Barnes capped the 3-play drive with a 5-yard run to put the Utes up 24-3 early in the third quarter.

THE TAKEAWAY

Florida: Generating offensive momentum proved to be a chore for the Gators. Florida totaled only 8 yards in the second quarter, averaging 0.7 yards per play. The Gators also went 0 of 9 on third down before finally converting one early in the fourth quarter.

Utah: An imposing defense carried the Utes when their offense cooled after a hot start. Utah didn’t get a ton of production from its normally explosive running game, averaging just 3.5 yards per carry. But the Utes also limited Florida to 13 yards rushing.

QUIET NIGHT

Trevor Etienne and Montrell Johnson, Jr. combined for 31 yards on 10 carries after averaging 120 yards rushing for the Gators last season. With their top two runners rendered ineffective, Florida routinely faced third-and-long situations over four quarters.

“We got to get production out of the two backs,” Florida coach Billy Napier said. “We got to give them an opportunity to impact the game.”

PERFECT PUNTING

Jack Bouwmeester averaged 51.8 yards on six punts, pinning three inside the 20. Bouwmeester became the first Utah punter since Tom Hackett against Colorado in 2014 to have two different punts cover 60 or more yards in the same game. He had punts of 64 yards and 61 yards in the third quarter.

“It’s a game changer for the defense,” Utes safety Cole Bishop said. “You can do so much more when they’re backed up and don’t have many options.”

POLL IMPLICATIONS

A convincing victory over an SEC opponent will likely bolster Utah’s position in the upcoming AP poll.

UP NEXT

Florida: Hosts McNeese on Sept. 9.

Utah: At Baylor on Sept. 9.

A team spokesman said Monday that the Gators will practice in Gainesville on Tuesday, fly to Dallas and spend the night there, and then travel to Salt Lake City on Wednesday. Coach Billy Napier’s team had initially planned to fly from Gainesville to Utah on Wednesday.

“If you’re going to go west, that makes the most sense,” Napier said. “Hotel was a big logistical issue relative to where to go. … This could end up being a positive. We break the flight up. We get the players and the staff into Dallas, get a good night’s rest, a little extra focus and then obviously get to spend some more time together. We see that being positive.”

Tropical Storm Idalia is expected to start affecting Florida with hurricane-force winds as soon as late Tuesday and arrive on the state’s west coast by Wednesday. It is the first storm to hit Florida this hurricane season and a potentially big blow to the state, which is also dealing with lingering damage from last year’s Hurricane Ian.

Idalia intensified Monday, and forecasters predicted it would hit in days as a major hurricane with potentially life-threatening storm surges.

Idalia thrashed Cuba with heavy rain, especially on the westernmost part of the island, where the tobacco-producing province of Pinar del Rio is still recovering from Ian’s devastation. As much as 4 inches (10 centimeters) of rain fell in Cuba on Sunday, meteorological stations reported.

Carroll, a sixth-year senior who transferred from Tulane, was expected to provide depth this fall behind Montrell Johnson and Trevor Etienne. Carroll ran for 1,638 yards and 19 touchdowns in five years with the Green Wave.

He appeared in just one game last season before suffering a season-ending leg injury. Carroll joins edge rusher Justus Boone as Florida players already ruled out for the year.

Napier also said Saturday that backup quarterback Jack Miller has tendinitis in his throwing shoulder. But Napier expects him to return soon.

The Gators, coming off consecutive 6-7 seasons, open at No. 14 Utah on Aug. 31.

Kitna instead pleaded guilty to two counts of disorderly conduct, second-degree misdemeanors.

Eighth Judicial Circuit Judge Susan Miller-Jones placed Kitna on six months’ probation for each count but did not levy a fine or require the 20-year-old to register as a sex offender.

Kitna, with his mother and father sitting behind him, read a statement of contrition.

“I want to start off by apologizing to my family, my friends and those that care about me,” Kitna said. “Their support through this whole ordeal has meant a lot to me. The hardest thing about this whole process has been seeing how it’s affected them.

“The valuable lessons that I’ve learned through this whole deal have been very helpful. I’m looking forward to applying those things and moving forward.”

The Gainesville Police Department arrested Kitna on Nov. 30, 2022, on five felony child pornography charges — two counts of distribution of child exploitation material and three counts of possession of child pornography.

Police said Kitna shared two images of young girls being sexually abused via a social media platform. Officers later searched his phone and found three more images of two nude young girls in a shower — photos that had been saved to Kitna’s phone a year earlier. The report did not estimate the ages of the girls.

The Gators dismissed Kitna from the team days after his arrest. Kitna returned home with his family to Burleson, Texas, after posting bond and completed online classes this past spring. The university banned him from campus until November 2025.

“What we’ve got here today is a result that’s fair, and the right result,” Kitna’s attorney, Ron Kozlowski told the Orlando Sentinel following the verdict. “Obviously the state agrees, and we feel good about that. This is going give Jalen an opportunity to move on to the next step, whatever that is.”

After a 2-hour, 37-minute weather delay, South Carolina’s Will McGillis hit the second pitch of the game for a home run. Gavin Casas added an RBI-single for a 2-0 lead, but the Gators tied it in the bottom of the first on a two-out home run by Josh Rivera.

McGillis came to bat again with one out in the second and delivered an RBI single for a 3-2 South Carolina lead.

