Another weekend of college football has come and gone, and even though the season is over for Florida, there were still a number of entertaining matchups to watch over the past two days as bowl season marches on.
The following are three things in particular that stood out.
Gators have no excuses against Miami in 2025
Lost in all the Cam Ward opting out at halftime drama in the Pop-Tarts Bowl is the fact that Miami‘s defense once again got shredded by an Iowa State squad that was shut down by Arizona State.
Ward is gone for 2025, and whether or not one thinks Emory Williams is the answer, the reality is that Florida will have no excuses if they can't manage more than 17 points against a Miami team that gave up at least 30 points six times in 2024.
Gators have no excuses against Texas A&M in 2025
Another defense that Billy Napier couldn't solve in 2024, Texas A&M blew it against Southern Cal in the Las Vegas Bowl to finish the year 8-5, just like the Gators.
After the game, Aggie head coach Mike Elko was not a happy camper when talking about his defense and even commented that A&M got lucky against Florida back in week three.
Florida only managed 20 points in that game against an Aggies defense that closed out the year, giving up 44 points to South Carolina, 43 to Auburn, and 35 to Southern Cal.
Mike Elko went scorched earth after losing to USC:
— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) December 28, 2024
"The story of the game is the story of the season, we can't cover the forward pass."
"I have apprehension when the other team drops back to throw the ball.
"Starting against Florida, we got lucky. Starting against Missouri,… pic.twitter.com/iq4TpBpNlu
Caleb Douglas is a good receiver
During his time at Florida, Caleb Douglas felt like a solid receiver the Gators just didn't feature as much as they could have. Douglas was hurt in 2023 and missed the back half of the season before transferring to Texas Tech.
Douglas went on to have a nice season with the Red Raiders, with 762 receiving yards in the regular season. He capped off his 2024 campaign with five catches for 115 yards in the Liberty Bowl, to finish the year with 877 yards.