Highlights: Watch the best moments from Florida Gators' spring game
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Gators held their annual spring game this past Thursday, with the Orange squad defeating the Blue team 10-7 on a game-winning field goal.
UF’s defense was the story of the night in the debut for new DC Austin Armstrong, with the Gators allowing half the points of last year’s Orange & Blue Game (a 34-0 shutout).
The Gators defensive units combined for 9.0 sacks, 14.0 tackles for loss, 11 quarterback hurries and recovered two fumbles, including a forced fumble inside the redzone.
Offensively, Graham Mertz and Jack Miller III continued their competition at quarterback, with both signal callers receiving reps with the first-team offense and second-team unit.
Mertz finished 18 of 29 for 244 yards with a touchdown and five sacks, while Miller completed 10 of 20 pass attempts for 144 yards with a touchdown and three sacks.
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Florida receiver Marcus Burke had the game’s first score on a 16-yard touchdown from Miller, and then Kahleil Jackson tied it up with his 10-yard TD catch from Mertz.
Watch the best moments from the Gators spring game with this highlight video from UF Athletics.
Highlights from the Gators spring game:
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Billy Napier’s opening statement:
“I want to thank Florida Victorious for sponsoring the game. Without question, I want to thank our fans, our students for showing up. Over 40,000 there tonight again. Two years in a row. Thursday night. Great venue. Not as clean as you would like today, but I think defensively probably had a lot to do with that. But overall really proud of this group. It’s been a very productive offseason. Players and staff, right, I think we’ve worked hard. This is a little bit of a halfway point. It’s kind of like the midterm exam to some degree. So, a lot of work left to do. Two summer sessions and a training camp. Time for this group to come together.
“I think contentment is the enemy, right? We have lots of players that have made a lot of progress, but certainly more work to do. Very encouraging by what we see. We’re not there yet, but I like this team. I like this group of players. I like the attitude. I like the work ethic, camaraderie. This group likes to be around each other, and they embrace the work. So we’re going to give them a couple of days off here and then kind of put it to bed and move forward into phase four and reload and try to finish strong academically here. They get a couple of weeks off. We’ll be back at it late in May.”
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![A touchdown is celebrated with fireworks in the first half at Steve Spurrier Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, September 17, 2022. [Cyndi Chambers/Gainesville Sun] Ncaa Football Florida Gators Vs Usf Bulls](https://on3static.com/cdn-cgi/image/height=215,width=393,quality=90,fit=cover,gravity=0.5x0.5/uploads/dev/assets/cms/2023/08/27214921/Untitled-design-4-4.png)
![Florida Gators wide receiver Eugene Wilson III (3) hauls in a pass while taking balls from a throwing machine during University of Florida Gators’ Spring football practice at Sanders Practice Fields in Gainesville, FL on Thursday, March 28, 2024. [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]](https://on3static.com/cdn-cgi/image/height=215,width=393,quality=90,fit=cover,gravity=0.5x0.5/uploads/dev/assets/cms/2024/08/01212103/Untitled-design-80.png)
