2016 Florida Gators football team

2016 Florida Gators football
SEC Eastern Division champion
SEC Championship Game vs. Alabama
Conference	Southeastern Conference
	Eastern Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 16
AP	No. 15
CFP	No. 15
2016 record	8–4 (6–2 SEC)
Head coach	Jim McElwain (2nd year)
Offensive coordinator	Doug Nussmeier (2nd year)
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Defensive coordinator	Geoff Collins (2nd year)
Co-defensive coordinator	Randy Shannon (2nd year)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium

2016 SEC football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
No. 20 Florida xy		6	–	2					8	–	4
Tennessee		4	–	4					8	–	4
Georgia		4	–	4					7	–	5
Kentucky		4	–	4					7	–	5
South Carolina		3	–	5					6	–	6
Vanderbilt		3	–	5					6	–	6
Missouri		2	–	6					4	–	8
West Division
No. 1 Alabama x$^		8	–	0					13	–	0
No. 17 Auburn		5	–	3					8	–	4
No. 19 LSU		5	–	3					7	–	4
Texas A&M		4	–	4					8	–	4
Arkansas		3	–	5					7	–	5
Mississippi State		3	–	5					5	–	7
Ole Miss		2	–	6					5	–	7
Championship: Alabama 54, Florida 16
^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant As of December 4, 2016; Rankings from AP Poll

The 2016 Florida Gators football team represents the University of Florida in the sport of American football during the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Gators play their home games at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida, and compete in the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They are led by second-year head coach Jim McElwain.

Previous season

Going into the season, the Florida football program, under the new leadership of Jim McElwain, was largely thought of as undergoing a rebuilding process. However, the team raced to a 6–0 start to the season, including an upset win versus then-no. 3 Ole Miss 38–10. The following game at Missouri would end up being the last game of 2015 for Will Grier, who was suspended the following week for taking a banned substance. Treon Harris was called to lead the offense for the rest of the season. With Harris as quarterback, the Gators won four out of their next five games, including 27–3 over rival Georgia and losing only to Western Division rival LSU 28–35. With a 9–7 win against Vanderbilt, the Gators captured their first SEC Eastern Division championship since 2012, and earned a berth in the SEC Championship Game for the first time since 2009. Florida's reenergized offense began to struggle toward the end of the season, as did the special teams. The Gators would need overtime to defeat Florida Atlantic, who finished 3–9 on the season. The Gators lost their final three games against rival Florida State, Alabama in the SEC Championship Game, and Michigan in the Citrus Bowl respectively, ending the season with a 10–4 record.^[1]

Florida's turnaround season earned McElwain the 2015 SEC Coach of the Year award. McElwain was also in contention for the 2015 AFCA Coach of the Year award by virtue of winning the regional AFCA award.^[2]

Schedule

Florida announced its 2016 football schedule on October 29, 2015. The 2016 schedule consists of seven home, five away, and one neutral site games in the regular season. The Gators will host SEC foes Kentucky, LSU, Missouri, and South Carolina, and will travel to Arkansas, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt. Florida will play Georgia in Jacksonville, Florida.^[3]

The Gators will travel to Arkansas for the first time since 2008. The team will host two of its three non–conference games, including Massachusetts and North Texas from Conference USA. They were set to play Presbyterian, from the Big South Conference, but the game was cancelled to make room for the makeup game against LSU. Florida will travel to Tallahassee for their final regular season game to play in–state rival Florida State from the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Date	Time	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	7:30 p.m.	UMass*	No. 25	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL	SECN	W 24–7	88,121
September 10	3:30 p.m.	Kentucky		Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL	CBS	W 45–7	85,821
September 17	7:30 p.m.	North Texas*	No. 23	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL	ESPNU	W 32–0	86,848
September 24	3:30 p.m.	at No. 14 Tennessee	No. 19	Neyland Stadium • Knoxville, TN (Rivalry)	CBS	L 28–38	102,455
October 1	12:00 p.m.	at Vanderbilt	No. 23	Vanderbilt Stadium • Nashville, TN	SECN	W 13–6	30,565
October 15	4:00 p.m.	Missouri	No. 18	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL	SECN	W 40–14	88,825
October 29	3:30 p.m.	vs. Georgia	No. 14	EverBank Field • Jacksonville, FL (Rivalry)	CBS	W 24–10	84,681
November 5	3:30 p.m.	at Arkansas	No. 10	D.W.R. Razorback Stadium • Fayetteville, AR	CBS	L 10–31	74,432
November 12	12:00 p.m.	South Carolina	No. 22	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL	CBS	W 20–7	89,614
November 19^[a]	1:00 p.m.	at No. 16 LSU	No. 21	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA (Rivalry)	SECN	W 16–10	102,043
November 26	8:00 p.m.	at No. 15 Florida State*	No. 13	Doak Campbell Stadium • Tallahassee, FL (Rivalry)	ABC	L 13–31	78,342
December 3	4:00 p.m.	vs. No. 1 Alabama	No. 15	Georgia Dome • Atlanta, GA (SEC Championship Game)	CBS	L 16–54
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. ^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

^{^[a]} The game between Florida and LSU was postponed in advance of the arrival of Hurricane Matthew. It was originally scheduled for October 8 at Florida Field in Gainesville but was moved to November 19 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge.

