2019 Florida Gators football team

The 2019 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida in the 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Gators played their home games at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida, and competed in the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They were led by second-year head coach Dan Mullen.

2019 Florida Gators football
Florida Cup champion
Orange Bowl champion
Orange Bowl, W 36–28 vs. Virginia
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
DivisionEastern Division
Ranking
CoachesNo. 7
APNo. 6
2019 record11–2 (6–2 SEC)
Head coachDan Mullen (2nd season)
Co-offensive coordinatorBilly Gonzales (2nd season)
Co-offensive coordinatorJohn Hevesy (2nd season)
Offensive schemeSpread
Defensive coordinatorTodd Grantham (2nd season)
Base defense3–4
Home stadiumBen Hill Griffin Stadium
(Capacity: 88,548)
2019 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
East Division
No. 4 Georgia x  7 –1     12 –2  
No. 6 Florida  6 –2     11 –2  
Tennessee  5 –3     8 –5  
Kentucky  3 –5     8 –5  
Missouri *  3 –5     6 –6  
South Carolina  3 –5     4 –8  
Vanderbilt  1 –7     3 –9  
West Division
No. 1 LSU x$^  8 –0     15 –0  
No. 8 Alabama  6 –2     11 –2  
No. 14 Auburn  5 –3     9 –4  
Texas A&M  4 –4     8 –5  
Mississippi State  3 –5     6 –7  
Ole Miss  2 –6     4 –8  
Arkansas  0 –8     2 –10  
Championship: LSU 37, Georgia 10
  • ^ – College Football Playoff participant
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • * – ineligible for postseason due to NCAA sanctions
Rankings from AP Poll

Coming off a 10-win season that ended in a victory in the Peach Bowl in Mullen's first year, Florida began the 2019 season ranked eighth in the preseason AP Poll. They opened the schedule by rekindling their rivalry with Miami in a game played in Orlando, winning 24–20. The Gators won their first six games, including a win over then-No. 7 Auburn, before falling on the road to then-No. 5 LSU. Three weeks later, they fell again to Georgia in Jacksonville. Florida ended the regular season in second in the East Division behind Georgia at 10–2 (6–2 SEC), and were invited to the Orange Bowl to play ACC runner-up Virginia. The Gators won the bowl game, 36–28, to end the season with 11 wins, and were ranked sixth in the final AP Poll.

Feleipe Franks began the year as the Gators' starting quarterback, but he suffered a season-ending ankle injury in the third game of the season against Kentucky. He was replaced by Kyle Trask, who finished the year with 2,941 yards and 25 touchdowns, and had the conference's second best passer rating (156.1). Tight end Kyle Pitts was named first-team all-conference. Florida's defense ranked second in the SEC in points and yards allowed, and was led by first-team all-conference defensive end Jonathan Greenard, who led the conference in sacks (10) and tackles for loss (16). Cornerback C. J. Henderson was also named first-team all-conference by the coaches.

Preseason

Position key
Back B Center C Cornerback CB Defensive back DB
Defensive end DE Defensive lineman DL Defensive tackle DT End E
Fullback FB Guard G Halfback HB Kicker K
Kickoff returner KR Offensive tackle OT Offensive lineman OL Linebacker LB
Long snapper LS Punter P Punt returner PR Quarterback QB
Running back RB Safety S Tight end TE Wide receiver WR

Recruits

The Gators signed a total of 25 recruits in the 2019 recruiting class.

SEC Media Days

The 2019 SEC Media Days were held July 15–18 in Birmingham, Alabama. In the preseason media poll, Florida was projected to finish in second behind Georgia in the East Division.[1]

Preseason All-SEC teams

The Gators had seven players selected to the preseason all-SEC teams.

Schedule

Florida announced its 2019 football schedule on September 18, 2018.[2] The 2019 schedule consists of 6 home, 4 away, and 2 neutral games in the regular season.

