By Franz Beard
A few thoughts to jump start your Thursday morning:
IT MAY BE UCF AND THE GASPARILLA BOWL, BUT IT’S A BIG DEAL
Legend has it that the pirate Jose Gaspar leapt from his ship to his death in the Gulf of Mexico to avoid capture by the United States Navy somewhere around 1821. Allegedly, he left behind an enormous trove of treasure that no one has ever found. That’s not the only thing that has never been found. Actual evidence that Jose Gaspar ever lived has never been found, either.
So a pirate who may have never existed is celebrated every year in Tampa with the Gasparilla Pirate Festival. It’s a big deal for the Tampa economy although it pales in comparison to Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans, Mobile and Lafayette, Louisiana.
The Gasparilla Bowl, which is supposed to help kick off what Tampans call “Gasparilla season,” was one step above myth until this year when luck had it that both Florida and UCF rolled snake eyes on what was expected to be big seasons for both teams. UCF’s dreams of a big season crashed and burned when quarterback Dillon Gabriel broke his collarbone in game three but the Knights won five of their last six games to finish 8-4. Florida’s season started going south on October 2 in Lexington when they committed 15 penalties and had a field goal blocked, turning a perfectly winnable game into a disastrous loss. The Kentucky game was part of a 2-5 stretch in which the Gators went from bad to worse before beating FSU in the final regular season game to finish barely bowl eligible at 6-6.
One man’s – or in this case two teams’ – disaster is another man’s opportunity. In one fell swoop of genius, someone in Tampa came up with the idea of a Florida-UCF matchup in the Gasparilla Bowl. Think of it for just a moment. A bowl game whose namesake is a myth invites a school whose greatest accomplishment is a myth. UCF has touted itself as the 2017 national champion. Actual evidence of the national championship doesn’t exist although it does for Alabama, which beat Georgia that year in the College Football Playoff championship game. But as Mark Twain said way back in 1882, never let the facts get in the way of a good story. UCF takes him at his word.
UCF’s opponent? Big brother, the Gators who have more real national championships in football alone (three) than the entire UCF athletic department has won legitimately (zero) in school history. The Gators of the mighty SEC have an athletic department budget of more than $150 million. Their projected media rights/bowl payout from the conference when Texas and Oklahoma join the league (estimates of $80 million) might be as much or more than UCF’s entire athletic budget (about $74 million these days). And one more thing: the Gators have yet to lose a football game to its little brothers UCF, South Florida, Florida Atlantic and Florida International.
Matching little brother and big brother was enough to set off a ticket sales frenzy like nothing ever seen in the Gasparilla Bowl, which has previously been known as the St. Petersburg Bowl, the Beef O’Brady’s Bowl and the Bad Boy Mowers Bowl. Raymond James Stadium, capacity 65,618, is sold out. The previous three Gasparilla Bowls drew 59,485 COMBINED. Behind closed doors, the organizers of the Gasparilla Bowl are so giddy they’re pinching themselves to make sure it’s not a dream because they have two schools from the state who are desperate to win this football game.
As much as they think beating a physically beaten-up Auburn team in the Peach Bowl was its ticket to legitimacy, UCF is still begging to be taken seriously. Years ago they were rejected by the Big East when South Florida put the kibosh on their application. The Big 12 elected to stay at 10 teams rather than take in UCF in 2016. They’ll be going into the Big 12 in 2023 but it’s not going to be the same since Texas and Oklahoma are leaving. UCF will feel legitimate if it beats Florida although if they lose, the Knights can blame it on big brother having all the money and resources, etc. Florida’s in-state brethren in Tallahassee have turned this whine into an art form.
The Gators need to win this one every bit as much as UCF, mainly because it avoids a losing season. UF went from 1980-2012 without suffering a losing season. They’ve had two – 2013 under Will Muschamp and 2017 under Jim McElwain – since then. A third losing season in eight years isn’t the end of the world, but it is a setback for a program that Billy Napier is trying to elevate back to legitimate power status. Losing to UCF will only make Napier’s already enormous job that much tougher.
Second, Billy Napier still has a ton of recruiting to do. There are players on the Florida roster that he needs to re-recruit to keep them out of the transfer portal, high school and junior college players that he wants to add on National Signing Day in February and transfers that he will hope to lure to Gainesville. A winning record and a bowl win can only solidify Florida as a place to be in the minds of many of those kids.
Third, there is the confidence that beating Florida State and topping it off with a bowl win over another Florida wannabe will carry over into mat drills in February and spring practice in March and April. Momentum is a wonderful thing.
Gervon Dexter, whose physical talent says future superstar but whose production hasn’t passed the smell test in two years, knows he and his teammates are auditioning for Napier but he also knows that bragging rights are at stake. The last thing he wants is to go back home to Polk County and hear how the Gators lost to UCF.
He’s motivated. Here is what he said Tuesday about the Gators and the Gasparilla Bowl: “We’re war ready. We’re ready to go. Ready to play. It’s UCF. Win the state.”
