Florida vs. Tulane score, takeaways: Gators dominate behind defense in sleepy 2024 Gasparilla Bowl

Football

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Image Credit: UAA / UAA

While not as clean as the Florida Gators would have liked given their dominant performances to end the season, a 33-8 victory over the Tulane Green Wave in the 2024 Gasparilla Bowl was ultimately another positive result for head coach Billy Napier’s crew. It was Florida’s first bowl win in five years and nearly its first shutout in four years if not for a score with less than 30 seconds remaining in the game.

Napier improved to 3-2 as a bowl-game coach getting his first such win against the spread (for whatever that’s worth), while freshman quarterback DJ Lagway added another four quarters of experience under his belt entering an offseason in which his individual improvement will be more important than any toward the Gators continuing their resurgence in 2025.

Florida finished the season 8-5, completing its most successful campaign since 2020. The eight wins are two more than the Gators’ preseason projection despite Napier’s team facing the nation’s toughest regular-season schedule.

What went right

• Despite being down a ton of starters and key reserves — due to a mix of injuries, preservation for next season, transfers and preparation for the 2025 NFL Draft — the Gators again played lights out defensively. Defensive backs redshirt senior Trikweze Bridges and junior Alfonzo Allen Jr. — the latter playing in his fourth game of the season, first since Kentucky — both nabbed key interceptions with freshman linebacker Myles Graham grabbing another late in the fourth quarter to ice the game. Florida also recovered what should have been a forced fumble that was erroneously ruled an incomplete pass. Beyond the turnovers, though, UF stifled everything Tulane attempted offensively, though the Green Wave were limited significantly due to transfer portal departures.
  • UF scored more than half of its points (17 of 33) off those turnovers.
• Junior kicker Trey Smack made all four of his field goals, the longest attempt from 44 yards. While none of them were individually remarkable, Smack was the only player to score over the first 40 minutes of the game.
• Lagway was largely great in the game completing 22 of 35 passes for 301 yards and a TD; however, he threw two of his worst passes the entire season for a pair of interceptions and fumbled on a key fourth-and-1 late in the game. Both picks came on third downs with Lagway shifting out of the pocket forcing a ball into the middle of the field — right into the hands of well-positioned defenders. The Gators did not ultimately pay for those mistakes; they would have against better opponents.
• The running game remained on point with running backs freshman Jadan Baugh and sophomore Ja’Keem Jackson combining for 131 yards on 26 carries.
• Freshman RB KD Daniels got some work late in the fourth quarter and made the most of it. On a fourth-and-1 that Lagway fumbled, Daniels picked up the loose ball and charged 27 yards into the end zone for his first career TD to ice the game. It was a paradigm of UF’s offense with talented players making big plays overcoming poor decision making.
• Senior defensive tackle Desmond Watson was particularly entertaining by physically lifting Tulane’s quarterback — rather than drive him into the ground on a run stop — in the first quarter. But it was Watson’s 1-yard rush for a first down late in the fourth quarter that truly roused the crowd. The Gators ultimately scored on the drive, but Watson did not get an opportunity to reenter the game after his helmet popped off on a second play when he lined up at fullback.

What went wrong

• Florida’s offensive play calling — particularly in the red zone — left a lot to be desired. UF went just 2 of 6 converting such trips into touchdowns (one of those conversions in garbage time), and it lucked out on Daniels’ run, which began outside the red zone. It remains clear — as it has been for his entire tenure — that Napier must hire a play-calling offensive coordinator. There had been some smoke that such a move is coming this offseason, and yet, the early signing period and opening of the transfer portal have come and gone without any staff additions to that end. It now feels dubious that such a move is coming despite it being the most clear improvement UF needs to take another step forward. (Look what happened when the play caller changed on defense, for example.)
• The Gators did not score a touchdown until the third quarter despite absolutely dominating the Green Wave in every other statistical category. The red-zone inefficiencies were hugely problematic.
  • UF ultimately went seven consecutive bowl quarters without finding pay dirt.
• Florida had largely taken care of its special teams miscues this season, but they reared their ugly heads again in the first half when — twice, once during a punt and once during a field goal attempt — Napier was forced to call timeout to avoid delay of game due to only having 10 men on the field.
• The officiating was dreadfully one-sided almost as if there was an effort to protect Tulane. Clear calls missed on both sides of the ball throughout the game — including three separate uncalled defensive pass interference penalties on the Green Wave. Of course, a DPI on the Gators resulted in Tulane’s lone score — a touchdown and 2-point conversion with 29 seconds remaining.

Odds & ends

Florida improved to 14-6-2 all-time against Tulane with 12 straight wins in what was once an SEC rivalry … the Gators and Green Wave had not played in 40 years until Friday (1984) … Florida is now 25-24 in bowl games (1-1 in the Gasparilla Bowl) with its first win since 2019 … UF went seven full bowl-game quarters without scoring a TD until doing so in the third quarter … the Gators defense forced turnovers in 12 of 13 games this season with multiple takeaways in 11 of those contests … Florida won its first neutral-site game under Napier (1-4) and is now 5-13 away from home during his tenure … the Gators under Napier are 13-0 when allowing 20 points or fewer, 16-2 when leading after the third quarter, 15-5 when leading at halftime, 16-6 when scoring first and 15-5 when rushing for at least 150 yards … Florida is 41-13 against unranked opponents since 2018 … the Gators have scored in 461 consecutive games, an NCAA record

What it means / what’s next?

Florida was favored by double digits and prevailed like a double-digit favorite — in dominant fashion. Still, it was nowhere near as explosive of a win as the Gators could have put together — particularly given the massive discrepancies in yardage (529-194), first downs (25-11), plays (79-57) and time of possession (38:57-21:03). This was a game UF should have won by 40+ points. Instead, Napier’s play calling and Lagway’s turnovers hamstrung what should have been a thrilling, momentum-building win. That’s not to say Florida was hindered in any way by a 25-point win, but the game itself was boring and forgettable as opposed to an exclamation point like a four-game winning streak should have been to close the season.

Napier and the Gators will now focus on the transfer portal where Florida is lagging behind some of its peers in acquisitions with plenty of time to catch up. There is also an open staff position to fill following the departure of co-defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong, who regained play calling duties by moving over to Houston. Will Napier take that opportunity to reshape and improve the Gators offense?