Florida
How Florida Gators Attack LSU Defense
Both LSU (6-3) and the Florida Gators (4-5) look worse for wear. After each suffered humiliating losses, the two SEC teams must rebound quickly. The game on Saturday means more to Florida. With three games remaining, they need two wins for bowl eligibility.
A win in The Swamp against a reeling LSU team is critical for the Gators to earn a bowl invite. For the Tigers, while they will make a bowl game, the level they became accustomed to will fall short. With three losses, the Tigers’ college playoff hopes dissipated into Baton Rouge night.
Now, with so much on the line, how does Florida attack LSU’s defense?
Feed Baugh
LSU’s defense crumbles against the run. In fact, they rank 74th in FBS against the run at 150.8 yards-per-game, which screams for a steady number of carries for Jadan Baugh. Now, it’s his time to start taking over and splitting carries is not the way.
Allowing Baugh to punish the Tigers benefits the offense. With DJ Lagway’s availability up in the air, why not alleviate the stress on the quarterback by force-feeding the running back. LSU tires and you will see arm tackles and lazy attempts that will open creases and daylight. Even using Baugh in a wildcat formation could work. Billy Napier mentioned it during media availability.
“Look, it’s a wrinkle. It worked Saturday,” said Napier. “ You know, obviously each week is a little bit different depending on who is available for the game. We got some of that built. Built some systems for that. Always available.”
Find Swinton Often
Without a doubt, Bradyn Swinton plays like LSU’s best defender, or at least their most productive. Instead of purposefully veering away from him, Florida needs to run directly at him. First, it shows a fearlessness that also displays confidence in the run game to take anyone on, regardless of stats or hype.
Next, it forces anyone else to make the play. This is not your uncle’s LSU defense, stocked with first-round picks. Furthermore, on passing downs, let Swinton through on screens as he will over pursue, allowing the back to build steam while running to daylight.
Air It Out
As mentioned, this is not a typical LSU defense. DBU looks like a boarded-up school on the side of the highway. This incarnation looks active but lacks the ball skills of their predecessors. As a result, letting a vertical route go will not bite the Gators. With all of the speed that Florida can still deploy, let the horses run. Make LSU play full-field defense. It prevents camping and sitting on routes. Fortune favors the bold and the vertical passing game holds the ticket.
Bottom Line
Granted, LSU remains a Top 25 team. Yet, that defense routinely fails to show up when it matters most. Plus, the deflating loss to Alabama could see the team spiral downward. With nothing presumably to play for in regards to a playoff spot, you could see a defensive letdown.
Teams fold when a season goal falls through. Florida, with a bowl invite within reach, needs to play the last three games with their hair on fire.
The Agrculture Department says the error rate in the SNAP food program for low-income families is high and might trigger a nearly $1 billion penalty.
Florida is not performing well when it comes to managing food assistance money.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture released its fiscal year 2025 Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program payment error rates that measure how accurately states determine who qualifies for SNAP and how much they should receive.
Florida’s error rate for 2025 was 12.97%, which covers both overpayments and underpayments. The national payment error rate for fiscal year 2025 is 10.62%. The 12.97% is more than double the federal threshold of 6% percent that Congress says is acceptable.
The result is the state will have to pay a nearly $1 billion penalty and subsequently could impact the 3 million mostly lower-income Floridians, who rely on that program. Florida is now required to submit a corrective action plan to the USDA detailing a solution.
Florida’s rate is actually down from the 15.1% error rate the year before, it’s still above a 10% threshold that would require Florida and other states to contribute to the program’s future costs. That would come to about $984 million for Florida in the fiscal year that begins in 2028.
Change is part of President Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’
This change is part of President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” that focused on finding waste, fraud and abuse in numerous federal programs.
“These payment error rates are further proof that state accountability is severely lacking in SNAP,” U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a statement.
Critics predict huge cost shift to state
The Florida Policy Institute, a nonprofit research and advocacy group, called the change a “massive cost shift” from the federal government to the state.
“Now, unless Florida lawmakers act to raise revenue to preserve SNAP and make up for the loss in federal funds, we will see a cut to SNAP program eligibility or benefits, or cuts in other areas of the state budget,” said Holly Bullard, FPI’s chief strategy and development officer.
The Legislature did approve about $4 million in the new state budget for improved methods of finding errors so the rate will go down further.
The federal bill pushed by Trump also cuts SNAP nationally by about $187 billion over 10 years. In Florida, in the first five months since the bill took effect, participation in SNAP (formerly known as food stamps) has dropped by about 10% statewide — more than 277,000 people.
Curt Anderson is the Policy and Politics Reporter for The USA TODAY NETWORK-FLORIDA. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday day by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY at https://tallahassee.com/newsletters.
