Three notable lessons Florida Football learned on Saturday
Florida Football didn't have a game on Saturday, but that doesn't mean college football wasn't a busy day. Between the transfer portal and the Heisman Trophy presentation, there were plenty of headlines for Gator fans to digest.
The following are three main takeaways from Saturday.
Florida got to avoid Travis Hunter
Travis Hunter won the Heisman Trophy over Ashton Jeanty in the closest vote since 2009. Whether one believes Jeanty should have won it over Hunter is a different debate, and it still shouldn't take away from Hunter being a great player.
But if you rewind back to December of 2021, Hunter was all but certain going to be a player Florida fans were going to have to deal with. He seemed like a lock with FSU and even though there were rumblings of Jackson State, everyone assumed Hunter would be suiting up for the Seminoles.
Until he stunned the world and didn't.
Now might be a good time to let your FSU friends know they let a Heisman Trophy winner get away.
Florida is hoping for a big fish yo come later. Maybe.
There was plenty of discussion yesterday about the wide receiver situation for Florida. After essentially everyone the Gators had kicked tires at in the transfer portal opted to go elsewhere, there are one of two scenarios playing out:
- Florida is genuinely asleep at the wheel. At the very least, after claiming they were going to be aggressive in the portal, it isn't a great look to emerge from week one with minimal portal momentum.
- Florida is hoping a big-name wide receiver is slated to enter later. Elijhah Badger and Ricky Pearsall were both late additions for the Gators in recent years, and there is some dreaming that a big name or two could still enter and Florida is just bidding their time.
We would make the argument that even if Florida is waiting for a big name to drop, it would make more sense to land one of the "big ticket" receivers now AND hold out for the big name later if the Gators are going to be as aggressive as they claimed they were going to be.
But alas, it looks like we are in for another round of the diamond in the rough method from Napier.
Basketball is a reminder rebuilds don't take forever
Todd Golden and crew are 10-0 and have yet to win a game by less than 13 points. After missing the tournament in 2023 and getting knocked out in the first round in 2024, Florida Basketball looks like a genuine Final Four contender in Golden's third season.
Now, yes, basketball is different than football is the sense that Golden really just needs eight players to go on a run. But we have also seen Golden genuinely improve areas in which the Gators were previously deficient, notably on the defensive side.
When thinking about why so many fans wanted to move on from Billy Napier in year three, just remember that Golden is also in year three.
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