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Pasquali’s Pix: Vols, Horns, Huskers to win intriguing showdowns

Florida Athletics photo by Billy Napier / Florida third-year football coach Billy Napier dropped to 11-15 with the Gators following Saturday's 41-17 loss to Miami in Gainesville. Florida Athletics photo by Billy Napier / Florida third-year football coach Billy Napier dropped to 11-15 with the Gators following Saturday's 41-17 loss to Miami in Gainesville.

By David Paschall September 4, 2024 5 min read

Brian Kelly slamming tables.

Billy Napier struggling to open water bottles.

Oh, the horrors of 0-1 starts when you’re in the Southeastern Conference.

LSU and Florida are regrouping after opening weekend losses, with Kelly’s Tigers snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in a 27-20 loss to Southern California in Las Vegas and with Napier’s Gators getting run out of the Swamp 41-17 by Miami. Both teams have get-well games this Saturday, with LSU hosting Nicholls and Florida hosting Samford.

Since their scorching run to the 2019 season’s national championship, the Tigers have lost five consecutive openers, including all three under Kelly.

David Paschall

David Paschall has covered sports at the Chattanooga Times Free Press since 1999 and wrote for the Chattanooga Free Press in the nine years before that. David has mostly covered college athletics, with a focus on the University of Georgia from 2000 to 2019 and the University of Tennessee since 2020. He grew up in Chattanooga and is a graduate of the Baylor School and Auburn University. David has received multiple writing awards and has served as a Heisman Trophy voter since 2003. He has also worked in radio in Chattanooga and has been on the SEC Network's "Classic Rewind" series since 2014. David and his wife, Kelly, have three children — Conner, Emily and Spencer.

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.