2024 Florida Football Postgame Notes
No. 19 Miami 41, Florida 17
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Steve Spurrier-Florida Field – Gainesville, Fla.
THE OPENING DRIVE
● The Gators are 3-1 when opening the season in the Swamp against a ranked opponent.
● Florida is 87-31 in season openers and 71-7 in season openers in The Swamp.
● The Gators had 20 UF debuts and 10 collegiate debuts in the game.
OFFENSIVE NOTES
- RB Montrell Johnson Jr. ripped off a 71-yard rushing TD in the second quarter for Florida’s first TD of
the 2024 season.
o The Gators have punched in a rushing touchdown in eight-consecutive games and in 22
of 26 contests since 2022.
● Johnson Jr. finished with 106 rushing yards on 11 carries and one touchdown, averaging 9.6 yards
per attempt.
o Johnson Jr. eclipsed 2,500 career rushing yards and 2,000 all-purpose yards at UF.
o Johnson Jr. rushed for 100-plus yards for the ninth time in his career and for the seventh
time as a Gator.
- Florida QB Graham Mertz finished 11-for-20 (55.0%) for 91 yards and one interception with an 83.2
rating.
o Mertz opened 5-for-6 passing for 42 yards.
o He did not throw a touchdown pass for the first time in his Gators career. - WR Eugene ‘Tre’ Wilson III led UF with seven receptions, eight targets and 50 yards.
- Wide receivers Elijah Badger and Chimere Dike made their Gators debuts.
o Badger caught a 19-yard pass on Florida’s first drive and has now recorded a reception in
27-straight games, which ranks top-ten in the FBS.
He finished with three catches for 43 yards.
o Dike also hauled in one pass for 11 yards. - RB Jadan Baugh and OL Fletcher Westphal made their collegiate debuts.
- OL Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson and OL Devon Manuel made their UF debuts.
- QB DJ Lagway made his collegiate debut in the fourth quarter.
o Lagway was 3-for-6 passing for 31 yards and one interception.
He also added 20 yards rushing on four carries.
● RB Treyaun Webb scored his third-career rushing TD.
● The Gators have rushed for 100-plus yards in 21 of their last 26 games since 2022.
DEFENSIVE NOTES
● LB Pup Howard, DL Joey Slackman and DB Asa Turner all made their first starts as Gators while LB
Kamran James, LB TJ Searcy, CB Sharif Denson and DB Ja’Keem Jackson made his first-career
starts.
o Howard paced Florida with six tackles (three solo).
● DB DJ Douglas, LB Alfonzo Allen Jr. and EDGE George Gumbs made their Gators debuts.
● DL Michai Boireau and LB Myles Graham made their collegiate debuts.
● LB Shemar James picked off QB Cam Ward on Miami’s second drive for his first-career interception.
● DL Tyreak Sapp notched Florida’s lone sack, raising his career total to 3.0.
● The Gators recorded one sack against Miami.
● Since 1996, the Gators are sixth nationally in interceptions with an SEC-leading 414.
● With one takeaway vs. Miami, Florida’s defense has now produced 109 turnovers since 2018.
o The Gators have produced at least one turnover in 18 of 26 games in the Napier era.
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES
● P Jeremy Crawshaw punted five times for an average of 47.6 yards, including three punts inside the
20-yard line, two of 50-plus yards and a long of 61 yards.
o Crawshaw’s second punt pinned Miami at their own three-yard line.
o Crawshaw has punted for 50-plus yards on 58 of 136 career punts.
● K Trey Smack was 1-for-1 on field goal attempts including a long of 41 yards.
● EDGE LJ McCray and LB Aaron Chiles made their collegiate debuts on special teams.
EXPLOSIVE PLAYS (7)
● WR Elijah Badger (from Mertz): 19-yard reception, first quarter
● RB Montrell Johnson Jr.: 13-yard rush, second quarter
● RB Montrell Johnson Jr.: 71-yard rushing TD, second quarter
● QB Graham Mertz: 10-yard rush, third quarter
● WR Eugene Wilson III (from Lagway): 16-yard reception, fourth quarter
● RB Jakobi Jackson: 11-yard rush, fourth quarter
● QB DJ Lagway: 16-yard rush, fourth quarter
SERIES UPDATES
● Tonight’s game represented the 57th all-time meeting between Florida and Miami including the
22nd in Gainesville.
● With tonight’s loss, the Gators fall to 27-30 (.474) in the all-time series vs. Miami and 9-13 (.409) in
Gainesville.
