Bait & Bits: Florida Gators Football, Basketball, Gymnastics, Golf, and Tennis
By Brett Kaplan
Oct 6, 2012; Gainesville, FL, USA; Florida Gators defensive coordinator Dan Quinn talks to players on the bench during the third quarter against the LSU Tigers at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
Welcome to Bait & Bits, a series on Hail Florida Hail that will feature one “bait” about an opposing school and some bits about the Gators. Have any links that you want on Bait & Bits? Tweet it at us @HailFloridaHail or @BrettKaplan13 or email it to us at BrettKaplanHFH@gmail.com.
Bait
Florida State Seminoles Men’s Tennis. Florida and Florida State renew their rivalry Wednesday afternoon, this time on the tennis court. The Gators have beaten the Seminoles in six straight meetings. The last time FSU won was in 2007. UF holds a dominating 54-20 mark over their in-state foe. That record may remind Florida fans of another score against Florida State, albeit two points off. I’m of course talking about the 1997 Sugar Bowl in which Florida defeated Florida State 52-20 to win the national championship. Stakes won’t be as high for these matches, but they’re still a formidable rival. Matches start at 3:30 pm.
Bits
Dan Quinn Returns to The Swamp. Current Seattle Seahawks and former Florida defensive coordinator Dan Quinn is coming back to Gainesville. Quinn, fresh off of a Super Bowl XLVIII win, will be a featured guest speaker at the 2014 Gator Football Coaches’ Clinic March 21-22. Click the link to get more information. (GatorZone)
Student Attendance at Football Games Waning. I’ve always felt that the student section in any stadium, be it baseball, football, basketball, gymnastics, etc., should be the most well attended and loudest. Florida has always had a great football student section, recently named “The Swamp Things”, and used to be one of the toughest places to play in college football. Whether it was the result on the field last year, or a lack of interest by students, it’s time to put The Swamp back on the map. Get the full story here. (Robbie Andreu, Gainesville Sun)
Gators at the NFL Combine Results. Thought to be the third Gator corner off the board, Jaylen Watkins came into the combine with something to prove. He ended up running the fastest time of any Florida player in the 40-yard dash and that was on a bum Achilles. Check out the full results. (Zach Abolverdi, Gainesville Sun)
Muschamp Optimistic for Turnaround. A lot of the Gator Nation is down on Florida’s head coach. But Will Muschamp talks about the growth he sees in his team and how it will contribute to a turnaround from a 4-8 season last year. (Edward Aschoff, ESPN.com)
Will Yeguete is Indispensible. This is a great article on the France nationalist and a leader of Florida basketball Will Yeguete. Yeguete brings his lunch pail to work every day and doesn’t always have the prettiest stat lines, but he does have an impact. (FIBA)
Scottie’s Trick Shot Before the Game.
Take a look at the shot, then watch again at the response:
Postgame with DFS and Pat. The MVP of Tuesday night’s game against Vanderbilt, Dorian Finney-Smith talks about the big win in the Gators first game as number one. Patric Young also talks about the victory over the Commodores. (GatorVision):
Florida Gymnastics Scores Explained. Florida’s gymnastics team was ranked 2nd and had a season-high score Friday versus LSU. How did they lose a spot in the rankings then? Alligator Army‘s Andy Hutchins always has great insight on all Gators sports. This piece is especially good because it echoes my sentiments exactly and explains the complicated scoring in college gymnastics. (Andy Hutchins, Alligator Army)
Women’s Golf Takes 3rd. The 16th-ranked women’s golf team was in action Sunday through Tuesday at the Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. The Gators took third place as a team with their lowest score of the season with -6 (remember, that’s a good thing in golf). Maria Torres also took 3rd individually for Florida with a 6-under score. Full results here. (GatorZone)
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