Florida Gators Football

The University of Florida temporarily paused activities for its football team after confirming earlier Tuesday it had five new positive COVID-19 tests within the program.

"Head coach Dan Mullen has been in communication with football players and their parents, and I have had conversations with the Southeastern Conference office, last week's opponent Texas A&M, and this week's opponent LSU," athletic director Scott Stricklin said. "These circumstances will be re-evaluated by UF Health and the athletic department's sports medicine staff Wednesday."

The Gators lost a road game to Texas A&M on Oct. 10. They're scheduled to play LSU at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday, having moved the game back by 30 minutes.

Tuesday's news comes a few days after head coach Dan Mullen publicly stated he was hopeful of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium being at capacity against the Tigers. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has lifted attendance restrictions for stadiums across the state.

"I know our governor passed that rule, so certainly, hopefully, the university administration decides to let us pack The Swamp for LSU next week," Mullen told reporters. "One hundred percent because that crowd was a major factor in the game. So I certainly hope our university administration follows the governor."

Since Florida will re-evaluate the situation Wednesday, it's unclear whether the LSU game is in imminent jeopardy of being postponed. A number of games across FBS have been shuffled around due to positive COVID-19 results.

Florida Gators head coach Dan Mullen said after his team's 41-38 loss at Texas A&M on Saturday that he wanted to "see 90,000 [fans] in The Swamp" amid the COVID-19 pandemic for this week's matchup with LSU. 

On Monday, reporters gave Mullen three separate chances to walk back those comments. He declined the opportunity, per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN). 

One reporter asked him if he spoke to athletic director Scott Stricklin about his comments. Mullens said, "No, I've been worried about trying to beat LSU."

Another reporter asked him if he regretted the comments and whether he'd spoken to school president Kent Fuchs:

"Yeah, I've been preparing for LSU. But, I mean, I'll be honest. I think if you look at what we've been able to do, the safety precautions we have that our players have followed, our coaches follow, our staff follows, you know, I think we're a model of safety of what we've been doing during this time period.

"So I'm really proud of how we've handled everything and how safe we've been with everything we're doing and all the precautions we've had in place during this time."

Finally, a reporter asked if Mullen comprehended how having that many people closely packed together for several hours during a global pandemic could be a bad idea: 

"I think Texas A&M, actually, they created a great atmosphere at the game, created an exciting atmosphere, you know? I thought they did a great job of doing that. ... I haven't talked to people because I've been really focused on trying to beat LSU.

"But, you know, whatever our government officials all say and what everybody does for the game, what we do need to do is however many people they allow into the stadium, we need to try to work as hard as we can—all the Gator fans and all of us—to create the best game-day atmosphere we can.''

In Mullen's original comments, he said "hopefully, the UF administration decides to let us pack The Swamp against LSU—100 percent—because that crowd was certainly a factor in the game."

He continued:

"Absolutely want to see 90,000 in The Swamp. I don't think the section behind our bench, I didn't see an empty seat. It was packed. The student section, there must have been 50,000 behind our bench going crazy. Hopefully that creates a home-field advantage for us next week because now we passed a law in our state that we can do that. We want our students out there cheering us on to give us that home-field advantage.''

In Florida, state laws would allow for stadiums to be at full capacity. But Fuchs quickly shot down any chance of that happening in the foreseeable future: 

At a time when multiple NFL and college football games are being postponed because of outbreaks within organizations and teams, Mullen's comments were surprising, to say the least. And Florida saw 5,600 new cases of the coronavirus over the weekend, per Chris Persaud of the Palm Beach Post, bringing its total to 734,494 cases and 15,552 deaths.

Florida Gators head coach Dan Mullen expressed his hope Saturday that more fans will be allowed to attend next weekend's home game against the LSU Tigers.

After falling 41-38 at the Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday, Mullen said the following, according to Graham Hall of the Gainesville Sun: "Hopefully the university administration follows the governor's ruling ... to let us pack the Swamp and give us the home-field advantage that Texas A&M had today."

Texas A&M was allowed to fill Kyle Field to 25 percent of capacity Saturday amid the COVID-19 pandemic, though the crowd appeared to be large and raucous during the No. 21 Aggies' upset of the No. 4 Gators:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Wednesday that sports teams can fill their venues to capacity under Phase 3 of the state's reopening plan.

