2022 Orange & Blue Postgame Notes
Orange 0, Blue 34 April 14, 2022
Quick Hits
⬥ With its 34-0 victory, Team Blue improves its all-time Orange & Blue Game record to 13-11, snapping Team Orange’s win streak of three games.
⬥ Team Blue held Team Orange scoreless, which marks the second time in the game’s history where a team has scored zero points. The only other time a team has been held scoreless was in 2017 when Team Orange defeated Team Blue with a score of 31-0.
⬥ Adam Mihalek’s 52-yard field goal tied the longest field goal in Orange and Blue Game History (Chris Hetland ’06 and Eddie Pinerio ’16). Miahlek also nailed a 48-yard field goal in the fourth quarter and was 4-4 on extra point attempts. Offensive Trends & Notes
⬥ Anthony Richardson (Team Blue) threw for 207 yards and two passing touchdowns on 18-of-24 passing along with one rushing touchdown.
⬥ For Team Orange, Jack Miller accounted for 121 yards passing and zero touchdowns on 13-23 passing along with one interception.
⬥ Freshman Montrell Johnson led Team Blue’s rushing attack with 55 yards and one rushing touchdown on 13 carries, while Demarkcus Bowman led Team Orange in rushing with 61 yards on 17 carries. Defensive Trends & Notes
⬥ Donovan McMillon (Team Blue) recorded an interception while Mordecai McDaniel and Tyreak Sapp (Team Blue) each forced a fumble.
⬥ Jalen Kimber (Team Blue) had an interception along with two pass breakups and six tackles (four solo).
⬥ Mordecai McDaniel led Team Blue with eight tackles, while Amari Burney led Team Orange with 11 tackles.
⬥ Justus Boone, Gervon Dexter, Ventrell Miller and Princely Umanmielen (Team Orange) all notched solo sacks. Receivers/Tight Ends Duel
⬥ Both teams combined for 328 passing yards with 13 different players making a catch o Ja’Quavion Fraziars (Team Orange) and Dante Zanders (Team Blue) each had game and led their team’s in catches (5) and receiving yards. Zanders totaled 56 yards and Fraziars 53 o Seven players all had multi catch outings.
⬥ Noah Keeter (Team Blue) tallied three catches for an average of 17.7 yards per catch and a touchdown, including the games longest reception of 29 yards.
⬥ Ja’Markis Weston (Team Blue) recorded the first score of the spring game with a 19 yard catch from Anthony Richardson in the 1st quarter. Celebrity Appearances
⬥ Former Gator Titus O’Neil introduced the Gators at the beginning of the game.
⬥ Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Heisman Finalist, Kyle Trask was also in attendance in The Swamp Big Plays
⬥ Keon Zipperer (Orange): 28-yard reception from Jack Miller, 1st quarter
⬥ Noah Keeter (Blue): 29-yard reception from Anthony Richardson, 2nd quarter
⬥ Montrell Jonson (Blue): 10-yard rush, 2nd quarter
⬥ Anthony Richardson (Blue): 12-yard rushing touchdown, 3rd quarter Spring Team Awards
⬥ Channing Chowder Headhunter Award Diwun Black Jordan Young Ethan White Ja’Quavion Fraziars
⬥ Chris Doering I Like to Practice Award Justin Shorter Donovan McMillon Tyreak Sapp Daejon Reynolds
⬥ Jack Youngblood Defensive Lineman Award o Gervon Dexter
⬥ Lomas Brown Offensive Lineman Award Kingsley Eguakun
⬥ Joe Haden Defensive Back Award Tre’Vez Johnson Jason Marshall Jr.
