1 » Florida Gators junior kicker Caleb Sturgis was honored with a nomination to the 2010 Lou Groza Award preseason watch list late last week. Given annually to college football’s best place kicker, the award is being defended by UCLA’s Kai Forbath. Sturgis will have to compete with four other Southeastern Conference kickers and a total of 29 others from across the nation. Last week, Sturgis told reporters that he has been working on his accuracy all offseason. “I want to be more accurate on field goals,” he said. “I had some easy misses last year that I shouldn’t have had. That has obviously been my biggest struggle. That – and put the ball in the right spot for the kickoff team.” Unlike last season, when Jonathan Phillips was the team’s starter, Sturgis already has the job locked up.

2 » Florida head coach Urban Meyer and his coaching staff have been experimenting with using players at a variety of positions this offseason. With redshirt junior Chris Rainey, his move from running back to wide receiver appeared to be a given from the get-go. “I never thought I’d be a receiver,” Rainey said, “because all of the stuff I looked at on YouTube had receivers going across the middle and getting big hits. Now that might be me. I’m just going to try and keep myself from doing that.” That being said, Rainey is having a good time with his new position. “Receiver is fun,” he said, according to The Gainesville Sun. “You don’t get many injuries from it. You do a lot of running. It’s harder than running back, but I’m good at it. […] For receiver, you have to know everything. For running back, you know one thing and you’re done. Receiver is everything, whether you’re on the ball or off the ball.” Even blocking plays are simpler. “It’s way easier,” Rainey said about blocking downfield rather than picking up blitzes behind the line of scrimmage. “Especially when someone is coming at you, full speed, about 250 pounds and wanting to kill you.”

3 » Following up a big double-overtime victory against the Miami Hurricanes (0-1) on Friday, No. 11 Gators soccer (1-0) defeated the No. 25 Central Florida Knights 2-0 on the road in Orlando, FL. The game, which began at 7 p.m. and aired live on FOX Sports Florida, was put away at the top of the second half when junior midfielder/forward Tahnai Annis scored from eight yards out at 48′. Annis would double up less than five minutes later with a 10-yard shot to the far post at 52′ as UF went on to shutout UCF.

4 » After a rough 2009 season, Jacksonville Jaguars safety Reggie Nelson is looking to bounce back and return to the form that made him a first round pick coming out of college. Head coach Jack Del Rio believes that transformation is certainly a possibility. “What he’s doing right now gives him a chance,” Del Rio said. “He’s had some tough games, and when that happens, it can crush your confidence. We’re trying to build him back up right now.” Nelson may no longer be a starter, but he has been getting plenty of time in the preseason to prove that he deserves to get on the field a lot this season. “Whenever my number’s called, I just go play football,” Nelson said. “You’ve got to make the plays you can make, and if you don’t make one, you’ve got to move on from it. You can’t hold onto the last play. You’ve got to move on. You’re not going to do everything right. You can’t let the pressure bust the pipe.”

Photo Credit: Sam Greenwood/Getty Images

Tags: Caleb Sturgis, Central Florida Knights, Chris Rainey, Jack Del Rio, Jacksonville Jaguars, Kai Forbath, Lou Groza Award, NFL, Reggie Nelson, soccer, Tahnai Annis, Urban Meyer

The Florida Gators had a league-high 10 selections to the 2010 All-Southeastern Conference Coaches Teams, the SEC announced Tuesday.

Earning their way onto the first-team were senior center Mike Pouncey, redshirt senior offensive lineman Carl Johnson and junior cornerback Janoris Jenkins. They were supplemented by a league-high six members of the Alabama Crimson Tide on the first-team.

However, the Gators dominated the second-team with a league-high seven selections including: junior running back Jeff Demps, safeties senior Ahmad Black and junior Will Hill, redshirt senior linebacker A.J. Jones and special teams standouts junior kicker Caleb Sturgis, senior punter Chas Henry and redshirt junior all-purpose player Chris Rainey.

