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Listen to our Sheriffs.
National Sheriff’s Association Calls on Congress to Extend Title 42
Dozens of American sheriffs have asked Congress to take immediate steps to maintain the Trump-era Title 42 public health order to avoid even greater chaos at the southern border. Joe Biden has declared his intention to lift the order on May 23.
Law enforcement agencies have warned of a huge spike in illegal border crossings that will result from ending Title 42 enforcement. The public health order was put in place at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and allows border agents to immediately expel illegal immigrants when they are apprehended.
The National Sheriff’s Association sent the letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Thursday. It told the senators that Title 42 is the only remaining policy that can help stop border crossings without COVID testing by “millions of illegal entrants.”
The letter explains that with Biden’s termination of border wall construction and the Remain in Mexico policy, there is “simply no border left.” It says that there are untold numbers of immigrants inbound to the U.S. with unknown health conditions and potentially carrying COVID as well as other diseases.
The sheriffs state that the letter is about Title 42 and so they have not addressed the specifics of the amount of fentanyl, unmarked guns, and ammunition currently flowing into the county as well as the “more than a million migrants” encountered so far in the fiscal year.
Schumer has been a vocal advocate for ending Title 42, calling it a “disastrous” policy for persons coming here to “escape from the horrors” in their home nations.
McConnell has described Biden’s decision to end Title 42 as “outrageous.” He has warned that a “gusher” of illegals will come to the border when it is lifted.
Border officials have said that up to 18,000 illegal migrants per day can be expected when the order is terminated.
The letter from the sheriffs follows the introduction of legislation by a bipartisan group of senators that would delay lifting Title 42 enforcement by a minimum of two months. It would also require the Biden administration to develop a meaningful plan for handling the result of lifting the order.
A recent poll conducted by Morning Consult indicates that 56 percent of all Americans oppose the termination of Title 42.
Gator Lacrosse AAC Conference Champs!
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – 11-straight. That’s how many regular season conference championships the No. 10 Florida lacrosse team has taken home in the 13-year history of the program.
The Gators defeated the Temple Owls 18-7 on Senior Day at Donald R. Dizney Stadium to clinch at least a share of the American Athletic Conference title. With a win against ECU on April 30, Florida can secure the outright championship. In the three complete seasons in the AAC, the Gators have won the regular season title in each of them.
UF has now won 56-straight conference games and 44-straight regular season conference contests en route to its 11th regular season title.
With the victory, Florida has now won nine-consecutive games and moves to 11-4 on the year and 4-0 in league play, while Temple drops to 10-5 overall and 3-1 in the conference.
Danielle Pavinelli led the way offensively with five goals on the afternoon, while Emerson Cabrera notched her second hat trick of the season, finishing the day with three.
Emma LoPinto, Emily Heller, Josie Hahn and Shelton Sawers each found the back of the cage twice for Florida, while Ashley Gonzalez and Paisley Eagannetted one goal apiece.
LoPinto also dished out a team-high three assists in the game, followed by two apiece from Gonzalez, Maggi Hall, Heller and Pavinelli.
Florida won the battle in the draw circle, coming up with 15-of-29 in the game. Heller posted a career-high seven to lead the way, while Hahn tallied a personal-best three.
The Gator defense held the Owls to 7-of-28 shooting in the game, just a .280 shooting percentage. Emma Wightman posted a team-high two caused turnovers on her Senior Day.
Hall picked up three groundballs in the victory to lead the Gators, while Leigh Lingo and Sarah Reznick each registered two.
Reznick recorded six saves on a .426 save percentage during her 52:31 in cage on Saturday afternoon. Julia Hammerschlag registered two saves of her own, while allowing no goals for a 1.000 save percentage between the pipes.
The Gators close out the home portion of their schedule on Wednesday when the 22nd-ranked Jacksonville Dolphins come to town. Opening draw is slated for 6:30 p.m. at Donald R. Dizney Stadium.
Records
No. 10 Florida (11-4, 4-0 AAC)
Temple (10-5, 3-1 AAC)
How it Happened
- Florida struck first, with Emma LoPinto finding a cutting Danielle Pavinelli for her 49th goal of the season with 2:40 gone in the first.
- Emerson Cabrera followed with a score of her own just over five minutes later, this time finding the back of the cage on a pass from Pavinelli.
- The Gators pulled ahead three when the duo of Pavinelli-LoPinto combined for another score, with Pavinelli tallying her second goal of the day.
