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Your all in one source for everything Gator! - The GATOR NATION Source
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Gator Sports Archive - August 2007
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Credited Sports Sources:
espn.com, msn.foxsports.com, gainesvillesun.com, ufl.edu, alligator.org, gatorsports.com,
jacksonville.com, tbo.com, orlandosentinel.com, gatorzone.com, floridatoday.com, miamiherald.com |
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Sunday 8/5: 2:30 pm - 4:30 pm and 7:40 pm -9:40 pm
Monday 8/6: 5 am - 7am and 5:50 pm - 8 pm
Tuesday 8/7: 5:50 pm - 8 pm
Wednesday 8/8: 5:50 pm - 8 pm
Thursday 8/9: 5:50 pm - 8 pm
Friday 8/10: 5:50 pm - 8 pm
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Gator Football - 8/1/07
Fall Practice Schedule Announced For Public
The following practices are open to the public and will be held at the UF football practice field area just north of the
O'Dome and Perry Field. All Gator football practices are closed to the media and the public after August 10th. The public is not allowed to videotape football practice. |
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Source: gatorzone.com 8/1/07
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Gator Soccer - 8/2/07
Booth to boost Gators in new season
By DANNY KLEIN - Alligator Staff Writer
Play hard. Play smart. Play together.
Outlined in large letters on the far right side of the field, these are the three sentiments driving the UF women's soccer
team.
When senior defender Melanie Booth arrived at the team's practice facility Wednesday, she wore a familiar blue jersey
with the customary No. 13 on the back. |
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Gator Football - 8/3/07
NCAA pushes back kickoff position
By BRYAN JONES - Alligator Staff Writer
When the NCAA scrapped the new clock rules it instituted prior to last season, it appeared as if their obsession with
shortening game times was put on hold.
It wasn't.
In a second effort to cut down on the length of games, the NCAA has decided to push back the placement of the ball on
kickoffs from the 35-yard line to the 30-yard line.
In addition, the play clock will be reduced from 25 seconds to 15 seconds following a television timeout.
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Gator Football - 8/8/07
Caldwell relishes new leadership role
By DANNY KLEIN - Alligator Staff Writer
For Andre Caldwell and the rest of the UF football team, it's off to the races.
In the heat of preseason practice, a new challenge is brewing. And Caldwell has no intention of backing down.
"I don't know who the fastest is," Caldwell said after practice. "It's probably me, Percy (Harvin) and (Louis) Murphy. We
never race, but I'll go against them, I ain't scared."
When asked if he were willing to organize this heavyweight battle, Caldwell shrugged and told reporters it wasn't likely.
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Gator Football - 8/8/07
UF's Tebow tripped up at the start
BY JOSEPH GOODMAN - miamiherald.com
GAINESVILLE -- If football fans believe in omens, then Florida received a bad one Sunday. The Tim Tebow Show nearly
ended before it even began.
The defending national-champion Gators started their fall training camp Sunday. Practice began at 7:40 p.m., and players
started jogging onto the field about five minutes early. And then in comes Tebow, the sophomore quarterback, The Chosen One, the Heisman Trophy candidate, the player who didn't even make it onto the practice field before falling on his back.
More than 500 fans attended practice Sunday night and several dozen watched in horror as Tebow wiped out while running
down a concrete incline that leads to the practice field. |
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Gator Football - 8/10/07
Early honor for UF freshman safety
BY JOSEPH GOODMAN - miamiherald.com
GAINESVILLE -- Safety Major Wright became the first freshman of fall training camp to remove his helmet's stripe.
One of Florida coach Urban Meyer's preseason traditions is the removal of a narrow black stripe pasted down the center
of the freshmen's helmets. Wright lost his stripe Wednesday night after Meyer reviewed the practice film of Wright's open-field tackle of freshman running back Chris Rainey. Wright leveled Rainey with a vicious head-to-head collision.
''We went ahead and broke tradition and took [the stripe] off last night,'' Meyer said Thursday. ``That was unbelievable
on film. When I saw it, I had to show the team and take [the stripe] off right then.'' |
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Gator Football - 8/13/07
DT Estopinan back on track again
After recuperating from his third knee injury, defensive tackle Javier Estopinan is back as a starter and ready to
be a team leader.
BY JOSEPH GOODMAN - miamiherald.com
GAINESVILLE -- Javier Estopinan usually doesn't wear a beard. But for the past three days the otherwise tough Florida
defensive tackle says he has been scared to shave his face.