All-SEC teams are announced, annually, one day before the 2010 SEC Football Media Days, which are being held from July 21-23 at the Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, AL, this year. Florida will be represented by head coach Urban Meyer, Pouncey, Black and senior defensive end Justin Trattou.

Tags: A.J. Jones, Ahmad Black, Alabama Crimson Tide, All-SEC, Caleb Sturgis, Carl Johnson, Chas Henry, Chris Rainey, Janoris Jenkins, Jeff Demps, Justin Trattou, Mike Pouncey, Urban Meyer, Will Hill, Wynfrey Hotel

Rivals is reporting that kicker/punter Kyle Christy (Brownsburg, IN) committed to Florida Gators head coach Urban Meyer Monday night, according to his father Ken.

Christy, who also has an outstanding offer from LSU, recently stated he would commit to the Tigers if he did not receive another offer before his senior season began.

Being recruited by linebackers and special teams coach D.J. Durkin, who took over the latter job for Meyer this offseason, he likely received – and jumped on – an offer from the Gators to eventually replace either senior Chas Henry or redshirt sophomore David Lerner as the team’s punter of the future. The Gators already have four kickers on the roster including junior starter Caleb Sturgis.

Christy can place-kick, punt and kickoff, may be used in more than one role at Florida and is considered one of the top punters in the nation. He averaged 34 yards on his punts in 2009 and converted 25 touchbacks in 59 kickoff attempts as a junior.

UPDATE: He said the following to Rivals later on Tuesday: “It’s amazing. I never really thought I would be able to become a Florida Gator. I had hoped that if they saw me they would want me. I went there hoping to get an offer and it worked out.”

Tags: Caleb Sturgis, Chas Henry, D.J. Durkin, David Lerner, Florida Gators, Kyle Christy, Urban Meyer

With the Florida Gators 2010 spring practice sessions now complete, there was plenty of newsworthy information coming out from the 2010 Orange & Blue Debut on Sat., April 10. Rather than publishing it all in long form, OGGOA thought it would be best to lay it out piece-by-piece. Football returns in full-force in the summer.

Check out OGGOA’s full coverage of the 2010 Orange & Blue Debut…
Continue Reading » OGGOA’s 2010 Orange & Blue Debut news, notes

Tags: A.J. Jones, Ahmad Black, Andre Debose, Brandon Hicks, Brandon Spikes, Brendan Beal, Caleb Sturgis, Carl Moore, Carlos Dunlap, CFL, Chris Leak, Chris Rainey, Cody Riggs, D.J. Durkin, Deonte Thompson, Emmanuel Moody, Janoris Jenkins, Jaye Howard, Jeff Demps, Jelani Jenkins, John Brantley, Jon Bostic, Jordan Reed, Joshua Shaw, Louis Murphy, Major Wright, Matt Elam, Maurkice Pouncey, Mike Gillislee, Montreal Alouettes, Orange & Blue Debut, Riley Cooper, Ronald Powell, Ryan Stamper, Scot Loeffler, Scott Brantley, Sharrif Floyd, Shelley Meyer, Steve Addazio, Tim Tebow, Trey Burton, Urban Meyer, Will Hill

1 » One story surrounding the 2010 Under Armour Senior Bowl was former Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow’s lingering illness. Believed to be a strep throat early in the week, Tebow was actually suffering from a viral infection of his esophagus. Pam Tebow, Tim’s mother, said his sickness was “much worse than strep throat” and caused eating to be too painful for him throughout the week. Tebow met with a doctor all week and lost more than 10 pounds over the course of the week.

2 » While many sports writers have spent the last week criticizing Tebow, Sports Illustrated’s Stewart Mandel took a look at the situation from another angle. Former Purdue Boilermakers head coach Joe Tiller, who coached Drew Brees, Curtis Painter and Kyle Orton (among others), laughed at all of Tebow’s doubters. “I can remember NFL critics saying the same thing when Drew was a senior,” Tiller told Mandel. “‘He’s in that Purdue offense all the time. He lines up in the shotgun all the time, and our guys line up under center. It’s not like college football has a monopoly on the shotgun formation. Now that I’m out of coaching, I’ve watched more NFL football this year than I have the last 10 years combined. There’s hardly any team in the league that doesn’t have their quarterback in the shotgun anymore. [...] The entire league is doing what Drew Brees was criticized for coming out of college. [...] Actually, I think a guy coming out in the shotgun is better equipped than a guy coming out of center.”