- Temple cut the deficit to two goals with 2:50 left in the frame, but Florida answered with two-straight goals in the last 15 seconds of the quarter from the sticks of Josie Hahn and Pavinelli to take the 5-1 lead into the break.
- The Gators continued the scoring momentum into the second quarter, with Shelton Sawers recording her first goal of the season to put Florida up 6-1.
- The Owls got one back less than a minute later, but Florida strung together a 3-0 run behind scores from Hahn, Pavinelli and Sawers to pull ahead 9-2 with 11 minutes left in the half. Temple tallied back-to-back goals to pull back within five at 9-4, but once again, the Gators answered – this time with a 4-0 run.
- The run started on an Emerson Cabrera goal – her eighth of the season – then LoPinto followed with her first score of the day to put the Gators up 11-4.
- Ashley Gonzalez and Emily Heller kept the scoring going, putting the Florida up 13-4 going into the halftime break.
- Out of the locker room, the Owls found the back of the cage first, pulling to within eight goals at just over two minutes gone in the frame.
- Florida scored the next three goals of the game, with Paisley Eagan, Cabrera and Pavinelli each finding the back of the cage to put the Gators up 16-5 and secure the running clock.
- Temple responded with back-to-back goals to cut Florida’s lead to nine at 16-7, but the Gators found the back of the cage twice more before the final horn sounded. The first of the two goals came from the stick of Heller on a free-position conversion.
- LoPinto scored her second goal of the day and final goal for either team with 8:13 left in the game, securing the 18-7 victory for Florida.
Notables
- Florida has won a regular season conference championship in 11 of the 13 years the program has existed
- This puts the Gators at 265 conference team titles (254 SEC Championships; 11 lacrosse championships)
- The Gators have not dropped a conference game since April 18, 2015 and have not lost a regular season conference game since that same day
- That’s 56 games overall and 44 regular season games that Florida has won in conference
- Florida is 10-0 this season against teams not ranked in the IWLCA/ILWomen Top-25 poll
- When scoring at least 14 goals, the Gators are 161-2 (.988) in program history
- In the confines of Donald R. Dizney Stadium, Florida is 113-21 (.843) in program history
- Streaking: Sarah Reznick has recorded a save in 44-straight games, the second-longest streak in program history
- Streaking: Danielle Pavinelli has registered a point in 17-straight games
- Streaking: Emma LoPinto has tallied a point in 11-straight games
- Streaking: Emily Heller has recorded a draw control in 14-straight games
- Streaking: Liz Harrison has recorded a draw control in 11-straight games
Career-Highs
- Emily Heller recorded a career-high seven draw controls and career-best two assists
- Josie Hahn registered a new career-high in draw controls (3) and tied her career-best with two goals
- Catherine Flaherty tied her career-best with one caused turnover
- Maggi Hall tied her career-high with three groundballs
- Shelton Sawers tallied a career-best two goals and tied her career-high in points (2)
- Emerson Cabrera tied her career-high in goals (3), points (3) and draw controls (1)
- Julia Hammerschlag tied her career-best with a 1.000 save percentage
Insight from O’Leary
- “This was a total team effort today. We were making things work on the offensive end, our defense came out and played really solid. Sarah did a great job in the goal and when Julia came off the bench, she was lights out in the goal. We were able to honor our seniors exactly how we wanted to today.”
Up Next
- The Gators close out the home portion of their schedule on Wednesday when the 22nd-ranked Jacksonville Dolphins come to town
- Opening draw is slated for 6:30 p.m. at Donald R. Dizney Stadium.
Gators Tennis Wins the SEC
Gators Claim SEC Tournament Title With Sweep of No. 10 Kentucky
Posted: Sunday, April 24, 2022
ATHENS, Ga. – After making their 11th SEC Championship finals appearance, the No. 3 Florida Gators sweep the SEC after winning both the regular season and tournament titles with a 4-0 victory against the No. 10 Kentucky Wildcats on Sunday afternoon at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. This win marks the sixth tournament title for Florida, while sophomore Ben Shelton became the fifth Gator in program history to be named the Tournament MVP.
Florida (23-2) came out strong again in doubles play against the Wildcats (21-7), earning their 18th-consecutive doubles point. After providing the clinching doubles match yesterday against No. 5 Tennessee, the tandem of Nate Bonetto and Duarte Vale continued their winning ways with a 6-3 victory over No. 55 Liam Draxl and Alexandre Leblanc at court three, making it their first ranked doubles win of the season.
