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Florida Gators lay down in Lexington as Kentucky romps

South Florida Local News - Sat, 11/08/2025 - 20:46

Florida’s will to fight ran out as the Gators quit and coaches gave up on quarterback DJ Lagway during a 38-7 loss Saturday night at Kentucky.

A week after going toe-to-toe with rival Georgia, the Gators (3-6, 2-4 SEC) looked like a team with nothing left to play for against the Wildcats (4-5, 2-5).

“It wasn’t anywhere close to what we wanted,” interim coach Billy Gonzales said. “Not acceptable in any terms to take a loss the way we did.”

Any hopes of Florida slipping into a lower-tier bowl with six wins all but ended during their third consecutive loss in Lexington and fourth loss in five games to a program UF beat 31 straight times from 1987-2018.

A Gators’ team in a free fall would now need a three-game winning streak, beginning Saturday at No. 6 Ole Miss against Lane Kiffin — the coach virtually everyone in Gator Nation is counting on to come save a once-proud program. UF would have to beat the Rebels (9-1, 5-1) with an interim coach who’s seemingly lost his team and amid a quarterback controversy.

Florida quarterback DJ Lagway (2) slides for a first down during the Gators' 38-7 loss Saturday night at Kentucky. (AP Photo/Michael Swensen)

Lagway’s sophomore slide continued during a three-interception night that led Gonzales to replace him with true freshman Trammel Jones Jr.

“That was my decision,” Gonzales said. “We had a rough first half, and I thought it might be good for him just to gather and look at it from a coach’s point and a coach’s point from the sideline. But we need to to play better all around, not just him.”

By the time Jones entered the game it was too late.

UF trailed 31-7 as a defense that had been UF’s backbone all season was overrun by an offense among the SEC’s least talented and explosive. A 21-point second quarter by Kentucky marked the most points during a quarter this season for an offense with 14 points or fewer during four of the past five games.

Before the Wildcats’ onslaught, a 10-yard touchdown pass to tailback Jadan Baugh gave Florida a brief 7-3 lead and served as Lagway’s only highlight on a miserable night. He finished 11-of-19 for 83 yards.

Lagway’s interception on UF’s opening series set up a 39-yard field goal by Jacob Kauwe for a 3-0 Kentucky lead. Kentucky answered Lagway’s touchdown throw with a 75-yard drive on nine plays, culminating with a 29-yard hook-up between true freshman quarterback Cutter Boley and graduate transfer J.J. Hester guarded by true freshman cornerback Ja’Vari Flowers.

A fumble by backup tailback KD Daniels led to another Wildcats’ score, this time on a 15-yard pass from Boley to redshirt freshman tailback Jason Patterson.

After a Gators’ three-and-out, Kentucky drove 54 yards on five plays, including completions of 25 and 17 yards by Boley to set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Seth McGown, who had 92 hard-earned yards and two scores on 22 carries.

Kentucky finished with 401 yards a week after managing just 240 during a 10-3 win at Auburn.

Kentucky Wildcats defensive back Quay'sheed Scott (12) intercepts a pass in the second quarter of the Gators' 38-7 loss Saturday night at Kroger Field in Lexington, Ky. (AP Photo/Michael Swensen)

“It’s really shocking, honestly,” linebacker Myles Graham said. “It’s really embarrassing, and I did not know we were going to come out and play like that. I’m really blindsided just like everybody else is. We got to look in the mirror, and we got to do better.

“That’s completely unacceptable.”

Two of the SEC’s worst offenses promptly traded turnovers on four consecutive possessions, two of them Lagway interceptions, as the half ended with UF trailing 24-7.

“You have four turnovers in the first half, you’re not going to win the game,” Gonzales said.

Kentucky then opened the second half with touchdown drives of 75 and 89 yards as the Gators’ season officially hit rock bottom.

It was Florida’s worst loss to Kentucky since a 40-6 rout in 1950 — when Bear Bryant coached the Wildcats.

“I’ll take the blame for everything,” Gonzales said. “I’ll take the blame for this loss, 100 percent, so we got to be better, and we’ve got to be better, I’ve got to be better, make sure these players continue forward.”

Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com

Winderman’s view: Heat’s Jaquez energizes when needed against Trail Blazers

South Florida Local News - Sat, 11/08/2025 - 20:44

MIAMI — Observations and other notes of interest from Saturday night’s 136-131 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers:

– The early debate, albeit in jest, was whether Jaime Jaquez Jr. should announce his candidacy for Most Improved Player of Sixth Man of the Year.

– The reality is that to this point, he might be the Heat’s MVP.

– This is beyond the numbers.

– Or even results in the standings.

– This is about the constant and consistent spark.

– Which was on display again Saturday.

– And needed after a miserable start by the starters.

– Questionable earlier in the day with the ankle sprain sustained late in Friday night’s victory over the Hornets, Jaquez was declared available 90 minutes before tipoff.

