Gator Clause

(FINAL): Florida Gators 95, St. Leo 46

GAINESVILLE -- Florida freshman Rod Tishman swished a three-pointer at the buzzer against St. Leo to give him his first career points as a Gator. Ten players scored for Florida. Kenny Boynton Jr. led the Gators with 22 points, including 5 of 9 from the three-point range.

Ray Shipman one-handed base-line dunk. UF 67, Leo 33, 12:12.

--Back-to-back three-pointers by Erving Walker and Kenny Boynton gives UF nine points in the first six minutes of the second half ... against St. Leo. UF 63, St. Leo 33, 14:03.

--Ray Shipman ... airball. Shipman, supposedly the X-factor on this team is needs to play with a little more confidence against ST. LEO.

--Vernon Macklin...not exactly a sound free-throw shooter. UF 55, Leo 27, 18:36.

FIRST HALF BELOW
Kenny Boynton with his third three-pointer of the first half. KBJ 3-5 from three-point range and 4-6 from the field with 14 points.

Gators halftime stats
KBJ 14 points, 3-3 free throws
Alex Tyus 8 points, 4 rebounds
Erving Walker 6 points, 6 assists
Dan Werner 6 points, 1 rebound
Erik Murphy 5 points, 3 rebounds
Ray Shipman 5 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist
Chandler Parsons 4 points, 3 rebounds
Vernon Macklin 4 points, 1 rebound Ouch! One rebound! Billy wants his money back!
Kenny Kadji 2 point

Florida Gators freshman center Erik Murphy with the first points of his career. Murphy scored a bucket, drew the foul and converted the free throw. UF 39, Leo 12, 5:54.

Lowlight of the first half: Chandler Parsons just air-balled a finger role. UF 36, Leo 11, 6:19

--Two blocks for Kadji in less than two minutes.

First alley-oop of the season: Erving Walker to Alex Tyus on a semi-no look with 9:43 left in the first half. Kenny Kadji last player off UF's bench (9:31). First defensive set Kadji blocks a shot. UF 32, Leo 11, 8:29.

--Kenny Boynton Jr. converts rare four-point play during the first half of his career as a Florida Gator. KBJ fouled while swishing a three-pointer, then swishes the free throw. Kid's not bad. UF 26, Leo 5, 11:06.

Chandler Parsons...diving into press row during an exhibition game...getting it done. Rod Tishman with the first shot of his UF career, missed the the rim on a lay up, Parsons with the put-back dunk. UF 13, St. Leo 3, 13:04

Rod Tishman era has begun at the University of Florida. Tishman of Israel into the game with 15:34 left in the first half. UF 11, St. Leo 3, 15:34. Gators on the floor: Tishman, Chandler Parsons, Alex Tyus, Ray Shipman and Eric Murphy.

--Gators freshman Erik Murphy the first big man off the bench with 16:23 left in first half. Murphy the in game before Kenny Kadji. Slightly interesting.

Kenny Boynton Jr. with the Florida Gators' first five points of the exhibition season. First KBJ bucket was a lay-up followed by the first three-pointer of his career at UF. Not long after, center Vernon Macklin added his first two points as a Gator with a dunk. UF 9, St. Leo 1, 16:54.

Your 2009-2010 Florida Gators opening-exhibition-game starting line
F 6-8 Dan Werner, Sr.
F 6-8 Alex Tyus, Jr.
C 6-10 Vernon Macklin, Jr.
G 6-2 Kenny Boynton, Fr
G Erving Walker, So.

Things we'll be looking for tonight:

Nothing in particular. Not going to learn much about the Gators from an exhibition game against St. Leo. Playing St. Leo is worse than playing St. Mary's Sisters of the Poor. We're happy to be here, though. Basketball season is nearly upon us and we're excited about covering the Gators as they try to return to the NCAA Tournament.

-jo-

Spikes suspended for first half against Vanderbilt

UPDATE TO THIS STORY! Here's a link to my breaking news story about the Spikes suspension with quotes from the SEC. It's been up for about four hours now but here's the link all the same. LINK!