Estopinan split his chin during practice earlier this week. Blending in with his black whiskers are three blue stitches.
''It's football,'' Estopinan said. ``These things happen.''
For Estopinan, a South Miami alum, the reality of that statement is all too real. The defensive lineman is back on the
football field this fall after his third knee injury in two years. |
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Gator Football - 8/14/07
Gators' Meyer names his starting offensive line
BY JOSEPH GOODMAN - MiamiHerald.com
Florida coach Urban Meyer named his starting offensive line Monday after the Gators' morning session. Florida practiced
twice.
Pencil in Jason Watkins at left tackle. Watkins, a redshirt junior, continues to impress coaches during fall training camp.
The addition of Watkins to the offensive line pushes Carlton Medder to right guard. Medder started all 14 games during the 2006 season at right tackle. |
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Gator Sports - 8/16/07
Meyer, Donovan seek balance as Gator coaches
By Jon Saraceno, USA TODAY
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - In the sultry lull of summertime, a pair of bull gator buddies revel in the night. Life in the Florida
swamp, in this case an exclusive gated community of estate homes, is very good, and not simply because Billy Donovan and Urban Meyer represent the highest-paid college coaching tandem in America.
The two high-motor, obsessive-type coaches lollygag around a granite-top kitchen island, discussing the joys and pains
of their profession. Discretionary time is scarce for them, so this is a rare moment: Billy and Urban - neighbors, colleagues, confidantes - take time to catch a whiff of their championship roses, while also sipping red wine. |
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Gator Football - 8/17/07
UF talent runs deep for Meyer
BY DAVID JONES - FLORIDA TODAY
GAINESVILLE - In Urban Meyer's first season as Florida's head coach in 2005, he remembers looking down the left side
of his play sheet during a game against a ranked opponent and pondering what to do.
Florida's top three receivers were out of the game with injuries. With an offense that relies on mismatches, Meyer could
only tug on his headset, shake his head and voice a plea to offensive coordinator Dan Mullen: "Call a good play."
The recollection brought a chuckle from the crowd during Florida's media day on Friday. But it was no laughing matter for
Gator coaches. |
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Gator Football - 8/21/07
Lou Holtz visits UF football practice
BY JOSEPH GOODMAN - MiamiHerald.com
Lou Holtz attended the Gators' Monday morning practice. The former coach wanted to know the same thing every other
college football fan has been wondering: Can Tim Tebow throw?
Holtz left practice wearing a Florida Gators cap and impressed with Tebow's ability as a passer. He also spoke with the
team about the proper motivation needed to succeed at the game's highest level.
''[Holtz] is an encyclopedia of college football, a resource,'' coach Urban Meyer said. ``The greatest motivator I've ever
been around.'' |
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Gator Women's Basketball - 8/22/07
Florida Women's Basketball in the Community
The Florida Women's Basketball team will be participating in a Habitat for Humanity project this Saturday, August 25th.
The project is run through a branch of Habitat called Women Build and the team will be assisting with the building of the first of two houses in Southeast Gainesville. New Gator Head Coach, Amanda Butler, her staff, and the 2007- 2008 team will be on-site to help build the house for a well-deserving Gainesville family. |
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Gator Football - 8/23/07
Gators to rely on Moore
BY DAVID JONES - FLORIDA TODAY
A year ago, it was DeShawn Wynn who stepped up at some clutch moments, and had some key runs when Florida need
them during its national-championship run.
Wynn wasn't dominant, but it was enough when coupled with running backs and screens designed around other players.
This fall, the Gators hope they finally have a solid back they can depend on more often than not in junior Kestahn Moore.
Moore had some spectacular moments as a freshman, tailed off a bit last year because of injuries but now appears ready to finally become the runner that UF coach Urban Meyer has been searching for. |
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Gator Volleyball - 8/23/07
Bar set high for UF volleyball
By EVAN DREXLER, Alligator Writer
The banners in the Lemerand Athletic Center practice facility hang neatly in a row, a proud collection that is never
complete.
There is one banner for each of the UF volleyball team's 16 consecutive SEC regular season titles, and a 17th seems
hardly out of reach.