3 » Fifty-one University of Florida student athletes were named to the 2009-10 Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll for the fall semester. Football led the way with 23 honorees, followed by soccer (18) and volleyball (10). Prominent names on the list include Tebow, sophomore RB Jeff Demps, junior punter Chas Henry, senior kicker Jonathan Phillips and junior kicker Caleb Sturgis.

4 » Florida track and field was responsible eight provisional-qualifying marks/times, three event wins and two NCAA automatic-qualifying marks/times during the Texas A&M Challenge in College Station, TX, on Saturday. The second half of the event was highlighted by thrower Mariam Kevkhishvili and jumper Shara Proctor, who earned the NCAA automatic-qualifying bids. For more information on the Gators’ performances over the weekend, click here (day one) or here (day two).

Tags: Academic Honor Roll, Caleb Sturgis, Chas Henry, Drew Brees, field, Jeff Demps, Joe Tiller, Jonathan Phillips, Mariam Kevkhishvili, NCAA, Pam Tebow, Purdue Boilermakers, SEC, Senior Bowl, Shara Proctor, soccer, Texas A&M Challenge, Tim Tebow, track, Under Armour, University of Florida, volleyball

Each week following a Florida Gators game, ONLY GATORS Get Out Alive grades the team position-by-position based on each unit’s performance. This week, we look at how the Gators fared against the Cincinnati Bearcats in the final game of their season, the 2010 Sugar Bowl at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, LA.

QUARTERBACKS: A+
When the best player in school history plays the best game of his career in the final game of his career, it is tough not to give him an “A+” grade. And that is exactly what senior quarterback Tim Tebow has earned – not just for his outstanding performance Friday evening but for his career in the Orange and Blue. Pick your poison: was it the Lowe’s Senior CLASS award he was given before the game, the Sugar Bowl record 12 consecutive completions, the career-long 80-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Riley Cooper, the Sugar Bowl and BCS bowl game record 533 yards of total offense, the Sugar Bowl/BCS record 482 passing yards, the 31 completions which set a new Sugar Bowl record, the Sugar Bowl high four touchdowns or the 88.6 completion percentage that set a BCS record? The answer, of course, is “all of the above.”

RUNNING BACKS: A-
Tebow was once again the leading ball carrier for the Gators with 14 touches for 51 yards and a touchdown, but both redshirt junior Emmanuel Moody and redshirt sophomore Chris Rainey came up big throughout the game. Moody rushed eight times for only 14 yards but scored two touchdowns on the ground (he also had four receptions for 19 yards) while Rainey caught four passes for 71 yards and ran four times for 27 yards and a touchdown. Freshman Mike Gillislee cleaned up at the end of the fourth quarter and took a ball 52 yards for a final line of five carries for 78 yards. Sophomore Jeff Demps, the true starter, left the game after he dislocated his elbow on his third rush of the game. Though the attempts and yards were not there, three rushing touchdowns brought this unit up a half-grade.

Read the rest of Florida’s grades from the Sugar Bowl after the jump…
Continue Reading » Grading the Florida vs. Cincinnati game

Tags: Aaron Hernandez, Ahmad Black, BCS, Brandon Hicks, Brandon James, Brandon Spikes, Caleb Sturgis, Carlos Dunlap, Charlie Strong, Chas Henry, Chris Rainey, Cincinnati Bearcats, David Nelson, Deonte Thompson, Dustin Doe, Emmanuel Moody, Janoris Jenkins, Jeff Demps, Joe Haden, Justin Trattou, Louisiana Superdome, Major Wright, Mardy Gilyard, Mike Gillislee, NFL, Riley Cooper, Ryan Stamper, Scot Loeffler, SEC, Sugar Bowl, Tim Tebow, Tony Pike, Urban Meyer, Vance Bedford

Coming of a week filled with seemingly endless questions and distractions, the No. 5 Florida Gators (13-1) eased tensions and erased any doubts (at least temporarily) with a dominating 51-24 victory over the No. 3 Cincinnati Bearcats (12-1) in the 2010 Sugar Bowl at the Louisiana Superdome.

