What did Florida football learn at the Gasparilla Bowl? Three things we know now

Posted by Admin December 21, 2024 Football

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TAMPA ― Florida football finished off the 2024 season with its fourth straight win, pulling away in the second half to beat Tulane 33-8 before 41,472 fans at Raymond James Stadium.

The Florida Gators (8-5) overcame a 1-2 start that included lopsided home losses to Miami and Texas A&M to finish strong and take some positive momentum into 2025.

“I am really proud of how the coaches and players who collaborated to get us back on course,” Florida football coach Billy Napier said. “It could have easily gone sideways after the start of the season, but we got confidence and belief and felt we could play with anyone over the last half of the season.”

Florida earned its first bowl win since 2019 against Virginia in the Orange Bowl by outgaining Tulane 529-194 and forcing three turnovers.

“The adversity we were up against this season really brought this team closer,” Florida wide reciever Chimere Dike said.

Here are three things Florida learned from its win over the Green Wave:

Florida football has some promising young players on the horizon

Freshman quarterback DJ Lagway completed 22 of 35 passes for 305 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions to earn Gasparilla Bowl MVP honors, becoming the first Florida quarterback to throw for more than 300 yards in a game in bowl history.

But Lagway wasn’t the only freshman who stood out against the Green Wave. Myles Graham recorded his first career interception and running back KD Daniels scooped up a Lagway fumble and ran 27 yards for a touchdown.

The bowl game presented opportunities for several of UF’s young players as the game progressed. Freshman linebacker Aaron Chiles had a solid game as well, with two tackles and a quarterback hurry.

“That was one of the exciting things about the game was you were going to have a lot of players that were going to play a bigger role in the game,” Napier said.

Florida football maintained its strong play on defense without two key edge rushers

Even as Jack Pyburn and TJ Searcy departed for the transfer portal, Florida football still played an exceptional game on defense, holding Tulane scoreless until quarterback Ty Thomspon found receiver Mario Williams on a TD pass with 29 seconds remaining.

UF forced three turnovers, all on interceptions, to finish the year with 25 takeaways.

Florida allowed an average of just 13.0 points per game during its season-ending, four-game win streak.

“To be a consistent championship contender you have to play really good defense,” Napier said. “We went to Tennessee and played pretty good defense and we have kept that going the rest of the season.”

Florida football TE Tony Livingston might have a role in 2025

Livingston finished with four catches for 58 yards and a TD, which included a 24-yard catch in the first half in a showcase game for the sophomore from Tampa. At 6-foot-4 and 254 pounds, Livingston is a big target who demonstrated improved hands as the season progressed. He caught all four balls targeted his way on Friday.

Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat writer. Contact him at kbrockway@gannett.com. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1