⬥ Emmitt Smith Running Back Award Montrell Johnson
Danny Wuerffel Most Improved Player Dante Zanders Michael Tarquin Derek Wingo Jaydon Hill Princely Umanmielen
⬥ Tim Tebow Leadership Award Rashad Torrence II Marco Ortiz Trent Whittemore Nay’Quan Wright
⬥ Vernell Brown Culture Award Amari Burney Antwaun Powell-Ryland Jr. Jeremy Crawshaw Richard Gouraige Desmond Watson
⬥ Steve Spurrier Commitment to Excellence Award Trey Dean III O’Cryus Torrence Brenton Cox Jr. Lorenzo Lingard
⬥ Reidel Anthony Receiver Award Xzavier Henderson
⬥ Wilber Marshall Linebacker Award Ventrell Miller
⬥ Community Service Award Chief Borders Josh Braun
⬥ Louis Oliver Outstanding Non-Scholarship Player Award Adam Mihalek Noah Keeter Kahleil Jackson Taylor Spierto Justin Curtis Mark Pitts Justin Pelic
⬥ Fred Taylor Most Improved Freshman Award Jack Miller III Kamryn Waites Justus Boone Austin Barber Devin Moore Scooby Williams
Other
⬥ Men’s Basketball Head Coach Todd Golden & Women’s Basketball Coach Kelly Rae Finley served as Celebrity Head Coaches for the game
⬥ Today’s officials included Ed Balbis, Michael Farmer, Matt Hill, Brian Holland, Mike Moten, Antonio Smith, Jason Vinson and Ken Williamson
⬥ Attendance: 45,000 2022
Florida Football Postgame Quotes Billy Napier, Florida Head Coach Orange 0, Blue 34 April 14, 2022
Opening statement
“Talking with Anthony before the game… You take the field there, you run out of the tunnel, you go to your sideline, Anthony is warming up there before the game, and I think to me with what I said to him, it applies to our entire organization… ‘That urgency you feel right now, the I want to perform, I want to do my job to the best of my ability for the team’, we need that same level of urgency between now and the first opportunity in the fall. So, every day with each opportunity we have to improve, all season and through the summer, every meeting, every walk-through rep, every practice rep, we have to take full advantage of. The players all want to play well, but they have a lot of eyes on them. But more importantly, what we have to learn is about what we do when nobody is watching – the discipline we live life with, the integrity that we approach things with, the effort… We have a way to go in that area. I do want to compliment our fans and our student body. Thursday night football in Gainesville, Florida… It was electric out there. I think it was even better than I expected to be honest with you. I’m very thankful for the support. We made a decision to move the game and they rallied behind that and showed up. We had a great group of recruits here today as well, and hopefully we can capitalize from that. I think this was a little bit of a midterm exam. We’ve worked our way through phase one, phase two and phase three, and now we get to regroup and assess where we’re at. Our players are getting ready to move into the reload period, the discretionary period, where we have exit meetings and talk about strengths and weakness, things to work on. There will be a very specific plan for our team to improve. I’m very pleased with what I’ve observed up until this point, but we are certainly not content with what we have done. Going forward here, it’s about improvement, and I think it’s a great opportunity to learn – we can learn from the things we did well and the things that we can do better, and we have to focus on improving from this point forward.”
On Anthony Richardson’s performance…
“I can’t say enough – his approach has been first class. When I think about a quarterback, I think about a person who represents everything the organization is about. At the highest level of football, the quarterback is the face of the organization and they set the greatest example with their work ethic, their attention to detail, their self-discipline and their approach. He’s a product of his work. He learned a new system, and out there, it wasn’t too big for him. He communicated well, the ball went where it was supposed to go, he was accurate, the players around him played well, the blocking was clean, and our guys made plays on the ball. It was a good day. To win, you need good quarterback play and good quarterback efficiency, and certainly he played well today.”
On Diwun Black’s impact this spring…
“What you see out there is what we’ve been observing each day. The guy has some height and length. He is very instinctive… Even when he’s wrong a little bit, he can make it right and make plays. He is productive on a consistent basis. One thing I will say about Diwun Black – during the identity program, I wrote his name down multiple days. He’s probably the gold standard when it came to effort in the program. The guy has really bought in. I’ll say this, he’s completely changed his reputation in the building relative to his attitude, his work ethic, and how he goes about his business. He’s really, academically, had a decent semester. He needs to continue to work hard, and I am very pleased. I mean, what you see out there is what we’ve observed every day at practice. It’s amazing to me how a guy that’s physically gifted – and we have a lot of physically gifted players and talent – but it’s about who you are as a person. I firmly believe that better people make better football players. If we can focus on the intangibles, and these guys live the right way and go about things the right way, football will come. I think he’s a good example of that.”
