Connect with us

Florida

After the Deion debacle, UCF is even more threatening to Florida football

Published

on

After the Deion debacle, UCF is even more threatening to Florida football


play

ORLANDO – The answer to Florida’s immediate football worries has become clear. Somehow, get Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter into Gator uniforms by this Saturday.

They wore Colorado uniforms over the weekend and ruined UCF’s big coming out party. The same UCF that loomed as a uniquely existential threat to Florida football and Billy Napier.

Advertisement

“We didn’t get it done,” coach Gus Malzahn said. “We got outcoached and outplayed.”

Outcoached by Coach Prime? Outplayed by a 13½-point underdog?

“It hurts,” quarterback K.J. Jefferson said.

The strange thing is that by losing 48-21 to Deion U., the Knights could be even more of a threat to Florida’s ego and Napier’s job security.

It would have been bad enough to lose to an unbeaten and ranked UCF team. Imagine if the freshly humiliated Knights stick it to the Gators at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium?

Advertisement

“We’re going to beat them good,” Jackson Morse said.

Of course, he said that about five hours before the Colorado kickoff. Morse was one of millions of UCF fans who showed up for Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff show on campus.

There weren’t really millions. It just felt that way, and they weren’t just thinking about the Buffaloes.

Beating Colorado with Fox Nation watching would have heralded UCF’s arrival as Big 12 power and playoff contender. That would have been nice, but nothing gets the black-and-gold blood flowing like beating the Gators.

Advertisement

“I have friends who are Florida alumni that I would love to be able to mock,” Jack Dolan said.

He and his wife, Pat, have been Knights fans for 30-plus years. They remember when Gator fans considered UCF an instate version of Tennessee Tech.

A lot still do, despite the fact UCF won the 2017 national championship. Sort of. The Knights have a banner at FBC Mortgage Stadium to prove it.

Nobody in Gainesville recognizes that accomplishment, which helps fuel UCF’s case of Little Brother Syndrome. You know, Little Bro feels he should be considered a worthy rival, but Big Bro barely notices he’s alive.

It played out in scheduling. UCF wanted a home-and-home series, but Florida wouldn’t do that for non-Power Five schools.

Advertisement

That triggered years of social media mockery and sniping. UCF finally agreed to play twice in Gainesville (2024 and 2033) and once in Orlando (2030).

The contract was signed in 2021. UF had gone to three straight New Year’s Day bowls and Dan Mullen was considered a genius.

The Knights were coming off a six-win season, and Malzahn had just been rescued from the Auburn scrap heap.

“I’ll play out in the parking lot,” Malzahn said. “I just want to play them and beat them.”

That came sooner than anyone imagined. Florida’s program unraveled and Mullen was fired. The Gators accepted a Gasparilla Bowl bid against UCF.

Advertisement

Anyone remember Greg Knox?

He was the interim coach who lost to Tennessee Tech 29-17. Watching from the Raymond James Stadium sideline that night was Florida’s prized new hire.

“We’ve got an incredible challenge in front of us,” Napier said. “But we’re excited.”

Three years later, the excitement is gone. The challenge definitely is not.

Advertisement

From an X-and-O standpoint, Saturday doesn’t look quite as challenging. Not after Shedeur Sanders tossed three touchdown passes against UCF and Hunter struck a Heisman pose to the deflated crowd.

“This week, we’ll find out truly who we are,” Malzahn said.

We pretty much know who the Gators are.

On the field, it doesn’t appear they are much better off than the last time they played UCF. At least then, Florida fans could point to a program in transitional disarray.

“Now,” Pat Dorsey said, “there are no excuses.”

Advertisement

Especially after Deion rolled into Orlando and made UCF look like Little Brother.

If Big Brother can’t do the same in Gainesville, the mocking may never end.

David Whitley is The Gainesville Sun’s sports columnist. Contact him at dwhitley@gannett.com. Follow him on X @DavidEWhitley



Source link

Advertisement

Florida

Traffic stop goes viral after Florida deputy accuses driver missing right hand of holding phone

Published

on

Traffic stop goes viral after Florida deputy accuses driver missing right hand of holding phone


PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Video of a traffic stop in Palm Beach County is going viral over an awkward exchange between the driver and a deputy who accused her of holding a phone while driving.

Leer en español

“You drove past me holding a phone with your right hand, manipulating that phone,” the deputy tells 36-year-old Kathleen “Katie” Thomas.

“Obviously not,” Thomas says while laughing and holding up her right arm, showing that she’s missing her right hand.

Advertisement

“So you wanna call this a day?” she asks.

“I don’t want to call this a day. You had a hand up, manipulating,” the deputy responds.

“You just said my right hand,” Thomas counters.

“Well, I thought I saw your right hand,” the deputy says.

“So you didn’t,” Thomas responds.

Advertisement

Thomas posted the bodycam footage on Instagram and TikTok where it gained millions of likes.