Clinching the team’s 20th doubles point of the season was the No. 10-ranked duo of Sam Riffice and Ben Shelton at court one. Taking on No. 75 Francois Musitelli and Millen Hurrion, the Gators duo only allowed their opponents to win two games for a 6-2 victory. They now have 15 total doubles wins on the season with nine coming against ranked teams.
Needing three singles wins to claim the SEC Tournament title, the Gators put their foot on the gas and never let up, claiming five of the six first sets.
First off the court was No. 116 player Josh Goodger, who pulled off an impressive straight-set win at court six against JJ Mercer, 6-4, 6-1. With this victory, Goodger reached the 100 career singles wins milestone and totals 17 singles wins on the year.
No. 27 Riffice had one of his best matches of the year as he took on No. 16 Gabriel Diallo at court two, winning in two sets by 6-3 scores. Riffice moves to 18-5 on the dual season and 15-1 at the two position, while adding his seventh ranked victory.
It was No. 1-ranked Shelton, who for the sixth time this year, would clinch the match for the Gators. Taking on No. 8 Draxl at the one spot, Shelton had a tall task ahead of him, but stepped up big time. The Gainesville native defeated the Wildcat by a score of 6-4, 7-5 for his 30th singles win and 20th ranked victory of the season.
Florida moves to 23-2 overall and extends their win streak to 18 matches. The Gators are also 19-2 against ranked teams and have an impressive nine wins over teams in the top-10. In addition, for the third time in Florida tennis history, the Gators won both the regular season and SEC Tournament in the same year (2000, 2005, 2022).
NOTABLES
- Florida made its 11th SEC Tournament final appearance, winning its sixth tournament title in program history and first since 2016.
- Florida won the SEC Tournament championship in 1994, 2000, 2005, 2011, 2016 and 2022.
- Ben Shelton joins Jeff Morrison (2000), Ryan Sherry (2005), Alexandre Lacroix (2011) and Gordon Watson (2016) to win the SEC Tournament MVP award.
- Senior Duarte Vale was also named to the All-Tournament team.
- The Gators move to 2-0 against the Wildcats in the championships finals as Florida faced Kentucky one other time in 2011, pulling out a 4-0 win in that match.
- Since 2000 when the SEC began awarding a regular season title, Florida was the conference champions in both the regular season and in the SEC Tournament three different times: 2000, 2005 and 2022.
QUOTEABLES
Florida Head Coach Bryan Shelton
On being SEC Champions…
“This is the best conference in America, it really is. When you look at this league, when you look at it top to bottom, top-10 teams, top-20 teams. I mean we’ll have more teams in the NCAA tournament than any other conference for sure. On top of that, it’s humbling. We represent the best conference in the country, so to kind of lead the way in our conference is pretty special. It’s something that we think is a responsibility that we have to go out there every single time and give our very best and have our best character, be the best sports and compete as hard as we possibly can. This is fun for all of us to be a part of this.”
On the tournament…
“It was gritty; three days of competition, but so much fun. We had perfect weather, we a lot of fans that came out to support, Georgia did a great job hosting this event. So, it was just a lot of fun for us to be here throughout this weekend and to have such perfect weather. It is just a blessing to be able to compete on a stage like this.”
Florida sophomore Ben Shelton
On his last point to clinch the match…
“It was definitely electric having all my teammates next to me on the sidelines. They definitely pushed me over the finish line. It was a high-pressure situation, and I was glad to get out of it with a win and an SEC title for us.”
On what it means to be an SEC Champion particularly with his father as the coach…
“It means a lot. Obviously, this group hasn’t won an SEC tournament. The last time the Florida Gators did it was 2016, so it’s special to be able to send our five seniors off with one last title.”
On how he feels going into the NCAA tournament…
“I feel great. I think our team is really ready to make a deep run and be a contender. I think that everyone is really mentally tough, and hopefully we’re going to come out on top.”
UP NEXT: The Gators look to the NCAA Tournament Selection Show, which will take place on Monday, May 2 at 6 p.m.
