I have meant to write this more than a few times this season — before the first game the Florida Gators played, before their games against Charleston Southern and Kentucky, and even earlier this week — but my expectations and my hopes for this fall are and were different. The expectations are pretty well captured in the win shares I’m doing. Last week, they were up; this week, they are way, way down. In between those two poles is where I was at the season’s outset. And my expectations are, well, not binding? I didn’t really know what to expect from this team in its first year in a new system before seeing that system run by this team in a non-spring game setting, and I have calibrated my assessments of this team based on two wildly different results thus far this year. I still think Florida was really good against Charleston Southern. I also think Florida was really bad against Kentucky. But my hope for this team? It really boils down to one thing. A silly thing, even. I just want this team to win enough that it can get a season highlight set to Jay Rock’s “WIN.” “WIN” is one of the best songs of the year, in my estimation — it’s not the best Jay Rock song of the year, because “King’s Dead” came out this year and you can skip Future’s verse — and, moreover, it is a fantastic sports song. Buoyed by victorious marching-band horns and skittering snares, it sounds like a championship parade. And, surprise, people in sports have picked up on that. It’s on the Madden NFL 19 soundtrack, was in a major NBA 2K19 trailer, and has been used as an instrumental bed in ESPN bumpers. It’s a tad NSFW, sure, and not exactly circumspect about the wages of winning — part of the hook is “Fuck everything else / Win, win, win, win” — or politically correct — whatever that means, at this point in human history. But as tunes for triumph go, you’re not beating “WIN” in 2018. And so, again: I just want Florida to do enough this year to make a highlight reel with “WIN” underneath or over it, instrumental or clean or dirty, less than totally laughable. Florida probably won’t be a 10-win team or champion of anything this fall. It is probably going to get stomped by Mississippi State and Georgia, and faces a bunch of other decent-to-good SEC teams. A winning record for these Gators is not assured. Still, it’s my hope that it’s possible — and that this team, even if it is not a 10-win team or a champion of anything, can set a foundation for more successful teams that could get hailed with triumphant trumpets down the road. Today, against Colorado State (4 p.m. Eastern, SEC Network or ESPN+ or WatchESPN), Florida should win — win, win, win, win. I expect that and hope for it, and I don’t think I’m wrong to do either.<doc-sep>Coming off a 16-27 home loss to Kentucky, Dan Mullen’s Florida Gators (1-1) are looking to bounce back. Colorado State, scheduled by UF as part of the agreement to hire Jim McElwain, comes in at 1-2, but the win came last week against an SEC team, Arkansas (34-27). Below, find the score, live updates and states for the Florida-Colorado State football game. Florida-Colorado State football: score, live updates, stats FINAL: Florida 48 Colorado State 10 4TH QUARTER SCORE : 6:17 – Florida RB Dameon Pierce 68-yard run for TD. XP good. Florida 48 Colorado State 10 : 6:17 – Florida RB Dameon Pierce 68-yard run for TD. XP good. SCORE : 9:21 – Florida QB Feleipe Franks 38-yard pass to Van Jefferson for TD. XP good. Florida 41 Colorado State 10 : 9:21 – Florida QB Feleipe Franks 38-yard pass to Van Jefferson for TD. XP good. SCORE: 13:25 – PR Freddie Swain 85-yard pun return for TD. XP good. Florida 34 Colorado State 10 3RD QUARTER SCORE: 11:27 – Colorado State QB K.J. Carta-Samuels 48-yard pass to Tray McBride. XP good. Florida 27 Colorado State 10 HALF: Florida 27 Colorado State 3 2ND QUARTER SCORE : 0:00 – Colorado State K Wyatt Bryan 53-yard field goal good. Florida 27 Colorado State 0 : 0:00 – Colorado State K Wyatt Bryan 53-yard field goal good. SCORE : 4:02 – Colorado State punt blocked by Florida DB Amari Burney, WR Tyrie Cleveland recovers in end zone for TD. XP good. Florida 27 Colorado State 0 : 4:02 – Colorado State punt blocked by Florida DB Amari Burney, WR Tyrie Cleveland recovers in end zone for TD. XP good. INJURY : Florida RB Malik Davis left game wearing boot on left foot. : Florida RB Malik Davis left game wearing boot on left foot. SCORE : 6:24 – Florida QB Feleipe Franks 18-yard pass to Freddie Swain for TD. XP good. Florida 20 Colorado State 0 : 6:24 – Florida QB Feleipe Franks 18-yard pass to Freddie Swain for TD. XP good. SCORE: 11:49 – Florida RB Jordan Scarlett 30-yard run for TD. XP good. Florida 13 Colorado State 0 1ST QUARTER SCORE : 2:14 – Florida K Evan McPherson 48-yard field goal good. Florida 6 Colorado State 0 : 2:14 – Florida K Evan McPherson 48-yard field goal good. SCORE: 10:48 – Florida K Evan McPherson 24-yard field goal good. Florida 3 Colorado State 0 Florida-Colorado State football: TV channel, game time, odds All times are ET. Odds via MyBookie. TV channel: The Florida-Colorado State football game will air on the SEC Network. Time: The Florida-Colorado State football game kicks off at 4 p.m. Saturday Sept. 15, 2018. Location: The Florida-Colorado State football game will be played at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Fla. Odds: Florida is favored by 21 points. The lead up SDS News: Florida offering free tickets to hurricane evacuees for Saturday’s game against Colorado State Much like Tennessee did earlier this week, Florida has extended a kind gesture ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Florence. On Thursday, the Gators announced that they are offering free tickets for Saturday’s home game against Colorado State for families that have been displaced by the impending weather. People who are residents of counties in North Carolina and South Carolina that have evacuated can claim four tickets from 12-2:30 p.m. ET on Saturday at the Gators’ season-ticket holder representative tent at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. SDS News: Dan Mullen previews Florida-Colorado State game on SEC Coaches Teleconference On CSU WR Preston Williams: He’s a great player. They move him around to get him in different spots to get him the