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SEC Players of the Week!

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida safety Jordan Castell and defensive lineman Cam Jackson both earned SEC Player of the Week honors, the league office announced Monday morning. Castell was named SEC Freshman of the Week for the first time in his career and is the first since Trevor Etienne earned the award in 2022. Jackson captured co-Defensive Lineman of the Week after transferring from Memphis. This is the first time this season that a Gator has earned conference player of the week honors.

Starting in his second collegiate contest, and making his second consecutive start for the Gators, Castell totaled ten tackles and one pass break up in Florida’s victory over the Tennessee Volunteers. His ten tackles marked a career high for the freshman and doubled his season total to twenty. The Orlando, Florida native’s pass break up came in the third quarter when Tennessee attempted a deep pass on 2nd & 10 from the Tennessee thirty-one.

Castell’s defensive grade of 82.7 was the highest on Florida’s defense in week three, according to Pro Football Focus. The 6-2, 220-pound Orlando native posted a team high coverage grade of 81.6, allowing one reception for 16 yards on four targets vs Tennessee. The true freshman played in all 66 defensive snaps on Saturday night.

“The guy’s playing partly because he’s mature enough to handle it,” Napier said on Castell during Monday’s press conference.  He can process, he can communicate, and he has got physical ability. I think he is a future leader, and certainly amongst his classmates he’s well thought of.”

Jackson, a junior defensive lineman, recorded six tackles and one pass break up in Saturday’s contest. His total in tackles is a season high for the new Gator. Jackson was able to bat a pass down at the line in the middle of the third quarter when the Volunteers were facing a 2nd & 7 on the Florida twenty-four-yard line. Jackson is the first defensive-lineman to win a weekly SEC award since Week 1 of 2022.

The 6-6, 360-pound defensive tackle posted a defensive grade of 71.1, the 5th highest on the Gators’ defense in week three, according to PFF.

“I would say Cam Jackson and Caleb Banks,” OLB Princely Umanmielen said during fall camp on who has stood out on the defensive line. “Cam Jackson, he’s a huge guy. He can overpower anybody he wants.”

Castell and Jackson are the latest duo to win an SEC Weekly award in the same week since Trevor Etienne and O’Cyrus Torrence did so on November 14, 2022.

Gator National Champs. Track and Field

For the 11th time since Mike “Mouse” Hollowaytook the head post of Florida’s men’s track and field team, he and the Gators hoisted a national championship trophy over their heads late Friday night at the NCAA outdoor championships meet in Austin, Texas.

“It is an incredible feeling. I get asked all the time what my favorite championship is and I jokingly but not jokingly say the next one,” Holloway said.

Early in Friday’s competition, Florida’s Emmanuel Bamidele notched a first-place finish in the men’s 400-meter with a time of 44.24 − a mark that wasn’t only Bamidele’s personal best, but also makes him the collegiate leader, gives him the second-fastest time in program history and the fifth-fastest in the world this year.

Florida’s 4×100-meter relay team recorded a runner-up finish as Ryan Willie, Jacory Patterson, Pjai Austin and Robert Gregory posted a time of 38.26, which was only a hair off LSU’s mark of 38.05.

Heading into the final two events of the night just minutes before 11 p.m., Florida found itself trailing Arkansas by five points. Though the 5K run and the 4×400-meter relay still remained, neither the Gators nor the Razorbacks had a 5K runner, which set the table for a championship-deciding 4×400-meter relay.

Bluntly, Florida’s chances to return to Gainesville with a national title in hand were looking bleak as the Gators would need the perfect storm to get the points they needed to overtake Arkansas. Should the Razorbacks have finished in the Top 4 of the event, the hardware would’ve gone home to Fayetteville.

Instead, Bamidele, Patterson, Jevaughn Powell and Willie all tag teamed the come-from-behind victory with a record-breaking time of 2:57.74.

At the conclusion of the race, the fact that the Gators’ time was good for a school record, facility record, meet record and collegiate record was all moot. The only thing that mattered was the time was good for Florida’s second consecutive national title.

“It is just an awesome feeling. We do not think about last year or think about defending anything,” Holloway said. “Our job was to come in here and win this one and that is what we did.”

Newberry Adds Gators to staff

Former Gators join Newberry staff

The Newberry football program announced the hiring of a pair of former Gator football players to their staff for the upcoming season.

Travis McGriff, who played wide receiver for UF from 1994-1998, and Reid Fleming, who played linebacker for the Gators from 2000-2003, are the Panthers’ new offensive and defensive coordinators, respectively.

“This is an exciting time for Newberry Football, the school and the community,” said Newberry football coach Ed Johnson. “They both bring extensive knowledge, passion, and success to our staff.”

While the pair are new to the varsity staff they have already been a part of the program.

“They both coached our middle school team the past few years and had a lot of success,” Johnson said. “We’re looking forward to having them join us this season.”

This past season the Panthers finished 5-6. They advanced to the Class 1A state playoffs based on their strength of schedule but lost at Bradford (Starke), 51-13, in the opening round.