SINGLES RESULTS
1. #1 Ben Shelton (UF) def. #8 Liam Draxl (UK), 6-4, 7-5
2. #27 Sam Riffice (UF) def. #16 Gabriel Diallo (UK), 6-3, 6-3
3. #87 Duarte Vale (UF) vs. #102 Millen Hurrion (UK), 6-2, 4-6, unfinished
4. #122 Andy Andrade (UF) vs. Francois Musitelli (UK), 6-7 (7-9), 4-2, unfinished
5. Mattias Siimar (UF) vs. #108 Joshua Lapadat (UK), 6-4, 4-3, unfinished
6. #116 Josh Goodger (UF) def. JJ Mercer (UK), 6-4, 6-1
Order of Finish: 6, 2, 1
DOUBLES RESULTS
1. #10 Sam Riffice/Ben Shelton (UF) def. #75 Francois Musitelli/Millen Hurrion (UK), 6-2
2. #37 Andy Andrade/Mattias Siimar (UF) vs. Gabriel Diallo/Joshua Lapadat (UK), 4-5, unfinished
3. Duarte Vale/Nate Bonetto (UF) def. Liam Draxl/Alexandre LeBlanc (UK), 6-3
Order of Finish: 3, 1
SI projects top 25 teams
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Gator Culture Change
“Culture change,” said CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd, “is a mystery phrase to me. But it can be anything from running off players to just teaching kids the way the coaches want to approach it.”
And that’s the thing about culture change.
There’s no right way to do it.
There’s only YOUR WAY or the highway.
We’ve seen it in Gainesville over time and certainly currently with new coaches on football and basketball.
The biggest culture change happened when Steve Spurrier took over on New Year’s Eve 1989 as the head football at Florida. He switched to the blue jerseys because the orange ones “looked like Clemson,” ripped up the artificial turf and set the new policy of no excuses.
“It was about attitude as much as anything,” he said. “We had to get the players to believe that they could beat Georgia, that playing Auburn and Georgia back-to-back wasn’t a problem. We had good players, really good players, when I got here and we just had to get the attitudes straightened out.”
“For him to do that so quickly was incredible,” said Chris Doering of the SEC Network and Sirius radio. “We inherited his personality.”
One thing that tends to happen when an athletic director is making a coaching change is that he wants something different. In the case of Billy Napier, Florida wanted a coach that was passionate about recruiting after the previous coach was not.
“Being around Billy, everything is so well thought out, nothing is left to chance,” Doering said. “It’s not just the recruiting part of it. It’s everything.
“The biggest thing is the ability to connect with players. And you have to be clear in what they want to create.”
Florida basketball will look different under Golden than it did under Mike White and in many ways “different” was what a program that had become stagnant needed — a jolt, if you will, built on a modern approach to the game.
It’s always been that way. When Billy Donovan took over the basketball program, the biggest change in culture was to ramp up recruiting to a level we had never seen at Florida. At the same time, Donovan established early that players who did not but in were not going to play.
Urban Meyer came into the Florida football program in 2005 and immediately went about establishing a culture change by banishing the players from the locker room and not allowing them to wear Gator gear until it was earned.
What he left behind was a mess that Will Muschamp had to clean up. That started when he threw Janoris Jenkins off the team.
“You look at how the culture changed under Nick Saban at Alabama,” Dodd said. “Same with Sam Pittman at Arkansas. They got the players to buy in quickly and then it is established what the standard is.”
That goes for every sport that brings in a coach with a different set of expectations for his players.
Not everyone accepts culture change. That’s why the transfer portal in every sport is stacked with players who want a different culture and that’s where it gets tricky.
Any player who wants to come to Florida in any sport has to understand what that culture is and what is expected of them.
There are some new cultures in town. Gator fans are excited about the coaches who are implementing them.
Buckle up. It’s going to be interesting.
By Pat Dooley
Gymnasts Finish Second
FORT WORTH, Texas – Being normal is the goal for every Florida gymnastics meet. UF Head Coach Jenny Rowland knows that when the Gators are normal, that leads to a lot of success.
Today in the NCAA Gymnastics team final at Fort Worth’s Dickies Arena, being pretty close to normal wasn’t quite enough.
Florida was second at 198.0875 as top-ranked Oklahoma claimed its fifth title at 198.20. Utah was third (197.75) followed by Auburn (197.35).
“That’s what you’re going to get in a national championship. You could see it across the board amongst all teams,” Rowland said. “All teams were just trying, fighting a little harder, looking for more.
“Maybe not exactly what the Gators are capable of doing but a stunning performance nonetheless.”