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
August 247:00 p.m.vs. Miami (FL)*No. 8
ESPNW 24–2066,543
September 77:30 p.m.UT Martin*No. 11
ESPNUW 45–080,007
September 147:00 p.m.at KentuckyNo. 9
ESPNW 29–2163,076
September 2112:00 p.m.TennesseeNo. 9
  • Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
  • Gainesville, FL (rivalry)
ESPNW 34–382,276
September 284:00 p.m.No. 10 (FCS) Towson*No. 9
  • Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
  • Gainesville, FL
SECNW 38–079,126
October 53:30 p.m.No. 7 AuburnNo. 10
  • Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
  • Gainesville, FL (rivalry / College GameDay)
CBSW 24–1390,584
October 128:00 p.m.at No. 5 LSUNo. 7
ESPNL 28–42102,321
October 1912:00 p.m.at South CarolinaNo. 9
ESPNW 38–2778,883
November 23:30 p.m.vs. No. 8 GeorgiaNo. 6
CBSL 17–2484,789
November 912:00 p.m.VanderbiltNo. 10
  • Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
  • Gainesville, FL
ESPNW 56–086,201
November 1612:00 p.m.at MissouriNo. 11
CBSW 23–657,280
November 307:30 p.m.Florida State*No. 11
SECNW 40–1789,409
December 308:00 p.m.vs. No. 24 Virginia*No. 9
ESPNW 36–2865,157
Schedule Source:[2]

Rankings
Further information: 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.
Week
Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Final 
AP 8 11 9 9 9 10 7 9 7 6 10 11 10 8 7 6 6 
Coaches 8 10 8 8 8 8 7 9 8 6 11 12 10 8 7 7 7 
CFP Not released 10 11 11 11 9 9 Not released

Game summaries

vs. Miami (FL)
1 2 3 4 Total
Miami (FL) 3 10 0 7 20
No. 8 Florida 7 0 10 7 24
See also: 2019 Miami Hurricanes football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
26–29 Sep. 7, 2013 L, 16–21

UT Martin
1 2 3 4 Total
UT Martin 0 0 0 0 0
No. 11 Florida 3 14 14 14 45
See also: 2019 UT Martin Skyhawks football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
First meeting

at Kentucky
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 9 Florida 7 0 3 19 29
Kentucky 0 14 7 0 21
See also: 2019 Kentucky Wildcats football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
52–18 Sep. 8, 2018 L, 16–27

Tennessee
1 2 3 4 Total
Tennessee 0 0 3 0 3
No. 9 Florida 7 10 7 10 34
See also: 2019 Tennessee Volunteers football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
28–20 Sep. 22, 2018 W, 47–21

Towson
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 10 (FCS) Towson 0 0 0 0 0
No. 9 Florida 7 10 14 7 38
See also: 2019 Towson Tigers football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
First meeting

Auburn
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 7 Auburn 6 7 0 0 13
No. 10 Florida 7 10 0 7 24
See also: 2019 Auburn Tigers football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
38–43–2 Oct. 15, 2011 L, 6–17

at LSU
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 7 Florida 7 14 7 0 28
No. 5 LSU 7 14 14 7 42
See also: 2019 LSU Tigers football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
33–29–3 Oct. 6, 2018 W, 27–19

at South Carolina
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 9 Florida 3 7 7 21 38
South Carolina 7 3 10 7 27
See also: 2019 South Carolina Gamecocks football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
27–9–3 Nov. 10, 2018 W, 35–31

vs. Georgia
See also: 2019 Georgia Bulldogs football team and Florida–Georgia football rivalry
Georgia Bulldogs vs. Florida Gators – Game summary
1 2 34Total
No. 8 Georgia 3 10 3824
No. 6 Florida 0 3 01417