In the video, although she shows the deputy she doesn’t have a right hand, the deputy doubled down.

“I’m asking you now; did you or not have your phone in your hand?” the deputy asks.

“I did not,” Thomas responds.

“You did not have your phone in your hand?” the deputy asks again.

Advertisement

“I did not,” Thomas responds.

“Hand to God, you didn’t have a phone in your hand?” the deputy asks.

“Hand to God,” Thomas says.

Court records show Thomas was given a $116 citation despite the presented evidence, but it was later dismissed at the request of the deputy involved.

Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.





Source link

Continue Reading

Florida

Blue Origin New Glenn rocket explodes on launch pad in Florida

Published

on

Blue Origin New Glenn rocket explodes on launch pad in Florida


A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket exploded Thursday night on a launch pad at Cape Canaveral in Florida. 

The explosion occurred at about 9 p.m. ET. Blue Origin said there were no injuries from the incident. 

“We experienced an anomaly during today’s hotfire test,” Blue Origin said in a statement. “All personnel have been accounted for. We will provide updates as we learn more.”

Cape Canaveral Space Force Station also confirmed in a separate statement that “all personnel have been accounted for and there were no injuries/fatalities.”

Advertisement

A Blue Origin rocket explodes on a launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida. May 28, 2026. 

SPACEFLIGHTNOW


Blue Origin was scheduled to fuel the rocket Thursday evening ahead of a planned test firing of the rocket’s engines.

Blue Origin, which is owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, successfully launched its third New Glenn rocket last month.

Advertisement

This rocket was being prepared for the fourth New Glenn mission as soon as June 4 to launch 48 satellites for Amazon’s Leo internet service, which competes with Elon Musk’s Starlink. 

The 48 satellites were not aboard the rocket during the test. It was not immediately clear how much damage the launch pad and ground equipment sustained, or how long it might take to repair it.

Space Launch Complex 36, where the explosion occurred, is the only launch pad equipped to launch New Glenn rockets.

The New Glenn rocket is key to Blue Origin’s and NASA’s moon base plans, and the explosion will likely be a setback. Next year, the New Glenn is supposed to launch another Blue Moon lander as part of the Artemis III mission in low Earth orbit.

In a social media post, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman wrote, “Spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extraordinarily difficult. We will work with our partners to support a thorough investigation of this anomaly, assess near-term mission impacts, and get back to launching rockets.”  

Advertisement

The New Glenn rocket had just been cleared on May 22 to return to flight after being grounded by the Federal Aviation Administration after an anomaly with the second stage during an April 19 launch.

In a statement Thursday, the FAA said it was aware that the rocket had “experienced an anomaly during a static fire test on the pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida,” adding that the “test was not within the scope of FAA licensed activities.”

The FAA also noted that “there was no impact to air traffic” from the explosion. 

Bezos wrote on X Thursday night, “It’s too early to know the root cause but we’re already working to find it. Very rough day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It’s worth it.”

Musk wrote: “Sorry to see this, I hope you recover quickly.”

Advertisement



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Florida

Florida to pay Sumrall’s assistants a combined $11.2M in 2026

Published

on

Florida to pay Sumrall’s assistants a combined .2M in 2026


GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida coach Jon Sumrall’s assistants will make a combined $11.2 million in 2026, a significant investment for a program desperate to win more often.

Offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner tops the list after signing a three-year, $6.6 million contract to leave Georgia Tech and join Sumrall in Gainesville. Faulker will get $2.1 million in 2026 – the first $2 million coordinator in school history – and has a $100,000 raise set for each of the next two years.

Only six college offensive coordinators were paid $2 million or more in 2025, according to CBS Sports. Fifteen defensive coordinators topped $2 million.

Advertisement

Florida defensive coordinator Brad White signed a three-year, $5.85 million deal that starts at $1.85 million and also includes a $100,000 raise in 2027 and 2028.

The Gators released the contracts Thursday in response to a public records request.

Sumrall signed a six-year, $44.7 million contract last year that averages $7.45 million annually. The Gators will dole out more than $20 million to Sumrall, his staff of 15 assistants and a front office led by new general manager Dave Caldwell.

Four of the assistants are scheduled to earn at least $1 million during their deals.

Defensive line coach Gerald Chapman and offensive line coach Phil Trautwine will join Faulker and White in the seven-figure club. Chapman, the lone holdover from former Florida coach Billy Napier’s staff, will make $950,000 this year and $1 million in 2027. Trautwine, meanwhile, starts at $750,000 and jumps to $1 million. Both signed two-year deals.

Advertisement

Their salaries show Sumrall’s commitment to rebuilding the team along both lines of scrimmage in the powerhouse Southeastern Conference.

Napier’s 12-man coaching staff was paid a combined $7.5 million in 2025. The Gators posted three losing seasons in Napier’s four years.

The rest of Sumrall’s staff range between making $350,000 and $600,000 annually, all of them on two-year contracts.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending