Outback Bowl Guide Florida.Pdf
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FLORIDA BOWL MEDIA SCHEDULE DATE TIME AVAILABILITY LOCATION Tuesday, Dec. 27 6:00 p.m. SPILTSVILLE (B-roll) Splitsville at Channelside Wednesday, Dec. 28 12:00 p.m. PRESS CONFERENCE Holiday Inn Jim McElwain & Kirk Ferentz 1:00 p.m. OPEN PERIODS OF PRACTICE Practice Site 2:30 p.m. POST-PRACTICE - Players 3:00 p.m. BUSCH GARDENS (B-roll) Busch Gardens Thursday, Dec. 29 1:00 p.m. OPEN PERIODS OF PRACTICE Practice Site 2:30 p.m. POST-PRACTICE - Players 2:00 p.m. TEAM HOSPITAL VISIT (B-roll) Tampa General Hospital Friday, Dec. 30 1:50 p.m. POST-PRACTICE Practice Site Coach McElwain 11:30 a.m. CLEARWATER BEACH DAY (B-roll) Hilton Clearwater Beach Resort Saturday, Dec. 31 2:30 p.m. POST-PRACTICE Practice Site Coach Nussmeier Coach Shannon Sunday, Jan. 1 No Media Availability Monday, Jan. 2 1:00 p.m. OUTBACK BOWL Coach McElwain and Select Players available post-game Jesuit High School Holiday Inn Raymond James Stadium 4701 N Himes Ave. 700 N Westshore Blvd. 4201 N Dale Mabry Hwy. Tampa, FL 33614 Tampa, FL 33609 Tampa, FL 33607 3 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS // 8 SEC CHAMPIONSHIPS // 707 ALL-TIME WINS // 50 FIRST-ROUND NFL DRAFT PICKS // 70 FIRST-TEAM ALL-AMERICANS // 251 FIRST-TEAM ALL-SEC SELECTIONS BROADCAST INFORMATION - #UFvsIOWA ABC GAME 13 Play-by-Play: Mike Patrick JANUARY 2 // 1:00 P.M. Analyst: Ed Cunningham Raymond James Stadium (65,657) Sideline: Dr. Jerry Punch Gator IMG Sports Network Play-by-Play: Mick Hubert No. 17 Florida Gators // 8-4, 6-2 SEC Analyst: Lee McGriff Iowa Hawkeyes // 8-4, 6-3 Big Ten Sideline: Brady Ackerman THE STORYLINE MATCHUP AT A GLANCE • The University of Florida football team accepted an invi- • The Outback Bowl figures to be a low-scoring affair as UF Overall: 2-1, Florida tation to play Big Ten representative Iowa in the Outback and Iowa rank sixth and 24th in the FBS in total defense. At Neutral Sites: 1-0, Florida Bowl on January 2 in Tampa. The game will be broadcast In addition, the game has the nation’s 115th-rated In Jacksonville: 1-0, Florida on ABC at 1 p.m. offense (Florida) vs. No. 120 (Iowa). In Tampa: 1-1 • Florida is making its 43rd bowl appearance all-time • Despite UF’s loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship FLORIDA (8-4, 6-2 SEC) (21-21 overall record) and will be playing in a January Game, Florida still ranks sixth nationally (second in the Head Coach: Jim McElwain bowl game for the 27th time. The Gators have played SEC) in total defense, allowing just 298.3 yards per game. Record: 40-24 overall (5th year) 18-8 at UF (2nd year) in the Outback Bowl four times with a 2-2 record in the In addition, UF has the top pass defense in the confer- Rankings: CFP - 17 | AP - 20 | Coaches - 18 previous games. ence and the third-best in the country, allowing oppo- 2015 Record: 10-4, 7-1 SEC nents to tally just 156.3 yards per game through the air. • Florida will be facing Iowa for the fourth time in school IOWA (8-4, 6-3 BIG TEN) history, with all three matchups coming in postseason • Overall, UF still leads the SEC in team passing efficiency Head Coach: Kirk Ferentz bowl games. The Gators defeated the Hawkeyes in the defense (98.36) and ranks fourth in scoring defense (17.9) Record: 147-112 overall (21st year) 1983 Gator Bowl, 14-6, and 2006 Outback Bowl, 31-24, and sacks per game (2.50). UF’s 3,583 total surrendered 135-91 at Iowa (18th year) while Iowa defeated UF in the 2004 Outback Bowl, 37-17. yards is the sixth-lowest amount allowed in the country. Rankings: CFP - NR | AP - 21 | Coaches - 25 2015 record: 12-2, 8-0 BIG TEN • The Outback Bowl is celebrating its 31st year in Tampa • In terms of overall accuracy percentage (as calcu- Bay, and Outback Steakhouse boasts the longest title lated by Pro Football Focus) — which is completion 2016 SCHEDULE sponsor among college bowls (began in 1995). percentage adjusted for throwaways, batted passes and September (3-1) 3 UMASS W, 24-7 drops — Austin Appleby had the best numbers of any 10 KENTUCKY* W, 45-7 • This is Florida’s fifth appearance in the Outback Bowl – quarterback all season against Alabama. His accuracy 17 NORTH TEXAS W, 32-0 2003 Michigan 38, Florida 30; 2004 Iowa 37, Florida 17; percentage was 74.3 percent as he completed 26-of-35 24 at No. 14 Tennessee* L, 38-28 2006 Florida 31, Iowa 24; 2011 Florida 37, Penn State 24. passes (26-of-39 overall) for 261 yards, two touchdowns October (3-0) With that said. two of the top five crowds in Outback and three interceptions. The next best quarterback 1 at Vanderbilt* W, 13-6 Bowl history have been previous Florida-Iowa matchups. performance against the Tide in that regard was Ole 15 MISSOURI* W, 40-14 Miss’ Chad Kelly (66.7) in Week 3. 