J

Website: http://www.gatorsportsnation.com

I have been a Gator fan my whole life. I started GSN when I was a sophomore in high school because I loved writing and especially when it was about the Gators. You can describe me as one of the biggest fans alive! There is nothing better then going to the Swamp on a Saturday to watch a football game. Go Gators! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to send me an email. admin@gatorsportsnation.com

Posts by J:

Gators Top Saint Leo In Exhibition Opener, 95-46

Posted by admin on November 3rd, 2009   No Comment

The Gators men’s basketball team took on Saint Leo tonight in their exhibition opener, coming out on top 95-46.

There was ten players who scored in the game, four of them hit double figures. Not bad for a season opener I’d say. Freshman guard Kenny Boyton started out by putting the first five points up on the board and ended up scoring 22 for his first time wearing a Florida uniform. He also shot the three ball real well, finishing up 5 for 9.

Sophomore guard Erving Walker was a hair shy of a double double, scoring 16 points and nine assists. Ray Shipman who is another sophomore guard put up 10 points while junior Alex Tyus also was just shy of a double double, tacking on 10 points and nine boards.

An interesting fact that was found on Gator Zone is that 66 of the total 95 points were scored by the freshman and sophomores combined.

This is a very young Gator team, and they looked pretty good. Both offense and defense played well. Florida held Saint Leo to just 22 percent shooting from the floor.

Other players who contributed tonight were freshman Erik Murphy who put up 9 points and grabbed six boards, sophomore Kenny Kadji had 6 points and the new kid on the block Rod Tishman had just three. That pretty much sums up tonight’s exhibition summary, but before we leave:

Did you know Florida won 17 exhibition matches in a row?

The Gators will face Webber International next Monday (Nov. 9) which will be their last exhibition game before they kick off for the regular season. Tipoff will be set at 7pm in the O’Connell Center.

2139495200_0d4804ab6b

Post to Twitter

Spikes Suspended For First Half Of Vandy Game

Posted by admin on November 3rd, 2009   3 Comments

Senior linebacker Brandon Spikes has been suspended for the first half of Saturday’s game against Vanderbilt in the tackle that was made with Georgia’s RB Washaun Ealey that involved Spike’s fingers inside of Ealey’s facemask while in a dog pile after the play was over. Coach Urban Meyer was the one who suspended Spikes for the first half of the Vandy game.

“I don’t condone that and I understand what goes on on the football [field], but there’s no place for that,” Meyer said. “We’re going to suspend Brandon for the first half of the Vanderbilt game. I spoke with him. That’s not who he is. That’s not who we are. He got caught up in emotion. I love Brandon Spikes. Our team does. We’re going to move on. He has our full support.”

The suspension Meyer came up for Spikes was looked over and approved by the SEC.

Spikes didn’t have anything to say really and also the fact that they had today off so you couldn’t get anything from him, but there was a quote that was gathered up from Spikes after what happened.

“I accept responsibility for my actions and I accept the consequences of my actions,” he said. “I would like to apolotize to my team and the coaching staff and Washaun Ealey. Football is a very physical and emotional game, but there is no excuse for my actions.”

He also was not to happy after the video was released all over youtube and spreaded throughout the Nation. It was posted on GSN yesterday, a slow motion footage of his fingers being placed inside of Ealey’s helmet which showed everything that happened.

It was a very physical game. It always is between these two teams. Spikes had his helmet ripped off early in the game and I know some of the emotion from that had to do with it, but along with that there was five personal fouls that were called in the game, three of the five were called on Georgia and the other two came from Florida.

This is football. When there are dog piles like that, players bite you, scratch you, poke you in the eye, and all sorts of stuff. It’s a physical sport and this stuff happens a lot but it doesn’t get caught on camera often but it did with Spikes. It was an intense game, of course some of this stuff is going to happen.

(Quotes gathered from Antonya English/ Gator Report.)

spikes-1

Post to Twitter

Vols Help Gators Clinch SEC East

Posted by admin on November 1st, 2009   No Comment

The No. 1 ranked Florida Gators clinched the SEC eastern division title and also earned a spot in the SEC championship game after taming the dogs 41-17 on Saturday. Not only did that win help but they should also be thanking Kiffin and the Tennessee Vols for beating South Carolina 31-13 because that helped Florida clinch the SEC east as well.

This will mark Florida’s third SEC title appearance in the last for years. The last two Florida won (2006 against Arkansas and 2008 against Alabama) ended up in the BCS championship game. This years SEC title game will be played at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on December 5.

fedexbcsnationalchampionshipgame382laqmjt92l

Post to Twitter

Florida VS Georgia Game Preview

Posted by admin on October 31st, 2009   1 Comment

Florida Gator Quarterback Tim Tebow is tied right now with former Georgia RB Herschel Walker in all-time SEC rushing touchdowns with 49 and is looking to break it as they face Georgia in Jacksonville tomorrow.

It’s going to be a battle tomorrow. Don’t expect a blowout like it was last year. Florida really can’t afford to struggle in the red zone like they have been and have to stop relying on the defense to win every game for them. Offensive wise for Georgia, you know they are going to look for their favorite target A.J Green but that is when Joe Haden needs to buckle down when guarding Green.

GSN Notes:

-Florida is looking at their longest winning streak in school history with 17 straight wins.
-The Gators also hold the longest active winning streak in the whole NCAA.
-Georgia is 6-1 against defending National Championship teams.
-Florida’s defense has only given up 6 touch downs all season long and only allowing around 10 points per game.

