By Will Miles
Hightower No-No
I think it’s safe to say that USF has seen enough of Elizabeth Hightower.
Hightower, who has evolved into Florida’s ace for the softball team this season pitched 6.1 innings on Friday against the Bulls without surrendering a hit in Florida’s 1-0 victory, and then one-upped that by going a full 7 innings on Sunday without surrendering a hit. The Gators blew open that game with 6 runs in the top of the 7th inning, so Hightower’s heroics were needed in both victories.
In some ways, you feel sorry for USF. The Gators (45-9) are clearly the better team than the Bulls (31-19). The Gators didn’t give up a single run in the three regional games and surrendered only two hits.
But that’s part of what being a deep team brings. USF had pretty good pitching but couldn’t match the Gators bats, as limited as they were. And South Alabama got blown out 10-0 by Florida after losing a nail-biter to the Bulls 1-0.
The Gators depth, experience and talent carried them through this one. The competition is only going to get tougher.
Softball to the Super Regionals
Florida went 3-0 against USF coming into the regionals by a combined score of 26-2, so it wasn’t really a surprise that the Gators were able to come out on top.
The Gators next opponent put up more of a fight, as the Georgia Bulldogs went 1-2 against Florida this year, albeit with a combined score in the three games of 27-6.
This is where the depth really starts to set in. Hightower struggled in the opener against Georgia, surrendering 4 runs in 4.2 IP in the loss. Mary Wilson Avant only gave up 2 runs in 7 IP and the Bulldogs were able to hold on for the 4-2 win.
But the second game – a 17-1 drubbing by Florida – showed where Georgia’s roster appears to be lacking. In that game, Alley Cutting started and gave up 5 ER in 1.1 IP. Cutting has only thrown 58.2 innings this year and has been the second-most used pitcher behind Avant (183.2 IP). Compare that to Florida with Hightower (153.0), Natalie Lugo (113.2) and Katie Chronister (70.2) all having substantially more innings than Cutting.
That’s going to be the key in this series. In a best-of-three format, Georgia is going to have to win that game in the middle sandwiched around hoping to get to Hightower in one of her two starts. Maybe Hightower has another sub-par start, but she won’t have two. That means the Bulldogs will have to win that middle game to move on.
Baseball swept by the Razorbacks
The Gators baseball team went on the road and got swept by #1 Arkansas. The combined score in those games was 19-7.
Florida actually jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the opener, but Arkansas knocked Tommy Mace out in the 5th inning while the first run was the only one that Arkansas’ pitcher Patrick Wicklander would surrender.
The second game was the best for the Gators, who took a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the eighth. But the Razorbacks managed to tie the game in that inning on a homerun by 2B Robert Moore off of Jack Leftwich and then walked it off on a double by pinch hitter Charlie Welch in the 9th.
Florida again played well in the third game, going into the bottom of the 7th tied at 2, only to surrender 7 runs in that inning, leading to a 9-3 loss.
Arkansas took an interesting approach in that third game, with starter Jaxon Wiggins going 3 innings and then six different relievers pitching one inning each. That was a stark difference to Florida, who had Franco Aleman go 6.1 innings and face 27 batters. The difference was less stark, but Arkansas took that same pitching tact in game 2 as well.
In the major leagues, there’s a pretty significant penalty when a starter comes around to face the lineup for the third time. Perhaps it isn’t a coincidence that Aleman struggled his third time through. Of course, it could just be that this season, Arkansas is the better, deeper team.
It sure looked like it this weekend.
SEC Tournament this week
I suspect that the sweep at the hands of Arkansas is going to eliminate Florida from consideration for a national seed. That means that the Gators are playing in the SEC tournament for the SEC Championship and the ability to host a regional, but that the super regional will be elsewhere.
The road to the SEC Championship starts against Kentucky. That should be a familiar foe for the Gators as they took 2 of 3 against the Wildcats in Lexington earlier this month. That series was closer than it looked as Kentucky took the opener 7-5. The next game was an 8-5 Gators victory, but Florida trailed 5-4 going into the ninth inning. In the third game, Hunter Barco shut down the Cats.