ball. He has size and speed. He also has the ability to get yards after catch. He’s an excellent talent. Does it help you that CSU just played an SEC team? : Probably helps them a little bit more because they just played an SEC team. It probably gives them confidence coming in here. They fell behind in all there games but they fight back. What is your level of familiarity with former Georgia assistant and current CSU head coach Mike Bobo? : I know Mike but I don’t know if we’ve coached against each other much. I know we have but can’t recall… I don’t think our paths have crossed for a few years… He changes personnel really well. SDS Feature: No fluke, Florida’s loss to Kentucky shows exactly how far the Gators have fallen … and how long it will take to climb back on top<doc-sep>The Florida Gators take on the Colorado State Rams on Saturday inside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Florida will look to get back on the winning track after falling to Kentucky a week ago. Below is information on how you can follow UF's game against CSU. [What's next for the Gators? Make sure you're in the loop by signing up for our FREE Gators newsletter now!] Florida (1-1) vs. Colorado State (1-2) Kickoff: 4:00 p.m. ET at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium TV: SEC Network Live Stream: WatchESPN.Com Radio: Gators IMG Network (Station List) Listen Online: HERE Live Stats Update Online: HERE ***GAME NOTES*** • Florida and Colorado State will meet for the first time Saturday, with the Gators coming off a loss to Kentucky and the Rams fresh off a fourth-quarter surge to beat Arkansas in Fort Collins, Colo. • The Gators have won 17 consecutive games against first-time opponents, a streak that dates all the way back to the 2003 Outback Bowl, when Florida lost its first-ever meeting with Michigan. • Florida’s passing defense ranks second nationally, yielding a paltry 77.0 yards per game. Conversely, Colorado State’s passing offense ranks 10th nationally, averaging 369 yards per game. • This is not just a happenstance year either. Florida’s passing defense ranks second among all FBS teams since 2013 (178.1 yards allowed per game), while Colorado State’s passing offense ranks 21st nationally (274.8 yards per game) over the same span. • Florida has a pair of interceptions this year, and sophomore CJ Henderson snagged his fifth career pick last Saturday. Henderson is one of 24 active FBS players with five interceptions since the start of 2017. • In his final four seasons at Mississippi State, Dan Mullen went 10-5 in games following a loss. • The Gators have not finished in the top 100 in scoring offense since 2014, have not finished higher than 96th in total offense since 2010 (when they were 83rd), and their only passing offense to rank higher than 85th after the 2009 season checked in at 79th (2016). • Florida appears to have the perfect man for the job of reviving its offense, though. Mississippi State ranked 42nd (420.4 yards per game) among FBS teams in total offense from 2009-17. The nine seasons before Mullen’s arrival, the Bulldogs were 114th (313.3 yards). • In Florida’s loss to Kentucky, its defense surrendered more than 450 total yards for the ninth time since the start of the 2014 season. • Florida surrendered 300-plus rushing yards for only the sixth time since 1996 in its loss to Kentucky. The Gators last gave up more than 300 rushing yards in a loss to Georgia Southern on Nov. 23, 2013. • The Gators’ 99-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter against Kentucky was just their third scoring drive of 95-plus yards since the start of 2011. • Florida snapped a 15-game drought of scoring a touchdown on its opening drive with an 8-play, 75- yard touchdown drive on the first possession of the win over Charleston Southern.<doc-sep>
The Florida Gators had their matchup with the Colorado State Rams won in the second quarter. But they didn’t have a definitive edge in the tug of war over total yardage until the fourth — and even that was almost given back to the Rams in the waning moments of a 48-10 win that was at once a genuine blowout and closer than the score indicates. Consider this: Florida scored 17 points because of superlative special teams, with a recovery of one fumbled punt leading to a first-quarter field goal, another smothered one becoming a Tyrie Cleveland touchdown before halftime, and Freddie Swain taking a third 86 yards to the house for a touchdown in the final stanza. Consider also: Florida quarterback Feleipe Franks started his day 0-for-6, finished it 8-for-15 for just 115 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception, and got more than a third of those yards on one fourth-quarter throw to Van Jefferson. And consider, third, that Colorado State’s wretched defense bent all day, but only really broke in the fourth quarter on a 68-yard sprint by Dameon Pierce. Prior to that touchdown run, the Gators had mustered under 300 yards — and fewer than the Rams had tallied against the Gators — on what was one of the nation’s worst defenses coming into the day. They finished with 341, maybe half a drive more than Colorado State’s 310, but Florida had just 14 first downs to the Rams’ 22, and held the ball for under 22 minutes to Colorado State’s more than 38. Part of that was the product of a trio of fumbles and a fair bit of good work by Swain as a punt returner — he had a 21-yard return to go with his touchdown — setting up Florida with short fields. But those closer-than-expected tallies also owe plenty to Florida’s young and growing secondary still having painful breakdowns, Florida’s defense continuing to miss tackles, and Franks missing many passes to begin the afternoon. Florida led 27-0 in the second quarter after its blocked punt, but gave up 10 straight points on long drives that bookended halftime, and never quite had the sustained success other teams — like noted powerhouses Hawai’i and Colorado — have had against Colorado State. That all leaves Florida not far from where it stood after both of its previous games this year: These Gators have potential, and they have talent, but they also have much to learn and much growing to do. With two SEC road trips up next, they’ll either be growing up or suffering some growing pains in short order.