Florida (49-15) tied it in the fifth on a leadoff home run by Tyler Shelnut and went ahead in the sixth on Riopelle’s deep drive to straightaway center field. Rivera scored from second on a two-out single by Shelnut in the eighth inning.

After South Carolina’s three early runs, the Gamecocks were shut down by Brandon Sproat (8-3) and Cade Fisher, as the two did not allow a runner past second base in the next six innings. Brandon Neely came in to pitch the ninth and allowed a two-out home run by McGillis — his third RBI of the game — before Braylen Wimmer grounded out to end it.

Sproat allowed three runs on nine hits with seven strikeouts and two walks in six innings. Fisher allowed one hit in two innings and Neely picked up his 13th save despite giving up the home run to McGillis.

Will Sanders (4-4), who gave up Riopelle’s home run, took the loss for South Carolina (42-20).

Game 2 in the best-of-3 series is set for Saturday, with South Carolina playing as the home team.

UCF (19-14) advances to the second round to play the winner of the Oregon-UC Irvine game.

Kelly shot 9 for 13, including 2 for 4 from beyond the arc for the Knights. Taylor Hendricks scored 17 points and added eight rebounds. Ithiel Horton recorded 12 points and shot 5 for 10, including 2 for 6 from beyond the arc.

Riley Kugel led the way for the Gators (16-17) with 13 points. Niels Lane and Myreon Jones each added six points. Florida lost eight of its last 11 contests, and went without its leading scorer, Colin Castleton, since Feb. 15 due to a broken hand.

UCF took the lead with 11:52 left in the first half and never looked back. Hendricks led his team in scoring with 13 points in the first half to help put them up 35-26 at the break. UCF pulled away with a 9-0 run in the second half to extend a nine-point lead to 18 points. They outscored Florida by nine points in the final half, as Kelly led the way with a team-high 14.

The Knights and Gators squared off for the first time since 2012.

The 24-point turnaround was sparked by Kugel, a freshman who averages 9.3 points but has reached double figures in eight consecutive games. Trailing 44-32, he started Florida’s rally with a 3-pointer and later scored 11 points in a 13-4 run that put the game well in hand. He scored 17 points in the second half on 4 of 5 3-point shooting and 6 of 8 overall.

LSU led 49-43 in the second half before going cold, making just 5 of 20 shots in the final 10 1/2 minutes, twice going 1 for 8. The Gators, on the other hand, made 7 of their last 9 shots to reach 50 points in the second half.

Richard made 7 of 10 shots and grabbed six rebounds. Kyle Lofton had 16 points, five rebounds and five assists for Florida (16-15, 9-9 SEC).

KJ Williams scored 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds and Derek Fountain added 13 points and 12 rebounds for LSU (13-18, 2-16). Adam Miller had 10 points.

Williams had eight points and six rebounds to lead LSU to a 33-29 halftime lead.

The conference tournament begins Wednesday in Nashville, Tennessee.

Vanderbilt (16-13, 9-7 SEC) rebounded from an 85-77 loss at LSU and has won six of its last seven. The Commodores also won its ninth SEC game, their most since the 2016-17 season.

Ezra Manjon added 15 points for the Commodores, who shot 52% overall and made 10 of 24 from long range. Tyrin Lawrence added 13 points and Colin Smith, Trey Thomas and Myles Stute 11 each.

Riley Kugel scored 20 points to lead Florida (14-15, 7-9), which has lost three in a row and six of its last seven. Kyle Lofton added 15 points, and the pair combined for five 3-pointers.

Vanderbilt built a 16-point lead early in the second half before Florida pulled to 67-58 with 7:54 remaining. The Commodores answered with a 17-7 run, capped by consecutive 3s from Robbins and Thomas, and led 81-65 with 3:13 to play. Manjon made layups twice to push the lead to 19 in the closing minutes.

Vanderbilt took the lead for good three minutes into the game and led 46-36 at the break. Manjon and Robbins scored nine points apiece as the Commodores shot 53% overall in the half.

Florida plays at Georgia on Tuesday. Vanderbilt plays at Kentucky on Wednesday.

Graham was 12-of-15 shooting, Ricky Council IV scored 15 points, Anthony Black added 14 and Makhi Mitchell collected his 10th career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Razorbacks (18-9, 7-7 SEC), who snapped a two-game skid. Nick Smith Jr. scored 10 points.

Riley Kugel scored 17 points and Will Richard 10 for the Gators (14-13, 7-7), who were playing without Castleton for the first time since the 6-foot-11 post broke his hand in Wednesday’s win over Mississippi. Jason Jitoboh made his first start of the season in Castleton’s place and finished with four points and two rebounds in 24 minutes.

Mitchell scored six points during a 17-2 run to open the second half and Arkansas led by 21. The lead reached a high of 25.

Three-point plays by Smith began and ended a 14-2 run that put Arkansas in front by seven with four minutes left in the first half. The Razorbacks led 37-31 at halftime with Graham scoring 14.

Arkansas, the SEC field-goal percentage leader, finished at 58% and outrebounded Florida 40-25. The Gators were 4 of 21 from 3-point range.

Arkansas is host to Georgia on Tuesday. Florida is home versus Kentucky on Wednesday.