Despite receiving clearance to have 65,000 fans in the stands, the NFL's Miami Dolphins have reportedly decided to stick with a partial capacity of roughly 13,000 fans.

It remains unclear what the University of Florida's plan will be.

Per Mark Long of the Associated Press, it seems unlikely that more than 17,000 tickets will be made available for next week's game since 2,000 tickets went unsold for last week's game against South Carolina.

Florida's College Football Playoff hopes took a major hit Saturday when the Gators blew an 11-point lead in the second half and the Aggies beat them with a field goal as time expired. Florida squandered a four-touchdown performance by quarterback and Heisman Trophy candidate Kyle Trask.

Florida fell to 2-1, and it will face a 1-2 LSU team that is ranked 17th but has lost to unranked Mississippi State and now Missouri, which upset the Tigers 45-41 on Saturday.

Clemson running back Demarkcus Bowman will transfer to Florida after making just two appearances with the Tigers.

Bowman, who entered the NCAA's transfer portal earlier this week, announced his selection to Joseph Hastings of GatorsTerritory on Saturday.

The Lakeland, Florida, native told David Hood of TigerNet he decided to transfer after his grandfathers died in recent months.

"The only reason I came to Clemson is so my mother's dad could watch me play," Bowman said Thursday. "He stayed in Atlanta, but he passed away, and that really hurt me. He was my closest family to me up there, and I just didn't feel comfortable anymore. I just want to go to a school closer to home."

He called Clemson "a very great program" but said it wasn't the fit for him.

Bowman joined the Tigers' 2020 recruiting class as a 5-star prospect, the No. 20 overall player in the class and the third-best rusher, per 247Sports' composite rankings.

He played a reserve role in Clemson's first two games of the season, rushing for 32 yards on nine carries.

Bowman, who was recruited by Florida in high school, told Blake Alderman of 247Sports that the Gators were always high on his list.

"Florida has been close to home and I have always been a Florida fan and they have always been a major factor growing up," he said. "We had a pipeline from Lakeland High School long before I was there. I just felt it was closer to home and have former high school teammates I played with and it's always been a dream school."

It's not clear whether Bowman will be eligible for Florida in 2021.

Florida quarterback Kyle Trask threw six touchdown passes in a 51-35 win over Ole Miss on Saturday, and he set or tied numerous records along the way.

For starters, he tied ex-LSU quarterback, Heisman Trophy winner and current Cincinnati Bengals signal-caller Joe Burrow for the most touchdown passes ever in an SEC conference opener, per ESPN Stats & Info:

Senior Bowl Executive Director Jim Nagy compared Trask and Burrow's efforts:

Per Edgar Thompson of the Orlando Sentinel, Trask's six touchdown passes were also the most by a Gator quarterback since Chris Leak against South Carolina in 2004.

Trask also threw four touchdown passes in the first half, and that tied some records as well, per ESPN Stats & Info:

In addition, tight end Kyle Pitts had himself a day, catching eight of nine passes for 170 yards and four touchdowns. He tied the school record for receiving scores on Saturday.

The No. 5 Gators will now host South Carolina on Saturday at noon ET. 

Florida Gators safety Shawn Davis Jr. was ejected in the first quarter of the team's 51-35 win over Ole Miss on Saturday after he was flagged for targeting. 

Officials felt Davis hit Dontario Drummond helmet-to-helmet contact, but the senior defensive back made clear on Twitter he disagreed the call:

Despite his protestations, Davis clearly hit a defenseless receiver with his helmet, and arguably late as well. It was avoidable contact, and he deserved his ejection based on the current rules of college football. 

Davis will be available for next week's game against South Carolina. 

Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, home of the Florida Gators football team, caught fire on Saturday. 

Per Claudia Bellofatto of ABC 20 in Gainesville, Florida, the Gainesville Fire Rescue confirmed there was a fire and they were able to put it out. 

The Gators announced the cause of the fire on Twitter and revealed there was no structural damage to the stadium:

Ben Hill Griffin Stadium has been the University of Florida's football home since 1930. The Gators have a separate facility for football practices. 

Florida's first football game of the 2020 season is scheduled for Sept. 26 against Mississippi at Vaught Hemingway Stadium. The Gators will host South Carolina at the Swamp in their first home game Oct. 3. 

The Florida Gators are getting an upgrade at cornerback. 