Three of the seven slenderest margins of victory in the event’s 40-year history have come in three of the last four team finals, including today’s slight 0.1125 OU advantage.
THIS AFTERNOON’S MEET:
Florida missed some tenths with steps on vault landings. Trinity Thomas’ 9.9875 is the second-highest ever for a Gator in NCAA event finals. The highest? A 10.0 by Susan Hines in the 1998 NCAA Super Six. She was in the stands Saturday to cheer the Gators.
The Gators powered past a miss in the early part of the lineup to hit the remaining four uneven bars routines. Thomas matched her winning bars mark (9.975) from Thursday to lead the Gators.
The Gators used four marks of 9.9 or better toward its balance beam total of 49.50. Senior Leah Clapper anchored the lineup with the team’s top mark of 9.925.
Florida headed into the final rotation trailing OU by two-tenths. The Gators turned in some great floor routines – including a 10.0 by Thomas. But UF couldn’t close the gap on the Sooners as they used beam marks of 9.9 or better toward their closing event total.
Today’s result was Florida’s lone loss of 2022, as the Gators finished 2022 action at 31-1-1.
EVENT WINNERS:
| Vault | Trinity Thomas | Florida | 9.9875 |
| Uneven Bars | Trinity Thomas | Florida | 9.975 |
| Danielle Sievers | Oklahoma | 9.975 | |
| Balance Beam | Ragan Smith | Oklahoma | 9.9625 |
| Floor Exercise | Trinity Thomas | Florida | 10.0 |
| All-Around | Trinity Thomas | Florida | 39.8625 |
It was another spectacular performance for Florida’s Thomas.
- Her winning all-around total shares No. 2 all-time in NCAA finals.
- Posted the eighth floor 10.0 in NCAA team final – and first since 2005
- Perfect 10.0 in every 2022 NCAA floor performance – NCAA Regional Second Round, NCAA Regional Final, NCAA Semifinal & NCAA Final
- Finished season with 12 perfect marks (7 floor, 3 vault, 1 each bars, beam). That is second only to UCLA Kyla Ross’ 14 in 2019.
- The nation’s six highest all-around totals of the 2022 season all were turned in by Thomas
- 39.90 (April 2 – NCAA Regional final)
- 39.875 (March 31 – NCAA Regional second round)
- 39.8625 (April 16 – NCAA Team Final)
- 39.85 (Feb. 25 vs Oklahoma)
- 39.825 (March 19 – SEC Championships)
- 39.8125 (April 14 – NCAA Semifinal)
NEXT UP:
The NCAA Championships closes collegiate gymnastics competition for 2022. Two will join the Gators next season – Lori Brubach and Kayla DeCello.
“The future is really bright for this team. We’re returning a great solid core for next season. They’ve all experienced it so they’ve all got a good taste and know what it takes to get to this point,” Rowland said. “So looking forward to making the most of this moment, celebrating and then taking our next step to move on to next season.”
Spring Game Awards
Courtesy Florida Sports Information
Spring Team Awards
Channing Chowder Headhunter Award
o Diwun Black
o Jordan Young
o Ethan White
o Ja’Quavion Fraziars
Chris Doering I Like to Practice Award
o Justin Shorter
o Donovan McMillon
o Tyreak Sapp
o Daejon Reynolds
Jack Youngblood Defensive Lineman Award
o Gervon Dexter
Lomas Brown Offensive Lineman Award
o Kingsley Eguakun
Joe Haden Defensive Back Award
o Tre’Vez Johnson
o Jason Marshall Jr.
Emmitt Smith Running Back Award
o Montrell Johnson
Danny Wuerffel Most Improved Player
o Dante Zanders
o Michael Tarquin
o Derek Wingo
o Jaydon Hill
o Princely Umanmielen
Tim Tebow Leadership Award
o Rashad Torrence II
o Marco Ortiz
o Trent Whittemore
o Nay’Quan Wright
Vernell Brown Culture Award
o Amari Burney
o Antwaun Powell-Ryland Jr.
o Jeremy Crawshaw
o Richard Gouraige
o Desmond Watson
Steve Spurrier Commitment to Excellence Award
o Trey Dean III
o O’Cryus Torrence
o Brenton Cox Jr.
o Lorenzo Lingard
Reidel Anthony Receiver Award
o Xzavier Henderson
Wilber Marshall Linebacker Award
o Ventrell Miller
Community Service Award
o Chief Borders
o Josh Braun
Louis Oliver Outstanding Non-Scholarship Player Award
o Adam Mihalek
o Noah Keeter
o Kahleil Jackson
o Taylor Spierto
o Justin Curtis
o Mark Pitts
o Justin Pelic
Fred Taylor Most Improved Freshman Award
o Jack Miller III
o Kamryn Waites
o Justus Boone
o Austin Barber
o Devin Moore
o Scooby Williams
Game Review from GatorCountry!