Trey Thomas scored 16 and was perfect shooting, making all five shot attempts — four from 3-point range — and both foul shots. Ezra Manjon scored 11 and reserve Jordan Wright scored 10 points with 10 rebounds for the Commodores. Robbins finished 10-for-18 shooting.

Robbins made a pair of foul shots at the 9:33 mark, followed with a 3-pointer 30 seconds later for a 65-61 lead and Vanderbilt (13-12, 6-6) led for the remainder. The Commodores reached safe distance on a 10-2 run between the 6:19 mark to 2:47 remaining. Vanderbilt led 42-41 at halftime in a contest that had 15 lead changes.

The Commodores shot 12 of 23 from distance compared to a 2 of 20 performance from Florida.

Colin Castleton scored 25 points for Florida and had 11 rebounds, Riley Kugel scored 18, reserve Kawacie Reeves scored 14 and Kyle Lofton 12 for the Gators (13-12, 6-6).

The Commodores travel to South Carolina on Tuesday. Florida will attempt to end its three-game skid on Wednesday when it hosts Ole Miss.

Wallace made 7 of 10 shots from the floor with a 3-pointer and all five of his free throws for the Wildcats (16-7, 7-3 SEC). Toppin scored 17 on 8-of-16 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. CJ Fredrick hit three 3-pointers and scored 12. Oscar Tshiebwe totaled four points and 15 rebounds before fouling out. He made only 2 of 14 shots.

Colin Castleton finished with 25 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three blocks for the Gators (13-10, 6-4), who had won 6 of 7 and were coming off a 67-54 win over No. 2 Tennessee last time out. Kyle Lofton and Will Richard scored 13 points apiece. Richard added six rebounds.

Toppin and Fredrick scored nine points apiece and Wallace added eight as the trio accounted for all but seven points in Kentucky’s 33-22 lead at the half. The Wildcats scored the first five points of the game and pushed their lead to 20-9 on Fredrick’s three-point play at the 7:48 mark. The Gators cut their deficit to eight, but Fredrick sank a 3-pointer with 28 seconds left for the halftime margin.

Florida closed within 37-33 on a Lofton 3-pointer at the 15:44 mark, but Kentucky answered with a 6-0 run. Wallace had a three-point play to push the Wildcats’ lead to 59-45 with 8:19 remaining.

Castleton drew a fifth foul on Tshiebwe with 1:38 to go and completed the three-point play to get the Gators within 66-62. Wallace and Castleton traded baskets before Daimion Collins hit two free throws to give Kentucky a 70-64 lead with 51 seconds remaining. Myreon Jones hit a 3-pointer to get the Gators within three, but he missed his next try and Wallace made two foul shots to wrap up the win for the Wildcats.

Wildcats coach John Calipari improved to 22-9 against Florida in a series Kentucky leads 108-41 — including a 54-11 mark at home.

Florida first-year coach Todd Golden faced Kentucky for the first time as a head coach. Golden spent three years at San Francisco before taking the Gators job.

“I’ve got to take advantage of that,” Castleton said.

He did. Castleton scored 20 points, including 16 in the second half, and Florida upended the second-ranked Volunteers 67-54 on Wednesday night.

Kyle Lofton added 14 points for the Gators, who delivered coach Todd Golden his most significant victory in his first season in Gainesville. It was Florida’s second Quad 1 win in the last two weeks.

The Volunteers, playing with their highest ranking in four years, lost for the first time in five games. They had won nine of 10.

“Our guys are disappointed,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said. “We’re better than this, but tonight we weren’t.”

Tennessee (18-4, 7-2 Southeastern Conference) looked like it had taken control midway through the second half. They outscored Florida by 10 points in the early going to take a six-point lead.

But the Gators (13-9, 6-3) stormed back behind Castleton, who scored 11 of 14 points as Florida rallied. The senior had a dunk, two free throws, a three-point play, a layup and a short jumper — essentially putting the team on his back down the stretch.

“They went small, and I felt like I had a mismatch,” Castleton said.

Myreon Jones and Will Richard chipped in nine points apiece for the Gators.

Zakai Ziegler led the Vols with 15 points on 6-of-19 shooting. Olivier Nkamhoua added 11 points and nine rebounds for the visitors, who also got 11 points and eight boards from Vescovi Santiago.

The Gators were red hot to start the game, making six of their first eight shots — including all three from 3-point range — while building a 17-4 advantage. But they quickly cooled against the nation’s best defense, missing nine of their next 11 as Tennessee made cut it to 22-21.

The Vols had it going coming out of the locker room, with Ziegler getting into the paint and making things happen. But it was short-lived — thanks mostly to Castleton.

“We gave them a chance to start believing in what they’re doing, and they took it,” Barnes said.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Tennessee surely will drop a few spots in next week’s AP Top 25 college basketball poll.

BIG PICTURE

Tennessee: The Volunteers gave up 10 points in the opening four minutes of the games, a rare sluggish start for the nation’s best defense. Tennessee had held four of its first eight SEC opponents scoreless at the first media timeout, roughly the first four minutes of games. It was a sign of things to come.

“We kept fighting uphill all night long,” Barnes said.

Florida: The Gators are two games into the toughest stretch of their season. Coming off a loss at Kansas State, they have road games against Kentucky and Alabama up next. So to say they needed this one would be an understatement.

