A little over a month ago it looked as if the Florida football program would suffer their fourth straight losing season and third under Billy Napier. The Gators rebounded in the final month, capping off the 2024 season with a 33-8 win over Tulane in the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl. The victory marks Florida’s 4th consecutive win to finish with an 8-5 record, the programs best since going 8-4 in 2020.
Career firsts
Let’s start with a positive. The Gasparilla Bowl was filled with career firsts. Walk on safety Alfonzo Allen and true freshman linebacker Myles Graham recorded their first career interceptions in the contest. True freshman KD Daniels recorded his first career touchdown on a 27-yard scamper that he scooped up off the ground in the backfield. Walk on running back Anthony Rubio, the son of Florida Senator Marco Rubio, scored his first career touchdown late in the contest. Last but certainly not least, 449-pound defensive tackle Desmond Watson recorded his first career rushing yard, a one-yard gain where he simply carried a linebacker on his back for three yards and a first down.
Bowl games are unique in the fact that more times than not you get to see players you didn’t see much of in the regular season, whether that’s due to injuries, opt outs, or coaching staffs wanting to see what they have in their younger players. Typically, coaches will work a lot of different guys into the game plan, and that’s exactly what Florida did. It also helps that Florida was able to jump out to a fairly large lead in the 4th quarter, which led us to a number of exciting career firsts.
Red zone offense struggles early
Florida’s red zone offense struggled early in the contest, which led to Florida holding on to just a 9-0 lead mid-way through the 3rd quarter. The Gators found themselves going backwards in key situations due to sacks and penalties. Freshman quarterback DJ Lagway didn’t do himself any favors in the red zone either as he missed a wide-open Chimere Dike and tossed an interception into triple coverage that resulted in a touchback. Florida wasn’t having any problems moving the ball as they gained 529 total yards of offense, but they continued to shoot themselves in the foot and failed to execute in critical situations.
The Gators finished strong with two touchdowns in the red zone by Tony Livingston and Anthony Rubio.
Defense carried Florida to victory
Tulane didn’t find the scoreboard until under 30 seconds in the contest. Florida held the Green Wave to just 194 yards of total offense and 3.4 yards per play. The Gators eliminated Tulane’s strong rushing attack led by one of the better running backs in the country Makhi Hughes, who was held to just 3.6 yards per carry. This forced Tulane’s backup quarterback Ty Thompson to beat Florida through the air, and he couldn’t. The former Oregon QB completed 11-29 passes for 125 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions.
Despite the lack of execution from Florida’s offense early in the game, it never felt as if the Gators would lose this game thanks to their defense. Florida executed their game plan perfectly and forced a questionable passing attack to beat them. A ton of different defenders rotated in throughout the game but the drop off was not noticeable.
DJ Lagway didn’t appear 100% healthy
Freshman quarterback DJ Lagway has been nursing a hamstring injury, and it was clear once again that he was not fully healthy. He came up limping on a few scrambles and didn’t seem comfortable putting a lot of weight on his legs while throwing. This led to Lagway short arming a few throws and poor mechanics. He was also hesitant to run at times throughout the contest. The Gators will want him to be fully healthy for spring camp.
Still, Lagway improves to 6-0 as a starting quarterback when finishing the game. He also set the Gasparilla bowl record with 305 passing yards.
Trey Smack sets record
Florida’s kicker Trey Smack was a perfect 4-4 in the contest, and it looked for a while like that could be the difference in the game. Smack’s four field goals made set the Gasparilla Bowl game record. Smack was responsible for 15 of Florida’s 33 points vs Tulane.
Smack made 18 of 21 (85.7%) field goals this season and all 44 of his extra point attempts. Smack will be a senior in 2025 and is poised to have another excellent season.