With the triumphs of last year now in the rear-view mirror, it was up to No. 9 Florida Gators soccer to get the 2011-12 athletic season off with a bang. Florida (2-0) accomplished this feat over the weekend, defeating the Miami Hurricanes (0-1) and Florida International Golden Panthers (0-2) with a pair of 2-0 victories in Miami, FL.

The Gators opened the season on Friday against the Hurricanes and took it to their in-state rivals right from the get go. Sophomore forward Taylor Travis scored Florida’s first goal of the season at 37’, and freshman midfielder Havana Solaun tacked on another at 51’ to lead the Gators to victory.

Junior MF/F Erika Tymrak got the assist on both goals, setting up a cross for the first score and passing it from the top of the box to the left side for the second.

Before returning to Gainesville, FL for a week of practice, Florida stayed in town, took a day off and faced FIU on Sunday. Like their first match of the season, the Gators scored once in each half and came away with a 2-0 win.

Freshman F Tessa Andujar placed the first one in the net, converting a cross from senior defender Jazmyne Avant in the 40th minute. Joining her on the scoreboard was senior MF/F Tahnai Annis, who corralled a through pass from freshman MF Annie Speese and struck it in from 12 yards out at 63’.

Florida split up the goalkeeping duties over the weekend with senior Brooke Chancey (five saves) and freshman Taylor Burke (three saves) each registering a shutout while playing the full 90 minutes.

The Gators will continue their road trip with a pair of contests next weekend in Knoxville, TN. Florida will take on Texas A&M on Friday and UCLA on Sunday before returning to the University of Florida for a three-game homestand.

Tags: Annie Speese, Brooke Chancey, Erika Tymrak, Florida International Golden Panthers, Havana Solaun, Jazmyne Avant, Miami Hurricanes, soccer, Tahnai Annis, Taylor Burke, Taylor Travis, Tessa Andujar

1a » No. 3 Women’s Tennis won 2010 SEC Championship Tournament
Over the weekend, the Florida Gators women’s tennis team (24-2) captured its 16th conference title in the last 23 years and first since 2006. It defeated the LSU Tigers (10-15) 4-0 on Friday before advancing to the finals to take on the No. 13 Tennessee Volunteers (16-8). Florida took down Tennessee 4-1 in the championship finale Sunday afternoon at the Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, GA. Senior Marrit Boonstra and freshman Allie Will were named to the All-Tournament Team.

1b » No. 6 Men’s Tennis fell in 2010 SEC Championship Tournament finale
Also fighting for a conference crown over the weekend was the men’s tennis team (19-4), which defeated the Mississippi State Bulldogs 4-1 Friday in semifinal action at Boone Tennis Complex in Lexington, KY. The men moved on to the championship game Sunday but were swept 4-0 by the No. 2 Volunteers, who took home the title.

2 » No. 7/11 Baseball took three of four games last week
Beginning the week with a solid 18-8 defeat of the South Florida Bulls (17-20), Gators baseball (28-11, 12-6 SEC) finished out the week by winning two-of-three games at home against the No. 9/7 Arkansas Razorbacks (33-8, 13-5 SEC). UF dropped the opener 8-3 before evening the series with an 8-2 win Saturday and taking it home Sunday with a 2-1 victory.

3 » No. 4/4 Softball dropped two of three games last week
Florida softball (35-7, 15-4 SEC) was hoping for a chance to even out its week after dropping two of its previous three games; unfortunately, inclement weather on Saturday forced the team to cancel its series finale against No. 17/18 Tennessee (39-9, 15-5 SEC). The Gators began the week with a tough 8-3 home loss to the Florida International Golden Panthers (30-15, 11-5 Sun Belt) at Pressly Stadium on Tuesday. The ladies then split a weekend series with the Volunteers, winning game one 6-0 before falling 4-3 in game two at Lee Softball Stadium in Knoxville, TN.

4 » No. 4 Gymnastics fell at home in 2010 NCAA Championship
Gators gymnastics, a consistently great program that has been hoping for a NCAA Championship since it came in second in 1998, once again fell short of a title over the weekend, failing to come out on top during the NCAA Super Six team final in Gainesville, FL. The Florida women came in fifth place with a total of 197.00, behind the new NCAA Champion UCLA Bruins (197.725), second-place Oklahoma (197.25), third-place Alabama (197.225) and fourth-place Stanford (197.10). Utah (196.225) was the only team to finish behind UF). The match was the Gators’ ninth NCAA Super Six all-time and sixth in the last seven years.