This is an example of the quality reporting found on Gator Country (www.Gatorcountry.com).
https://www.gatorcountry.com/feature/notebook-richardson-shines-black-splashes-more-tidbits/
Notebook: Richardson shines, Black splashes, more tidbits
Anthony Richardson showed some major promise as a redshirt freshman last year, and the estimated crowd of 45,000 wanted to see him show signs of progress as a passer.
Richardson didn’t disappoint. He executed what was likely a watered-down version of the offense to near perfection, as he took care of the ball and delivered accurate throws to his receivers.
He completed 18 of 24 passes for 207 yards and two touchdowns, and he also scored via a 12-yard rushing touchdown. He led the Blue team to touchdowns on all three of its first-half possessions and four of its first five drives overall.
Richardson’s efficient night through the air propelled the Blue team to a 34-0 blowout of the Orange team.
“I think Anthony is a production of a lot of hard work,” coach Billy Napier said. “I can’t say enough. His approach has been first class. When I think about a quarterback, we think about a person who represents everything of what the organization is about. Certainly, at the highest level of football, the quarterback is the face of the organization. They set the greatest example with their work ethic, their attention to detail, their self-discipline, their approach.
“He’s a product of his work. He’s learning a new system. Standing behind him back there, it wasn’t too big for him. He communicated well, and the ball went where it was supposed to go. The players around him played well. The pocket was clean. Guys [caught] the ball. It was a good day.”
Richardson said that one of the biggest things he worked on this spring was consistency. Fans were ready to start building him a statue after some of the jaw-dropping plays that he made early in the 2021 season, but he struggled enough down the stretch to give you a little bit of doubt as to whether or not this is going to work out.He felt like he turned in a much more even performance on Thursday.
“I feel like it’s my decision-making, just being confident and deliberate with what I want to do,” he said. “I feel like I’ve always had a decent arm, but it’s just my thought process sometimes is terrible. I just tried to keep it dialed in and just understand where the ball was supposed to go in certain coverages. I feel like I did a decent job with that today.”
One of the defining characteristics of the offense on Thursday was the tempo that they played with. They didn’t get plays off as quickly as some of those Oklahoma teams have over the years, but they didn’t give anyone much time to fully process what had just happened on the play before or send out a tweet before they snapped the ball again.
Richardson admits that he still has room to grow in the new scheme, but he feels comfortable with the tempo.
“I love the tempo,” Richardson said. “I talk to the O-Line before every drive, every series. I let them know that we’ve got to play smart, we’ve got to play fast, we’ve got to be concise. In this offense, if you do one thing wrong, you mess up the whole play. I just tell them we’ve got to play fast and play concise. If we do that, I don’t think anybody can stick with us because our tempo is pretty fast. We should know the plays like that. Honestly, I love the tempo.
“I feel some of the plays I’m not that familiar with, that comfortable with. It’s kind of hard to say it was easy. It’s just a matter of my extra work on your own, getting in with the coaches and doing some things like that. I feel like if you put in the work and the time and the effort, then you’ll catch onto it pretty fast.”
Johnson leads the way
With Nay’Quan Wright sitting out as he continues to work his way back from a significant leg injury and Lorenzo Lingard leaving the game in the first quarter with a hamstring injury, Louisiana transfer Montrell Johnson carried even more of the load than was initially expected.
He played for both teams and toted the ball a combined 15 times for 62 yards and a touchdown.
He showed off his downhill, physical running style that allowed him to lead the Ragin’ Cajuns in touchdowns and earn Sun Belt Freshman of the Year honors in 2021. He ran through a defender to convert a third-and-7 late in the second quarter, and he also pushed the pile for extra yards on a couple of other occasions. He never got knocked backward.
“Montrell’s extremely bright, picks things up quickly,” Napier said. “He certainly was a very productive back for us last year. I think he rushed for 800 or 900 yards and was the conference player of the year. He belongs out there. I think he’s 5-11½ and weighs 217 pounds. He hit 21.5 miles per hour last year in a game on his GPS. He’s got a big lower half. He’s got contact balance. He can protect. He can catch.