GAINESVILLE -- Brandon Spikes released this statement through the University of Florida sports information department on Monday regarding his show of unsportsmanlike behavior on Saturday.

"I accept responsibility for my actions and I accept the consequences of my actions," Spikes said. "I would like to apologize 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."

(EARLIER) UF linebacker Brandon Spikes will miss the first half of the Vandy game on Saturday for his eye-gouging attempt on Georgia's Washaun Ealey. The YouTube videos of this keep getting taken down, but check out this view while you still can: LINK

Pretty dirty play by Spikes, and kudos to Urban Meyer for stepping in. This kind of stuff happens in football, but you can't get caught doing it.

Caleb Sturgis, SEC special teams player of the week

The Southeastern Conference announced on Monday that Florida kicker Caleb Sturgis was named the league's special teams player of the week after UF's blowout of rival Georgia.

Sturgis blasted a 56-yard field goal against the Dawgs.

-jo-

Media types calling for suspension of Florida Gators Brandon Spikes

GAINESVILLE -- Keep an eye (sorry, had to write it) on this Brandon Spikes eye-gouging story today as it develops.

On Sunday afternoon, SI.com writer Andy Staples called for Spikes' suspension. On Monday morning, Birmingham News columnist/SEC writer Jon Solomon wrote that Spikes should be suspended for his eye-gouging attempt. LINK Solomon writes...

If Florida doesn't suspend Gators star linebacker Brandon Spikes, then the SEC should. TV cameras caught Spikes gouging the eyes of Georgia's Washaun Ealey after making a tackle. Urban Meyer told reporters Sunday morning that he hadn't yet discussed the play with Spikes. "I'll talk to him today," Meyer said. "He's a very emotional player. If that's the case, I'll have a very serious talk with him." Sorry, but Meyer needs to do more than talking. He needs to sit Spikes for at least a game. And if Florida doesn't, then the SEC -- which constantly talks about promoting sportsmanship -- needs to do it for the Gators. It's one thing to talk about sportsmanship. You've also got to back it up with enforcement.

Solomon is well connected with SEC officials, so something could be brewing here.

-jo-

Tim Tebow vs. Brandon Spikes and the Great Make-Believe Skirmish; Plus, BIG BREAKING NEWS, on recruiting post-Florida vs. Georgia

GAINESVILLE -- A reoccurring theme here on Gator Clause has revolved around our fascination with the sports media's constant need to blow things out of proportion. Take, for example, the apparent "importance" of the Florida-Georgia rivalry in terms of recruiting. Pretty much everyone except the Miami Herald wrote that story last week, but it couldn't be further from the truth.

In truth, the outcome of the Florida-Georgia game doesn't really have an impact on recruiting at all. How do we know this? Well, Florida doesn't get all the good recruits but it does win most of the games. Florida is 17-3 against Georgia in the last 20 years. Now, has the recruiting been that lopsided? No.

Another thing about recruiting ... Schools can't even invite recruits to the Florida-Georgia game because it's a neutral-field rivalry. The NCAA says high school prospects can't visit during neutral-field rivalries. How the heck is it suppose to affect recruiting if there aren't even any recruits there to see it? Silly. 

Our fascination with excitable reporters continues ... Just last week, every national media columnist was ready to write Tim Tebow off as an overrated quarterback who somehow lucked into a 17-game winning streak and had finally been exposed as a glorified fullback. Well, on second thought ... reporters LOVE to blow things out of proportion.

We're guilty of it here on Gator Clause as well. We write things like, "Tim Tebow is better than your team's best player." Is there any way of proving this? Speaking of things reporters can't prove, has anyone heard about this "skirmish" between Brandon Spikes and Tim Tebow after the Mississippi State game? Sounds ludicrous, right? Well, guess what? It is ludicrous. There was no fight between Spikes and Tebow, spoken or otherwise.