Photo Credit: GatorZone.com

Tags: Allie Will, Arkansas Razorbacks, baseball, Boone Tennis Complex, Florida International Golden Panthers, gymnastics, Lee Softball Stadium, LSU Tigers, Magill Tennis Complex, Marrit Boonstra, McKethan Stadium, Mississippi State Bulldogs, NCAA Championship, NCAA Super Six, Pressly Stadium, SEC, SEC Championship, softball, South Florida Bulls, Tennessee Volunteers, tennis, UCLA Bruins

1 » Former Indianapolis Colts and Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach and current NFL analyst for NBC Tony Dungy continues to stand behind former Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow and believes he will succeed at the next level. “I know a lot of people are saying he will play another position and he might, but I think he’s going to be a great leader, a winner, and I think some team is going to take him and tailor their offense to the special qualities he has,” Dungy told George Diaz of the Orlando Sentinel. “I think he’s going to be a fantastic player in the NFL. If I am a coach, I say to myself: ‘I’ve got a special, unique talent and I am going to structure my team a little differently to take advantage of that.’ People are starting to do that. Tennessee did that with Vince Young and was very successful. I think somebody is going to do it. [...] Tim won a lot of games in high school, a lot of games at the University of Florida and my belief is that he will win if he gets with the right team in the NFL.”

2 » Jacksonville Jaguars general manager Gene Smith told The Florida Times-Union that his team’s experiment with the 3-4 defense is over. Part of the reason for the change is a belief of Smith in former Gators defensive end Derrick Harvey, who only had two sacks in 2009. “The third year is usually a defining year for what you’re going to become,” Smith said as he indicated that Harvey will begin camp as the starting left end. Former Florida safety Reggie Nelson, who had an outstanding rookie campaign but has since floundered with the Jaguars, may be cut if he does not show significant improvement throughout training camp.

Women’s basketball, lacrosse and men’s & women’s tennis after the jump!
Continue Reading » SIX BITS: Dungy on Tebow, Jaguars, weekend

Tags: Alexandre Lacroix, Antoine Benneteau, C.M. Tad Smith Coliseum, Derrick Harvey, Disney Wide World of Sports, Florida International Golden Panthers, Gene Smith, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Indianapolis Colts, ITA, Jacksonville Jaguars, Kick-Off Weekend, Linder Stadium, Lonnika Thompson, National Team Indoor Championships, NFL, Ole Miss Rebels, Reggie Nelson, Ring Tennis Complex, Sharielle Smith, Steffi Sorensen, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, tennis, Tim Tebow, Tony Dungy, U.S. National Developmental

On the heels of an 85-67 road victory over the Jacksonville Dolphins (0-5) on Friday, the No. 13/17 Florida Gators basketball team has begun its season 8-0 for only the third time in school history. Four Gators scored in double figures on the evening with sophomore point guard Erving Walker leading the way with a team-high 18 points.

Freshman guard Kenny Boynton spread himself out all over the box score with 15 points, five assists, three rebounds and three steals on the evening while junior transfer center Vernon Macklin had the best game in his short Florida career with 16 points on 5-of-6 shooting (6-of-6 from the charity stripe) and three blocks. The Gators hit 12 three-pointers on the evening and were 60 percent from behind the arc as a team. Junior forward Chandler Parsons was 2-for-2, Walker was 4-for-5, senior F Dan Werner (13 points) was 3-for-5 and Boynton was 3-for-7 from long range.

For Jacksonville, F Ayron Hardy led the team with 16 points and six rebounds while G Travis Cohn added 15 points of his own. The Dolphins kept the game close throughout the first half, but the Gators pulled away to a nine-point halftime lead and kept their foot on the gas for the remainder of the contest.

Florida won their first true road game of the season and improved to 7-0 all-time at Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, FL. The first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament will be held in the same location in March, and the Gators hope to return to one of their favorite places to play outside of Gainesville, FL.

The Gators three-game road trip continues on Thursday when they take on the No. 8/7 Syracuse Orange at the neutral site St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, FL, at 9 p.m. The game is part of the SEC/Big East Invitational and will air live on ESPN.