On his grades of the offense and defense…
“That’s a hypothetical. The good thing is, we don’t have to actually give a grade. So, I think it’s more of an assessment. I can’t compliment the players’ work ethic and their competitive spirit enough. One thing about this group is, when you put the ball down, they’re going to compete. I think tonight, you could see that. The practice field has been full of emotion, energy, and passion, and we have to funnel all that toward execution, poise and discipline – This is where we need to make progress. I think they want to do well, but we have to channel all of that energy and emotion into the things that will help us play better. Ultimately, it’s about doing your job when it counts. Our job as coaches is to recreate the game during practice. We have some work to do to help this group get to where they want to go.”
On Montrell Johnson as he adjusts to this new environment…
“Montrell is extremely bright and picks things up quickly. He was a very productive back for us last year, I think he rushed 800 or 900 yards and was the conference Player of the Year. He belongs out there. I think he’s 5-11 and a half and weighs 217 pounds. He hit 21 miles an hour last year in a game, so he’s got a big lower half, he’s got contact balance, he can protect and he can catch. The point right there at the end, we had two running backs get injured… What if we didn’t have Montrell Johnson out there? I think that’s where we were able to take advantage of the portal and bring in a player that allows us to practice. We’ll be excited to get Nay’Quan back, he’s certainly going to bring something to our team. But, Montrell is what the doctor ordered and he is going to provide depth and production for our team.”
2022 Florida Football Postgame Quotes Florida Student-Athletes Orange 0, Blue 34 April 14, 2022
#15 Anthony Richardson, Sophomore, Quarterback On his performance tonight…
“I felt like I played good. My main focus was just being consistent and fast. I have some good highs and some bad lows, so I just had to find the midpoint out there and be consistently smart.”
On running the offense…
“I can’t really say it’s easy. Some of it I’m not that familiar with it, that comfortable with. It’s kind of hard to say it was easy. Just got to do extra work on their own or you can get in with the coaches and try to learn like that. I feel like if you put in the work, time, and effort then you’re going to catch on to it pretty fast.
On the offensive tempo…
“Honestly, I love the tempo. I talk to the offensive line before every drive, every series and let them know we got to play smart, we got to play fast, we got to be precise. In this offense, you ruin one thing and you mess up the whole play. I just tell them they got to play fast and play precise. If we do that, I don’t think anybody could stay with us, so our tempo is pretty fast. We should know the plays. Honestly, I love the tempo.”
#48 Noah Keeter, Redshirt Sophomore, Tight End On the transition…
“I transitioned from outside backer to tight end right before spring ball started. I knew we were kind of slim in the room. A few guys left. We had Gage, who got hurt, so he’s not here anymore. As spring ball came, guys started getting hurt so I wanted to take a role, step up, and kind of fill in for guys who were hurt. It’s been exciting, the transition. I never thought I would actually be catching passes in The Swamp. It’s kind of surreal honestly. I really enjoyed it. Coach Peagler has been great. He’s been awesome.”
On scoring a touchdown…
“On that play, I ran it earlier and I was open on a couple. I knew I was going to get open. I saw the defensive end, he kind of crashed down and I felt myself come open. I just looked back and that ball was right there. It kind of felt like I wasn’t supposed to catch it, it was happening for real. But once I got it, I tried to celebrate but it wasn’t very good.”
On his tight end experience…
“I played a little bit freshman and sophomore year, but they didn’t really need a tight end on offense. We kind of didn’t run the tight end, so I played mostly defense throughout the rest of my career. Anthony [Richardson] was my first sack. He’s a lot faster now.”
#2 Montrell Johnson, Sophomore, Running Back On his transfer to Florida…
“It really wasn’t quick. I was still focusing on our bowl game, trying to win that. I was still focused on ending the season right. After the season, I didn’t think about it as much. I knew I could play at a higher level. I knew that Florida was one of those places I could be at.”
