Florida football’s Gasparilla Bowl win over Tulane: 3 things we learned

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TAMPA – Florida football finished the 2024 season with its fourth straight victory, pulling away in the second half to beat Tulane 33-8 before 41,472 fans at Raymond James Stadium.

The Florida Gators (8-5) overcame a 1-2 start that included lopsided home losses to Miami and Texas A&M to finish strong and take positive momentum into 2025.

“I’m really proud of how the coaches and players worked together to get us back on track,” Florida football coach Billy Napier said. “It could have easily gone sideways after the start of the season, but we gained confidence and belief and felt we could play with anyone during the last half of the season.”

Florida earned its first bowl win since 2019 against Virginia in the Orange Bowl by outscoring Tulane 529-194 and forcing three turnovers.

“The adversity we were up against this season really brought this team closer,” Florida wide receiver Chimere Dike said.

Here are three things Florida learned from its win over Green Wave:

Florida football has some promising young players on the horizon

Freshman quarterback DJ Lagway completed 22 of 35 passes for 305 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions to earn Gasparilla Bowl MVP honors, becoming the first Florida quarterback to throw for more than 300 yards in a game in bowl history.

But Lagway wasn’t the only freshman who stood out against the Green Wave. Myles Graham recorded his first career interception and running back KD Daniels scooped up a Lagway fumble and ran 27 yards for a touchdown.

The bowl game provided opportunities for several of UF’s young players as the game progressed. Freshman linebacker Aaron Chiles also had a solid game with two tackles and a quarterback.

“That was one of the exciting things about the game because you would have a lot of players who wanted to play a bigger role in the game,” Napier said.

Florida football maintained its strong play on defense without two key edge rushers

Even with Jack Pyburn and TJ Searcy leaving for the transfer portal, Florida football still played an outstanding game on defense and held Tulane scoreless until quarterback Ty Thomspon found receiver Mario Williams on a TD pass with 29 seconds left.

UF forced three turnovers, all on interceptions, to finish the year with 25 takeaways.

Florida allowed an average of just 13.0 points per game. game during his four-game season shutout.

“To be a consistent championship contender, you have to play really good defense,” Napier said. “We went to Tennessee and played pretty good defense, and we’ve kept that going the rest of the season.”

Florida football TE Tony Livingston could have a role in 2025

Livingston finished with four catches for 58 yards and a TD, which included a 24-yard catch in the first half in a showcase game for the second time from Tampa. At 6-foot-4 and 254 pounds, Livingston is a big target who showed improved hands as the season progressed. He caught all four balls thrown his way on Friday.

Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat writer. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1