Johnson is hoping McGriff and Fleming can help strengthen both sides of the ball. This past fall, the Panthers were outscored 337-217.

McGriff, who won a national title with UF in 1996, had his most productive season with the Gators in 1998.

The Gainesville native, who starred at P.K. Yonge, caught 70 passes for 1,357 yards, which is first on the UF single-season list for receiving yards and tied for sixth all time with Chris Doering (1995) and Kadarius Toney (2020) for receptions in a single season.

His 13 catches against South Carolina in 1998 is tied for third on the single-game charts and his 222 yards receiving against the Gamecocks ranks third all time for most receiving yards in a game in Florida football history.

“Travis has a great offensive mind and feel for the game,” Johnson said. “He will work to get our players in the best position possible to have success on the field.”

Fleming was one of the top linebackers in the state coming out of Rutherford (Panama City), which advanced to the 1999 state title game. As a senior at UF, he ranked second among UF linebackers with 68 tackles, which was more than three times his three-year total (22 tackles) entering his senior season.

“Reid is super competitive and organized,” Johnson said. “He fits in perfectly with what we have been doing the past few years on defense. He will have us flying around and being a physical defense on Friday nights.”

Newberry, which will compete in the new Suburban classification this fall (Class 1S, Region 2, District 3), will host Wildwood in the preseason classic on Friday, Aug. 19.

The Panthers open the 2022 regular season at Orlando Christian Prep on Friday, Aug. 26.

Gainesville Regional Schedule

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The University of Florida was handed the No. 13 national seed for the 2022 NCAA Baseball Tournament, as announced by the NCAA Selection Committee on ESPN2 on Monday.

Joining host-program Florida at the Gainesville Regional is No. 2-seed Oklahoma, No. 3-seed Liberty and No. 4-seed Central Michigan. The Gators will take on Central Michigan this upcoming Friday night, June 3, in the second game of the day at 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

With the NCAA announcing the complete, 64-team bracket and pairings on Monday, Florida earned a spot in an NCAA Regional for the 37th time in program history. Overall, the 2022 campaign represents the 18th time that Florida has hosted an NCAA Regional, including the second-consecutive bid after hosting in the inaugural season of Condron Family Ballpark last year.

From June 3-6, 64 teams will compete across 16 NCAA Regional sites to determine which 16 programs will advance to NCAA Super Regionals, scheduled for June 10-13.

Complete Schedule for the 2022 NCAA Gainesville Regional
Friday, June 3
Game One: 1 p.m. ET – Liberty vs. Oklahoma (ESPN+)
Game Two: 6:30 p.m. ET – Central Michigan vs. Florida (ESPN+)

Saturday, June 4
Game Three: TBA – Loser Game One vs. Loser Game Two
Game Four: TBA – Winner Game One vs. Winner Game Two

Sunday, June 5
Game Five: TBA – Loser Game Four vs. Winner Game Three
Game Six: TBA – Winner Game Four vs. Winner Game Five

Monday, June 6
Game Seven (if necessary): TBA – Winner Game Six vs. Loser Game Six

Gator Football TV Schedule

SEC Announces Television Selections for Four Florida Games
 
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Southeastern Conference announced the television selections for the first three weeks of the 2022 football season, in addition to games streamed on digital platforms.
 
The Gators will play the first three games of the season under the lights at home.
 
Florida will open the campaign on Sept. 3 hosting Utah at 7 p.m. on ESPN. The matchup will be the first game of a home-and-home series against the Utes for the 2022 and 2023 seasons. Florida and Utah’s only previous meeting came in 1977 when the Gators claimed a 38-29 victory in Gainesville.
 
The Kentucky Wildcats will make the trip down to Gainesville on Sept. 10 for a 7 p.m. kickoff on ESPN. It will be the 73rd meeting between the two teams with the Gators leading the series 53-19.

The Gators will then host South Florida on Sept. 17, kicking off at 7:30 p.m. on SEC Network. UF and USF will meet for the second consecutive year and just third time ever. The Gators traveled to Tampa and downed the Bulls 42-20 in 2021.
 
Meanwhile, the matchup between UF and Eastern Washington on Oct. 1 will kick off at noon on ESPN+/SECN+. The game will be the first-ever meeting between the Gators and the Eagles.
 
As previously announced, Florida-Georgia will kick off at 3:30 p.m. on CBS on Oct. 29 and the Gators will travel to Tallahassee Nov. 25 for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff against the Seminoles on ABC.
 
2022 Gators Football Announced TV/Time Schedule:
 
Date                                   Opponent                         Network                    Time          
September 3                      vs. Utah                               ESPN                     7 p.m. ET
September 10                    vs. Kentucky                        ESPN                     7 p.m. ET
September 17                    vs. South Florida                 SECN                     7:30 p.m. ET
October 1                           vs. Eastern Washington      ESPN+/SECN+      Noon ET
October 29                         Georgia (Jacksonville)        CBS                        3:30 p.m. ET
November 25                      at FSU                                ABC                        7:30 p.m. ET