In the final game of his college career, Gators senior quarterback Tim Tebow went 31-of-35 for a career-high 482 yards passing and three touchdowns through the air. He also carried the ball 14 times for 51 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Completing his first twelve passes in what was arguably the best performance of his entire career, Tebow finished with 533 total yards – more than anyone in both BCS and Sugar Bowl history. Tebow’s three touchdown passes went to senior wide receiver Riley Cooper, junior tight end Aaron Hernandez and redshirt sophomore WR Deonte Thompson.

“It was incredible,” Tebow said of his third BCS bowl game victory. “Just a great game. It was exactly how you want to go out with these seniors and these coaches in your last game and your last time together. It just really doesn’t get any better than this.”

Cooper caught seven passes for a career-high 181 yards, Hernandez brought in nine balls for 111 yards and Thompson snagged five for 63 yards. Redshirt sophomore running back Chris Rainey caught four passes for 71 yards; he also rushed four times for 27 yards and a touchdown. Redshirt junior transfer RB Emmanuel Moody had the first two touchdown game of his career though freshman RB Mike Gillislee ended up as the team’s leading rusher (79 yards) after taking a hand-off for 52 yards in the fourth quarter.

Defensively, junior cornerback Joe Haden once again shut down his assignment, allowing Bearcats senior wide receiver Mardy Gilyard to gain only 41 yards. Florida’s pass rush and blitzing was on-point all night, holding Cincinnati senior QB Tony Pike to 27-of-45 passing for 170 yards. Pike, however, completed three touchdown passes after the game was out of hand. Junior defensive end Carlos Dunlap earned two of the team’s three sacks on Pike, the secondary had numerous interception opportunities and senior linebacker Brandon Spikes was flying around the ball all evening.

The Gators outgained the Bearcats 660-to-246 in total yardage, though the time of possession battle was close to even because Florida scored quickly. The Gators’ 660 yards was also a Sugar Bowl record. With the win, Florida became the first school in Football Bowl Subdivision history to win 13 games in consecutive seasons.

Going into the game, the Gators were without senior kick returner Brandon James (foot), redshirt junior LB A.J. Jones (knee) and redshirt junior defensive tackle Terron Sanders (hip), though additional injuries piled up before and during the game. Junior center Maurkice Pouncey spent five hours in the hospital earlier in the day passing a kidney stone and left the game in the second half to pass another. Sophomore RB Jeff Demps dislocated his elbow early on and redshirt junior left guard Carl Johnson hurt his shoulder. Sophomore CB Janoris Jenkins and redshirt senior LB Ryan Stamper were both down on the field for a while but would return to action.

Gators head coach Urban Meyer, who resigned on Saturday before changing his mind and deciding to take a leave of absence instead on Sunday, said at the trophy presentation after the game that he hoped to return to the sidelines for the 2010 season. “I plan on being the coach of the Gators,” Meyer said. On Tebow, Meyer said he “will go down as one of the great players, if not the greatest player, in college football [history].” Tebow won the game’s Most Outstanding Player Award, thanking the coaches, his teammates and Gator Nation while accepting it on the podium. He took a moment to specifically thank Meyer for making him a Gator, telling him that he loved him and hugging him.

Tags: A.J. Jones, Aaron Hernandez, BCS, Brandon James, Caleb Sturgis, Carl Johnson, Carlos Dunlap, Chris Rainey, Cincinnati Bearcats, Deonte Thompson, Emmanuel Moody, Janoris Jenkins, Jeff Demps, Joe Haden, Louisiana Superdome, Mardy Gilyard, Maurkice Pouncey, Mike Gillislee, Most Outstanding Player, Riley Cooper, Ryan Stamper, Sugar Bowl, Terron Sanders, Tim Tebow, Tony Pike, Urban Meyer