“It was a desperation game,” Castleton said. “We’ve got a tough schedule here and we’ve got to win games. We were able to claw and fight.”

IN THE HOUSE

Football coach Billy Napier watched the game from a few rows behind Florida’s bench alongside his two sons and receiver Ricky Pearsall. Former Florida tennis star Ben Shelton, the NCAA singles champion in 2022, also was in attendance. So was former Gators and NFL quarterback Doug Johnson.

UP NEXT

Tennessee hosts No. 25 Auburn and former coach Bruce Pearl on Saturday.

Florida plays at Kentucky on Saturday. The Gators have lost seven of eight in the series.

Not only because of what Johnson had been through but how the Wildcats had performed.

Johnson had 13 points and 11 rebounds in a sentimental matchup with the Gators, while Markquis Nowell flirted with the first triple-double in Kanas State history, helping the Wildcats to a dominant 64-50 victory in the Big 12-SEC Challenge.

Johnson struggled mightily from the field, going just 5 of 16 and even getting stuffed by the front of the rim during a windmill dunk on a second-half fast break. But it was nevertheless a special night for the senior forward, who collapsed on the Gators’ sideline during a game against Florida State just over two years ago.

Johnson spent 10 days in the hospital and never played another meaningful minute for Florida, whose medical staff would not clear him. He wound up at Kansas State, where doctors gave his heart the green light, and he has emerged as the Big 12′s third-leading scorer and rebounder while helping the Wildcats to their highest ranking in more than a decade.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime memory. You’ll never get that moment back,” he said. “Just trying to embrace that moment.”

Wildcats coach Jerome Tang spoke to Johnson throughout the week about what was undoubtedly an emotional night.

“It was really cool. As a fan, I wanted to see him have a good game. I wanted him to get the win. I think the team wanted him to get the win,” Tang said. “We knew it was important to him, even though he didn’t make a big deal of it.”

Nowell finished with 13 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, and Nae’Qwan Tomlin also had 11 points. The Wildcats improved to 18-3 to match the 1972-73 team for the best start through 21 games in school history.

“I was aware the second half,” Nowell said of the triple-double. “I tried to get it but the cards didn’t allow it to happen.”

Colin Castleton scored 13 points for the Gators (12-9). Myreon Jones and Will Richard had 11 apiece.

“I thought we got some looks. I thought we should have shot the ball a little better than we did,” first-year Gators coach Todd Golden said. “It’s been a little bit of an Achilles heel for us on the road.”

Most of the Wildcats’ offense against the Gators flowed through the 5-foot-8 Nowell, who had eight points, eight assists and six boards by the break. By that point, Kansas State had built a commanding 37-16 advantage.

The Gators, meanwhile, had no offense whatsoever.

They missed five of their first six shots and were 6 of 29 from the field at halftime. In fact, Florida shot it so poorly that Alex Fudge wedged a free throw between the rim and backboard, and that came one possession after the Gators’ Kowacie Reeves clanked an open dunk off the back of the iron.

Florida managed to regroup, scoring the first 10 points of the second half, before Nowell answered with a jump shot and Johnson added a bucket and a couple of free throws to halt the Gators’ momentum.

The Wildcats stretched the lead back over 20 with about 5 1/2 minutes to go before coasting to the finish.

“Listen, I like competing, man, and an opportunity to go up against a really good team like Kansas State on the road was a really good challenge for us,” Golden said. “It was a good opportunity for us.”

BIG PICTURE

Florida: Golden had been 5-0 against fellow first-year coaches. But his Gators had no answer for Tang’s bunch, which became the third Big 12 team to beat them this season. They lost to West Virginia at the Phil Knight Legacy in November and to Oklahoma at the Jumpman Invitational in December.

Kansas State: David N’Guessan, who had played just four minutes since Dec. 21 because of a foot injury, was back on the court. He got the start and had nine points in 11 first-half minutes, though he did not score in the second half. “I don’t think I’m close to where I was when I got hurt,” he said, “but a couple more practices and I’ll be there.”

UP NEXT

Florida’s brutal stretch continues with No. 5 Tennessee on Wednesday night, then trips to Kentucky and No. 2 Alabama.

Kansas State heads down Interstate 70 for a rematch with ninth-ranked Kansas on Tuesday night.

Richard did all of his scoring from 3-point range, knocking down 4 of 5 shots from distance, for the Gators (11-8, 4-3 Southeastern Conference). Kowacie Reeves had nine points off the bench and Kyle Lofton had eight rebounds and six assists to go with six points.

Tolu Smith and reserve Shakeel Moore led the Bulldogs (12-7, 1-6) with 12 points apiece. Will McNair Jr. scored 10 off the bench. Smith and Cameron Matthews both grabbed 11 rebounds. Dashawn Davis hit three 3-pointers and scored nine.

Richard scored nine points in the first half on 3-of-3 shooting from beyond the arc to guide Florida to a 33-24 lead at intermission.

Davis hit two 3-pointers that pulled the Bulldogs even at 40-40 and 43-all and Smith’s dunk tied the game at 45 with 9:14 left to play. Richard answered by sinking a 3-pointer in the middle of a 7-0 run and the Gators never trailed again.

Davis buried a 3-pointer with 1:28 left to get MSU within two points, but the Bulldogs turned the ball over following a missed shot by Florida and then missed two shots in the final two seconds with a chance to tie.

