Florida Gators News

New UF athletics director Scott Stricklin already has circled the date - and warned the Gators had better be ready.

The Florida football team will visit the Mississippi State Bulldogs during the fall of 2018.

“Mississippi State is going to be good that year, so we got to get going,” Stricklin deadpanned.

Backup quarterback Austin Appleby sees a critical opportunity for the Florida Gators.

He also views Saturday’s visit Vanderbilt as an audition for himself.

With starter Luke Del Rio expected to sit out at least one more game with a knee injury, Appleby hopes to rekindle a quarterback competition...

The Florida Gators will host LSU Oct. 8 at noon on ESPN.

This longtime rivalry dates to 1971 and has been one of the SEC’s showcase matchups between East and West “crossover” foes since the league split into divisions in 1992. The game routinely has been shown at 3:30 p.m. on CBS or at night.

But...

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Injured UF starter Luke Del Rio took the field first at Tennessee's Neyland Stadium, wearing full uniform and a left knee brace.

Backup quarterback Austin Appleby joined him and began warming up.

The momentary suspense soon ended when Del Rio stepped aside, put on a headset and...

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. —While Rocky Top played at a fever pitch and a crowd of 102,455 sang along, UF coach Jim McElwain and his shellshocked Gators entered the south end zone tunnel at Tennessee’s Neyland Stadium.

The Gators’ dominance of the Vols had ended moments earlier during an epic collapse —...

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — This one was worse than the Choke at Doak.

This was Rocky Flop on Rocky Top.

Tennessee 38, Florida 28.

The Great Chokie on top of ol' Smokie!

After all those years and tears and crying-in-their-beers, the Tennessee Volunteers finally celebrated on Saturday and, for a change,...

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The ball sailed over Antonio Callaway's right shoulder and into his outstretched hands, and the receiver fell out-of-bounds for a 51-yard completion.

It was Florida's second play of the game.

But it was far from Callaway's last highlight.

In his first game since injuring his...

Three things we learned from Gators' 38-28 loss at Tennessee:

1. A seeming QB controversy fizzled during the second half like the Gators’ game plan.

Coach Jim McElwain, offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier and backup quarterback Austin Appleby could do little wrong as Florida jumped to a 21-0 lead....

GAINESVILLE — The Florida Gators' defense had never been better than last Saturday night, but the good feelings were fleeting.

Hours after throttling North Texas, safety Marcus Maye and his teammates relived a day when UF's defense rarely had been worse.

"Sunday morning hit," Maye said. "We all...

GAINESVILLE ― The YouTube video flashed across John Wilkinson's screen accompanied by a four-word message: "You gotta see this."

So Wilkinson, the head football coach at Cocoa High, watched — and could not take his eyes off — Jawaan Taylor.

In the recruiting tape of the 6-foot-3, 325-pound eighth-grader,...

GAINESVILLE — To call Tennessee senior Josh Dobbs the SEC's top dual-threat quarterback is a disservice.

The 6-foot-3, 210-pound Dobbs runs like a wide receiver and completes enough big throws to make a defense nervous.

Dobbs also arrived in Knoxville to pursue a degree in aerospace engineering...

GAINESVILLE — During the two seasons he played quarterback at Purdue, Austin Appleby knew he never really had a chance.

The question now is what are the Gators' chances with Appleby under center.

The UF graduate transfer will replace injured starter Luke Del Rio during No. 19 Florida's (3-0) highly...

GAINESVILLE — The film did not lie, UF coach Jim McElwain said Monday.

McElwain's meltdown two days earlier against North Texas was the right call to make late during the third quarter of a one-sided game and eventual Gators' shutout.

"You guys saw it," McElwain said of the hit that sidelined quarterback...

Florida back-up quarterback Austin Appleby will get his chance, just not the way he wanted it.

Appleby’s first start for the Gators will come at the expense of a fallen teammate, Luke Del Rio. The Gators’ starter suffered a knee injury during Saturday’s 32-0 win against North Texas and is expected...

GAINESVILLE ― While Florida quarterback Luke Del Rio lay on the field Saturday night in the Swamp, Gators coach Jim McElwain lost his cool.

UF trainers tended to Del Rio’s left knee following a low hit and roughing the passer penalty by North Texas linebacker Joshua Wheeler with 1:10 to go in the...

Antonio Callaway had never missed a game in a Florida Gators uniform.

That changed Saturday night.

The sophomore receiver — who had five catches for a career high 129 yards and a touchdown against Kentucky last week — sat out a visit from North Texas with a quadriceps injury.

Junior receiver Brandon...

GAINESVILLE — On his way to work each day, Jim McElwain passes the statues of three Heisman-winning quarterbacks at Florida and three national championship trophies.

Those reminders are enough to inspire any coach in Year 2 of a rebuild.

But this week, McElwain derives motivation from the Gators'...

C.J. Worton's initial reaction was only natural when a teammate rolled his ankle during the Florida Gators preseason camp.

"All that went through my head was, 'This hurts!'" the junior receiver recalled this week.

Unfortunately, one of Worton's next thoughts was a bit too familiar — here we go...

GAINESVILLE — Seth Littrell won a national championship in 2000 as a running back at Oklahoma.

To become a head coach, the 38-year-old had to lower expectations for now.

North Texas hired Littrell following a 1-11 season — the Mean Green's 10th losing season in 11 years.

Littrell has matched last...

Proudly wearing his No. 22 Florida Gators jersey with his last name on back, Terance Perine blended right in during his first game at the Swamp.

It did not take long for fans to notice him.

To Perine's surprise, his son, Lamical, entered the season opener against UMass on UF's first series. The...

GAINESVILLE — New Florida quarterback Luke Del Rio needed just two games to do something Tim Tebow never managed during his record-setting career.

Coach Jim McElwain was not impressed — or at least he did not act like it on Monday.

Del Rio's 320-yard day this past Saturday against Kentucky marked...

The Florida Gators' highly anticipated Sept. 24 visit to Tennessee will be televised at 3:30 p.m. on CBS.

UF will look to extend its series-record winning streak to 12 games against Tennessee and gain a leg up in the SEC East race. 

The 2105 Gators won the division but league-wide media picked...

UF coach Jim McElwain said he is "a little nervous" about a quadriceps injury suffered by star receiver Antonio Callaway.

Callaway will not practice Monday and will not play if he is not able to get on the field by Wednesday, McElwain said.

McElwain did specify the nature of the injury, whether...

Shortly after the Florida Gators closed the book on yet another victory -- the 30th straight -- over the pitiful, pathetic Kentucky Wildcats,  I  got an email from a reader.

"Talk about a wrong prediction," the electronic dispatch read. "Stop Gator hating and kill yourself."

I wish I could say...