Ridaught: Gators, College Football Playoffs kickoff busy weekend

Florida plays Tulane at 3:30 p.m. in the 2024 Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl. Gators head coach Billy Napier is 2-2 all-time in bowl games.
Florida plays Tulane at 3:30 p.m. in the 2024 Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl. Gators head coach Billy Napier is 2-2 all-time in bowl games.
Photo by Jordan Herald-UAA Communications

It’s great to be a Florida Gator.

While 7-5 might not be much of a reason to boast, there’s still something to be said about the momentum that head coach Billy Napier and the Gators have generated late in the season.

The Gators closed out the regular season with three straight victories (def. No. 21 LSU, No. 9 Ole Miss, FSU) for the first time since the 2019 campaign (def. Vanderbilt, Missouri and FSU).

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Florida is hoping to continue the momentum on Friday at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa at 3:30 p.m. (ESPN2) against Tulane University in the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl. It’s the ninth time in the last 11 years that the Gators have made a bowl.

Of the 37 upsets by unranked teams in the regular season, Florida was one of six with multiple top 25 wins.

Quarterback DJ Lagway is set to join Wayne Peace (W, 1980 Tangerine Bowl), Chris Leak (L, 2004 Outback Bowl) and Treon Harris (W, 2015 Birmingham Bowl) as the fourth UF true freshman quarterback to start a bowl game (2-1 record).

Florida is 5-1 in games started by Lagway, with the lone loss being to No. 2 Georgia, a game which the Gators led prior to Lagway departing due to injury. That means Florida is 5-0 in games Lagway starts and finishes.

The Gators are outscoring opponents, 32.5 PPG to 17.5 PPG (195-105), and averaging 6.7 yards per play to opponents’ 4.6 yards per play, in the six games Lagway has started.

Florida, which is 28-15-3 all-time in Tampa, has a chance to move above .500 in bowl games all-time (24-24 in 48 bowl appearances dating back to 1953).

The Gators are seeking their first bowl win since a 36-28 win against Virginia in the 2019 Orange Bowl.

The 12-team, 2024-25 College Football Playoff starts tonight as No. 10 seed Indiana travels to No. 7 seed Notre Dame in South Bend (IN).

The game will air at 8 p.m. on ABC/ESPN.

It will be the 30th all-time meeting between the two programs and the first since 1991 when Notre Dame won 49-27 in South Bend.

The Fighting Irish lead the all-time series, 23-5-1. The Hoosiers are seeking their first win in the series since 1950 and first in South Bend since 1906.

Indiana’s 68 offensive touchdowns are its most in program history and lead the FBS entering bowl season. The total passes the 2013 team’s 61 offensive touchdowns. Their 37 rushing touchdowns are tied for the most in a single season in program history with the 1988 team.

Indiana, which has a program-best 11-1 record, finished the regular season with a 66-0 win against Purdue. The 66-point margin of victory is the largest against an FBS opponent in program history and marked its fifth 30-point win of 2024 to equal the program record set in 1917.

The 583 yards of total offense against the Boilermakers marked the most in a Big Ten game since 2016 against Maryland (650), and their 67 yards of total offense given up marked the fewest yards of total offense allowed since at least 1958.

For the first time since Nov. 30, 1900, Notre Dame will host a college football game on a Friday.

Sophomore running back Jeremiyah Love (134 carries for 949 yards and 15 TDs) is approaching 1,000 yards rushing and is one of the key players to watch.

No. 2 seed Georgia awaits the winner in the quarterfinals at 8:45 p.m. on New Year’s Day in the Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. Georgia quarterback Carson Beck is in danger of missing the CFP while ‘exploring’ surgery in Georgia injury nightmare.

There are three first-round playoff games on Saturday.

At noon, No. 6 seed Penn State hosts No. 11 seed SMU on TNT/MAX.

The winner advances to the quarterfinals to play No. 3 seed Boise State
 in the VRBO Fiesta Bowl (State Farm Stadium in Glendale, AZ) at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 31.

At 4 p.m., No. 12 Clemson travels to No. 5 Texas. On Wednesday, the Longhorns announced the game was a sellout.

The winner will play No. 4 seed Arizona State at 1 p.m. on New Year’s Day in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta (GA).

The final game of the day tomorrow is at 8 p.m. as No. 8 seed Ohio State hosts No. 9 seed Tennessee. According to ESPN’s Matchup Predictor, the Buckeyes have a 65.5% chance to beat the visiting Vols in this Big Ten vs. SEC matchup.

Top seed Oregon will play the winner at 5 p.m. on New Year’s Day in the Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential.

The semifinals will be on Thursday, Jan. 9 (Capital One Orange Bowl, 7:30 p.m. on ESPN), and Friday, Jan. 10 (Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, 7:30 p.m. on ESPN).

The national championship game will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 20. The game will be televised by ESPN.

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