10/11 Orange Blue News

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In order to make sure Florida Gators-related news stories don't fall through the cracks, once or twice a week Orange & Blue News will keep you up-to-date with the latest goings on in the world of University of Florida athletics.

Gators freshman forward Savannah Jordan set a school record in her first 13 games at Florida, scoring a team-high 12 goals and earning plenty of national acclaim in the process. Her play has also earned her an invitation to the U.S. Women's National Team training camp, which will be held from Oct. 13-19 in Lakeland Ranch, FL. Jordan has been added to the USWNT's under-18 roster and will compete for a week in practices and against the under-17 team during a scrimmage set for Oct. 18 at 2 p.m. It is unknown if that will force her to miss UF's game that evening against Kentucky (set for 6:30 p.m.), but it is likely that she will be unable to play as training camp does not conclude until the following day. Jordan is the only collegian who was chosen for the U18 team.

After making some big plays on Sunday, San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Ray McDonald underwent an MRI to determine the extent of an injury he suffered to his right biceps. The team feared he had completely torn the biceps, which would have required season-ending surgery. Instead, as head coach Jim Harbaugh put it, McDonald "dodged a bullet" and only partially tore the biceps. He will play through the pain for the rest of the season, which for the 49ers could be into the new year, before having offseason surgery to address the issue.

Thursday night's contest may very well be the last high school football game played by Florida four-star wide receiver commitment Ermon Lane (Homestead, FL), who was ejected after allegedly punching a player but claims he did no such thing. "I tried to strip the guy but they say I punched him," Lane said in a tweet sent out at halftime. Because the Florida High School Athletic Association levies six-game suspensions for fighting - and Lane has four regular season games left in his career - chances are he may not step foot on the field again until a high school All-American game. His coach will certainly appeal the decision and could get Lane's suspension reduced to a single game if it is indeed determined that he did not throw a punch.

Only two games into the preseason, the Memphis Grizzlies are 0-2, but 24-year-old rookie point guard Nick Calathes is certainly not to blame. Coming off the bench as the No. 3 point guard (Memphis starts both Jerryd Bayless and Mike Conley), Calathes went 3-for-6 for 11 points with three assists, five rebounds and two steals in the opener. In the next game, he performed even better with nine points on 3-of-6 shooting, a team-high eight dimes and two rebounds. If he continues to play at this level, Calathes should have a solid impact on the Grizzlies throughout the season.

Rookie safety Josh Evans looks to be in line to start for the Jacksonville Jaguars for the remainder of the 2013 season after veteran Dwight Lowery was placed on injured reserve with a severe concussion. Evans, the second safety Jacksonville selected in this year's draft after second-round pick Johnathan Cyprien, was a bit of a luxury choice for the Jaguars, which chose him because he was too talented to pass up at the top of the sixth round. Now it is looking like that move will pay off as Evans and Cyprien might wind up solidifying and being a successful duo for a long, long time.

Stands at Tiger Stadium on Saturday will be filled with even more gold than usual as Capital One Bank has decided to hand out "Live Gold" towels to all fans entering the Florida-LSU game. Though the noise level will obviously remain just as deafening as it always is in Baton Rouge, LA, the towels should make an intense atmosphere even more electric - just take a peek at pictures from Pittsburgh Steelers games during their Super Bowl-winning seasons. The Gators are 3-3 on the road against the Tigers this century, 4-4 overall since Les Miles took over the LSU program and 1-1 against their cross-division rivals under head coach Will Muschamp.