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Florida Gators receive bid to play in Gasparilla Bowl vs. Tulane

On3 imageby:Zach Abolverdi•12/08/24•

ZachAbolverdi

Florida-Gators-DJ-Lagway
Florida Gators offensive lineman Jake Slaughter (66), quarterback DJ Lagway (2), and offensive lineman Austin Barber (58) celebrate against the Samford Bulldogs after the game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. (Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images)

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Gators’ postseason destination has been set following their best regular season in four years. After a 1-3 start, UF finished this fall with a 6-2 mark — including a three-game winning streak to close out the schedule — to earn a bid to the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl.

Florida will play Tulane on Friday, Dec. 20 at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. The Green Wave are 9-4 (7–1 AAC) under first-year coach Jon Sumrall.

The Gators hold a record of 13-6-2 against Tulane all-time, with the last meeting coming back in 1985. The game will mark the third time the programs have played in Tampa, with the teams splitting the previous contests (1920, 1969). UF has won the last 11 games against the Green Wave.

This matchup will be the 49th all-time bowl appearance for the Gators, who concluded the regular season at 7-5 (4-4 SEC) with their best record since 2020. They’re going for their first bowl victory since 2019 (Orange Bowl) will be making their first postseason appearance since 2022 (Las Vegas Bowl).

This year will be Florida’s second appearance in four seasons at the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl. The Gators lost to UCF, 29-17, in 2021.

After back-to-back losses against No. 2 Georgia and No. 5 Texas without quarterback DJ Lagway, who left the UGA game with a hamstring injury, Florida got him back in Week 12 and he led the team to three straight wins over No. 22 LSU, No. 9 Ole Miss and FSU.

UF became bowl eligible with the upset over the Rebels. The postseason berth provides third-year coach Billy Napier and his staff an opportunity to build momentum for 2025 along with more development exposure for young players such as Lagway.

However, even before the Gators drew the Dec. 20 date, Napier said the Gators would not practice 15 times this month.

“I mean, don’t get me wrong, everybody throws out this big, ‘You get 15 more practices.’ We will not practice 15 more times, I can promise you that,” Napier said after becoming bowl eligible. “I mean, we’re not to that place. We just have access to the players a lot more than we used to in the old days. All spring, all summer you can be on the field. It’s a little bit more of a reward for the players. It’s another opportunity to create momentum for the program. A lot of our redshirt players that will be able to play in the game will be big.

“Just in general, you try to pare the workload. These guys have been grinding. It’s not like it used to be. I just think we will build a schedule that will be about getting healthy, lifting weights, getting bigger, stronger, working on fundamentals. I just don’t think 15 practices… If I told our guys we were going to practice 15 times for one game, that wouldn’t go over well, right (smiling)? We’ll have a good plan and try to peak at the right time. The practice environment will be more about just kind of trying to peak for the game.”

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