at TIAA Bank Field • Jacksonville, Florida

  • Date: November 2, 2019
  • Game time: 3:30 p.m.
  • Game weather: Temperature: 64 °F (18 °C), Cloudy, NW 11 MPH
  • Game attendance: 84,789
  • Referee: David Smith
  • TV announcers (CBS): Brad Nessler, Gary Danielson, and Jamie Erdahl
Game information
First Quarter
Second Quarter
  • Georgia – Dominick Blaylock 3-yard pass from Jake Fromm (Rodrigo Blankenship kick), 4:43
  • Florida – Evan McPherson 38-yard field goal, 2:40
  • Georgia – Rodrigo Blankenship 37-yard field goal, 0:14
Third Quarter
  • Georgia – Rodrigo Blankenship 27-yard field goal, 9:45
Fourth Quarter
  • Florida – Van Jefferson 23-yard pass from Kyle Trask (Evan McPherson kick), 13:51
  • Georgia – Lawrence Cager 52-yard pass from Jake Fromm (Lawrence Cager pass), 10:01
  • Florida – Freddie Swain 2-yard pass from Kyle Trask (Evan McPherson kick), 3:11
Overall record Last meeting Result
43–51–2 (per Florida)
43–52–2 (per Georgia)		 Oct. 27, 2018 L, 17–36

After its road victory against South Carolina, Florida faced Georgia in the 97th iteration of their rivalry game, played at the neutral site TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville.[5] Georgia won 24–17 to extend its series winning streak to three games.[6]

Georgia won the opening coin toss and elected to defer to the second half. On the opening drive, Florida converted a third down, but Georgia took over at their own 40-yard line after an incomplete pass by Kyle Trask on fourth and inches. On their sixteen-play drive, Georgia made four third down conversions and scored first with a field goal by Rodrigo Blankenship. The next Florida drive was a three-and-out, with Trask being sacked once, but Georgia's next drive was stopped by the Florida defense and they were forced to punt. After another three-and-out by Florida, Georgia marched down the field with three third down conversions, ending their drive with a touchdown pass from Jake Fromm to Dominick Blaylock to bring the score to 10–0 with under five minutes left in the first half. Florida answered with an Evan McPherson field goal, but this was negated by another Blankenship field goal near the end of the half, bringing the score to 13–3 in favor of Georgia.[6][4]

To open the second half, Georgia made a nine-play drive that included a one-handed catch by Brian Herrien of a pass from Fromm, capping it with Blankenship's third field goal of the game to extend their lead to 13 points. Both teams punted on their next drives, but Florida rallied with a nine-play drive that resulted in their first touchdown, made by Van Jefferson off a 23-yard pass by Trask. This narrowed the score differential to a touchdown with just under fourteen minutes left in the game, but on the next drive Georgia pulled away when Lawrence Cager completed a 52-yard pass from Jake Fromm for a touchdown. Together with a successful 2-point attempt, also from Fromm to Cager, this extended the Georgia lead to fourteen points. A 75-yard Florida drive ended with a Trask 2-yard touchdown pass to Freddie Swain with just over three minutes remaining in the game. Returning Florida's punt to their own 32-yard line, Georgia ran out the clock to seal their victory.[6][4]

After the game, Florida dropped from sixth to tenth in the AP Top 25, while Georgia rose by two spots.[7] Their victory gave Georgia uncontested first place in the SEC East, with now two-loss Florida in second.[6]

Vanderbilt
1 2 3 4 Total
Vanderbilt 0 0 0 0 0
No. 10 Florida 0 14 28 14 56
See also: 2019 Vanderbilt Commodores football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
40–10–2 Oct. 13, 2018 W, 37–27

at Missouri
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 11 Florida 3 3 14 3 23
Missouri 0 3 3 0 6
See also: 2019 Missouri Tigers football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
3–5 Nov. 3, 2018 L, 17–38

Florida State
1 2 3 4 Total
Florida State 7 0 10 0 17
No. 11 Florida 7 23 7 3 40
See also: 2019 Florida State Seminoles football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
35–26–2 Nov. 24, 2018 W, 41–14

vs. Virginia
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 9 Florida 14 10 3 9 36
No. 24 Virginia 7 7 0 14 28
See also: 2019 Virginia Cavaliers football team and 2019 Orange Bowl
Overall record Last meeting Result
1–0 Oct. 3, 1959 W, 55–10