The Gators, who hit just 2 of 26 first-half shots in a 54-52 loss to Texas A&M, sank 13 of 30 (43.3%) in the first 20 minutes against MSU and finished 23 of 55 (41.8%). Florida made 10 of 24 from distance. Mississippi State shot 39.3% overall and made only 4 of 17 from beyond the arc.

The Bulldogs, who were ranked as high as 15th in the AP Top 25, have lost four straight and seven of their last eight after an 11-0 start under first-year coach Chris Jans.

Regardless, he’s unlikely to shave before the Gators’ next game.

Colin Castleton had 16 points and 13 rebounds for his third double-double of the season, and Florida rallied from 11 down to upend No. 20 Missouri 73-64 on Saturday.

Castleton chipped in six assists, three steals and two blocks as the Gators (10-7, 3-2 Southeastern Conference) won their third consecutive game. He made 7 of 11 shots and finished with five offensive boards.

The 22-year-old senior, who came to Florida after two years at Michigan, also became the school’s second transfer to top 1,000 points in Gainesville.

“Feels good,” he said. “I’ve been in college a long time — feel like a grandpa sometimes.”

Missouri (13-4, 2-3) lost its third in a row on the road, this one mostly because it had no answer for Castleton inside. Even when the Tigers double-teamed the 6-foot-11 senior forward, he managed to find a shooter or cutter. His best one may have been when he delivered a bounce pass to Alex Fudge for a dunk with a little more than four minutes to play.

That score created a frenzy in the O’Connell Center, where the home crowd is getting a good sense of Golden’s ability to coach defense. Florida’s last nine opponents have made just 26.3% from 3-point range. The defensive turnaround has keyed the team’s winning streak.

“We were at .500 when we came together and knew we have to figure this out,” Castleton said. “We had lost a couple close ones, but you can’t get those back. You can only get the ones in front of you.”

Will Richard added 18 points thanks mostly to four 3-pointers for Florida, and Riley Kugel chipped in 13 points and five rebounds. The Gators hit 10 of 23 from 3-point range, including 6 of 13 in the second half.

Missouri scored the first 11 points of the game and looked like it might cruise. But Florida settled down, turned up its defense and tied it up at halftime despite 14 turnovers.

“We knew if we took care of the basketball we’d beat them,” Florida’s Myreon Jones said.

Kobe Brown led the Tigers with 21 points. Noah Carter added 12, and Tre Gomillion chipped in 11. Gomillion tweaked his left ankle in the final minutes when Richard landed on him while collecting a rebound, but he stayed in the game.

Mizzou coach Dennis Gates said part of the issue was Brown only getting to the free throw line six times despite his team outscoring Florida 42-26 in the paint.

“I thought he should have went to the foul line a lot more,” Gates said. “He should have been in double digits in foul shots, and he wasn’t tonight.”

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Having lost three of its last four games since beating Illinois and Kentucky, Missouri could drop out of The Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll.

BIG PICTURE

Missouri: The Tigers fell to 0-3 on the road in conference play, hardly a concerning trend given they played at Arkansas, Texas A&M and Florida. The road slate gets a little easier for Mizzou moving forward, with games at Ole Miss and at Mississippi State upcoming.

Florida: Gators coach Todd Golden shortened his bench against Missouri, using just eight guys after forward CJ Felder left the team earlier in the week for personal reasons. Point guard Trey Bonham played just eight minutes, and backup center Jason Jitoboh didn’t get in the game.

UP NEXT

Missouri returns home for two straight, beginning with a rematch against No. 15 Arkansas on Wednesday night.

Florida plays at Texas A&M on Wednesday. The Aggies beat the Gators two weeks earlier in Gainesville.

The Gators’ seventh consecutive win in the series spoiled Bulldogs coach Mike White’s return to Gainesville. White spent the previous seven seasons at Florida before leaving amid frustration on both sides.

“Different, unique, glad it’s behind me,” White said. “Would have been happier, obviously, if it was behind me with a win. … It was great to see a lot of people today, a lot of loved ones.”

Kyle Lofton, a graduate transfer from St. Bonaventure, scored 18 points to lead the Gators’ offensive effort and Colin Castleton blocked seven shots and grabbed eight rebounds to anchor Florida’s defensive effort while putting up 12 points and making five assists.

Georgia built a 23-10 lead midway through the first half before Florida countered to take a 39-34 lead at intermission.

The Bulldogs took the lead briefly in the second half after Mardrez McBride drilled a 3 and Kario Oquendo scored at the basket for a 44-43 advantage with 16:44 left.

After Myreon Jones put the Gators in front with a layup off a feed from Castleton, Terry Roberts scored at the basket for a 46-45 lead. But Florida responded with back-to-back layups and Lofton turned in a heady three-point play on an in-bounds play underneath the Florida basket when he bounced the ball off a defender’s back, recovered it and laid it in drawing the foul.

Alex Fudge hit from deep to push the Florida lead to 13 with 9:37 to play, but the Bulldogs battled back. Jabri Abdur-Rahim hit three 3s in the second half and Georgia made 7 3s from deep in the half. Oquendo’s reduced Georgia’s deficit 78-75, but Lofton made two foul shots, then found Kugel for his second dunk with six seconds left to seal it.

