by Patrick Zier | Apr 3, 2025 |
It is pretty much agreed that this year, the Florida Gators are likely to go as far as quarterback DJ Lagway can take them, and right now, he can’t take them very far.
With spring practice coming to an end, next Saturday is the Gators’ annual spring game, Lagway has yet to throw a pass, and that isn’t expected to change anytime soon.
“He’s doing great,” Florida Coach Billy Napier said at a press conference posted on the Gators’ website. “We’ve just been modifying, in terms of his ability to throw the ball really, a more holistic approach with what we’re doing with him.”
If Napier ever decides to get out of coaching, maybe he should go into politics, because politicians are good at saying a lot without saying anything, and that’s what Napier did there. I mean how can you modify somebody’s throwing motion if they can’t throw?
Lagway has been dealing with a sore shoulder, plus some other unspecified lower body injuries, for some time and Florida’s plan was always to be cautious with him this spring in hopes of having him fully rested and recovered by the fall.
But the shoulder thing is starting to make some people edgy. Just how bad is it? Will Lagway in fact be fully recovered when the team starts getting ready for real games with real outcomes that have real consequences?
Frankly, at this time, there is no certainty of that. It’s already been suggested that whatever’s wrong with Lagway’s shoulder may be something he has to play through, as he apparently did in the final games of last season.
And just out of sight lurks the possibility that Lagway will need surgery, with all that implies.
“We’ve been having him call some plays in seven-on-seven drills just to have him kind of reiterate that communication and we’ve given him some leadership assignments,” Napier commented.
“He’s done a ton of walkthroughs in the Gator Room and Heavener Center,” the Florida coach continued. “Overall, he continues to get a little bit better every day.”
If Lagway is still limited in the fall, it could severely affect Florida’s chances of contending for an SEC title, which many people feel they are fully capable of doing.
Thrown into the fire as a freshman after veteran starter Graham Mertz got hurt, Lagway led he Gators to a 6-1 record including four straight wins to end the season. That included a victory over Tulane in the Gasparilla Bowl to build momentum going into 2025.
And while many of the key pieces return from that team, the receiving corps had had to be entirely rebuilt, which is why Lagway’s inability to throw is a setback of sorts.
Napier has recruited some of the best young talent in the country, and despite the loss of some veterans this year’s group could be much better than last year’s, but they need to work with Lagway.
Among the newcomers are Vernell Brown, ranked as the No. 3 receiving prospect in the nation and the 24th best player overall by rivals.com and Dallas Wilson, ranked as the No. 2 receiving prospect and the 19th best player in the country by On3 sports. Naeshawn Montgomery is another highly regarded frosh.
The Gators could also get a big boost if Kahleil Jackson, out for the season after tearing his ACL in Florida’s opener against Miami in 2024, is fully recovered. Jackson started nine games in 2023.
“I think we have to make progress and work toward being a tough-minded group, a fundamentally sound group, one that can handle adversity whether it’s at home against a premium opponent or some of those road games in some of those venues that we have to deal with,” Napier said, speaking now of his whole team and not just Lagway and the receivers.
And the Gators certainly will have to deal with adversity. It’ll just be a lot easier if Lagway’s there to help them through it.
by Patrick Zier | Apr 1, 2025 |
TAMPA – It is not the biggest game South Florida will play, Florida would probably qualify there, but it could be the most important, because there is a good chance the winner of USF’s opener here against Boise State will qualify for the College Football Playoff.
Lots of things have to go right for the Bulls to make that happen, but a loss to the Broncos would almost automatically guarantee, after just one game, that USF has absolutely no shot.
The way the playoffs are currently set up, one spot goes to the five highest ranked (as determined by the CFP selection committee) conference champions. The means that besides the Power 4-the Big Ten, the SEC, the Big 12 and Atlantic Coast Conference-a champion from the Group of 5 is going to get in.
The Group of 5 consists of the American Athletic Conference (of which USF is a member), Conference-USA, the Mid-American Conference, the Mountain West (which includes Boise State) and the Sun Belt.
Last year, Boise State got the nod, and the Broncos have a real shot at getting back again if they beat USF. because the AAC and Mountain West are generally regarded as the two strongest conferences in the Group of 5. But if they lose to the Bulls, then USF shoots up to the top.
Of course this is no sure thing. Working against both schools, and particularly USF, are their schedules. The Bulls probably have the toughest schedule in the Group of 5. Among others, they face Florida, which has an outside shot at winning the SEC, and Miami, which could do the same in the ACC.
Losses to either or both of those teams shouldn’t keep the Bulls out. But a third loss would definitely eliminate them. which is why beating Boise is a must. The Broncos schedule is not as tough, but they face Notre Dame, and USF would need them to lose that game. That, coupled with a loss to USF, would keep them behind the Bulls.