Personnel

Roster
As of 9 November 2019[8]
2019 Florida Gators roster

Quarterbacks

Running Backs

  •  2 La’Mical Perine – Senior
  •  6 Nay'Quan Wright – Freshman
  • 20 Malik Davis – Sophomore
  • 24 Iverson Clement – Freshman
  • 27 Dameon Pierce – Sophomore

Wide Receivers

  •  8 Trevon Grimes – Junior
  • 10 Josh Hammond – Senior
  • 12 Van Jefferson – Senior
  • 15 Jacob Copeland – Freshman
  • 16 Freddie Swain – Senior
  • 22 Dionte Marks – Freshman
  • 82 Ja'Markis Weston – Freshman
  • 83 Rick Wells – Junior
  • 89 Tyrie Cleveland – Senior

Tight Ends

  •  7 Lucas Krull – Junior
  •  9 Keon Zipperer – Freshman
  • 81 Dante Lang – Freshman
  • 84 Kyle Pitts – Sophomore
  • 88 Kemore Gamble – Sophomore

Offensive Line

  • 50 Tanner Rowell – Junior
  • 56 Jean DeLance – Junior
  • 60 Da'Quan Thomas – Freshman
  • 61 Brett Heggie – Junior
  • 62 Griffin McDowell – Freshman
  • 64 Riley Simonds – Freshman
  • 65 Kingsley Eguakun – Freshman
  • 66 Nick Buchanan – Senior
  • 67 Christopher Bleich – Freshman
  • 70 Michael Tarquin – Freshman
  • 72 Stone Forsythe – Junior
  • 74 Will Harrod – Freshman
  • 75 T.J. Moore – Sophomore
  • 76 Richard Gouraige – Freshman
  • 77 Ethan White – Freshman

Defensive Line

  • 17 Zachary Carter – Sophomore
  • 55 Kyree Campbell – Junior
  • 56 Tedarrell Slaton – Junior
  • 66 Jaelin Humphries – Freshman
  • 88 Adam Shuler – Graduate
  • 91 Marlon Dunlap Jr. – Junior
  • 92 Jabari Zuniga – Senior
  • 93 Elijah Conliffe – Junior
  • 98 Luke Ancrum – Senior

Linebackers

  •  4 David Reese – Freshman
  •  6 Brenton Cox, Jr. – Sophomore
  •  7 Jeremiah Moon – Junior
  • 11 Mohamoud Diabate – Freshman
  • 28 Ty'Ron Hopper – Freshman
  • 32 Jesiah Pierre – Freshman
  • 33 David Reese II – Senior
  • 34 Lacedrick Brunson – Sophomore
  • 41 James Houston IV – Sophomore
  • 51 Ventrell Miller – Sophomore
  • 58 Jonathan Greenard – Graduate
  • 90 Andrew Chatfield Jr. – Freshman
  • 97 Khris Bogle – Freshman
  • 99 Lloyd Summerall III – Freshman

Defensive Backs

  •  1 C. J. Henderson– Junior
  •  2 Brad Stewart Jr. – Junior
  •  3 Marco Wilson – Sophomore
  •  5 Kaiir Elam – Freshman
  • 12 C.J. McWilliams – Junior
  • 13 Donovan Stiner – Junior
  • 14 Quincy Lenton – Junior
  • 21 Trey Dean III – Sophomore
  • 23 Jaydon Hill – Freshman
  • 25 Chester Kimbrough – Freshman
  • 29 Jeawon Taylor – Senior
  • 31 Shawn Davis – Junior

Punters

Placekickers

  • 19 Evan McPherson – Sophomore
  • 71 Chris Howard – Sophomore

Long Snappers

  • 40 Marco Ortiz – Freshman
  • 48 Brett DioGuardi – Junior
  • 49 Jacob Tilghman – Senior