22 Bye • The Outback Bowl’s most highly rated game on televi- 29 vs. Georgia* W, 24-10 sion was its Florida vs. Penn State matchup in 2011 (7.1 on • Antonio Callaway leads the team in receiving with 666 November (2-2) ABC). Overall, UF’s two MVPs in the Outback Bowl were yards on 47 catches. The Miami, Fla. native has 82 grabs 5 at Arkansas* L, 31-10 Dallas Baker (2006) and Ahmad Black (2011). Black’s 129 overall for his career. Only Jabar Gaffney (138) and Percy 12 SOUTH CAROLINA* W, 20-7 19 at LSU* W, 16-10 interception return yards was the second-most in any Harvin (93) have caught more passes in their first two 26 at Florida State L, 31-13 bowl game in NCAA history. seasons as a Gator since 1996. December (0-1) 3 vs. Alabama in SEC Championship L, 54-16 • Florida finished 8-4 in the regular season and was the • Florida is one of 10 teams in the country to play in a January SEC Eastern Division champion with a 6-2 league mark. bowl game in 15 of the last 16 seasons. In addition, the 2 vs. Iowa in Outback Bowl (ABC) 1 PM Iowa enters the game sharing the second-place spot in Gators faced 10 bowl-eligible teams throughout the 2016 the Big Ten Western Division with a 8-4 overall record season. Home: 5-0 *SEC Games: 6-2 Neutral: 1-1 and a 6-3 mark in conference play. Away: 2-3 Non-Conference: 2-1 2016 SEASON HIGHLIGHTS SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME RECAP • UF finished 8-4 in the regular season and was the SEC Eastern Top-ranked Alabama scored five touchdowns and kicked FOOTBALL COMMUNICATIONS CONTACTS Division champion with a 6-2 league mark. two field goals on offense, scored a touchdown on defense Steve McClain Senior Associate Athletics Director [email protected] • UF clinched its second-straight SEC Eastern Division Title and has and another on special teams to hand Florida a 54-16 defeat Will Pantages Assistant Director won back-to-back Eastern Division titles for the first time since at the Georgia Dome that not only gave the reigning national [email protected] 2008 and 2009. In addition, Florida appeared in its league-record champion Crimson Tide their 25th-straight victory, but also a Herb Brooks Assistant Director 12th SEC Championship Game. third-straight league title and spot in the four-team College Football Playoff. [email protected] • Florida is now 7-5 all-time in the SEC Championship Games. For the Gators, the loss was their most lopsided since being Dan Apple Assistant Director • Jim McElwain became the first coach in league history to reach downed 62-24 in the Fiesta Bowl national-championship game [email protected] the SEC Championship in his first two seasons as a head coach. on Jan. 2, 1996. @GatorsFB // #GoGators Only McElwain, former LSU coach Les Miles (2005) and Auburn’s Throughout the entire season, the SEC Championship Game Gus Malzhan (2013) reached the title game in their first season. was the second most-watched game on any network all season, with 11,093,000 viewers tuning in. 2016 FLORIDA FOOTBALL #SWAMP16 QUICK FACTS YOUNG GATORS GENERAL INFORMATION • Through 12 games, UF has played 14 true freshmen and 22 newcomers. In the season opener against UMass, 17 of the 51 Location: Gainesville, Fla. players (33.3%) that saw action were making their Florida debut. Enrollment: 53,744 • In 26 total games under head coach Jim McElwain, true freshmen have accomplished the following… President: Dr. Kent Fuchs • 223 total games played | 55 starts on offense/defense | 17 total touchdowns | 165 rushes for 759 yards | 85 receptions for Athletics Director: Scott Stricklin 1,482 yards | 140 tackles, 14.5 tackles-for-loss, 5.5 sacks Conference: Southeastern Conference • All 16 points the Gators scored at LSU on Nov. 19 were scored by players from UF’s 2016 recruiting class. Eddy Pineiro had Nickname: Gators 10 and freshman Tyrie Cleveland has six. Meanwhile, UF recovered two fumbles, the only two turnovers of the game, as Colors: Orange (PMS 172) & Blue (PMS 287) redshirt freshman Kylan Johnson and freshman Vosean Joseph scooped up both balls. Finally, of Florida’s 81 tackles in last Stadium (Capacity): Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (88,548) Saturday’s game, 37 of them (45%) were registered by freshman or sophomores. Surface: Grass • In 2016, Florida returned 50 letterwinners and 16 starters.