Schedule source:^[4]

Game summaries

UMass

UMass Minutemen at Florida Gators – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
UMass	0	7	0	0	7
No. 25 Florida	7	3	0	14	24

at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, Florida

• Date: September 3, 2016
• Game time: 7:30 p.m. EDT
• Game attendance: 88,121
• TV announcers (SEC Network): Tom Hart and Andre Ware

Overall record	Previous meeting	Previous winner
First meeting

The 2016 season will kick off with a primetime game against the UMass Minutemen, and will be the first all-time contest between the two schools.^[5] Before the game, the Gators will conduct a ceremony to honor Steve Spurrier, Florida's winningest football coach, by renaming the playing surface to Steve Spurrier–Florida Field.^[6]

Kentucky

Kentucky Wildcats at Florida Gators – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Kentucky	0	0	0	7	7
Florida	14	10	14	7	45

at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, Florida

• Date: September 10, 2016
• Game time: 3:30 p.m. EDT
• Game attendance: 85,821
• TV announcers (CBS): Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson

Overall record	Previous meeting	Previous winner
49–17	September 19, 2015	Florida, 14–9

Florida's last loss to Kentucky came in 1986. Since then, Florida has defeated the Wildcats 29 years in a row, the longest active winning streak over an annual opponent. The all-time record is Notre Dame's 43-game winning streak against Navy from 1964 to 2006. Last year's game at Commonwealth Stadium was closely contested. Florida did lead 14–3 at halftime, although Kentucky was able to narrow the Gators' lead to 5 with two fourth quarter field goals before time expired.^[7]

North Texas

North Texas Mean Green at Florida Gators – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
North Texas	0	0	0	0	0
No. 23 Florida	5	14	0	13	32

at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, Florida

• Date: September 17, 2016
• Game time: 7:30 p.m. EDT
• Game attendance: 86,848
• TV: ESPNU

Overall record	Previous meeting	Previous winner
0–1	October 4, 1947	North Texas State, 20–12

This will be the second meeting between the two schools, with North Texas having won the only prior game, 20–12, in 1947.^[8]

Tennessee

Florida Gators at Tennessee Volunteers – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 19 Florida	7	14	0	7	28
No. 14 Tennessee	0	3	14	21	38

at Neyland Stadium • Knoxville, Tennessee

• Date: September 24, 2016
• Game time: 3:30pm EST
• Game attendance: 102,455
• TV announcers (CBS): Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson and Allie LaForce

Overall record	Previous meeting	Previous winner
26–19	September 26, 2015	Florida, 28–27

Florida engineered a thrilling fourth quarter comeback in last year's contest. Tennessee led 27–14 with 10:19 remaining in the game. The Gators scored a touchdown with 4:09 remaining, and forced Tennessee to punt on the following possession. The next drive ended when Will Grier, facing 4th-and-14 at their own 37-yard line, completed a pass to Antonio Callaway who raced to the end zone to tie the game at 27. Jorge Powell made the extra point to give the Gators a one-point lead with 1:26 remaining. On the ensuing drive, Tennessee's Aaron Medley was able to attempt a game-winning 55-yard field goal with 3 seconds remaining, but missed wide right.^[9]

Vanderbilt

Florida Gators at Vanderbilt Commodores – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 23 Florida	0	10	0	3	13
Vanderbilt	0	3	3	0	6

at Vanderbilt Stadium • Nashville, Tennessee

• Date: October 1, 2016
• Game attendance: 30,565

Overall record	Previous meeting	Previous winner
37–10–2	November 7, 2015	Florida, 9–7

Florida scored a touchdown in the first quarter of last year's game, but the extra point was missed. Vanderbilt's rush leader, Ralph Webb, ran 74-yards for a game-tying touchdown, and Hayden Lekacz made the extra point to put the Commodores ahead 7–6 to go into halftime. Every drive of the third quarter for both teams ended with a punt. Finally with 3:10 remaining in the fourth quarter, Austin Hardin made a 43-yard field goal to put the Gators ahead 9–7. The defense was able to hold off Vanderbilt on the ensuing drive, and the Gators were able to run off the final seconds to earn a 9–7 escape.^[10]