I suspect Florida will win this game. They are the better team, but the closeness of the series – albeit in Lexington – indicates that Kentucky is good enough to pull the upset and that the Gators are susceptible if the pitching struggles.
Pitching has been the issue for most of the year, but Hunter Barco is starting to really round into form. It’ll be interesting to see who Kevin O’Sullivan saves him for in this particular tournament.
Jadarrius Perkins transfers in
Cornerback Jadarrius Perkins announced that he is transferring to Florida this weekend.
That’s a good get for Florida as the Gators were down to six scholarship players at the cornerback position. It’s also a good get because while Perkins is transferring from Junior College (via a short stop at Missouri), he had offers from Oklahoma, Oregon, Alabama, Auburn, LSU and Florida State back in 2020.
That offer list indicates he can play, and the fact that he’s from Hattiesburg means that he likely is familiar with Dan Mullen and potentially Todd Grantham from their time at Mississippi State.
The expectation is that true freshman 5-star recruit Jason Marshall is going to man one corner. Kaiir Elam is established at the other corner spot. Jaydon Hill likely will occupy the backup corner spot with either him or one of the safeties occupying the star. The Gators also have guys like Ethan Pouncey, Avery Helm and Fenley Graham waiting in the wings.
That means that if Perkins is to contribute to the 2021 Gators, he’s either going to have to contribute on special teams, beat out some really good players, or the Gators are having a rash of injuries. Two of those outcomes are good for the Gators and the third is a good outcome if Perkins is able to hold down the fort while guys who are nicked up are able to heal.
This transfer is a good thing, but how good probably depends on expectations. I don’t expect Perkins to start or even get major playing time on defense in 2021. But as a replacement for the departed Chester Kimbrough, I think he can exceed what we saw from Kimbrough last season.
2022 Recruiting Cycle similar to 2019?
Florida only has 5 commits thus far for the 2022 recruiting cycle.
That’s sure to pick up over the summer, but it is really reminiscent of the 2019 cycle where Florida had just a few commitments in the May/June timeframe but still managed to scratch and crawl its way to a top-10 class.
Of course, there are two issues with that. First, Florida shouldn’t be scratching to a top-10 class. Top-10 classes at UF should be the minimum and they should be scratching and crawling into the top-3.
But beyond that, let’s take a look at the contributions of that 2019 class. Kaiir Elam and Mohamoud Diabate were clear wins. Khris Bogle, Jaydon Hill and Nay’Quan Wright have been solid contributors. Chris Steele, Jalon Jones, Chester Kimbrough, Dionte Marks, Jesiah Pierre, Deyavie Hammond and Wardrick Wilson are no longer members of the team.
Five contributors from a class isn’t going to cut it. If we look at Alabama’s 2019 class, they’ve gotten huge contributions from guys like John Metchie, Christian Harris and Jahleel Billingsly. Georgia has gotten solid contributions from Nolan Smith, Nakobe Dean, George Pickens, Tyrique Stevenson, Lewis Cine and Stetson Bennett.
Florida needs guys like Ty’Ron Hopper, Keon Zipperer, Lloyd Summerall, Jaelin Humphries, Michael Tarquin or Ethan White to turn into stars, or at least major contributors. That will happen over this year and next, but the difference between “stars” and “major contributors” will probably be the difference between whether Dan Mullen can consistently win the East or if 2020 was an aberration.
Holes to still be filled?
With the addition of Perkins, that now puts Florida at 5 transfers counted against the 2021 recruiting class (Jace Christmann, Daquan Newkirk, Antonio Shelton (Valentino) and Demarkcus Bowman).
Since tight end Arik Gilbert decided not to transfer, that likely leaves Florida with one more spot that it could potentially fill. I’ve heard a lot of people talk about various places that the Gators would like to shore up. Perhaps Florida would want to add a wide receiver to help replace Kadarius Toney and Kyle Pitts? Or perhaps the Gators would want to add offensive line help as the offense moves towards a more run-heavy look?
But the place I think they should focus is the place that they’ve already focused: defensive tackle.
Hopper and Diabate are really fast. Brenton Cox has a lightning first step. None of those guys is any good if they are getting mauled by an offensive lineman or a double-team because the guys in the middle aren’t able to get any push.
