OGT-Florida Gators @ FSU 11/30/2024 -- 7:00 PM [ESPN 2]

Florida Gators (6-5, 4-4 SEC) at Florida State Seminoles (2-9, 1-7 ACC)
November 30, 2024

Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD
Play-by-Play: Sean Kelley
Analyst: Shane Matthews
Reporter: Tate Casey
Station Freq.: Local Affiliates
Sirius Channel: 133 or 190ak Campbell Stadium (79,560)

ABC
Play-by-Play: Anish Shroff
Analyst: Brock Osweiler
Reporter: Taylor McGregor
Channel (Cox): 7 / 1007 [HD]
Channel (DirecTV): 8 [HD]

Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD
Play-by-Play: Sean Kelley
Analyst: Shane Matthews
Reporter: Tate Casey
Station Freq.: Local Affiliates
Sirius Channel: 133 or 190

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TEAM INFORMATION:

FLORIDA
Head Coach: Billy Napier
Career Record: 57-31 (27-5 Sun Belt) [7th season]
Record at UF: 17-19 (10-14 SEC) [3rd season]
Record vs. FSU: 0-2
Rankings: RV (AP) / NR (Coaches)
2023 Record: 5-7, 3-5 SEC (T-4th in East)

FLORIDA STATE
Head Coach: Mike Norvell
Career Record: 71-41 (24-8 AAC) [9th season]
Record at FSU: 33-26 (20-20 ACC) [5th season]
Record vs. UF: 2-1
Rankings: NR (AP) / NR (Coaches)
2023 Record: 13-1, 8-0 ACC (1st)

SERIES HISTORY
Overall: Florida leads, 37-28-2
Last Meeting: No. 5 FSU 24, Florida 15
(Nov. 25, 2023 - Tallahassee)

Recent History: Florida State, W2
Florida has won 3 of last 5

In Tallahassee: Tied, 14-14-1
In Gainesville: Florida leads, 22-13-1
In New Orleans: Tied, 1-1
3 National Championships // 8 SEC Championships // 764 All-Time Wins // 3 Heisman Trophy Winners
58 First-Round NFL Draft Picks // 72 First-Team All-Americans // 258 First-Team All-SEC Selections
@GatorsFB // #GoGators
PMS 172cPMS 287cBLACKWHITEAND
NUMBERS OF NO

 

THE OPENING DRIVE
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• Florida and FSU match up for the 68th time in the 30th all-time meeting between the two teams in Tallahassee.

• The all-time series dates back to 1958 with the Gators owning a 37-28-2 lead and wins in three of the last five.

• In that span, Florida has outscored FSU, 158-121 (7.4 PPG), while outgaining the Noles, 2,052 to 1,612 (88.0 YPG).

• Florida is averaging 410.4 total yards including 181.2 yards rushing across the last five meetings.

• Across 16 meetings dating back to 2007, only four games in the UF-FSU series have been decided by single-digit points, which surprisingly includes each of the last three contests (2023, 2022, 2021, 2014).

• Florida is coming off back-to-back upset wins over AP Top 25 opponents (No. 21 LSU, No. 9 Ole Miss) as an unranked team for the first time since Oct. 11-18, 2003 (No. 6 LSU, No. 11 Arkansas) - first time accomplished in two home games.

• The win over Ole Miss marked UF’s first home victory as a double-digit underdog and UF’s second-largest upset win overall in the last 45 seasons (behind topping No. 16 LSU as a 14-point road dog in 2016).

• Of the 34 upsets by unranked teams so far this season, Florida is one of six with multiple wins vs CFP top-25 teams.

• Florida (6-5) has clinched its 49th bowl appearance in program history.

• The Gators have gone bowling in six of the last seven seasons, and in nine of the last 11.

• Florida finished the campaign winning four-straight games in The Swamp, outscoring opponents by 57 total points.

• This is the third meeting between UF HC Billy Napier and Florida State HC Mike Norvell as head coaches.