- HC Billy Napier falls to 0-1 against Miami HC Mario Cristobal in their first meeting as head coaches.
THE STREAK
● Florida has scored in 449-consecutive games — an NCAA record and 54 games longer than any
other college football team in history.
o The Gators broke Michigan’s record of 365-consecutive games (1984-2014) against LSU on
Oct. 7, 2017.
o The last time Florida was shut out was on Oct. 29, 1988 vs. Auburn (L, 16-0).
GAME DETAILS
● Florida Game Captains: #26 Jeremy Crawshaw, #6 Shemar James, #15 Graham Mertz
● Coin Toss: Miami won the toss and deferred, Miami defended the north endzone.
● Attendance: 90,544 (sellout, fourth all-time for season opener)
2024 Florida Football Postgame Quotes
Mario Cristobal, Miami Head Coach
No. 19 Miami 41, Florida 17
August 31, 2024
Opening statement…
“I thought our guys came out right away and created momentum, seized momentum and when it
seemed like Florida was going to get some of it back, the response was awesome. After the
interception, comes up with a big stop, forced the field goal and it just felt like every time they had
an opportunity to respond, we did. From a 99-yard drive or a 96-yard drive to converting some really
critical down to business situations. A lot of special guys making a lot of special plays.”
On what the win means…
“As you know, nobody really likes to talk about the starting point. I knew when I got to Miami there
was a lot of work to do, and these guys have been through a lot, and they made the decision that it
was enough, they’ve had enough and they were going to prove that by the way they played the
game. And, they did that and a lot of fans made their way through it. I know they only gave us 4,000
tickets, I don’t know how that’s even legal but, I think a lot of more of our fans found a way to get in
the stadium I want to make sure they’re recognized by our players.”
On Cam Ward…
“Yeah, he’s not bad. Special, special guy, all the stuff you guys were probably wondering during
camp. They talked a lot about Cam Ward – is he really that good? Yeah, he’s just scratching the
surface. He wanted to keep playing and playing so really accurate, improvised, extended plays.
Protection was great, albeit that one play and he’s got a great connection with his receivers. Those
guys are really tight. They’ve repped those plays and adjustments to those plays many times. He just
loves to compete. Every team has a spark plug. Every game has a spark plug. He and a couple of
those other guys, but him particularly, was the guy today. We’re starting to look like Miami in a lot of
different respects. It showed in practice that he’s going to play big and strong today.”
On how much one win can propel a team…
“Well, as long as we keep winning and don’t mess it up the following week. It’s all about the University
of Miami. This one goes to all the players and coaches that work their butts off to make it happen.
This is a big rivalry game for us. I never got to play in a game like this. Miami hasn’t been here in 16
years and hasn’t won in 20 plus years. So, you think this game was big? You think the amount of
animosity and hatred, bad blood between the fanbases, you think it amped it up a little bit? Come
on, it was through the roof. It was off the charts. Rivalry games, last for a year and you can’t do
anything about it until the following year. Certainly, when playing an opponent at that caliber, when
playing against the SEC at one of their stadiums and getting a convincing win like that is great. But
the most important thing we talked about in there was, for the first time in a long time, Miami has had
a chance to play a big game to start the season, and now we got to show we can handle the
success and go get better. That’s really the most important thing. We’re in stages. But today was a
really, really big step and just beyond proud of those guys and their resilience, toughness, and their
work ethic. They did it all.”
On the physicality of Miami…
“Block destruction really showed up. The way we practice really showed up. We practice hard right?
They showed up really well. On the flip side, the quarterback was protected well. I think we finally got
their quarterback and finally forced one to go up and picked. I thought Mish was gone. What a
great play by him and what a great player. Just overall an awesome team effort. We got to clean up
a couple of things that we saw there of course, but awesome day.”
2024 Florida Football Postgame Quotes
Miami Student-Athletes
No. 19 Miami 41, Florida 17
August 31, 2024
9 Tyler Baron, Redshirt Senior Defensive Lineman
On his first game at Miami…
“It felt great. I just enjoy the culture that Coach Cristobal has really preached to us, so I’m just really
happy to be here, to be honest.”
On Rueben Bain Jr. going down early…
“We hate to have a guy like that out, even just for a short time, but you got to keep rolling with the
punches. Next man up type mentality. We just regroup and kept going.”
On what that says about the depth of the defense…
“It says a lot about the depth. We got a lot of top guys in the room. I think it’s just a big thing when
the group can just come back together, Coach Taylor can get us lined back up, and just keep
playing ball.”