Will Richard finished with 14 points and nine rebounds for Florida (8-7, 1-2) and reserves Jones and Reeves contributed 13 and 12 points respectively.

Roberts hit 4 of 8 from distance and led Georgia (11-4, 1-1) with 25 points. Abdur-Rahim was 4 of 6 from distance and added 12 points off the bench and Braelen Bridges had 10 points.

Florida travels to face LSU Tuesday. Georgia hosts Mississippi State.

Adam Mihalek’s 40-yard field goal with 37 seconds left finally put the Gators on the scoreboard, one of Oregon State’s few disappointments in an otherwise dominant 30-3 Las Vegas Bowl victory.

The Beavers reached 10 victories for the third time program history and the first time in 16 years. They first accomplished the feat in 2000, when coach Jonathan Smith was the team’s quarterback.

Oregon State went 2-10 in 2018, Smith’s first season.

“If you were to look back five years ago and say, ‘Hey, you guys are going to have a 10-win season, win the Las Vegas bowl and beat an SEC team,’ there’ll be a lot of people laughing at us,” Oregon State linebacker Jack Colletto said. “But yet we ultimately were able to execute and do it. So five years from now, who knows where we can be?”

Oregon State (10-3) won seven of its final eight games, taking control early in the third quarter by going up 17-0. The only real question was whether Florida would keep its NCAA-record scoring streak intact. The Gators last were shut out in 1988, a span of 436 games and 57 games longer than any other team.

Mihalek’s field goal ensured it would keep going.

This was the first start for Florida redshirt freshman quarterback Jack Miller, and it showed. He completed 13 of 22 passes for 180 yards. Miller, an Ohio State transfer, was elevated to the starting lineup when Anthony Richardson declared for the NFL draft and backup Jalen Kitna was arrested on child pornography charges.

The Gators closed their first season under coach Billy Napier with three consecutive losses. This also was their second 6-7 record in a row.

“It’s my job to have the team ready to play,” Napier said. “We were not as ready to play as we needed to be.”

Running back Deshaun Fenwick was ready when called upon, rushing for 107 yards. He took up the load when Pac-12 Conference offensive freshman of the year Damien Martinez went out with an apparent shoulder injury on the Beavers’ second drive.

Martinez had rushed for at least 100 yards in six consecutive games and needed just 30 yards to become the fourth freshman in program history to gain 1,000 for the season. He had 12 yards on three carries before the injury.

The game always figured to be won on the ground in some manner.

Florida was 16th in the nation with 213.7 yards rushing per game, but Oregon State also had the 20th-best rush defense in allowing a 114-yard average. This was the fifth time the Beavers didn’t allow an opponent to rush for 100 yards, holding the Gators to 39.

Oregon State allowed just 219 yards while gaining 353.

“We finished obviously the way we wanted to defensively throughout the night,” Smith said. “You wanted to take away the run game and make it hard for them.”

THE REAL MVP?

In his final Oregon State game, Colletto converted a fake punt into a first down, blocked a punt, rushed another time for 6 yards and made four tackles.

“We’re going to have to replace him with maybe three or four guys,” Smith said of the senior.

TWO-QB SYSTEM

Beavers starting quarterback Ben Gulbranson was told before the game that Tristan Gebbia would get at least two series. Gulbranson didn’t let the decision faze him, completing 12 of 19 passes for 165 yards and a touchdown. He was named game MVP.

“He’s helped me out so much throughout this journey,” Gulbranson said of Gebbia. “He’s a great guy. He’s our captain of the team, and he’s going to be a hell of a coach. I would love to play for him when he pursues his coaching career.”

UNFORCED ERRORS

Florida committed 11 penalties for 82 yards, including six for false starts. Back-to-back false starts wiped out a potential touchdown drive in the first quarter.

“I don’t know if we’ve had that many in an entire season, much less one game,” Napier said. “We lived in third-and-long today as a result of inefficiency, missed opportunities, penalties. When you live in third-and-long, your percentages of having success are not good.”

UP NEXT

Florida: The Gators get tested right away at the start of next season with a trip to Pac-12 Conference champion Utah. Florida beat the Utes at home, 29-26, to open this season. Florida will have a much different roster next season, so that game will be the first opportunity to see where the Gators line up in Napier’s building plan.

Oregon State: The Beavers have what could be a tricky opening game at San Jose State, which is 7-4 and plays in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl on Tuesday. Oregon State, though, needs to show right away that its success this season is a sign of what’s to come and not just a blip.

Richard sank all five of his shots with four 3-pointers for the Gators (6-3). Kowacie Reeves had 12 points. Alex Fudge and Colin Castleton both scored 11 and combined for 13 rebounds. Trey Bonham pitched in with 10 points, five rebounds and four assists.

The Hatters (4-3) were led by the nine points of reserve Alec Oglesby. Stetson starters scored just 18 points in the game on 8-for-22 shooting.

Richard hit three of his 3-pointers in the first half to help Florida take a 33-22 lead into intermission.

Reeves began and ended a 13-2 run to open the second half with 3-pointers and the Gators were never threatened from there. Two free throws by Aleks Szymczyk gave Florida its largest lead 87-47 with a little over a minute left to play.

The Gators lead the all-time series 53-14. Florida is 101-19 against members of the Atlantic Sun Conference. Jacksonville was the last A-Sun member to beat Florida in 2010.