– He then played as if immune to pain.

– Again in attack mode.

– As he has been all season.

– No longer settling for 3-pointers just because open shots are offered.

– In one case bypassing such an attempt to instead drive for an acrobatic alley-oop pass to Kel’el Ware.

– As he again filled the box score.

– Particularly relentless on the glass.

– It’s as if he is a different player than last season.

– As well as a better player than when All-Rookie in 2023-24.

– This time closing with 14 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.

– All needed.

– Seemingly all coming at just the right time.

– With Bam Adebayo again out due to the toe sprain sustained in Wednesday night’s loss in Denver, the Heat for the second consecutive night opened with a lineup of Ware, Andrew Wiggins, Pelle Larsson, Norman Powell and Davion Mitchell.

– That group opened a collective 1 of 15 from the field.

– Leading to an early 12-point deficit.

– First off the bench, entering together, were Jaquez and Nikola Jovic.

– Jaquez then scored the Heat’s first two baskets upon entering.

– Jaquez entered with 157 points off the bench this season, second in the NBA to only Portland’s Jerami Grant (162).

– Simone Fontecchio and Dru Smith then followed together.

– With Smith sparking a comeback into the Heat’s first lead on his driving floater early in the second period.

– Of Larsson continuing in the starting lineup, coach Erik Spoelstra noted the versatility.

– “That’s what he does, and I think that is a great skill that he has. He can fill in with any lineup,” Spoelstra said. “I just like the fact that he complements a lot of the lineups.”

– Powell’s streak of 31 consecutive free-throw conversions ended with his first attempt of the night.

– Mitchell reached 200 career steals during the game.

– The Heat entered No. 1 in the NBA in pace, the Blazers at No. 2.

– Of that factor, Spoelstra said going in, “We’re going to play our style. I’m pretty sure they’ll try to do their style, as well. So I think for the fans, it’ll be a fun game to watch.”

– And, yet, the Heat entered ranked No. 16 in offensive rating, the Trail Blazers No. 17.

– Meaning? “I don’t really look at that,” Spoelstra said. “We’re just trying to get to a style – The game closed the first of the Heat’s 15 back-to-back sets this season.

– Prior to this Friday-Saturday set against the Hornets and Blazers, the Heat had played home games on consecutive days 42 previous times in franchise history, winning both 13 times, splitting the pair 19 times and dropping both on 10 occasions.

– The Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, won 137-118 Saturday night against the Detroit Pistons’ affiliate, with Heat camp prospect Trevor Keels converting 10 3-pointers.

– The Panthers’ Aleksander Barkov was among those in the crowd Saturday night at Kaseya Center.

Heat outpace Trail Blazers for 136-131 victory, as Adebayo again sits

South Florida Local News - Sat, 11/08/2025 - 20:41

MIAMI – The NBA’s two fastest teams as measured by pace not only were off to the races on Saturday night at Kaseya Center, but in a race that went to the wire.

In many ways, it was as much a series of sprints, in the form of surges by each team, as a race of constant pace, with the Miami Heat entering No. 1 in that category and the Portland Trail Blazers at No. 2.

So down the stretch they came, the Heat again attempting to conjure a path to victory while playing in the injury absences of leading men Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro.

Ultimately, Erik Spoelstra’s team found a way, with late scores by Jaime Jaquez Jr., Norman Powell and Andrew Wiggins helping close out the 136-131 victory that lifted the record to 6-4.

“Obviously our guys are getting pretty comfortable with it,” Spoelstra said of the whole new Heat world of playing at pace. “I’m not putting the brakes on anybody who is trying to attack.”

Nikola Jovic led the Heat with a career-high 29 points, with Powell adding 22, Pelle Larsson 16, Wiggins 15 and Jaquez closing with 14 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.

“It’s an offense where it can be anybody’s night.” Jaquez said. “Tonight, it was Niko.”

For Jovic, the style made the game – and made his night.

“You can see the way it makes everybody look better,” he said. “It’s an easy way to play basketball. And I think it suits us really well.”

Deni Avdija led the Blazers with 33 points.

“Both teams were attacking,” Spoelstra said. “This was a helluva basketball game.”

The Heat next play consecutive home games against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday and Wednesday nights.

Five Degrees of Heat from Saturday night’s game:

1. Game flow: The Blazers led 30-27 at the end of the first period, before the Heat moved to a 72-65 halftime lead.

The Heat then went up 12 in the third period, before the Blazers closed within 100-97 entering the fourth.

It all led to a 119-119 with 4:45 to play, as Powell began to warm up with his scoring and then another tie at 123-123 with 3:25 to play.

“It was just a lot of high-level basketball going back and forth,” Spoelstra said. “We had to make a lot of plays there at the end.”

