While No. 1 Florida Gators football prepares to close out its regular season against the in-state rival Florida State Seminoles on Saturday, three other UF teams want to set the stage for a week of Gators domination. It begins Tuesday night at 5 p.m., when the swimming & diving teams square off against FSU in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center Natorium. The day’s events do not stop there as Florida basketball (3-0) takes on Florida State (3-0) immediately after the swimming & diving match-up at 7 p.m.

The 61st meeting between the two teams, Florida leads the all-time series 38-22 though Florida State has won three straight and four of the last five meetings. FSU won 57-55 last year in Tallahassee, FL with now-senior forward Ryan Reid scoring 13 points. Reid now has a chance to become the first Seminoles basketball player in school history to beat the Gators four straight times. “That would be a good thing,” Reid said. “But it’s just another opportunity to play basketball and also get a good win on the road. I’m not really trying to get caught up in beating them four years in row. We’re just going to try to go hard.”

In order to pull out a much needed victory against FSU, Florida must play physical. The Seminoles bring one of the biggest frontcourts in the nation into the O’Dome, led by center Solomon Patton (7’1” 251 lbs.). “They are probably going to be one of the biggest and longest teams we will have played against,” head coach Billy Donovan said. “We have some guys who can hopefully match up. We don’t have anybody the size of those guys or the length of those guys, but neither do most teams in the country so it’s not like we’re drastically undersized playing against them.”

For Florida State, the key will be scoring on the gators defense, which has carried it to three straight wins so far this season. Florida is holding its opponents to just 51.0 points per game and held its first two opponents under 50 points for the first time since the 1949-50 season. The Gators finished 18-2 at home last season and are 72-8 in the House of Horrors over the past five years. This is good for second in the nation behind the Memphis Tigers (77 wins).

The Seminoles return three starters from last year’s team that advanced to the first round of the NCAA Tournament. FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton was named ACC Coach of the Year and has a chance to improve his team to 4-0 on the 2009 season.

Junior forwards Alex Tyus (sprained ankle) and Chandler Parsons (hip flexor) are expected to play Tuesday night, though Donovan said Parsons does have a chance of being held out on a game-time decision. Parsons has been the spark the Gators needed off the bench this season, averaging 14.3 points and a team-high 8.3 rebounds.

1 » Numerous Florida Gators football players have been named finalists for national college football awards set to be announced during the Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards show on Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. on ESPN. Senior quarterback Tim Tebow – Maxwell Award (Best All-Around Player), Davey O’Brien Award (Best Quarterback); senior middle linebacker Brandon Spikes – Chuck Bednarik Award (Best Defensive Player); junior cornerback Joe Haden – Jim Thorpe Award (Best Defensive Back); junior punter Chas Henry – Ray Guy Award (Best Punter); junior tight end Aaron Hernandez – John Mackey Award (Best Tight End).

2 » Edward Aschoff over at the Gainesville Sun has compiled a comprehensive list of high school football players expected to visit Gainesville, FL, for the Florida vs. Florida State Seminoles game on Saturday. Among them are 12 current commitments (Elam, Christian, Brown, Burton, Watkins, Patton, Orr, Silberman, Ball, Trail, Haden, Van) as well as 5-star, 4-star and 3-star recruits. OGGOA reported via twitter that five-star safety commit Matt Elam rescheduled his official visit for Dec. 12, but he may also visit unofficially this weekend.

3 » No. 5 women’s cross country finished in seventh-place at the 2009 NCAA Championships on Monday afternoon. The highest finish in program history, the Gators were the only Southeastern Conference team competing in the event. The top-10 finish was the first in program history, according to the Sports Information Department. “We’ve had a tremendous year, cross country coach Todd Morgan said. “We won the SEC and the South Regional Championships and today, we finished top 10 in the country for the first time. We’re definitely leaving here feeling like we didn’t run totally on cylinders, which is a great thing because we still finished so well.”

4 » On Sunday, senior Florida libero Elyse Cusack moved into second place on the SEC’s all-time career digs list. Her great weekend was capped off with an SEC Defensive Player of the Week honor announced by the conference on Monday. This is Cusack’s 12th time winning the award, her third this season. Since the SEC started handing out this award for volleyball in 2003, the Gators have won it 22 times – more than any other program.

With Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Charlie Weis on the hot seat and set to be fired any day now, Florida Gators head coach Urban Meyer has once again been shrouded in speculation about his future. For the third time in the last six months, Meyer took the time to refute any rumors about his interest in the Notre Dame job.