Athletes

  •  1 Kadarius Toney – Junior
  • 17 Nick Sproles – Junior
  • 18 Jack Anders – Freshman
  • 19 Jack Ruskell – Sophomore
  • 25 Erik Askeland – Sophomore
  • 26 Michael Hart – Senior
  • 27 Joshua Tse – Sophomore
  • 29 Isaac Ricks – Sophomore
  • 30 Amari Burney – Sophomore
  • 32 Brayton Hundley – Senior
  • 33 Daniel Cross – Freshman
  • 35 Kyle Engel – Freshman
  • 35 William Sawyer – Freshman
  • 36 Robert Clay – Senior
  • 36 Trey Thompson – Sophomore
  • 37 Patrick Moorer – Sophomore
  • 37 Tyler Waxman – Freshman
  • 38 Nick Oelrich – Junior
  • 39 Michael Weir – Junior
  • 42 Jaylin Jackson – Freshman
  • 42 Umstead Sanders – Junior
  • 43 Nicolas Sutton – Junior
  • 44 Garrett Conner – Senior
  • 45 Clifford Taylor IV – Sophomore
  • 46 John Brady – Freshman
  • 46 Will Thomas – Senior
  • 47 Justin Pelic – Freshman
  • 47 Austin Perry – Sophomore
  • 52 Quaylin Crum – Sophomore
  • 53 Chase Whitfield – Freshman
  • 57 Coleman Crozier – Freshman
  • 80 Trent Whittemore - Freshman
  • 86 Andres Saldivar – Senior
  • 87 Dennis Gross – Senior
  • 94 Moses Gordon III – Senior
  • 96 Travis Freeman – Freshman
  • Redshirt
  • Injury

Coaching staff
NamePositionJoined Staff
Dan MullenHead Coach2018
John HevesyCo-Offensive Coordinator / Offensive Line2018
Billy GonzalesCo-Offensive Coordinator / Wide Receivers2018
Todd GranthamDefensive Coordinator2018
Brian JohnsonQuarterbacks2018
Greg KnoxRunning Backs / Special Teams Coordinator2018
Larry ScottTight Ends2018
David TurnerDefensive Line2019
Christian RobinsonLinebackers2018
Torrian GrayCornerbacks2019
Ron EnglishSafeties2018
Nick SavageDirector of Strength & Conditioning2018

Awards and honors
All-SEC
Player Position Coaches Media
Kyle Pitts TE 1 1
Jonathan Greenard DE 1 1
C. J. Henderson CB 1 –
David Reese LB – 2
References:[9][10]

Players drafted into the NFL
See also: 2020 NFL Draft
RoundPickPlayerPositionNFL Club
19C. J. HendersonCBJacksonville Jaguars
257Van JeffersonWRLos Angeles Rams
379Jabari ZunigaDENew York Jets
390Jonathan GreenardOLBHouston Texans
4120La’Mical PerineRBNew York Jets
6214Freddie SwainWRSeattle Seahawks
7252Tyrie ClevelandWRDenver Broncos

References
  1. "Media predicts Alabama to win 2019 SEC Championship". SECSports.com. Southeastern Conference. July 19, 2019.
  2. "Gators Release 2019 Football Schedule". Florida Gators. Retrieved 2018-12-22.
  3. "Georgia Pregame Notes" (PDF). Florida Gators. October 27, 2019. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
  4. "Football vs Georgia on 11/2/2019 - Box Score". floridagators.com. Sidearm Sports. November 2, 2019. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
  5. Harry, Chris (November 2, 2019). "Game Day: Florida vs Georgia, 3:30 pm (CBS)". Florida Gators. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
  6. Harry, Chris (November 2, 2019). "Third-Down Letdown: Georgia Takes Control of SEC East". Florida Gators. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
  7. "Navy moves into Top 25 as American Athletic Conference has four teams in AP poll". ESPN. Associated Press. November 3, 2019. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
  8. "2019 Football Roster". Florida Gators. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  9. "2019 All-SEC Football Team announced". Southeastern Conference. December 10, 2019. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  10. Megargee, Steve (December 9, 2019). "LSU's Burrow, Auburn's Brown Named AP SEC Players Of Year". Associated Press. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
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