Volleyball in NCAA Tournament: No. 14/15 Gators volleyball (25-5) advanced to the NCAA Tournament Round of 16 for the 18th time in the last 19 years after defeating the Florida International Golden Panthers (32-4) 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-16) in second round action Friday at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. Florida out-blocked FIU 12.0-1.0 while being led by sophomore middle blocker Cassandra Anderson, who recorded match-highs in kills (nine on .692 hitting) and blocks (seven). The Gators will face the winner of the State College, PA, subregional next Friday in the O’Dome.

Tags: Ayron Hardy, Cassandra Anderson, Chandler Parsons, Dan Werner, Erving Walker, Florida International Golden Panthers, Jacksonville Dolphins, Kenny Boynton, NCAA Tournament, O'Connell Center, SEC/Big East Invitational, St. Pete Times Forum, Syracuse Orange, Travis Cohn, Vernon Macklin, Veterans Memorial Arena, volleyball

Over the past two weeks, OGGOA asked you to participate in three polls. The first two determined your Most Valuable Players for the Florid International Golden Panthers and Florida State Seminoles games, while the third determined which administrator was most important to University of Florida athletics. An OGGOA-record total of 875 combined votes (292 average) were cast, and the results are in:

Who was your Florida Gators MVP vs. FIU?
QB Tim Tebow (50%, 92 votes)
QB John Brantley (25%, 47 votes)
RB Chris Rainey (13%, 25 votes)
LB Brandon Spikes (12%, 22 votes)

Who was your Florida Gators MVP vs. FSU?
QB Tim Tebow (77%, 203 votes)
TE Aaron Hernandez (21%, 55 votes)
LB Brandon Hicks (1%, 4 votes)
RB Jeff Demps (1%, 3 votes)

Tebow’s third and fourth OGGOA MVP honors came in back-to-back weeks for the first time all season. His previous victories were against Georgia and Arkansas. Both victories are well-deserved, especially the Florida State one seeing as Tebow put up five touchdowns and had his best performance of the season.

Who has done more for the Florida Gators?
AD Jeremy Foley (39%, 166 votes)
HC Steve Spurrier (32%, 135 votes)
HC Urban Meyer (27%, 114 votes)
HC Billy Donovan (2%, 9 votes)

Reviewing the results of this poll, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the respect and appreciation for what Foley has done for UF’s athletic program is wide-spread. Often times, fans look at the coaches and players and do not know who is really taking care of things behind the scenes. Though I do not need to convince you to vote for Foley, this is just a taste of what he has done since becoming the athletic director in 1992. He hired Meyer, Donovan, Becky Burleigh (soccer), Tim Walton (softball) while retaining Buddy Alexander (men’s golf) and Mary Wise (volleyball) and helping the Gators finish as the top-ranked overall program in the Southeastern Conference in 15 of his 16 years.

Tags: Aaron Hernandez, Becky Burleigh, Billy Donovan, Brandon Hicks, Brandon Spikes, Buddy Alexander, Chris Rainey, Florida International Golden Panthers, Florida State Seminoles, Jeff Demps, Jeremy Foley, John Brantley, Mary Wise, MVP, poll, SEC, Steve Spurrier, Tim Tebow, Tim Walton, Urban Meyer

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.

Tags: Charlie Weis, Florida International Golden Panthers, John Brantley, Michael Guilford, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Senior Day, The Swamp, Tim Tebow, Urban Meyer

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

Tags: A.J. Jones, Brandon Hicks, Brandon James, Brandon Spikes, Caleb Sturgis, Chas Henry, Chris Hetland, Chris Rainey, Christopher Scott, David Nelson, Deonte Thompson, Dustin Doe, Emmanuel Moody, Florida International Golden Panthers, Frankie Hammond, Jaye Howard, Jeff Demps, John Brantley, Jonathan Phillips, Justin Williams, Lawrence Marsh, Omarius Hines, Paul McCall, Riley Cooper, Ryan Stamper, Tim Tebow

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.

Tags: A.J. Jones, Ahmad Black, BCS, Bobby Bowden, Brandon Hicks, Florida International Golden Panthers, Florida State Seminoles, Mike Pouncey, National Championship, Oklahoma Sooners, Ryan Stamper, School Out West, The Swamp, Urban Meyer