Kaiir Elam and Jason Marshall (maybe) are going to be really good. But defensive backs get torched when a QB can see the field and step into a throw.
I understand why a DT transfer might not want to come. Getting playing time behind Newkirk, Valentino and Gervon Dexter may not be all that appealing. But that unit is razor thin from an experience standpoint should one of those guys go down.
I think Mullen can get the offense going without major weapons at WR. I think he can scheme around any deficiencies in the offensive line. We saw what happens to a Todd Grantham defense when the defensive tackles struggle last year.
Dan Mullen or Kirby Smart?
Bud Elliott asked this question this week and Nick Knudsen and I gave our opinions on this one on our new show Stand Up & Holler (check it out): Would Florida fans trade Dan Mullen for Kirby Smart?
The short answer is that Mullen is clearly the superior developmental coach. Smart is clearly the superior recruiter. And I think Mullen is a better in-game coach but I think that one is closer than some people may think.
So I think that brings two questions to the forefront.
- Do I think this is a coach who can win a national championship if things continue the way they’ve gone thus far in their tenures.
- If this coach leaves (whether for firing, another job, etc.), can another coach come in and quickly win big with his players?
The answer to question #1 is probably yes for both. Smart came within a play or two of winning a championship in 2018 and is going to be in the hunt every year. Whether he can get over the Saban hump is up for debate, but he’s going to give himself some more chances.
For Mullen, I think the answer is yes as well, but it depends heavily on Emory Jones or Anthony Richardson being a transcendent QB. Mullen has shown what he can do with Feleipe Franks and Kyle Trask at QB. If he can find a transcendent guy, he’s going to be able to win big.
But that leads to question #2. I think Mullen could take over Georgia’s program right now and win a title with the players who are already there. I think a lesser coach would take over Florida and go 8-4 or 9-3 annually.
I went to Florida during the Ron Zook era. Zook was Kirby Smart before Kirby Smart existed. Zook said stupid things and lost games he had no business losing on a regular basis. But he was also a huge part of why the Gators won the 2006 championship.
And regardless of how much I want it to not be true, all of the evidence points to one immutable fact: when it comes to winning big in college football, stars really do matter.
Tebow officially signs with the Jags
The worst kept secret in NFL history finally came to a head this week as Tim Tebow signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Based on the news cycle, you would have thought Tebow was being given a chance to compete with Trevor Lawrence as the starting QB.
You had former players saying he was a joke in their camp and teammates were jealous of the attention he was getting. You had other pundits wondering why he would get a chance rather than a younger guy with a more realistic opportunity to make the team. And then you had Stephen A. Smith, calling Tebow’s signing “white privilege”.
The NFL is a weird ecosystem. You can plead guilty to domestic assault and battery by strangulation in 2014 and sign a 3 year, $54 million contract five years later (Tyreek Hill). You can plead guilty to obstruction of justice in a murder trial and become Super Bowl MVP the next year (Ray Lewis). The common theme is that Hill and Lewis are/were both really good players who made their teams money.
Tebow is the same. He may not be as good as Hill or Lewis, but it’s not a coincidence that his Jaguars jersey is one of the most popular in the league. Jacksonville knew what they were doing the minute they signed him: making money.
I suppose you could make the argument that Tebow drives ratings and sales because he is white, but should that be a surprise?
My son – who is half Asian – loves Shohei Ohtani, the Los Angeles Angels outfielder who looks like him. I didn’t push Ohtani on him (I wish he’d watch Mike Trout more), but that’s naturally who he gravitated towards.
You can see the same phenomenon in the NBA, but based on size, not race. Steph Curry is a size everyone can dream of being (6’3”) and is much more relatable than Lebron James (6’9”). LeBron is clearly the better player, but Steph is the one who captures peoples’ imaginations.
It’s not as though just any QB can capture imaginations like Tebow either. Greg McElroy – who has been one of the loudest voices against Tebow’s signing – was the QB of the Alabama team that started this dynasty for Nick Saban. Yet, do you even really remember anything about his tenure there?
I think there are good reasons why Tebow connected with fans in a way McElroy didn’t, but I know one thing: if McElroy could sell jerseys like Tebow, he’d still be in the league.