• Florida is the only FBS team to have all five of its losses come against opponents currently ranked in the AP Top 20.

• The Gators have recorded a takeaway in eight-straight games and have forced a turnover in 10 of 11 overall.

• Florida is 4-1 in games started by true freshman QB DJ Lagway, with the lone loss being to No. 2 Georgia, which the Gators led prior to Lagway departing due to injury.

• Lagway leads all FBS quarterbacks with a 97.3 passing grade on deep throws (20-plus yards) this season.

• Florida started a true freshman QB and RB in Lagway and RB Jadan Baugh for the second-time in program history in
Week 12 and is now 2-0 with the only two FBS wins this season while starting a true freshman backfield.

• Week 14 is the fifth time a UF true freshman QB will start vs. FSU. However, Lagway is going for the first-such win.

• Florida is one of three teams in the country with two qualified receivers averaging 18.0 yards per catch in WR Elijhah Badger (fourth - 22.2) and WR Chimere Dike (22nd - 18.9), with the others being Ole Miss and East Carolina.

• Led by first-year senior analyst Joe Houston, Florida ranks seventh in the FBS in net punting (43.16), 15th in punt return average (14.91) and 48th in punt return defense (5.85), and has been inside the top-13 all season in ESPN’s SP+ metric.

• Florida has allowed just 16 sacks, grading as the 13th-best pass blocking team in the nation with an 80.4 PFF grade.

• C Jake Slaughter grades as the No. 5 center in the FBS (79.6) and has the seventh-best run block grade (77.7).

• Since 2018, Napier is tied for 12th in the FBS with 57 total wins (10th among active HCs), ahead of Kyle Whittingham (55), Mike Gundy (55), Sonny Dykes (55), Mike Norvell (53), and Mark Stoops (51) in that time, among others.

• The Gators have won 18 of their last 24 games in The Swamp (including 13 of 18), but are 3-19 in their last 22 contests outside The Swamp and 3-14 in their last 17 true road games.

• Florida has scored in an NCAA-record 459-consecutive games dating back to 1988.

 

THE DJ IS ROCKIN' -- THE LAGWAY FILE
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• The top true freshman quarterback and best deep-ball passer in the country resides in Gainesville.

• True freshman QB DJ Lagway made his fifth-career start in Week 13 vs. No. 9 Ole Miss and completed 10-of17 passes for 180 yards, two TDs and one pick (174.8 rating) to lead UF to its second-straight top-25 upset.

• Lagway is the third Gators true freshman QB to start at home vs. a Top 25 opponent and the first QB to win, doing so in consecutive weeks with wins over No. 21 LSU and No. 9 Ole Miss.

• Lagway leads all true freshman quarterbacks with at least 125 attempts with a 163.5 rating - 15.9 points higher than the next-closest true freshman passer (Marcel Reed, Texas A&M).

• Lagway is 4-0 in games he starts and finishes, with his only loss as a starter being a 34-20 loss to No. 20 Georgia, which the Gators led prior to him exiting the contest due to injury.

• Lagway produced his second-career multi-touchdown game as a passer in Week 13 and now has seven touchdowns to three interceptions in his five starts. • Lagway leads all FBS passers with a 97.3 passing grade on deep throws (20-plus yards) this season.

• He has totaled 14 big-time throws to just one turnover-worthy play on deep throws. • On deep throws, Lagway ranks 12th in the FBS with 24.2 YPA and 15th with a 46.7 big-time throw percentage.

• Lagway completed his 12th pass of 40-plus yards this year on a 41-yard strike to WR Chimere Dike in Week 13.

• Lagway had five completions of 40-plus yards in each of his first two career starts (vs. Samford, vs. UK). • No other Florida quarterback has completed five passes of 40-plus yards in a game in the last 20 years.

• Week 13 was the fifth time (fourth QB) a UF true freshman QB beat at top-10 team (first since 2014 vs. UGA).