The Hatters opened the season with a road win over Florida State.

The Gators scrubbed Kitna’s name from their roster and his biography from their website late Thursday, just hours after Kitna’s first court appearance. Kitna was released from jail on an $80,000 bond and ordered to have no unsupervised contact with minors and no internet access.

Kitna, 19, returned with his parents, retired NFL quarterback Jon Kitna and wife Jennifer, to Burleson, Texas.

Although Kitna remained enrolled in classes Friday, the University Police Department issued him a trespass warning that bars him from campus for three years, pending the outcome of his court case. Kitna also would need to have to go through a student code of conduct hearing to be eligible to return, an unlikely outcome given the severity of the allegations.

Kitna sobbed into his hands during his 75-minute court appearance, which included attorneys on both sides arguing bond details and conditions of his release. He wore a solid green smock typically given to inmates being kept under close watch because of welfare concerns.

The Gainesville Police Department released Kitna’s arrest report Thursday, providing graphic details about the complaints filed against him.

Police said Kitna shared two mages of young girls being sexually abused via a social media platform, including one of a man having sex with a young girl.

Police later searched his phone and found three more images of two nude young girls in a shower — photos that had been saved to Kitna’s phone in December 2021. The report did not estimate the ages of the girls.

Kitna’s lawyer Caleb Kenyon argued those three images could be considered child erotica instead of child porn.

Two of the five arresting charges, which still need to be formalized by the state attorney’s office, are second-degree felonies that could result in a prison term of up to 15 years and a fine of up to $10,000. The other three are third-degree felonies.

The Gators suspended Kitna following his arrest on Wednesday and took the step of dismissing him a day later.

Judge Meshon Rawls set the bond and as conditions for Kitna’s release ordered him not to have any unsupervised contact with minors and not to have any internet access.

Kitna sobbed into his hands when his parents, including former NFL quarterback Jon Kitna, address the court during a 75-minute appearance. Jalen Kitna was at the Alachua County Jail and on a closed-circuit feed when Jon and Jennifer Kitna stepped to a podium in the courtroom and promised they would supervise their 19-year-old son back home in Burleson, Texas.

Jon Kitna tapped his feet repeatedly and held hands with Jennifer throughout their son’s first court appearance. Jalen Kitna donned a green smock — different from the striped pants and tops other inmates wear — typically given to those being kept under close watch because of concerns about their welfare. His booking photo showed him in normal jailhouse attire.

“He’s got a great family. He’s got good family support. He’s going to be well taken care of,” one of Kitna’s attorneys, Caleb Kenyon, said outside the courthouse.

The Gainesville Police Department released Kitna’s arrest report Thursday, providing graphic details about the complaints filed against the now-suspended football player.

The investigation began in June with a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children into images of child pornography being shared on the social media platform Discord. The investigation led authorities to Kitna.

Kitna shared two images of a pubescent girl, police said in the report, adding that the phrase “so young junior” was written on both pictures. Kitna told a detective he thought they were legal because he found them online.

When police searched Kitna’s phone, they found three more images of two nude pubescent girls in the shower, according to the report. Those three images were saved to his cellphone last December, police said. The report did not estimate the ages of the girls.

Kenyon, the attorney, argued that Kitna should be released with no monetary bond and suggested that those three images could be considered child erotica instead of child porn.

Kitna also told police he had been in other messaging groups on at least one other social media platform that distributed similar material, according to the arrest report.

Discord had previously deactivated Kitna’s account because of a violation of the terms of service, police said.

“Discord has a zero-tolerance policy for child sexual abuse, which does not have a place on our platform or anywhere in society,” a Discord spokesperson said in a statement released to The Associated Press. “We work relentlessly to find and remove this abhorrent content and take action including banning the users responsible and engaging with the proper authorities.”

Two of the five arresting charges, which still need to be formalized by the state attorney’s office, are second-degree felonies that could result in a prison term of up to 15 years and a fine of up to $10,000. The other three are third-degree felonies.

Kitna also is being represented by Gainesville attorney Ron Kozlowski as well as noted Jacksonville attorney Hank Coxe, who has a history of taking on cases involving high-profile athletes.

Kitna appeared in four games as a redshirt freshman for the Gators this season. He completed 10 of his 14 passes for 181 yards and a touchdown.

Jon Kitna played 14 seasons in the NFL with Seattle, Cincinnati, Detroit and Dallas. He started 124 games and now is a high school coach in Burleson, just south of Fort Worth.

Trey Benson had a 17-yard touchdown run with 4:06 left to give No. 16 Florida State a 45-38 win over Florida on Friday.

Benson had 111 yards rushing and three touchdowns, and Jordan Travis ran for 83 yards and two touchdowns. The Seminoles ran for 228 yards — the seventh straight time they surpassed the 200-yard rushing mark.

Florida drove the field in the final minutes but Anthony Richardson’s fourth-down pass over the middle fell incomplete with 39 seconds to go.

It was the highest scoring game in the Florida State-Florida rivalry, which dates to 1958.

Travis also completed 13 of 30 passes for 270 yards as Florida State (9-3) completed a sweep of its state rivals for the first time under Mike Norvell. The Seminoles drilled Miami 45-3 on Nov. 5.

