2017 Florida Gators football team

2017 Florida Gators football
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Division	Eastern Division
2017 record	4–7 (3–5 SEC)
Head coach	Jim McElwain (thru 10/28/17) Randy Shannon (interim)
Offensive coordinator	Doug Nussmeier (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Defensive coordinator	Randy Shannon (1st as DC; 3rd overall season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Chris Rumph (1st as co-DC; 3rd overall season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (Capacity: 88,548)[1]

The 2017 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Gators played their home games at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida. Florida played as a member of the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They were led by third-year head coach Jim McElwain through the end of October until his firing. Randy Shannon was named the interim head coach on October 29.^[2] They finished the season 4–7, 3–5 in SEC play to finish in fifth place in the Eastern Division.

Previous season

The season opener was highlighted by the rededication of Florida Field to honor Steve Spurrier, the all-time winningest head coach in Florida history, as the field was rebranded as Steve Spurrier-Florida Field.^[3] Florida yielded only 14 points over the first three games of the 2016 season, including a 38-point domination of SEC East rival Kentucky, and a shutout victory over the North Texas Mean Green. In the latter game, Gators starting quarterback Luke Del Rio exited the game with a knee injury and would not return. Austin Appleby was called to lead the offense for the next two games at Tennessee and Vanderbilt respectively. Tennessee, seeking revenge for the previous year's comeback by the Gators at The Swamp, quickly fell behind as the Gators entered halftime with a commanding 21–3 lead. However, the Gators experienced a colossal collapse in the second half as Tennessee stormed back with 35 unanswered points before Florida could score a touchdown late in the game, and the Gators left Knoxville with a stunning 28–38 loss on their record, the first of the season. At Vanderbilt, the Gators struggled to a 13–6 victory over the Commodores. The Gators' next game was to be against the LSU in Gainesville. However, it became apparent that week as the date of the game approached that Hurricane Matthew would likely devastate Florida's Atlantic coast. Because only a small deviation in the storm's destructive projected path would have brought severe weather to the immediate Gainesville area, the Saturday game was indefinitely postponed on Thursday.^[4] In the week that followed, heated negotiations between athletic directors Jeremy Foley of Florida and Joe Alleva of LSU. LSU refused to concede a home game in order to make up the game, so Florida agreed to travel to LSU on November 19. In exchange, LSU agreed to play the Florida game in Gainesville for the next two seasons.^[5] After an unplanned bye week, Florida cruised to a 40–14 victory over Missouri, a game in which Luke Del Rio made his return, as the Gators led into the originally scheduled bye week before the annual rivalry game against Georgia in Jacksonville. Florida led 14–10 after a back-and-forth first half before shutting out the Bulldogs 10–0 in the second half to earn their third consecutive victory over their rivals with a 24–10 win, earning a 6–1 record on the season. With Tennessee losing their third consecutive conference game the same day, Florida moved into November with a 2-game advantage over the Volunteers.^[6] However, the Gators would pick up their second conference loss the following week after a 31–10 blowout by the unranked Arkansas Razorbacks. Florida returned home for senior day against South Carolina the next week, defeating the Gamecocks 20–7 in Will Muschamp's first time back to The Swamp since his firing after the 2014 season. The Gators were now poised to secure the Eastern Division championship in the conference finale, the makeup game at LSU. The defense capitalized on numerous LSU turnovers while the offense put on a solid performance which included a 98-yard touchdown pass to put the Gators up 10–7 entering the fourth quarter. The game eventually came down to a fourth-and-goal play for LSU with three seconds remaining in the game, a play which was stuffed by the Gators defense, preserving an emotional 16–10 win in Death Valley to guarantee a berth in the 2016 SEC Championship Game against undefeated Alabama. Florida lost for the fourth straight year to rival Florida State 13–31 to close out the regular season, and was trounced 54–16 by Alabama in the SEC Championship Game. Florida accepted a berth in the 2017 Outback Bowl against Iowa, which the Gators easily won 30–3 to end the season at 9–4, earning Jim McElwain his only bowl victory at Florida.

Spring Game

The spring game, dubbed the Orange and Blue Debut, took place on April 7, in Gainesville.

Schedule

The Gators' 2017 schedule consists of 7 home games, 3 away games, and 2 neutral site games in the regular season. The Gators will host SEC opponents Tennessee, Vanderbilt, LSU, and Texas A&M. They will travel to Kentucky, Missouri, and South Carolina. They will face Georgia at a neutral site.

Florida's non-conference schedule consists of three home games: Northern Colorado, UAB, and rivals Florida State. The season opener will be against Michigan in the Advocare Classic.