On what he needs to do to prove he belongs in the SEC…
“I’ve just got to put numbers up. You know, numbers don’t lie. I’ve just got to put numbers up and keep being humble, that’s all.”
On strengths of his game…
“I think one of my strengths is I’m a very patient runner. I wait to see when a hole is going to open up and I burst through it. That’s one of my strengths. I’ll say I can work on my speed.”
On the first impression of practice and the caliber of the SEC…
“Like I said, I was very under-recruited coming out of high school. I feel like I can play with those guys. It felt the same as the Sunbelt, but there’s a difference. I felt comfortable out there and very confident. I’m going to keep grinding and get better.”
On what goes into being a great team…
“Being disciplined. Doing the right thing off the field, stuff like that. Stuff in the classroom, but it’s really the stuff off the field that you’ve got to get more disciplined in and that’s what we’re working on.”
#31 Jordan Young, Redshirt Freshman, Cornerback On moving the game to Thursday night…
“It was amazing. Last year when I came in, we didn’t even have one because of COVID. This year we were just excited to be able to see the fans and just to be on the field with my teammates, playing against my teammates, and just having a good time.”
On where you think this defense is going to improve the most…
“All around. I can’t give you a specific position. I feel like all of the coaches are working together and all the coaches that Napier brought in are just making the defense take a whole 360 turn around. Everybody just buying in and working every day to get better and better.”
On what he thought of his performance…
“I felt like I did well. I put my trust in God and just went out there and played. My teammates went out there and balled, too. They were calling certain things for everyone to make a great impact on both offense and defense. We just went out there and had a good game.”
On where he made the most individual improvement from last year…
“Just getting in the playbook. I definitely think that was the biggest thing coming from high school to college. Just the playbook and the plays, just studying and learning them. I definitely dedicated my time to that this year. Just playing with my teammates and just focusing more.”
On how confident the team is in Anthony Richardson…
“We are 100% behind our quarterback and behind every quarterback. We are 100% behind anybody that puts on that Gator uniform. We love him.”
On if he played mostly star last year…
“Yes. I came in as a corner. We had a lot of corners last year and we needed help in the Star position, and I came in and found a role. So, I mostly played Star position.”
#15 Derek Wingo, Sophomore, Linebacker On Anthony Richardson...
“He’s a leader. He’s earned a lot of respect from this team and everyone trusts him. Going against him, you have to be aware that he can just take off and run and make those big plays down the field. He is a guy that can get off on the run and make a side-arm throw and hit it across the field. He is the last person out of the building and the first person in.”
On how Anthony Richardson has grown over the offseason…
“I have seen him grow dramatically. Covering a guy who is a vocal leader on the field, he is really able to gather guys around him. Everybody looks up to him and he has a lot of respect around this program. Everyone is really looking forward to him and to us as a team to be able to go out there and compete. I’ve been able to see him grow since I got here. I feel like it's an honor to be around him every day and to compete against him every day. That’s something that has been really good.”
On Anthony Richardson’s wow moments over the season throwing the ball…
“Yeah, I would say running the ball, too. For him to, on a third and long, to be able to break away and take off running with his speed and ability. Being able to get down the field and get those first downs, that’s something that is always amazing and an eye-catcher.”
On winning 34-0 against the Orange Team…
“It was good to get out there and compete with all these guys. At the end of the day, we are on the same team when we compete. We are really excited, this is our first time being able to be in The Swamp together with our new coaching staff and everything. We have a lot of film that we still have to go over and a long way until fall camp. We are really excited to get back in here and go over the film and make the corrections to get better.”
On the improvements in the linebacker room…
“I would say Coach Bateman is doing a great job. We do a lot of tackling drills. I know that is a big thing that everyone has been looking forward to this season is how we can tackle well. Coach Bateman has been very strict about that. How we are tackling and how are making angles to the ball. Just being able to break down the film every day. We are doing a lot of extra meetings and stuff like that. We have been meeting on our own and we have veteran guys in our room like Ventrell Miller and Amari Burney. It doesn’t get better than that, guys who have been here for a long time and played a lot of good football. To learn and get experience from them and have them teach us younger guys makes us better at the end of the day.”