• Lagway is the second UF true freshman QB to start vs. three ranked teams in a season (other is Chris Leak).

• Through 10 games, Lagway has completed 79-of-135 passes for 1,477 yards, (147.7 YPG), nine TDs and six picks.

• Lagway’s 163.5 rating ranks fifth in the SEC and 14th in the FBS among quarterbacks with at least 90 pass attempts. How about QB Graham Mertz prior to his injury? Fourth in the SEC and 13th nationally at 164.1.

• In his first SEC road game at MSU, Lagway led two scoring drives starting inside UF’s 10-yard line, becoming the first freshman QB to lead a pair of 90-plus-yard drives in a road SEC tilt since Jalen Hurts in 2016.

• Making his first-career start in the Week 2 win over Samford, Lagway passed for the most yards ever (456) by a Florida true freshman quarterback, breaking Chris Leak’s mark of 269 vs. Kentucky in 2003.

• Lagway’s 456 passing yards are the tied for the sixth-most in the FBS this season and rank ninth all-time at Florida (most since Emory Jones threw for 464 yards vs. Samford on Nov. 13, 2021).

• Lagway became Florida’s first true freshman starter at quarterback since Treon Harris in the 2014 Birming- ham Bowl (UF’s seventh true freshman starter at quarterback overall).

• Florida started three different quarterbacks this season for the first time since 2017 (Franks, Zaire, Del Rio).

 

SO, JUST HOW BIG WAS WEEK 13?
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• Florida’s victory over No. 9 Ole Miss marked the Gators’ highest-ranked SEC win as an unranked team in over 10 years - since defeating No. 9 Georgia, 38-20, on Nov. 1, 2014 - en route to earning bowl eligibility.

• Florida secured its second top-10 win of the Billy Napier era (No. 7 Utah – Sept. 3, 2022)

• Florida delivered its fourth win vs. the AP Top 25 of the Napier era as an unranked team and has won at least one ranked game in all three years of his tenure.

• Florida won back-to-back games vs. AP Top 25 teams for the first time since Sept. 29-Oct. 6, 2018 (No. 23 Mississippi State, No. 5 LSU).

BADGER & DIKE AMONG BEST IN THE BIZ​

• UF’s receiving duo of Elijhah Badger and Chimere Dike is among the best in the FBS. • The two Gators are among 15 FBS players averaging over 56.0 yards per game and 18.5 yards per reception.

• Badger and Dike represent one of two FBS receiver duos to eclipse each of those thresholds (East Carolina).

• Badger put UF on the board with a nine-yard TD grab in the second quarter, marking his second-straight game with a receiving score and his team-leading fourth of the season.

• Badger paced Florida with five catches and 87 yards and Dike added three receptions for 54 yards.

• Dike has a whopping 18 explosive plays this season highlighted by 16 catches of 20-plus yards.

• Meanwhile, Badger has eight receptions of 17-plus yards in the last two games alone.

• Badger owns three 100-yard games this season (team high) and seven total in his career.

• Badger finished with the highest grade (88.2) of any SEC wide receiver in Week 12, per PFF.

• Badger is fourth in the FBS (second in SEC) with 22.2 YPC, pacing UF with 778 yards (t-eighth in SEC), 35 receptions and 77.8 YPG (third in SEC).

• Dike ranks sixth in the SEC and 22nd in the FBS in YPC (18.9), and 14th in the SEC in YPG (56.7).

• Florida is one of three teams in the country with two qualified receivers averaging 18.0 yards per catch.

• Florida is one of four SEC teams with multiple receivers averaging over 55.0 YPG (LSU, Ole Miss, Mizzou).

• Badger extended his streak to 36-straight games with a catch vs. Ole Miss (11th-longest active streak).

• Badger finished with three catches for a career-high 148 yards (49.3 YPC) in the Week 8 win over Kentucky.