“I’ll dispel those rumors right now,” Meyer said during his Monday afternoon press conference. “I’m going to be the coach at Florida for as long as they’ll have me. We’ll make that clear.”

Prior to Meyer speaking, senior quarterback Tim Tebow was at the podium and asked a similar question about Meyer’s future. “I don’t think that’s anything he’ll do now, I think he’s enjoying his time here,” he said. “He loves working for [athletic director] Mr. [Jeremy] Foley. He loves being here at the University of Florida. He loves his players and I don’t think he wants to go to a place where he has to start fresh and start new. I don’t think he wants to do that. He enjoys being here. It’s the best place in football. I don’t know why he would leave. He’s enjoying it.”

Press Conference Notes:
- Redshirt sophomore back-up QB John Brantley was named Offensive Player of the Week for his three touchdown performance against the FIU Golden Panthers.

- Michael Guilford, a walk-on defensive back/quarterback for the Gators who was killed in a motorcycle accident in 2007, will be honored with his senior class next Saturday in The Swamp on Senior Day. “He’s got a terrific family, and we’ll just try to do the best we can to make that family feel at peace with what he did here, because he was a phenomenal young man and a phenomenal member of this team,” Meyer said.

- As he has been in the past, Meyer was emotional when discussing the Gators’ senior class, pausing multiple times during the press conference to compose himself and fight back tears when talking about the players.

- Meyer also mentioned that he believes Tebow has the intelligence and ability to coach Florida later in his football career.

OGGOA will have more news and notes for you later.

Each week following a Florida Gators game, ONLY GATORS Get Out Alive will grade the team position-by-position based on each unit’s performance. This week, we look at how the Gators fared against the Florida International Golden Panthers on Saturday afternoon in The Swamp.

QUARTERBACKS: A+
While his 17-of-25 completion numbers do leave something to be desired, it is tough to dock any points from senior Tim Tebow for his performance on Saturday. Piling up 102 yards on the ground including a career-long 55-yard touchdown run as well as 215 yards and two more touchdowns through the air, Tebow was his old self. Then again, he was playing against FIU. More impressive on Saturday was redshirt sophomore back-up John Brantley, who went 9-for-13 for 146 yards and three touchdowns. Tebow and Brantley combined to spread the ball around to nine receivers, seven of whom had more than one catch on the day.

RUNNING BACKS: B
Redshirt junior transfer Emmanuel Moody sat out the game, though his classmate Christopher Scott got to see action late in the game. Sophomore Jeff Demps and redshirt sophmore Chris Rainey started. Even so, there were only 22 carries dished out between the three, with Demps getting nine for 46 yards (5.1 average), Rainey taking four for 30 yards and a touchdown (7.5 average) and Scott running nine for 26 yards (2.9 average). Rainey, however, added 61 yards and a touchdown in the receiving game. Nothing too impressive or surprising overall against a porous FIU defense.

Read the rest of Florida’s grades from the FIU game after the jump…
Continue Reading » Grading the Florida vs. Florida Intl. game

Two-time Olympian Ryan Lochte was named Male Athlete of the Year during the 2009 USA Swimming Foundation Golden Goggle Awards on Sunday. Lochte, a former Florida Gators swimmer, had a dominant summer in the pool, setting two world records (200m IM and 800m free relay) while taking home a total of five medals – four gold and one bronze. He was also the National Champion in the 200m and 400m IM.

Lochte’s mantle added another piece later in the evening, as he picked up his second award for his performance on the men’s 400m free relay team with teammates Michael Phelps, Matt Grevers and Nathan Adrian. This team won the gold medal by just 0.31 seconds over Russia and 0.68 seconds over France.

1 » Florida Gators head coach Urban Meyer did not spend much time praising his team after its 62-3 blowout victory over the Florida International Golden Panthers on Saturday. Instead, he turned his attention to the Florida State Seminoles, declaring, “It’s rivalry week. We’ve been here before. So, let’s get started.” Meyer does not hide his affection for taking down the so-called “School Out West.” “It’s the world,” he said. “It’s what makes this job the best in college football. It’s what makes this stadium the best in college football. This is going to be a special week. It’s started already.”