Missouri

Missouri Tigers at Florida Gators – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Missouri	0	0	7	7	14
No. 18 Florida	0	20	6	14	40

at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, Florida

• Date: October 15, 2016

Overall record	Previous meeting	Previous winner
2–2	October 10, 2015	Florida, 21–3

Last year's game saw both teams score on their opening drives – Florida with a touchdown, Missouri with a field goal. Florida would score a second touchdown in the first quarter, which after a scoreless second quarter gave the Gators a 14–3 lead over the Tigers. The Gators scored again with their third and final touchdown of the game in the third quarter, and held the Tigers scoreless through the second half, earning the Gators a 21–3 victory and 6–0 start to the season.^[11]

Georgia

Florida Gators vs. Georgia Bulldogs – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 14 Florida	7	7	7	3	24
Georgia	3	7	0	0	10

at Everbank Field • Jacksonville, Florida

• Date: October 29, 2016
• TV announcers (CBS): Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson

Overall record	Previous meeting	Previous winner
42–49–2 (per Florida) 42–50–2 (per Georgia)	October 31, 2015	Florida, 27–3

One of only two neutral-site SEC series (Arkansas–Texas A&M), Florida and Georgia have played a storied series since 1906 (though Georgia contends that they first met in 1904). The game has been held in Jacksonville since 1933, only playing a home-and-home in 1994 and 1995 due to construction of Jacksonville Municipal Stadium.
Florida drew first blood in last year's game when a muffed punt was recovered by Florida in Georgia's end zone at the end of the first quarter. Florida entered the second quarter leading 6–0 after a blocked extra point. The Gators would add to their lead in the second quarter with two touchdowns, one from Harris–Callaway touchdown pass, the other from a 3-yard run by Kelvin Taylor following Georgia quarterback Faton Bauta's second interception and went to the locker room with a 20–0 lead. Georgia would score the only points of the third quarter with Marshall Morgan's 26-yard field goal. Georgia's Faton Bauta threw his third interception of the game in the fourth quarter, and Florida with a 3-minute touchdown drive. Georgia's final drive of the game ended with a fifth interception for Faton Bauta, and Jim McElwain earned his first victory over the Gators' bitter rival in his first year.^[12]

Arkansas

Florida Gators at Arkansas Razorbacks – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 10 Florida	7	0	0	3	10
Arkansas	14	7	0	10	31

at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium • Fayetteville, Arkansas

• Date: November 5, 2016
• TV announcers (CBS): Brad Nessler, Aaron Taylor & Jenny Dell

Overall record	Previous meeting	Previous winner
9–1	October 5, 2013	Florida, 30–10

In what would end up being a season to forget for both teams – Florida went 4–8 in 2013, Arkansas went 3–9 – Arkansas visited the The Swamp for a primetime game. Arkansas scored first toward the end of the first quarter before the Gators scored 17 unanswered points in the second quarter to take a 17–7 halftime lead. Florida scored once more early in the third quarter to extend their lead to 24–7. Arkansas would later make a 30-yard field goal to decrease their deficit to 14, but Valdez Showers earned the game's final score with a 9-yard pass from Tyler Murphy, and the Gators earned what would be their last win of 2013.^[13]

South Carolina

South Carolina Gamecocks at Florida Gators – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
South Carolina	0	0	0	7	7
No. 22 Florida	7	7	6	0	20

at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, Florida

• Date: November 12, 2016
• TV announcers (CBS): Brad Nessler & Aaron Taylor

Overall record	Previous meeting	Previous winner
25–8–3	November 14, 2015	Florida, 24–14

Jim McElwain's predecessor Will Muschamp, in his first year as Steve Spurrier's full-time successor at South Carolina, will return to The Swamp for the first time since his 2014 firing from Florida.
Last year, Florida 17–0 lead to enter the fourth quarter before Pharoh Cooper and Perry Orth respectively caught touchdown passes from each other on consecutive drives. On the ensuing drive, however, Florida was able to consolidate their squandered lead, and earned the game's final score as the Gamecocks were unable to answer.^[14]

LSU

Florida Gators at LSU Tigers – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 21 Florida	0	3	7	6	16
No. 16 LSU	7	0	0	3	10

at Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, Louisiana

• Date: November 19, 2016
• TV announcers (SECN): Brent Musburger & Jesse Palmer

Overall record	Previous meeting	Previous winner
31–28–3	October 17, 2015	LSU, 35–28

The game was originally scheduled to be played on October 8 in Gainesville, but it was postponed and moved due to Hurricane Matthew's destructive path up the northeast Florida coast on October 7. Florida's home game with Presbyterian and LSU's home game against South Alabama - both previously scheduled for November 19 - were cancelled to enable the rescheduling. In return for having Florida visit Baton Rouge two years in a row, LSU agreed to play in Gainesville during both the 2017 and 2018 seasons.