USF Coach Alex Golesh is not one to look ahead; as UCF’s George O’Leary used to say, you play 12 one-game seasons, but there is no way to minimize the importance of this game. Still, the Bulls must focus on the task at hand without letting it affect their preparation.
Understanding that, Golesh is trying to use the Boise game and the two that follow, Florida and Miami, as motivation.
“I think a lot’s been made of the schedule, especially early, and I think for us it’s trying to be as process driven as we can and worrying about right now, that’s the most important thing,” Golesh said.
“I think when you know what’s coming, and certainly the Boise game and the two after it (Florida and Miami), when you know you’re facing that kind of gauntlet it’s easy to say like ‘man, you’re working toward something,’ Golesh remarked.
“It’s (the playoff possibilities) certainly in the back of their minds, it’s in the back of our mind, but you know what’s coming, you know the challenge that’s going to hit you in the face that Thursday night at RayJ,” Golesh said.
“So certainly, I think that makes it easy to stay motivated when you know man, that’s going to be a street fight for three straight weeks and so to stay sharp, to stay motivated will certainly be easy, All you have to do is flip the film on,” Golesh remarked.
“I flipped the Boise film on in February and it hit me. I thought ‘all right, it’s real,'” the USF coach went on.
Of course one of the easiest ways to possibly make the playoffs would be to pull a Liberty. Just don’t schedule teams like Florida, Alabama and Miami. Liberty, a member of C-USA, has been a BCS team for just seven years and while it has never had a losing record, it never plays anybody, either.
In 2023, Liberty went 13-0, was nationally ranked and played in the Fiesta Bowl, where it was thrashed, 45-6, by Oregon. The 39 point defeat is the worst in Fiesta Bowl history.
“I think, with a 12 team playoff, those games (against strong Power 4 teams) are not as critical but they’re still important,” Golesh said. “I think for us, to have a schedule like that, you figure out early where you are, who you are,” he continued.
“I think our guys are certainly excited and want to play those kind of games,” Golesh said. “You’ve got a chance to play a team that got a first round bye in the playoffs last year. At the end of the day, that gives us a chance to see how we stack up in the national conversation.”
by Patrick Zier | Mar 29, 2025 |
If you want to win championships in NASCAR under the current point system, then you have to win races on the short and intermediate tracks. This is also true of the OldGuySport Competition Index, which has a little different definition of what constitutes a short track (anything a mile or less) and what is considered intermediate (some two mile tracks are included, plus Darlington, which is about a mile and a quarter).
Led by Kyle Larson, Hendrick has shown its strength in the first two intermediate races of the year, Larson scoring 64 points on the OGS Competition Index, while the Gibbs cars and Penske are sputtering.
“It’s so great to see our guys up there battling for the win and to get a one-two finish here at Homestead,” Jeff Gordon, vice president of Hendrick Motorsports, commented after the race according to NASCAR’s website.
“Obviously a little disappointed in the other guys getting penalties there late that took them out of contention for being in the top 10, because I think we could have had all four in the top 10,” Gordon said.
The scene now switches to Martinsville for Sunday’s second short track race of the year, where Gibbs and Penske hope to fare better. And they might. On the OGS Competition Index, the Gibbs cars, led by Bell with 92, have 142 points in the last three short track races; Hendrick, led by Larson’s 89, has 135; and Penske, led by Joey Logano’s 79, has 123.
But Gibbs may be in trouble, at least for the short term. The team underwent a major shake up at the end of last year and seems to be struggling in the early going this year despite Bell’s torrid start.
Chris Gabehart, Hamlin’s crew chief, is now director of competition. Chris Gayle, Ty Gibbs crew chief last year, is now Hamlin’s crew chief. And Tyler Allen was promoted from the Xfinity Series to lead Gibbs’ team. When you add in a new driver like Chase Briscoe, Gibbs has a lot of moving pieces.
And how quickly the organization can put them all together will determine how much success the team has this year.
NASCAR NOTES:
Three most likely winners at Martinsville: 1-Kyle Larson, 2-Denny Hamlin, 3-William Byron. Last year’s winners at Martinsville: First race-Dave Blaney. Second race-Christopher Bell. Top five in first race last year: 1-Blaney, 2-Chase Elliott, 3-Larson, 4-Austin Cindric, 5-Hamlin.
Last week’s OGS Homestead picks: 1-Tyler Reddick, 2-Larson, 3-Bell. Homestead winner: Larson. OGS season record: 2-2.