GATORS WIPE OUT STONY BROOK BY 25 POINTS
That the Gators (9-3) beat the Stony Brook Seawolves (7-5) probably didn’t surprise anyone Wednesday afternoon, but the way UF did it gives hope that they’ve put a difficult stretch behind them. The Gators played great defense, shot the ball well for a change, and best of all they looked like they came to the O-Dome with a good attitude and had plenty of fun as they won their second straight game, 87-62.
“We hadn’t been shooting as well as we’d want to but seeing a few go in and turning them [Stony Brook] over at a high pace, I think that’s what made it a lot more fun,” said Phlandrous Fleming Jr., who led the Gators with 20 points and hit 4-5 on his three-pointers to go with four rebounds, two assists and two steals. Getting dunks, getting out in transition and seeing everybody score from around the floor, I think it’s a lot more fun than us missing a lot of shots.”
Coming into the game, the Gators had shot only 26.6 percent from the 3-point line and their shooting inside the arc had been sporadic. Against Stony Brook the Gators hit 32-60 overall (53.3 percent) and their 8-23 night on three-pointers was a bit deceiving since there were at least four shots that did everything but go in. Defensively, the Gators held the Seawolves to 5-19 shooting from the three-point line and turned them over 17 times.
Stony Brook coach Ashley Langford lamented that the Gators took them completely out of their offensive game, which relies on the three-point shot, and forced 17 turnovers that were turned into 27 UF points.
“Their ball pressure is elite,” Langford said. “Those guys on the perimeter – you watch film and you don’t realize how good they are on defense. You think they’re pretty good and then you get in the game. We oftentimes couldn’t get by them … They’re so good defensively that I thought at times it was hard for us to function.”
Fleming got plenty of help offensively from Colin Castleton (15 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 blocked shot), Jason Jitoboh (12 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists) and C.J. Felder (10 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 blocked shot). Jitoboh’s points and rebounds equaled a career high.
“Coach and the staff have been preaching inner confidence in me, telling me that I’m way better than I think,” Jitoboh said. “So I’ve just been trying to play my role and get in the best condition I can possibly get.”
SEC Basketball
Wednesday’s scores: FLORIDA (9-3) 87, Stony Brook (7-5) 62; No. 12 Auburn (11-1) 71, Murray State (10-2) 58; No. 20 Kentucky (9-2) 95; Western Kentucky (8-5) 60; South Carolina (9-3) 105, Army (6-6) 75; No. 19 Tennessee (9-2) 77, No. 6 Arizona (11-1) 73; No. 17 LSU (12-0) 95, Lipscomb (6-8) 60; East Tennessee State (8-5) 86, Georgia (5-7) 84; Illinois (9-3) 88, Missouri (6-6) 63
OVER, UNDER, AROUND AND THROUGH THE SEC (FOOTBALL)
Alabama (12-1): Offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien and offensive line coach Doug Marrone have tested positive for COVID. Alabama anticipates both will be available for the College Football Playoff semifinal game with Cincinnati in the Cotton Bowl December 31.
Arkansas (8-4): Offensive lineman Jalen St. John, who earlier in the week entered the transfer portal, has had a change of heart and will return to Arkansas after all.
Auburn (6-6): With offensive coordinator Mike Bobo fired, head coach Bryan Harsin has taken over getting the Tigers ready for their Birmingham Bowl game with Houston. The biggest change is moving to a no huddle, up tempo attack.
Georgia (12-1): In addition to quarterback JT Daniels, wide receiver George Pickens has also tested positive for COVID.
LSU (6-6): LSU will be dressing only 51 scholarship players for its Texas Bowl matchup with Kansas State.
Missouri (6-7): Tyler Badie, the SEC’s leading rusher, opted out of the Armed Forces Bowl, which Missouri lost to Army (9-4), 24-22, Wednesday night on a last second field goal. It is hard to imagine Mizzou losing that game if Badie had played.
Ole Miss (10-2): To avoid COVID outbreaks prior to its Sugar Bowl matchup with Baylor, Ole Miss is rescheduling practice and travel plans before departure for New Orleans.
South Carolina (6-6): Defensive back Karon Prunty will be transferring to D1AA North Carolina A&T.
Tennessee (7-5): HBC Josh Heupel says the Vols vaccination rate is more than 90 percent. The Vols haven’t had any positive tests as they go home for a couple of days before coming back to prep for Purdue in the Music City Bowl.
Texas A&M (8-4): Due to the massive COVID-19 outbreak on the team, Texas A&M has had to pull out of the Gator Bowl matchup with Wake Forest. Per A&M athletic director Ross Bjork, the Aggies are down to 38 healthy scholarship players, only 13 on the defensive side of the ball.
ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: I never met Robbie Roper, but tonight I grieve for his family. He was just a kid with a whole life in front of him and now he’s gone, never to be replaced. It is in moments like this that I am reminded of something my mentor, Jack Hairston, told me when he first hired me to work for him with the Jacksonville Journal back in 1969. “Get the story,” he told me. “The final score is important, but the story is the people who made the final score possible. Don’t ever forget that it’s just a game that is played by real people.” Sometimes we get so caught up in the winning and losing or the stats that we forget that it is real people playing the game. In Robbie Roper’s case, he was just a kid who loved playing football and he played it at a very high level. I want to remember a kid I never knew, not the football player I didn’t.
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