But for a team that has dominated its conference for more than a decade and a half, been to the NCAA Final Four seven
times during that span and been consistently ranked among the nation's top 10 teams, something still feels lacking. |
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Gator Football - 8/26/07
Gator Captains Named for 2007
Wide receiver Andre Caldwell, defensive end Derrick Harvey, safety Tony Joiner, center Drew Miller, and offensive
lineman Phil Trautwein were named captains for this years team. |
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Gator Soccer - 8/28/07
Gators enter new season with high expectations
By KARL HYPPOLITE, Alligator Staff Writer
Inside the Gator Dining Complex UF coach Becky Burleigh takes a bite out of her salad and a sip from her bottle of
Gatorade.
It has been nine months since the No.13 UF soccer team's controversial 3-2 loss to UCLA in the Sweet 16, and it seems
Burleigh still hasn't gotten over the loss.
"We were all disappointed with our Sweet 16 loss to UCLA," Burleigh said. "So I think that everyone is poised to go further
than that this season." |
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Gator Football - 8/28/07
SEC preview: Florida's odd couple give Gators bite
By Kelly Whiteside, USA TODAY
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - When the Florida coaching staff decided sophomore quarterback Tim Tebow and senior strong safety
Tony Joiner would be roommates, it seemed an unlikely pairing.
"Odd couple," coach Urban Meyer says.
Tebow, quarterback for the defending national champions, is the leader on offense. Joiner, a team captain, must guide a
defense with nine new starters. But beyond their passion for the game, they seemingly have little in common: one who seems too good to be true, the other who was once kicked off the team.
"I just thought they'd be a good influence around each other," Meyer says.
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Gator Football - 8/29/07
Old team knows what these guys face
Defending a national championship is hard to do; just ask Fred Taylor, Travis McGriff and Mike Peterson.
Andrea Adelson - Orlando Sentinel Staff Writer
The Gators ran out of the tunnel and onto the field for the first time as the defending national champions, brimming with
that trademark confidence and swagger. But much had changed since the last time they played. There was a new quarterback and 11 new starters. The emotional leaders from the defense were gone.
It was Aug. 30, 1997. Within two months, that swagger was gone, along with their hopes of winning another title. Looking
back 10 years at what happened gives a small glimpse at many of the challenges the 2007 Gators will face as they try to repeat. |
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Gator Football - 8/29/07
First-game jitters
Gators' freshmen get taste of college football on Saturday
BY DAVID JONES - FLORIDA TODAY
GAINESVILLE - Florida senior wide receiver Andre Caldwell couldn't wait to run onto Florida Field for the first time as a
Gator in 2003.
He walked out of the tunnel outside the UF locker room and sprinted onto the field, engulfed by a roar of close to 90,000
fans. The roar made him even wilder as he got caught up in the moment.
Legs churning, arms pumping, Caldwell actually picked up speed and started sprinting. Then he ran out on the field for
the opening kickoff of his first college game and suddenly realized . . . he was exhausted. |
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Gator Football - 8/30/07
Intensity of Meyer's message picks up
BY JOSEPH GOODMAN - miamiherald.com
GAINESVILLE -- Cowboys ride for eight seconds. A sprinter's magical number is 10 seconds in the 100-yard dash.
Gators just need to last four to six.
That's the message Florida's coaching staff is spoon-feeding their baby Gators in the precious few days that remain of the
preseason. Florida begins its season on Saturday at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium with a 12:30 p.m. kickoff against Western Kentucky. Between now and then, the Gators will be reminded a few hundred times of Florida coach Urban Meyer's mantra.
''Four to six seconds as hard as you can go, and if they can do that then they will be fine,'' Meyer said. ``Four- to six-
second bursts then go again. That's what makes football so hard.'' |
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Gator Football - 8/31/07
True-Freshman Starting 1st Game Is Rare
Joe Haden will become the first true freshman cornerback to ever start the season opener for a Florida Gator football team.
That's in 101 years!
He will become only the sixth true freshman to start the first game of the year, the last time was 1992 when Reggie Green
started on the offensive line. |
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Gator Football - 8/31/07
The Chosen One
By NICK ZACCARDI , Alligator Staff Writer
He dives head-first into concrete, bowls over linebackers and stiff-arms pesky cornerbacks to the ground.
He also cradles babies, uses the word "giggles" in press conferences and plays video games.
Gator fans adore him for all of that.
In short, Tim Tebow is The Chosen One, like the title of an ESPN documentary on his playing career at Ponte Vedra Beach
Nease High.
The Chosen One will lead the Gators in defense of their title this season, as he replaces the departed one, Chris Leak, as
the team's starting quarterback. |