“To be able to finish tonight 2-0 in the state, that’s big,” said Norvell, who is in his third year at FSU. “Those two games, you know how important it is. We don’t sell it short. It’s critical for us to go and play well in these games and to go win these games. To be able to finish up as the state champs, I’m so proud of our guys.”

A redshirt junior, Travis used his ability to escape and elude to his advantage. He initially broke out of the pocket to avoid sacks but then, once in the open field, made cuts and off-balance runs to get into the end zone or set up FSU’s touchdowns.

Travis finished with a season-high 15 carries and his 83 rushing yards were the second most he accumulated this season, only to a 108-yard output in the loss at NC State on Oct. 8. But on Friday night, Travis’ legs were the difference.

“The quarterback is a challenge,” Florida coach Billy Napier said. “His legs were the difference in the game. He gave us fits all night.”

Florida State trailed 24-21 at the half but opened the second half with scores on the next three drives (field goal, touchdown, touchdown) to jump in front 38-24. The Gators (6-6) answered back with a pair of touchdowns, one each by Montrell Johnson and Trevor Etienne, to tie the game with 7:41 left.

Benson now has 965 yards, just 35 short of becoming FSU’s first 1,000-yard rusher since Cam Akers in 2019.

Richardson completed just 5 of 17 passes but three were for touchdowns. Ricky Pearsall had a career-best 148 receiving yards, including touchdowns of 52 and 43 yards in the first half.

Trevor Etienne had a season-best 129 yards on 17 carries, and Montrell Johnson Jr. had 85 yards on 17 carries.

This is the eighth time this season FSU has surpassed 35 points in a game.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Florida State has a chance to move up after winning its second game against the SEC, which followed a September win over LSU.

SENIOR DAY

Florida State honored 18 players on Senior Day, including a number of redshirt juniors who could opt to return in 2023. Among those who were recognized include preseason AP All-American Jammie Robinson and defensive tackle Fabien Lovett, both of whom have announced Senior Bowl invitations on Twitter. Among those not honored were redshirt junior quarterback Jordan Travis.

SHORTHANDED

Florida played without a few of its top players. Justin Shorter, who had a team-leading 577 receiving yards, did not play. Safety Rashad Torrence II, the leading tackler with 76, was also out.

TAKEAWAYS

Florida: The Gators ran for 262 yards, averaging 5.7 yards per carry, but he had 11 straight incompletions in the second half.

Florida State: The Seminoles gave up a season-high 38 points, but made a stop on the final drive to secure their best regular season since 2016.

UP NEXT

Florida: Awaits bowl selection announcement.

Florida State: Awaits bowl selection announcement.

Vanderbilt (5-6, 2-5) took a 7-3 lead and never looked back against Florida (6-5, 3-5). The loss ended a two-game win streak for the Gators, who had won their last eight games against Vanderbilt.

Florida opened the scoring with a 26-yard field goal by Adam Mihalek and managed nothing but a 44-yard Mihalek field goal the rest of the half.

Vanderbilt took a 7-3 lead in the second quarter when Mike Wright connected with Jayden McGowan for a 10-yard touchdown.

The Commodores weren’t finished.

With 3:22 left in the first half, Florida’s Jason Marshall Jr. fumbled a punt from Vanderbilt’s Matthew Hayball at the Gators’ 5-yard line. The ball rolled into the end zone where it was recovered by Wesley Schelling for the touchdown and a 14-6 Vanderbilt lead at the half.

Florida struck on its first possession of the third quarter. Anthony Richardson found running back Montrell Johnson Jr. on the right side for a 3-yard scoring pass to get the Gators within 14-12. A two-point conversion pass failed.

Wright connected with flanker Gavin Schoenwald for a 7-yard touchdown with 3:22 left in the third and Vanderbilt led 21-12.

Jaylen Mahoney picked off a Richardson pass and the Commodores took over at the Florida 28-yard line. Wright fired a scoring strike to tight end Ben Bresnahan on first down and the Commodores took a 28-12 lead into the final quarter.

Richardson connected with Daejon Reynolds for a 74-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter, but Florida trailed 28-18 after the two-point conversion pass failed again.

Joseph Bulovas kicked a 27-yard field goal with 4:38 left to play to extend Vanderbilt’s lead to 31-18.

Richardson passed to Reynolds for a 16-yard score with 3:13 remaining to cap the scoring for Florida.

THE TAKEAWAYS

Florida: The Gators defense extended its shutout streak to seven quarters in a row holding the Commodores to 94 yards in the first quarter including zero yards on the Commodores’ first drive.

The streak ended in the second quarter when Vanderbilt took a 7-3 lead. The Gators gave the 81-yard drive by Vanderbilt a huge assist with a pair of 15-yard penalties for unnecessary roughness and a facemask. The Gators were penalized seven times for 80 yards in the game.

Vanderbilt: With the wins at Kentucky and at home against Florida, the Commodores have won two SEC games in a row for the first time since 2018 when they beat Ole Miss and Tennessee. At 5-6 they are one win away from being bowl eligible.

A knack for recovering fumbles continued to be a plus for the Commodores. They entered the game with 10 fumble recoveries tying for second in the SEC and 13th nationally.

UP NEXT

Florida: The Gators are on the road at No. 20 Florida State for the final regular-season game.

Vanderbilt: The Commodores host fifth-ranked Tennessee in the regular-season finale.