On Cam Ward’s performance…
“Cam did an amazing job. I know he wants a few plays back, but he did a great job. He’s a great
player and he leads us the right way.”
1 Cam Ward, Senior Quarterback
On Miami’s O-line play…
“It’s real special. They bring it every day in practice since I got here in January. The one sack we
gave up, that’s on me, that was bad pocket movement by myself. They played a clean game all
day. From the rushing attack, that was a standpoint that we wanted to hit on for this day and from
the passing attack. They really protected me, receivers did their job, but the o-line they did a great
job today.”
On his emotions after a big rivalry win…
“I’m feeling good. Body wise, shoutout to the o-line. Preparation wise, I think this is the most prepared
I’ve been since coming into college. You know, we’re only enjoying it for a short amount of time. I
think that’s the biggest thing, we have to be able to handle success and really just be able to focus
on the next thing. Not necessarily looking to the past and the future, but continue to take it step by
step.”
On what he proved today…
“I had to prove it to myself, to my seventeen, eighteen-year-old self when I wanted to be an SEC
quarterback in high school. I am grateful to say that God put me in this position to play against an
SEC team. It didn’t work out how I wanted early on, but He had a different plan for me. The things
that I had to go through personally, recruiting wise, all led me to this moment around great
teammates, around a great coaching staff. We all just wanted to win, that was the biggest thing. No
one was in it for their self, we got the biggest thing that we wanted and that was a win.”
64 Jalen Rivers, Redshirt Junior Offensive Lineman
On how the OL felt going into the game…
“We knew the defensive line we were going to face today would be a tough one. they are a great
team, a great front, and a great defense. We were prepared for that. So, going into this game we
just had the mindset of we had prepared well for the team. We executed well. We know we have a
quarterback who we have to block for. He is going to find his receivers even if it takes eight to 10
seconds so we just have to keep blocking. I love Cam [Ward]. I love our receivers. I love our whole
team.”
On what Cam Ward said to the offense after the interception…
“We knew we would face adversity. We knew it was a one-time thing so we just kept going.”
On what a win over Florida in The Swamp means to Miami…
“I am just glad to say we beat Florida. Being from where I am from. You have a lot of Gators and
Seminoles and Hurricanes and Georgia fans. I am glad I am at the better Florida school.”
On the chemistry with Cam Ward…
“He makes it look easy. Like not with much effort, like even when he took off on that first run, he just
tip-toed out of bounds.”
7 Xavier Restrepo, Fifth-Year Wide Receiver
On his two big plays…
“I just did what I was supposed to do. I just feel like I have God on my side. I am a big believer in
Christ and all glory goes out to him. I was motivated through him.”
On what Cam Ward said to the offense after the interception…
“We did not let that phase us. He didn’t even mention anything.”
On opening the season in The Swamp…
“I mean it meant a lot, you know, we put the work in. So, we knew that if we did what we needed to
do, we’d have no problem getting it done because we just have so much faith and so much trust in
each other. The hard work was done since January, those last eight months were tough. In the
weight room, so I mean that’s where all the work was done.”
On the chemistry with Cam Ward…
“I mean in practice and stuff, running back and forth, looking for Cam. Again, he’s ridiculous, he’s
amazing, he’s a ball player and we’re super lucky to have him.”
On how Cam Ward making plays look easy affecting mentality…
“For sure, I think it all starts with the emotion he has for the game, the love he has for the game. He
has the same love that we all have for the game. So, it’s easy, to do something for someone that
loves the football as much as you.”
0 Mishael Powell, Redshirt Senior Defensive Back
On his interception…
“I would say just watching a lot of tape, that’s a route that they ran a few times. Graham Mertz is a
really good quarterback, he’s really good at looking off receivers, I think I talked about that with you.
Just staying patient on the post route and letting the play come to me.”
On his what this game meant to him…
“It meant a lot. This is a rivalry game, I’ve been in some rivalry games myself so I know what it means
to South Florida and just the whole state of Florida winning this rivals game. So, I made sure I prepared
the best way I could not only for myself but for guys that are from here, and Coach Cristobal, and the
whole staff.”
On Miami’s defensive performance…
“I would just say that that’s a really great offense. They have a strong o-line, they all looked really
strong. I think Coach Gentry put in a really good gameplay for us, and us just trusting that. That’s the
biggest thing, when a defensive coordinator puts in a gameplay all eleven guys and the backups all
trust it.”