A Florida tattoo shop is facing backlash following a social media post from the shop that said active-duty military members and veterans are not welcome at the company, prompting online criticism.
A June 23 post from Revival Tattoo Collective in Largo, Florida, read, “People all in their feelings because I expressed my opinion of the military and law enforcement. My opinion is that the military is a bunch of war criminals and law enforcement kills babies and unarmed citizens in the street. If you don’t like my opinion cool, but you’re not going to change it. Call me short, post records from 20 years ago, threaten the health dept, use homophobic slurs. That only proves my point and shows the true character of our military. Thanks for showing your true colors.”
The post added, “Once again for the slow ones the military. Pretty simple if you are ex military or currently serving just don’t come to the shop. You will be turned away.”
The shop was founded by Brady Martinson, who is described on the website as “a tattooist and sign painter — script, blackletter, and custom typography on skin. He treats every word as architecture: measured, weighted, and built to live a lifetime.”
A few of the replies to the controversial post appeared to agree with the sentiment, with one woman saying, “The military preys on underprivileged youth by luring them in with promises to pay for college and makes it sound like it’s their only opportunity to get ahead in life. ACAB.”
ACAB is an abbreviation for “all cops are b—-ds.”
But many of the replies were negative.
One person wrote, “This kind of thinking is disappointing and immature. Judging an entire group by the actions of a few is the same type of prejudice I’m sure you claim to oppose. (IE: Against a race, the lgbtq community, etc…) There are good and bad people in every profession and every walk of life.”
They added, “I’ve served alongside people of every background imaginable and some of the most selfless, compassionate individuals I’ve met wear a uniform. Reducing millions of military members and law enforcement officers to the worst examples among them isn’t being “woke” or smart — it’s just bias. If you are going to reject stereotypes, you should reject them consistently. Heal yourself and break this never-ending cycle of conflict among humans.”
Another person replied, “Lmao it must be so peaceful being this ignorant.”
“I don’t agree with your opinion, but that doesn’t mean I won’t fight for your right to say it. Please keep in mind that the First Amendment merely proyects [sic] you from being punished by the government for your speech. It does not protect you from the consequences of what you say,” another commentator wrote.
One person replied to the post with a gif that said, “Stop breaking the law a–hole.”
Another posted a reply saying, “I’ll go and just wont tell you till after lmao,” and Revival Tattoo Collective responded to the post with, “No you won’t.”
In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for the shop said, “Yeah I’m booked up I can’t take any clients military or civilian. Thanks for your interest on my opinion.”
Archive photos show a sea of green in Florida. What usually causes harmful algal blooms along the Sunshine State’s coasts?
Harmful algal blooms — out-of-control colonies of microscopic algae — are a “growing problem” in every “U.S. coastal and Great Lakes state,” according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
They affect the “health of people and marine ecosystems,” and can also have a detrimental effect on the economy, according to NOAA, especially in coastal communities that are particularly dependent on fishing and tourism.
Climate change, along with increases in nutrient pollution, could cause harmful algal blooms (HABs) to occur more frequently, according to the agency.
Harmful algal blooms can “produce toxic or harmful effects on people, fish, shellfish, marine mammals and birds,” NOAA’s website states. Human illnesses caused by HABs are rare, but they can be “debilitating or even fatal.”
Sea of green? Aerial photos show toxic algae blooms, including in Florida waters
What are harmful algal blooms composed of?
Harmful algal blooms can be caused by a range of organisms, NOAA states, including “toxic and noxious phytoplankton, cyanobacteria, benthic algae, and macroalgae.”
Some HABs can make wildlife-killing toxins that negatively affect fish, mammals and birds, and can also cause human sickness or death in “extreme cases.” Other blooms, while nontoxic, can consume “all of the oxygen in the water as they decay, clog the gills of fish and invertebrates, or smother corals and submerged aquatic vegetation.” Additionally, some algae can discolor water, pile up on beaches or contaminate drinking water.
What usually causes harmful algal blooms along Florida’s coasts?
In the Gulf of Mexico, especially along the west coast of Florida, HABs are most often caused by Karenia brevis, which can turn the surface of the ocean a deep red.
Although there’s no way to predict exactly when a Karenia brevis overgrowth might occur, scientists can forecast the movement of a “red tide” when it does crop up by using wind and water data, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
They can last “as little as a few weeks or longer than a year,” and how long a bloom persists in “nearshore Florida waters” depends on a variety of factors, including nutrients, salinity and sunlight, reads the FWC’s website.
Sarah Perkel is a South Florida Connect Reporter for the USA TODAY Network’s Florida Connect team. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday day by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY.
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