Here are the details for tomorrows game.

Location: Jacksonville Municipal Stadium- Jacksonville, FL.

Time- 3:30pm (EST.)

T.V- CBS

Florida Gators: No. 1
Head coach- Urban Meyer
Record- 7-0, (5-0)

Georgia Bulldogs:
Head coach- Mark Richt
Record- 4-3, (3-2)
Gator Sports Nations prediction- Florida 24,  Georgia 10

2647536488_8996cb44cd

Post to Twitter

Men’s Basketball Unranked In Top 25 Poll

Posted by admin on October 30th, 2009   No Comment

Coach Billy Donovan and the rest of his crew received 53 votes in the AP Men’s college basketball poll on Thursday, ranking them No. 34 in the Country.

It’s a whole different team from a few years ago. All new faces, different talent, few new assistants. I never before saw Florida ranked as far as they are now, but you can’t be a powerhouse every single year. Florida is still in that “rebuilding stage”. The Gators return nine players from last years team, only three starters out of the nine that appeared in the N.I.T quarterfinals.

Teams who are ranked in the SEC, Kentucky who is going to be pretty solid this year along with a great coach are ranked No. 4. Bruce Pearl and the Vols are ranked No. 10, and Mississippi State is set at No. 18. Those are the teams from the SEC who are ranked in the AP top 25.

Florida still can move up into the top 25 the first few weeks of the season. They go against Florida State on Nov. 24 which is just around the corner and then they are taking a trip to Atlantic City, NJ to face No. 2 Michigan State on Nov. 27. That’s going to be a real test for the Gators, it’s really going to show coach Donovan where they stand at early in the year and what things that need to be fixed in order to be able to compete in the NCAA tournament this year. The team is real young and I’m not sure if they are a NCAA tournament type team this minute, but with one of the best coaches in the country and a bunch of hard working kids can definitely get you far.

The Gators open up their first exhibition game against St. Leo’s on Monday, then on Nov. 15 they host Stetson at the O’Connell Center for their season opener. This year is going to be real exciting and I’m looking forward to it.

OT_281692_CASS_gators_1

Post to Twitter

Five Gator Players Invited To The East-West Shrine Game

Posted by admin on October 30th, 2009   No Comment

There has been five players from the Florida roster selected to participate in the East-West Shrine game. Quarterback Tim Tebow, Brandon James who was selected for special teams and also running back, WR Riley Cooper, DE Jermaine Cunningham and start LB Brandon Spikes.

The game will be taken place on January 23 in Orlando starting at 3pm. The head coaches for the game are Romeo Crennel and Marty Schottenheimer.

Congratulations to the five who have been selected to play in this event.

SEC CHAMPIONSHIP

Post to Twitter

Gators May Have Four Defenders Back For Saturday

Posted by admin on October 29th, 2009   1 Comment

The Gators who did not play with some of their key defenders last week against Mississippi State, may see the field on Saturday against the Bulldogs.

Linebacker Brandon Spikes and both defensive tackles Lawrence Marsh and Jaye Howard practiced on Tuesday which was the first time in over a week. The Florida coaching staff thinks that they are ready to go.

Marsh and Howard have missed some games to injuries. Marsh suffered from a high ankle sprain that caused him to miss every game but two this season and Howard did not play the last two due to his knee.

Spikes injured his groin when they faced the Tigers in Baton Rouge and also tried to play the next week against Mississippi State but only played part of the first quarter and then ended up sitting out the rest of the game.

“He looked really good today,” coach Urban Meyer said. “He probably could have played Saturday. He told us before the game he was ready to go. He hadn’t practiced all week.”

The fourth player who Florida could possibly have back is DT Justin Trattou. Trattou injured his left bicep tendon in the nail biting win against Arkansas.

DT Brandon Antwine is out for sure on Saturday because of his shoulder. He could also be out for the rest of the season.

(Quote gathered by The Associated Press from ESPN/SEC Blog.)

spikes_1

Post to Twitter

Tebow Drops To Fifth In Heisman Poll

Posted by admin on October 29th, 2009   1 Comment

It has just been a couple of weeks since Tim Tebow was leading the Heisman race, but now we have a new leader from Alabama. Bama running back Mark Ingram snatched the lead from Tebow in a mixed up voting poll that featured sixth different players in first place. But Ingram came out on top with the most votes.

Tebow led in all five polls this season before Ingram took over and I think that the two interceptions against Mississippi State that were taken all the way back to the house had something to do with it. Well for you all who don’t know, Tebow got knocked down all the way to fifth place. Seems kind of harsh right?

Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen moved up and is now in second place, trailing right behind Ingram. Houston quarterback Case Keenum is now third and standing in fourth is Texas quarterback Colt McCoy. Florida and Alabama still remain on the same path for the SEC championship in Atlanta, GA. that will take place on December 5th.

Breaking down the new top 5 and last weeks results.

1. . Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama, 18 carries, 99 yards, 30 (4)
2. Jimmy Clausen, QB, Notre Dame, 26-of-39, 246 yards passing, 2 TDs, 23 (1)
3.Case Keenum, QB, Houston, 25-of-36, 233 yards passing, TD, 22 (1)
4. Colt McCoy, QB, Texas, 26-of-31, 269 yards passing, 3 TDs, int., 20 (1)
5. Tim Tebow, QB, Florida, 12-of-22, 127 yards passing, 2 ints., 88 yards rushing, TD run, 19 (2)

2845570585_225935d9b7

Post to Twitter