“Montrell is what the doctor ordered. He’s certainly going to provide depth and production for our team.”
Johnson said that he arrived at UF in January with a chip on his shoulder. He feels like he should’ve gotten SEC offers when he was in high school, and he wants to prove that to the world now.
“I was a very under-recruited guy,” he said. “I feel like I can play with those guys. I’m going to say it felt the same as the Sun Belt. It’s a difference, but I felt very comfortable out there, very confident. I’m going to keep grinding and getting better.
“I think one of my strengths is I’m a very patient runner. I wait to see when the hole is going to open up. One of the things I can work on is my speed. That’s really about it.”
His Gators career is off to an encouraging start.
Black splashes
Linebacker Diwun Black was a breakout player on the defense this spring, and he put an exclamation mark on the spring with a solid showing on Thursday. He made three tackles and broke up a pair of passes, including one where he exploded out of nowhere and nearly intercepted Jack Miller in the first quarter.
“The guy’s got some height and length, very instinctive,” Napier said. “Even when he’s wrong a little bit, he can make it right and oftentimes makes plays. He is productive on a consistent basis. One thing I would say about Diwun Black, during identity program, I wrote his name down multiple days where he’s probably been the gold standard when it came to effort in the program.
“The guy’s really bought in, and I will say this: he’s completely changed his reputation in the building relative to his attitude, his work ethic, how he goes about his business. He’s really academically had a decent semester. He needs to continue to work hard, but I’m very pleased. What you saw out there today is what we observe every day in practice.”
Black is still very new to the position. He primarily played safety in high school and junior college, and he cross-trained at a couple of spots last year. Now, he’s a full-time inside linebacker.
Starting middle linebacker Ventrell Miller said that he’s been impressed with how Black has handled the position change.
“I feel like that’s a difficult thing to do,” Miller said. “Just coming from a DB, coming to linebacker, you’ve got to be a lot more vocal. You’ve got to communicate. You’re just the quarterback of the defense. So, I feel like he’s embracing that role a little bit, learning what he’s doing, and he’s getting better every day.
“I’ve just seen the progress. He always gets his hands on the ball. He’s just a playmaker. You just see him flying around.”
Tight ends surprise
Due to injuries, Keon Zipperer was the only scholarship tight end who played in the Orange and Blue Game who began the spring as a tight end.
So, surprisingly, two of the top-3 pass-catchers in the game were tight ends – and Zipperer wasn’t one of them.
Dante Zanders, who began his career as a tight end before switching to defensive end prior to the 2020 season, moved back to the position about a week into the spring. He played on the Blue team, which featured the presumptive first-string offense. He led both teams with five receptions for 56 yards.
“You can immediately see where he’s got a future,” Napier said. “I can’t compliment him enough. He’s been the story of the spring. Heck, we had three scholarship tight ends injured, out for the spring three, four, five practices in. We moved him over from defense, and the guy picked it up quickly. I saw him around the facility more than some of the coaches. He was in there grinding away, and he has ability.
“He’s loose. He can transition. He’s got good ball skills. Most importantly, he’s smart, and he’s consistent. The guy is heavy-handed at the point of attack. He’s a godsend. Not only did he make the move, that guy running out there is going to make a lot of plays for us. Extremely pleased with Dante.”
Richardson said that he’s been impressed with how quickly Zanders has picked things up and how selfless he has been for the team.
“First of all, just embracing new coaches, that’s hard,” he said. “Then trying to learn one playbook, then two to come play offense, that’s just a hard thing to try to grasp and take in. He’s been excellent to me. I remember the first day they told me that he was going to be out there, I was like, ‘Man, that’s different.’ Then I saw him walking. We were going to our cars. He was like, ‘Bro, I’ve got you.’ Since then, he’s had my back, and I’m thankful for that.”
Noah Keeter, a walk-on who transferred to UF as an outside linebacker in 2020, caught three passes for 53 yards and a score while also working with the first-string offense.
“Honestly, I thought [the transition] would be a lot harder, but I was lucky,” Keeter said. “I transitioned before spring break, so, over spring break, I was able to study the whole break and kind of figure out the offense on my own. I’ve been meeting with Coach [Ty] Darlington and Coach [William] Peagler pretty much every day trying to figure it out.”