Here's how this rumor got started. A columnist from a Florida newspaper was apparently given some inside information that he filtered through his reporter's brain and interpreted incorrectly as a confrontation between Spikes and Tebow. Said reporter then asked Spikes about it after the Georgia game, but Spikes tried to explain that the post-Mississippi State locker-room scene was "all positive."

Now, in reality, the speeches after the Mississippi State game -- Tebow, Spikes and Mike Pouncey participated -- were extremely passionate, from the heart and helped to bring the team together. But if you read some accounts of the what apparently went on inside the Mississippi State locker room, there was some kind of great schism formed between Spikes and Tebow.

Why does this make absolutely no sense?

No.1: Spikes didn't even play against Mississippi State. What's he going to do, dress down Florida's best player after the game when he couldn't even play? No.

No.2: Spikes came to Florida because of Tebow. Spikes stayed for his senior season at UF partly because Tebow did. You think one bad game by Tebow is going to all of sudden cause Spikes to lash out at Tebow in front of the whole team? Don't be stupid, people.

If you want to know what really went down in the locker room at Mississippi State, then read this. LINK!

And now, a dramatic interpretation of the "skirmish" between Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes and UGA running back Washaun Ealey. Later, Ealey struggles in vain to regain his vision. (WARNING: This video clip contains strong language, strong violence and bodily mutilation. If you're a kid, don't watch it because it will rot your brain and scar you for life just like it did your parents!)

-jo-

5 things to take away from Florida 41, Georgia 17

GAINESVILLE -- Plenty of things to point out after Florida's 41-17 win against Georgia. Here are the top five things to take away from Saturday's big victory.

1. Book your tickets to Atlanta! Florida won its second Southeastern Conference Eastern Division title in a row on Saturday night when Tennessee defeated South Carolina. Florida is headed to Atlanta for the SEC championship game for the third time in four years. Will Florida be playing the Alabama Crimson Tide? Bama has a difficult test against LSU next week. The winner of that game will likely win the SEC West.

2. He's ba-ack! Florida quarterback Tim Tebow likely played his way back into consideration for the Heisman Trophy on Saturday. UF's senior quarterback accounted for four touchdowns against the Bulldogs, including two beautiful touchdown throws to Riley Cooper. Tebow's touchdown run at the end of the first half was equally impressive. Florida converted 7 of 13 times on third down largely thanks to Tebow.

3. The Thundercat Offense averaged 6.1 yards per play, rushing for 210 yards and passing for 164. UF's total offensive numbers were down slightly from its average because UF's average field position during the second half was dramatically altered due to four interceptions. UF's average field position to begin drives in the second half was around midfield.

4. Bigfoot sightings! With kicker Caleb Sturgis and punter Chas Henry in orange and blue, you've got to like UF's chances in a close game ... if it ever comes to that. Henry boomed a 61-yard punt on Saturday and dropped two impressive kicks deep inside Georgia's 20. Sturgis blasted a 56-yard field goal that soared through the uprights.

5. Key injury...Florida running back Chris Rainey appeared to dislocate his left shoulder on Saturday. Rainey has had shoulder problems since high school. He has had multiple shoulder surgeries throughout his career. If Rainey is lost for the year, then Florida will really more heavily on the running combination of Jeff Demps and Emmanuel Moody. Freshman back-up Mike Gillislee might also enter the mix, but Gillislee appeared to tweak his hamstring after a 57-yard run against Georgia in the fourth quarter.

-jo-

No need for eye gouging, Brandon Spikes. You're better than that!

GAINESVILLE -- For the second season in a row, Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes had an amazing game against Georgia. He had 10 tackles and an interception return for a touchdown on Saturday.

All that hard work will probably be overshadowed by one dirty play, though. Check out this YouTube.com video that is circulating among college football fans. While gang tackling a Georgia running back, Spikes decided to poke a few eyeballs in the process. You're better than that, Brandon! You don't have to play dirty to play hard!

-jo-