2 » If Meyer sounded pumped up for Florida State, his team appeared ready to take them on right after FIU left the field. “It’s a lot of hatred,” junior safety Ahmad Black said. “It started even before us. It goes way back to the earlier days. We’ve won five straight. We don’t want to be the team that loses the streak.” Junior guard Mike Pouncey didn’t even question the result of the game. “It’s five [in a row]? So, it will be six,” he said. “They’re always good and it’s a rivalry game, so everybody’s going to play a little harder. Linebacker Ryan Stamper, one of the seniors who will play their last game in The Swamp on Saturday, believes his class has a mission to accomplish. “I grew up watching the Florida-Florida State rivalry since I was little. Going out with them not beating us once would be a great thing.”

3 » While taking down the Seminoles is just another “mission” for the Gators, it could be a season-defining victory for Florida State. FSU did extend its bowl streak to 28 years with a victory over the Maryland Terrapins on Saturday, but head coach Bobby Bowden said taking a win from Florida this week would be among the most memorable victories of his career. “It probably would,” he said. “In other words, this thing has got to turn around. And I would say if you [beat the Gators], it’s around. You’re betting good if you can beat them, I’ll tell you what. What a task. What a task.” Whether or not Bowden can pull of a victory may not even matter, because if the Seminoles’ boosters get there way, this season could be his last in garnet and gold.

4 » Limping off the field with an injured medial-collateral ligament on Saturday, redshirt junior starting linebacker A.J. Jones needed to be replaced. Meyer immediately sent junior Brandon Hicks into the game, and the team did not lose a step. Why? Because Hicks started the final five games of the 2008 season – including the BCS National Championship game against the Oklahoma Sooners – when Jones went down with his previous knee injury. “Here we go,” Meyer told him before he stepped on the field. “You’ve been here before.” Hicks’ performance last year earned him a reputation as one of the best defenders on the team, though an ankle injury kept him from starting in 2009. On a side note, Meyer said Jones’ injury is “nonsurgical,” meaning there is a possibility he could be ready for the team’s bowl game.

No. 13 Florida Gators volleyball (21-5, 15-4 SEC) stormed through Lexington, KY, on Sunday, defeating the No. 10 Kentucky Wildcats (27-3, 17-2 SEC) 3-1 (31-29, 25-23, 24-26, 25-21). Senior libero Elyse Cusack moved second place on the Southeastern Conference‘s all-time career digs list by turning in a season-high 33 to increase her career total to 2,055.

Four Gators contributed by recording double-figure kills – the 12th time this season that three or more players have reached the level in the same contest. Florida also recorded double-figure team blocks for the eighth time in 2009. Sophomore outside hitter Colleen Ward led the team with 14 kills and a career-high 18 digs for her fourth double-double of the season. Her classmate and positionmate Kristy Jaeckel added 12 kills and 13 digs of her own for her ninth double-double of the season. Adding to the fun was sophomore right-side/setter Kelly Murphy with a career-high 43 assists.

“I think this was just a great match of high-level volleyball,” head coach Mary Wise said. “It was two very good teams battling with such great rallies. We feel very fortunate to have won and have to give credit to a good Kentucky team that really battled without its senior setter for most of the match.”

The Gators volleyball team returns to action on Friday, Nov. 27, when they square off against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center at 4 p.m.

- The No. 1 Florida Gators extended their nation’s-best and school-record win streak by recording their 21th consecutive victory on Saturday. The Gators’ winning streak is now fifth in Southeastern Conference.

- Defeating the Florida International Golden Panthers by 59 points, Florida’s has now won 20 of their 21 straight games by double digits.

- Senior quarterback Tim Tebow broke Kevin Faulk’s (1995-98) SEC record of 53 touchdowns with his 55-yard scoring run in the first quarter. Tebow has now set three all-time SEC records this year (rushing touchdowns, rushing yards by a QB). Tebow also tied Eli Manning (Ole Miss, 2000-03) for fourth in SEC history with 81 career touchdown passes after his two scores through the air on Saturday.

- The Gators recorded 11 interceptions over the past five weeks, best in the nation.

- For the eighth time in 2009, Florida’s defense held an opponent under 100 rushing yards. They also held their sixth opponent to an under-50 percent completions.

- The Gators offense recorded 30 first downs on Saturday, the second-highest total under head coach Urban Meyer (32 vs. Troy Trojans, 2009).

- Florida has not surrendered a turnover in the last four games.

- For the 10th time in 11 games, special teams did not allow a single punt return yard.

- Senior middle linebacker Brandon Spikes‘ 41-yard interception return for a touchdown was his fourth in the last two seasons. He is the only player in the country with as many in the same time span.

- Tebow recorded over 100 rushing yards for the fifth time in his career. He also moved into third on the SEC’s all-time total offensive yards gained list with 11,078.