Florida State

Florida Gators at Florida State Seminoles – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 13 Florida	0	3	3	7	13
No. 15 Florida State	7	3	7	14	31

at Doak Campbell Stadium • Tallahassee, Florida

• Date: November 26, 2016
• Game time: 8:07 p.m. EST
• TV announcers (ABC): Joe Tessitore, Todd Blackledge and Holly Rowe

Overall record	Previous meeting	Previous winner
34–24–2	November 28, 2015	Florida State, 27–2

The record-breaking^[15] crowd at The Swamp witnessed the lowest score Florida has ever attained in the Florida–Florida State series. After a scoreless first quarter, Roberto Aguayo made a 45-yard field goal to give the Seminoles a 3–0 lead. Sean Maguire connected with Jeremy Kerr to extend the lead to ten before the halftime break. 9:39 into the third quarter, Roberto Aguayo made his second field goal, this time from 51 yards to extend the Seminole lead to 13. Florida's offense continued to be ineffective, and it took a safety midway through the fourth quarter to put the Gators on the board, trailing by 11. However, Dalvin Cook ran for 15- and 29-yards respectively for touchdowns, the latter one coming with twenty seconds remaining in the game, and the no. 14 Seminoles embarrassed the no. 10 Gators at home 27–2.^[16]

Alabama

Florida Gators vs. Alabama Crimson Tide – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 15 Florida	9	7	0	0	16
No. 1 Alabama	16	17	7	14	54

at Georgia Dome • Atlanta, Georgia

• Date: December 3, 2016
• Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST
• TV announcers (CBS): Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson, Allie LaForce and Evan Washburn

Overall record	Previous meeting	Previous winner
14–26	December 5, 2015	Alabama, 29-15

Since defeating Alabama in the 2008 SEC Championship Game, Florida has lost the last five games against Alabama. Florida trails 14–26 in the all-time series, but has a 4–4 record when playing the Crimson Tide in the SEC Championship Game.^[17]