Date	Time	Opponent#	Rank#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	3:30 p.m.	vs. No. 11 Michigan*	No. 17	AT&T Stadium • Arlington, TX (Advocare Classic)	ABC	L 17–33	75,802
September 9[a]	––	Northern Colorado*	No. 22	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL	––	Canceled[a]	––
September 16	3:30 p.m.	No. 23 Tennessee	No. 24	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL (Rivalry)	CBS	W 26–20	87,736
September 23	7:30 p.m.	at Kentucky	No. 20	Kroger Field • Lexington, KY	SECN	W 28–27	62,945
September 30	12:00 p.m.	Vanderbilt	No. 21	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL	ESPN	W 38–24	84,478
October 7	3:30 p.m.	LSU	No. 21	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL (Rivalry)	CBS	L 16–17	88,247
October 14	7:00 p.m.	Texas A&M		Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL	ESPN2	L 17–19	86,114
October 28	3:30 p.m.	vs. No. 3 Georgia		EverBank Field • Jacksonville, FL (Rivalry)	CBS	L 7–42	84,107
November 4	12:00 p.m.	at Missouri		Faurot Field • Columbia, MO	ESPN2	L 16–45	49,154
November 11	12:00 p.m.	at South Carolina		Williams-Brice Stadium • Columbia, SC	CBS	L 20–28	79,727
November 18	4:00 p.m.	UAB*		Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL	SECN	W 36–7	84,649
November 25	12:00 p.m.	Florida State*		Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL (Rivalry)	ESPN	L 22–38	89,066
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

^{^[a]} The game between Florida and Northern Colorado was originally scheduled for September 9 at 7:30 p.m. On the Wednesday before the game, the kickoff time was moved up to noon, as forecasts for Hurricane Irma had the storm approaching the east coast of Florida on Sunday. On Thursday, updated forecast tracks (correctly) predicted that Irma would move up the middle of the Florida peninsula as a major hurricane, prompting both schools to agree to cancel the game altogether due to safety and traffic concerns. This cancellation marked the third time in four seasons that Florida had to cancel or move a home game due to inclement weather and the second season in a row in which a scheduled home game was affected by the threat of a hurricane.^[8]

Schedule Source^[9]

Rankings

Game summaries

Personnel

Recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2017 recruits
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	40‡	Commit date
Kadarius Toney ATH	Eight Mile, Alabama	Blount HS	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	177 lb (80 kg)	—	Enrolled January 4, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports:    ESPN:
Kadeem Telfort OT	Miami, Florida	Booker T. Washington HS	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	300 lb (140 kg)	—	Enrolled January 5, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports:    ESPN:
James Houston IV OLB	Fort Lauderdale, Florida	American Heritage HS	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	—	Enrolled January 8, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports:    ESPN:
Kemore Gamble TE	Miami, Florida	Miami Southridge HS	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	216 lb (98 kg)	—	Enrolled January 4, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports:    ESPN:
Kyree Campbell DT	Kingston, Pennsylvania	Wyoming Seminary Prep School	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	320 lb (150 kg)	—	Enrolled January 4, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports:    ESPN:
Marco Wilson CB	Fort Lauderdale, Florida	American Heritage HS	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	—	Signed February 1, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports:    ESPN:
Shawn Davis CB	Miami, Florida	Miami Southridge HS	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	—	Signed February 1, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports:    ESPN:
Jake Allen QB	Fort Lauderdale, Florida	St. Thomas Aquinas HS	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	—	Signed February 1, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports:    ESPN:
Daquon Green WR	Tampa, Florida	Tampa Bay Tech HS	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	—	Signed February 1, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports:    ESPN:
Donovan Stiner CB	Bellaire, Texas	Bellaire HS	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	—	Signed February 1, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports:    ESPN:
Ventrell Miller LB	Lakeland, Florida	Kathleen HS	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	227 lb (103 kg)	—	Signed February 1, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports:    ESPN:
Zachary Carter DE	Tampa, Florida	Hillsborough HS	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	250 lb (110 kg)	—	Signed February 1, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports:    ESPN:
Malik Davis TB	Tampa, Florida	Jesuit Tech HS	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	—	Signed February 1, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports:    ESPN:
Brad Stewart CB	New Orleans, Louisiana	McDonogh 35 HS	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	194 lb (88 kg)	—	Signed February 1, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports:    ESPN:
T.J. Moore OT	Charlotte, North Carolina	Mallard Creek HS	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	290 lb (130 kg)	—	Signed February 1, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports:    ESPN:
Lacedrick Brunson OLB	Miami, Florida	Miami Jackson HS	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	—	Commit February 1, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports:    ESPN:
Tedarrell Slaton OG	Fort Lauderdale, Florida	American Heritage HS	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	360 lb (160 kg)	—	Signed February 1, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports:    ESPN:
Elijah Conliffe DT	Hampton, Virginia	Hampton HS	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	305 lb (138 kg)	—	Signed February 1, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports:    ESPN:
Christopher Henderson CB	Miami, Florida	Columbus HS	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	—	Signed February 1, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports:    ESPN:
Nick Smith LB	Orlando, Florida	Dr. Phillips HS	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	—	Signed February 1, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports:    ESPN:
Brian Edwards CB	Hollywood, Florida	Miramar HS	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	—	Signed February 1, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports:    ESPN:
James Robinson IV WR	Lakeland, Florida	Lakeland HS	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	—	Signed February 1, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports:    ESPN:
Adarius Lemons TB	Clearwater, Florida	Clearwater HS	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	—	Signed February 1, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports:    ESPN:
Overall recruiting rankings:   247Sports: 10  ESPN: 13
‡ Refers to 40 yard dash Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height, weight and 40 time. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved February 1, 2017.

References