Jason Marshall, a 5-star corner from Miami Palmetto High, committed to the team Sunday:

The 6'2" and 180-pound cornerback is considered the No. 2 cornerback in the country, No. 7 player from the state of Florida and the No. 29 player overall in the class of 2021, according to 247Sports.com's composite rankings.

The recruiting site offered the following scouting report on Marshall:

"A natural athlete with a bounce to his step, which likely stems from his basketball background. Tracks the ball extremely well and doesn't seem to have a problem flipping his hips while running in coverage. Excels on defense but also makes an impact on offense and can score via the return game. Is physical at times, but hasn't been asked to press much in high school. Plays fast for his size, but top-end speed a question mark. Should develop into a multi-year starter at the Power 5 level and projects as a potential Day 2 draft pick."

After a junior season that saw Marshall register 44 tackles, five interceptions and 15 passes broken up, he acknowledged that he still had facets of his game to work on in the future, though he was happy with his overall performance.

"My season was great, could get better at certain things, but overall great," he told Stefan Adams of CanesInsight.com. "I want to work on my hips, hip flexibility, feet, more of my line work."

Building out his frame and refining his technique will be key for Marshall at the next level, especially if he's given a chance to play early in his college career. But his potential is immense, and Florida made a major splash Sunday by securing his commitment. 

Florida has already landed a slew of 4-star recruits, including quarterback Carlos Del Rio-Wilson and linebacker Diwun Black. And the team continues to build a strong young core of players after having the ninth-best 2020 recruiting class in 247Sports's composite rankings. Marshall is undoubtedly the crown jewel of this year's group, at least to this point. 

University of Florida fans will no longer be permitted to participate in the "Gator Bait" cheer that has become so common at the school's sporting events.

As Andrea Adelson of ESPN shared, university president Kent Fuchs announced the decision to ban the cheer came because of the "historic racist imagery associated with the phrase." TMZ Sports noted Fuchs is also planning to remove "monuments or namings" with ties to the Confederacy from the school.

"While I know of no evidence of racism associated with our 'Gator Bait' cheer at UF sporting events, there is horrific historic racist imagery associated with the phrase," Fuchs said. "Accordingly, University Athletics and the Gator Band will discontinue the use of the cheer."

Adelson cited the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia at Ferris State University, which notes the term "alligator bait" was used as a racial slur against black people. 

This is not the only decision to change things with respect to a renewed focus on fighting against racism from an SEC East team.

The University of Georgia Redcoat Band announced in a letter from acting director Brett Bawcum that it will not play "Tara's Theme" at games anymore:

The song is used as the opening music of the Gone With the Wind, which takes place in the antebellum South.

Decisions such as the ones from Florida and Georgia come as much of the national conversation is focused on systemic racism and police brutality following the killing of black man George Floyd on May 25 by police that sparked worldwide protests that have continued for weeks.

Quarterback Jalen Kitna committed to the University of Florida on Tuesday, becoming the 17th member of the Gators' 2021 class, which 247Sports ranks sixth-best in the country.

The son of former NFL quarterback Jon Kitna, Jalen chose UF over offers from Tennessee, Georgia Tech, Arizona, Colorado and Boston College.

The 6'4", 200-pound pro-style signal-caller passed for 1,554 yards and seven touchdowns with seven interceptions during his junior year with Frisco Reedy. 247Sports named Kitna a 3-star prospect and the 27th-best pro-style quarterback in the country.

In committing to Florida, Kitna joined a recruiting class that was already expected to provide competition at quarterback. Carlos Del Rio, a 4-star recruit, has also declared his intention to join the Gators. He's ranked as the 11th-best pro-style quarterback in the country and the No. 17 player in the state of Georgia.

247Sports' Charles Power projected Del Rio as a Power Five starter. He is the second-highest-ranked played in Florida's 2021 class behind defensive end Tyreak Sapp, who's slotted 95th in the nation.

Kitna's father not only played more than a decade in the NFL but also has experience in the coaching ranks.

Over 141 games with the Seattle Seahawks, Cincinnati Bengals, Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys, Kitna passed for 29,745 yards and 169 touchdowns with 165 interceptions a quarterback rating of 77.4.

Since retiring in 2013, Kitna has coached at three different high schools and was the quarterbacks coach for the Cowboys in 2019. He's now the head coach at Burleson High School outside Fort Worth, where Jalen will play his senior year.

Jalen's older brother, Jordan Kitna, plays quarterback at Colorado State University Pueblo.