OGS Competition Index top 10: 1-Bell 114 points, 2-Larson 94, 3-Josh Berry 73, 4-Byron 72, 5-Hamlin 52, 6-Alex Bowman 48, 7-Bubba Wallace 43, 8-Dennis Suarez 41, 9-Reddick 40, 10-Ryan Preece 37.
OGS Competition Index top 10 on intermediate tracks: 1-Larson 64, 2-Berry 53, 3-Bowman 48, 4-Wallace, Suarez 41, 6-Preece 30, 7-Blaney 22, 8-Byron 21, 9-Chase Briscoe 20, 10-Hamlin 12.
by Patrick Zier | Mar 27, 2025 |
TAMPA – You listen to Bryce Archie talk and it doesn’t seem like he’s going anywhere. He might, you never know, but it doesn’t seem like it’s something he’s thinking about. These days, college quarterbacks live with their bags packed. You go one place and if it doesn’t work out or you get a better deal someplace else, you leave.
Archie started out at Coastal Carolina, where he didn’t play much, so he transferred to USF where again, he didn’t play much. And it looked like he was on that same train last year until Byrum Brown, a guy who puts the sizzle and the swagger in the USF offense, went down with a mid-season leg injury.
What ever shall we do? Bulls Coach Alex Golesh wondered. Well, maybe it didn’t go down exactly like that but you get the picture.
Brown, with a cannon for an arm and tremendous athleticism, was beginning to get noticed. He wasn’t Miami’s Cam Ward, who led the Canes to a 55-15 drubbing of the Bulls early on, but he played well and kept USF in the game for a half.
After proving they weren’t ready yet to play toe-to-toe with college football’s elite; Miami being ranked 11th in the country at the time of their game, the Bulls dropped down in class to play Tulane, another AAC team which, like USF, aspires to greater things.
And that’s when Brown got hurt and suddenly, Archie became the team’s quarterback. Archie, with limited previous experience, did a workmanlike job. He played pretty well some of the time and not so well others, which was to be expected.
But the Bulls went 5-3 under his direction, including a 41-39 five overtime decision in the Hawai’i Bowl with Archie passing for the winning score.
So, one might think that going into 2025, Archie would have some kind of shot at retaining the starting job, even though Brown is healed and ready to go. You might think that, but if you do, you would be wrong.
“We have an old adage here, you don’t lose your job to injury,” Golesh said as his team began spring practice. “Right now, I see him (Brown) as the starting quarterback. He’s able to do everything and he has no physical limitations,” an obviously pleased Golesh commented. But then he hedged a bit, but only a bit. “Every job’s an open competition,” he added.
And that brings us back to Archie. Realistically, he has no shot at being the starting quarterback. If Brown stays healthy all year, he has the skill set to be one of the better quarterbacks in the country, not just one of the better quarterbacks in the Group of Five.
“It’s harder to keep your guys happy now,”Golesh commented. “I think we’re all fighting that, trying to find creative ways to make sure a lot more guys are involved so that they feel like they’re a part of something, because if they don’t, they’re inevitably going to say they want to go someplace where they can be a part of something.
“I think you’re probably concerned about your whole roster in that regard,” Golesh went on. “I’d be lying to you if I said I wasn’t. We don’t want to lose Bryce.
“Certainly, I think for him, he understands there’s still a ton of growth and I think he understands how quick you can become the guy and I think that he learned that you’ve got to stay ready because there isn’t a transition period where you say ‘Man, let me get a game or two under my belt before I can go,'” Golesh said.
“So yeah, I think that concern’s (players leaving) real. I think it’s always going to be real as long as college football is the way it is now.”
Meanwhile, Archie seems totally invested in USF. In addition to football, he’s also a part-time starter on the Bulls’ baseball team, so he really doesn’t have a lot of time to consider other options.
It’s get up in the morning and practice football, eat lunch, practice baseball in the afternoon, eat dinner, go to team meetings in the evening, sleep. And then do it all over again. One wonders what kind of toll this will take on his arm, but Archie and Golesh don’t seem concerned about it so why should we be?
As for the fact that he is almost certainly going to be relegated to the bench once more, Archie doesn’t seem to mind. Of course he wants to play, but he and Brown are very close. “That just goes with me and Byrum’s relationship,” he said.
“We don’t care who’s out there as long as we go out and execute and win the game and do what we can, what’s best for the team,” Archie said. “It really doesn’t matter whether I’m sitting or starting.”
There’s another old football adage that says “There is no I in team.” No one really adheres to it anymore, because college football is all about the I, about what can the team do for me, not what can I do for the team.
Archie doesn’t seem to think like that. Maybe he understands that he has limitations in football. Maybe playing baseball for the Bulls appeals to him. Maybe he just likes USF.
