Desmond Watson Legacy Game: ‘Give him the ball Coach!’

TAMPA, Fla. — Florida’s 2024 Gasparilla Bowl win will forever be known as the Desmond Watson Legacy Game. In his final outing as a Gator, Watson set the tone early and stole the show late.

Billy Napier gave Florida fans and players — and everyone watching Friday — what they wanted: Watson in the backfield.

“Have you ever seen a 400-plus guy run the ball before?” Napier said following UF’s 33-8 win over Tulane. “I’ve been thinking about it all year.”

Apparently, Gator Nation has been thinking about it his whole career. The calls for him to get a carry on offense started soon after he arrived in Gainesville as a 6-foot-5, 450-pound defensive tackle wearing a unique jersey number.

“Since I came to college, every time I go on the internet, I see somebody say I should be on some type of package getting the ball. Especially because I wear No. 21, a running back number,” Watson said. “I never really looked too much into it, and I never went to Coach Napier about it, but I feel like he seen it too.”

Those requests only intensified in 2022 after Watson stripped the ball away from South Carolina, spun out of the play and returned his forced fumble nine yards, stiff-arming Gamecocks quarterback Spencer Rattler on his run.

‘Hawk’ Package

For Watson’s last college game, Napier decided to put him on offense. He installed a package of plays for Watson during the bowl week and practiced them in Tampa.

The initial design wasn’t for Watson to run the ball, but his teammates changed that.

“We started out and we just had a run where he was a blocker, and we had a play-action pass where he was kind of the decoy,” Napier said. “And then just watching our players when we put that package in, the guys were like, ‘Hey, give him the ball Coach! Give him the ball.’ And we literally put the play in on the field at practice.”

Napier called it the “Hawk” package, named after Watson’s mascot at Armwood High School near Tampa. It was supposed to be a goal-line package for him to score a big man touchdown, but the Gators never got close enough.

“I finally made a decision, I was like look guys, the next time we have a short yardage situation, we’re running the package — the ‘Hawk’ package,” Napier said.

On Florida’s final drive, the Gators inserted Watson into the game on third-and-1 from the Tulane 26-yard line.

The crowd — and UF sideline — went nuts.

“We already knew what it was when it got third-and-short,” quarterback DJ Lagway said. “We were happy and excited to see what he was going to do.”

DESMOND WATSON GETS THE FIRST DOWN 😤 pic.twitter.com/jxJDiWXbzR

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) December 20, 2024

Watson lined up next to backup QB Aidan Warner in the shotgun, got the carry and bulldozed ahead to move the chains. Napier celebrated with a first-down signal.

Watson played fullback on the ensuing snap, checked out of the game due his helmet coming off and struck the Heisman pose on the sideline.

“They was begging me to do it,” said Watson, who showed that he can play both sides of the ball like Travis Hunter. “I can do it all. I like to tell my teammates whenever I do something more athletic than they expect me to, ‘I just look like this. I can do it all.'”

Watson also made a memorable play on defense in the first quarter, wrapping up Ty Thompson on a quarterback keeper and lifting him in the air for a stop on third-and-2.

Florida’s 450-pound DL Desmond Watson picked up and held Tulane’s QB in the air 😭 pic.twitter.com/rlhtO7GkTm

— CFB Kings (@CFBKings) December 20, 2024

Did Watson enjoy that play more or his carry?

“Running the ball. That’s something I haven’t done in years,” Watson said. “Picking people up is routine, so I feel like something I haven’t done in years is more fun.

“It was a great moment to finish off my career as a Florida Gator.”

And it was a great way for the Gators to finish off their season.

“Bowl games, you’re looking for buttons to push and I think this one helped our team,” Napier said. “You saw that sideline light up when he went out there. A lot of fun and he did a great job. And I think the guys rallied around him and all those were successful plays.”