The Florida Gators are dealing with way more than No. 8 Tennessee this week.
Hurricane Milton has definitely taken precedent.
“Obviously there are a lot of thoughts and prayers for all involved with the hurricane,” Florida third-year football coach Billy Napier said Wednesday on the Southeastern Conference’s weekly Zoom call. “We have a number of players and families who are going to be right in the middle of this thing, so we will certainly be thinking about all involved here.
“We’re right in the middle of our preparation here, and our schedule will be slightly different over the next two days.”
The university canceled classes Wednesday and Thursday. Hurricane Milton made landfall Wednesday night near Sarasota, which is about an hour south of Tampa (which is some two hours south of Gainesville).
“We moved the schedule up today to try to get everyone here sheltered before the arrival of the storm,” Napier said. “Tomorrow is a little bit to be determined based off of what type of situation we have when we wake up in the morning. Overall, it was just moving things up today, and then tomorrow we anticipate sliding things back slightly.
“We’ve had a huge influx of people in Gainesville from all the evacuations, so all the hotels are full. Right now, we’re outside the eye of the storm, and we anticipate getting more of the tropical storm type of weather.”
Athletic department operations officials have been continually meeting with university leadership, according to Napier, who added that he and his assistants are providing updates to players multiple times a day.
Florida is scheduled to play the Volunteers on Saturday night (7 on ESPN) inside Neyland Stadium.
“The most challenging part is that a lot of these guys have families who are right in the thick of it,” Napier said. “There is no question we’ll have a lot of people who will be significantly affected by this hurricane.”
Ole Miss and LSU played one of the SEC’s most entertaining games last season, with the Rebels prevailing 55-49 inside Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
That contest contained 1,343 total yards, with the Rebels averaging 8.0 yards per play and the Tigers 8.5.
“I remember bad defense by both teams,” LSU coach Brian Kelly said. “That was not as much about the prolific offenses, I think, as much as it was about bad defense by both teams to the point where Ole Miss made changes with their personnel and we made changes with our coaching staff.
“That’s what lingers for me, that and being up 49-40 with eight minutes to go in the game. It was clearly not up to the standard of what SEC defenses should look like, and both teams took action.”
Georgia coach Kirby Smart announced Wednesday that senior receiver Colbie Young, a transfer from Miami, has been suspended indefinitely following his arrest Tuesday morning on misdemeanor charges of battery and assault on an unborn child.
“I had a good meeting with him this morning,” Smart said. “We’re committed to continue to educate our players and do the best job we can of making sure they understand the serious nature of these incidents. It’s very unfortunate, but we want to be responsible in decision-making on and off the field.
“This is obviously a really tough situation.”
Remember when Michael Hawkins Jr. took over for Jackson Arnold as Oklahoma’s top quarterback during the 25-15 loss to Tennessee on Sept. 21?
Hawkins is about to become the first true freshman quarterback to start for the Sooners in the Red River Rivalry opposite Texas — and this isn’t exactly a Texas in rebuilding mode.
“I don’t even look at him like a true freshman quarterback,” Sooners coach Brent Venables said. “He’s going to have some true freshman moments throughout the course of his first season, but you can prepare him. You can talk him through it. You can paint the picture. He has some familiarity, so he’s not going to be completely caught off guard.
“He grew up in Dallas, and he’s a football junkie. I think it will bring out the best in him.”
A note on Texas: The top-ranked Longhorns have outscored opponents in the first quarter this season 56-0.
Pasquali’s Pix
South Carolina at Alabama: Every 40 years, the Crimson Tide have to bounce back from the Vanderbilt game. Crimson Tide 33, Gamecocks 13.
Georgia Tech at North Carolina: The Tar Heels were 3-0 this season until mean ol’ James Madison came along. Yellow Jackets 31, Tar Heels 24.
UTC at Furman: Mocs quarterback Chase Artopoeus is averaging 15.96 yards per completion, which ranks fourth in the Football Championship Subdivision. Mocs 20, Paladins 13.
Oklahoma vs. Texas: The SEC’s first Red River Rivalry meeting has significance with the Longhorns ranked No. 1. Longhorns 38, Sooners 19.
Mississippi State at Georgia: Jeff Lebby has lost more games this season than Kirby Smart has lost in the last four seasons. Dawgs 41, Bullies 10.
Florida at Tennessee: This nod to the Vols is far shakier than it would have been this time last week. Vols 27, Gators 22.
Ole Miss at LSU: Hard to imagine the loser of this one making the 12-team playoff. Rebels 34, Tigers 27.
Vanderbilt at Kentucky: The big-win hangover Alabama displayed last weekend now belongs to the Commodores. Wildcats 29, Commodores 10.
Other picks:
Louisiana Tech 35, MTSU 28
Memphis 26, South Florida 23
Ohio State 31, Oregon 24
Clemson 30, Wake Forest 13
Missouri 34, UMass 17
Penn State 20, USC 13
Notre Dame 35, Stanford 16
Army 38, UAB 9
Illinois 33, Purdue 16
BYU 34, Arizona 27
Louisville 30, Virginia 19
Iowa State 31, West Virginia 26
Syracuse 27, N.C. State 20
Colorado 33, Kansas State 28
Boise State 42, Hawaii 15
Pittsburgh 31, California 22
Utah 19, Arizona State 16
Winners — 18
Malachi tirades — 7
Pasquali is 119-31 overall (79.3%) this season.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.