Whatever the reason is, the thought here is that Archie will stick it out. And who knows? if Brown has a big year, he could decide to leave. And that might get Archie off the bench once again.
by Patrick Zier | Mar 21, 2025 |
For Josh Berry, the question has never been – or never should have been – about the driver. The question has always been about the car. In NASCAR, particularly at the Cup level, you can’t win without a competitive car.
Kyle Larson can’t win without a competitive car. Christopher Bell, the sport’s new golden boy, can’t win without a competitive car. Neither can Joey Logano, or Denny Hamlin, or anybody else you want to name.
Kyle Busch has proven that. A big-time winner at Joe Gibbs Racing, one of the sport’s two elite teams, Busch’s career has faltered since his move to Richard Childress Racing. And that’s not because of Busch. It’s because RCR simply doesn’t have the personnel or resources to compete with JGR or Hendrick Motorsports or Penske Racing and maybe some others as well.
Berry, who shocked almost everybody by winning at Las Vegas last Sunday, has mostly been on the fringes of the racing world. He’s a hard worker who has never really been given a fair chance to succeed. Last year, he finally got a full time ride at Stewart-Haas, but Stewart-Haas was falling apart; had been falling apart for a number of years, and was no longer relevant in the Cup series.
But before he got a shot with Stewart-Haas, and with almost no experience in a Cup car, Berry had shown that given an opportunity he could make the most of it.
In 2023, Berry was called on as a replacement driver at Hendrick Motorsports. Now jumping into somebody else’s car and working with somebody else’s team – and being successful doing it is almost impossible in NASCAR. And this is especially true at a place like Hendrick, which fields cars capable of winning races every week.
When you put a replacement driver in a good Cup car, what you hope for is that he simply finishes the race. There are no expectations beyond that, which is why what Berry did is so exceptional.
First, Hendrick put him in Chase Elliott’s Chevy after Elliott was injured in a snowboarding accident. Over five races, Berry’s finishes included a 10th at Phoenix and a second at Richmond, far better than anybody could have anticipated.
Later, when Alex Bowman suffered a back injury, Hendrick called on Berry again. And again, Berry was up to the task. Berry subbed for Bowman in three races, recording a 10th at Dover, and also ran the All-Star race after winning the open to get in the main event.
Now none of this was a secret. Everybody knew about it, and everybody shrugged it off. So when Stewart-Haas folded at the end of 2024, there was Chase Briscoe, considered the prize catch of the Stewart-Haas group, headed to JGR. And there was Ryan Preece, headed to Roush-Fenway-Keslowski, which was getting strong support from Ford. And there was Noah Gregson, headed to Front Row Motorsports, another team Ford was heavily invested in.
And there was Berry, stuck with Wood Brothers Racing, once one of the premier teams in Cup but at a dead end for the last 20 years or so. Nobody in the garage gave Wood Brothers a second thought.
Other than on superspeedways, tracks where anybody can win if they are lucky enough to avoid the “big wreck” and happen to be in the right lane at the right time on the last lap, Wood Brothers had done nothing.
The last time the Wood Brothers won a race on a track other than a superspeedway before Berry’s win at Vegas was 2017, when Ryan Blaney won at Pocono. And the last time before that was 2001, when Elliott Sadler wonn at Bristol.
But with beefed up support from Penske Racing, it looks like the Wood Brothers may have something going. In addition to winning at Vegas, Berry also scored a fourth at Phoenix in their car, so maybe they’re for real.
For years, Berry has been ignored. But as he proved in his brief stint with Hendrick, put Berry in a competitive car and he will compete, and maybe now he’s in a competitive car. And if he is, you better move over, ’cause he’s coming through.
NASCAR NOTES
Three most likely winners at Homestead: 1-Tyler Reddick, 2-Kyle Larson, 3-Christopher Bell. Last year’s winner at Homestead: Reddick. Top five, 1-Reddick, 2-Ryan Blaney, 3-Denny Hamlin, 4-Bell, 5-Chase Elliott.
Last week’s OGS Vegas picks: 1-Reddick, 2-Larson, 3-Blaney. Vegas winner: Josh Berry. OGS season record: 1-2.
OGS Competition Index top 10 after three races: 1-Bell, 114 points; 2-Berry 73, 3-William Byron 72, 4-Larson 41, Daniel Suarez 41; 6-Reddick 40, Hamlin 40; 8-Ryan Preece 37, 9-Kyle Busch 28, 10-Elliott 20.
OGS top 10 on intermediate tracks: 1-Berry 53, 2-Suarez 41, 3-Preece 30, 4-Byron 21, 5-Larson 11, Ross Chastain 11; 7-Austin Cindric 8, 8-Joey Logano 7, 9-Reddick 5, 10-Bubba Wallace 2.