Personnel

Roster

2016 Florida Gators roster
Quarterbacks 11 Kyle Trask – Freshman 12 Austin Appleby – Senior 13 Feleipe Franks – Freshman 14 Luke Del Rio – Sophomore 37 Harry Gornto V – Freshman Running Backs 22 Lamical Perine – Freshman 24 Mark Thompson– Junior 25 Jordan Scarlett – Sophomore 32 Jordan Cronkrite – Sophomore 33 Tyriek Hopkins – Freshman 36 Case Harrison – Junior 37 Mark Herndon – Senior Wide Receivers  4 Brandon Powell – Junior  5 Ahmad Fulwood – Senior  9 Dre Massey – Junior 10 Josh Hammond – Freshman 16 Freddie Swain – Freshman 18 C.J. Worton – Junior 43 Glenn Jarriel – Freshman 46 Isaac O'Neal – Freshman 81 Antonio Callaway – Sophomore 83 Rick Wells – Freshman 85 Chris Thompson – Senior 87 Kalif Jackson – Freshman 89 Tyrie Cleveland – Freshman Tight Ends 16 Brian Fallace – Sophomore 30 DeAndre Goolsby – Junior 39 Ryan Ferguson – Sophomore 80 C'yontai Lewis – Sophomore 82 Moral Stephens – Sophomore 84 Camrin Knight – Sophomore Punters 19 Johnny Townsend – Junior 97 Jon Gould – Freshman		Offensive Line 51 Antonio Riles – Junior 53 Kavaris Harkless – Sophomore 54 Cameron Dillard – Junior 59 T.J. McCoy – Freshman 60 Zach Shinn – Sophomore 61 Brett Heggie – Freshman 64 Tyler Jordan – Sophomore 65 Jawaan Taylor – Freshman 66 Nick Buchanan – Freshman 67 Brandon Sandifer – Freshman 68 Richerd Desir-Jones – Freshman 69 Marcus Givens – Freshman 71 Nick Villano – Freshman 72 Stone Forsythe – Freshman 73 Martez Ivey – Sophomore 74 Fredrick Johnson – Sophomore 76 Marcel Benalcazar – Senior 77 Andrew Mike – Sophomore 78 David Sharpe – Junior Defensive Line 17 Jordan Sherit – Junior 42 Jordan Smith – Freshman 54 Khairi Clark – Sophomore 55 Thomas Holley – Sophomore 57 Caleb Brantley – Junior 62 Andrew Ivie – Freshman 70 Forrest Palmore – Sophomore 90 Antonneous Clayton – Freshman 91 Joey Ivie – Senior 92 Jabari Zuniga – Freshman 93 Taven Bryan – Sophomore 94 Bryan Cox Jr. – Senior 95 Keivonnis Davis – Sophomore 96 CeCe Jefferson – Sophomore 97 Justus Reed – Sophomore 98 Luke Ancrum – Freshman 99 Jachai Polite – Freshman Placekickers 15 Eddy Pineiro – Sophomore 34 Neil MacInnes – Senior 98 Jorge Powell – Sophomore 79 Daniel Justino - Freshman Redshirt		Linebackers 11 Vosean Joseph – Freshman 13 Daniel McMillian – Senior 25 Matt Rolin – Junior 28 Kylan Johnson – Freshman 33 David Reese – Freshman 34 Alex Anzalone – Senior 40 Jarrad Davis – Senior 41 Darius Singletary – Freshman 44 Rayshad Jackson – Freshman 45 R.J. Raymond – Sophomore 46 Will Thomas – Freshman 50 Jeremiah Moon – Freshman 52 Steven Stipe – Junior 56 Cristian Garcia – Junior 58 Jahim Lawrence – Freshman Defensive Backs  6 Quincy Wilson – Junior  7 Duke Dawson – Junior  8 Nick Washington – Junior 12 Christopher McWilliams – Freshman 14 Chris Williamson – Sophomore 20 Marcus Maye – Senior 21 McArthur Burnett – Freshman 23 Chauncey Gardner – Freshman 26 Marcell Harris – Junior 27 Quincy Lenton – Freshman 29 Jeawon Taylor – Freshman 30 Garrett Stephens – Junior 31 Teez Tabor – Junior 36 Eddie Giles - Sophomore 39 Michael Iorio – Senior 43 Mark Norvelis – Senior Joseph Putu – Junior Long Snappers 41 Ryan Farr – Sophomore 47 Jonathan Haney – Senior 49 Devin Grimm – Sophomore 49 Jacob Tilghman – Freshman

Coaching staff

Name	Position	Joined Staff
Jim McElwain	Head Coach	2015
Doug Nussmeier	Offensive Coordinator / Quarterbacks	2015
Geoff Collins	Defensive Coordinator	2015
Greg Nord	Tight Ends / Special Teams	2015
Tim Skipper	Running Backs	2015
Kerry Dixon II	Wide Receivers	2015
Mike Summers	Offensive Line	2014
Randy Shannon	Associate Head Coach / Linebackers	2015
Chris Rumph	Defensive Line	2015
Torrian Gray	Defensive Backs	2016
Mike Kent	Director of strength & conditioning	2015

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	25	RV	23	19	23	18	18	15	14	10	22	21	13	15
Coaches	25	25	23	16	21	18	14	12	12	9	16	18	13	16
CFP	Not released									11	NR	23	15	15		Not released

References

1. Thompson, Edgar (December 26, 2015). "Jim McElwain's success, Will Grier's suspension among top Gators sports stories in 2015". Orlandosentinel.com. Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
2. Goldcamp, Thomas (December 9, 2015). "Jim McElwain named 2015 SEC Coach of the Year". 247Sports.com. 247Sports. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
3. "Gators Release 2016 Football Schedule" (Press release). University of Florida Department of Athletics. October 29, 2015. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
4. "2016 Florida Gators Football Schedule". University Athletic Assoc., Inc., Fox Sports Sun, IMG College. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
5. Florida all-time record vs. UMass
6. Carter, Scott (June 9, 2016). "Spurrier's Name Added To Florida Field". FloridaGators.com. University Athletic Assoc., Fox Sports Sun, IMG College. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
7. Florida all-time record vs. Kentucky
8. http://www.winsipedia.com/florida/vs/north-texas
9. Florida all-time record vs. Tennessee
10. Florida all-time record vs. Vanderbilt
11. Florida all-time record vs. Missouri
12. Florida all-time record vs. Georgia
13. Florida all-time record vs. Arkansas
14. Florida all-time record vs. South Carolina
15. Brew, Tom (November 28, 2015). "Florida Gators set Ben Hill Griffin attendance record in showdown with Seminoles". saturdaydownsouth.com. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
16. Florida all-time record vs. Florida State
17. Florida all-time record vs. Alabama