Later, a 3-point play by Jaquez put the Heat up 127-125, with a Wiggins 3-pointer making it 132-127 with 1:32 to play.

“Wiggs continues to be a big-moments guy for us,” Spoelstra said. “It was who would blink first.”

2. Abject opposite: Friday night, the Heat practically were a can’t-miss proposition in the first quarter, converting their first six shots against the Hornets and rolling to a franchise-record 53 first-quarter points.

This time, the Heat opened 1 of 15 from the field, their second conversion not coming until Pelle Larsson made a driving floater with 7:05 left in the opening period.

That had the Heat with an early 12-point deficit and playing from behind, something never the case a night earlier against the Charlotte Hornets.

“Just to start, I thought we were sluggish, all of us, running in the mud,” Powell said.

The Heat recovered from that 1-of-15 start to close the opening quarter 10 of 27.

The Heat entered averaging a league-leading 36.6 points in first quarters.

3. Buying time: It almost has gotten to the point where the Heat merely are buying time until the reserves can enter.

“It’s kind of our thing,” Jaquez said. “We want to take pride to bring the energy boost for our team.”

In Saturday night’s case, the Heat were +23 with Jovic on the court in the first half.

And each time Jaquez entered, good things happened.

“Jaime at 3 o’clock was not cleared to play,” Spoelstra said of the ankle sprain Jaquez sustained a night earlier in the victory over the Hornets. “He gave us everything he had.”

Factor in Dru Smith and Jovic (see below) and the possibilities have been on display all season.

And needed – as Saturday night’s start showed.

“We do have depth,” Spoelstra said, “and that’s something we want to lean into.”

4. Speaking of: Jovic was at his energetic best in a pace that played to his strength, as if straight out of EuroBasket.

For as much of a spark as Jaquez provided with his energy, it was Jovic who took care of the scoring, including draining 3-pointers when there wasn’t much in that regard from the starters.

“My teammates got me going,” Jovic said.

Jovic closed 10 of 16 from the field, including 3 of 7 on 3-pointers, along with nine rebounds and seven assists.

“I like his energy. I like his intent. He was assertive, aggressive on both sides of the court,” Spoelstra said. “You can choose to float or you can impose your will. I just like the assertiveness tonight.”

5. Dru, too: Earlier, Smith helped turn the game with his opening stint that included 4-of-4 shooting from the field and four rebounds, including the basket that gave the Heat their first lead of the night.

“Dru comes in,” Powell said, “and just has a nose for the ball.”

Based on Smith’s play, it seems unlikely that first-round pick Kasparas Jakucionis, now back from his preseason groin strain, will be seeing rotation minutes anytime soon.

As for Smith, he has made a case for keeping his rotation role even when Tyler Herro makes his expected return later this month from September ankle surgery.

Smith finished with 13 points, six assists and five rebounds.

“He was all over the place, so impactful,” Spoelstra said.

Smith (four) and Davion Mitchell (five) combined for nine steals.

Klubnik’s two scores lead Clemson to 24-10 win over Florida State for first home victory in 2 months

South Florida Local News - Sat, 11/08/2025 - 20:39

By PETE IACOBELLI

CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — Dabo Swinney loved seeing the Clemson Tigers he’d gotten used so.

‘”I loved their effort, I loved their toughness, I loved their stick-to-it-ness,” coach Swinney said after his team’s first home victory in two months with a 24-10 victory Florida State on Saturday night.

“It don’t get old to beat the ‘Noles,” Swinney said.

Cade Klubnik threw for a touchdown and ran for a second to lead the Tigers (4-5, 3-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) to a win in Death Valley for the first time since defeating Troy on Sept. 6.

The Tigers and Seminoles (4-5, 1-5) looked like they would have big implications on the ACC race. But both contenders were out of the picture early and left scrambling to salvage lost seasons.

Clemson was 1-4 at home this season and had lost its past six games against Power 4 programs on its field.

This time, though, the Tigers took an 18-0 lead and took advantage of nearly all of Florida State’s miscues. They held the league’s top offense to its lowest totals with 360 yards, 110 yards rushing and 10 points

“Our record isn’t what we want to be,” Swinney said. “But when you see the resilience, you know what these guys have under the hood.”

Klubnik had a 3-yard TD run to finish the 75-yard opening scoring drive and holder Clay Swinney — the youngest son of coach Swinney — bolted for a two-point conversion.

The Tigers cashed in on a fourth-down stop in the second quarter inside Florida State territory with a 34-yard flea flicker scoring pass from Klubnik to Antonio Williams.

Down 24-7 in the fourth quarter, the Seminoles were called for offensive pass interference and unnecessary roughness to push them back.

The Tiger defense struggled the past two games, allowing 81 points combined in losses to SMU and Duke. Maybe it was a visit by former national championship defensive coordinator Brent Venables or a renewed dedication to finishing strong, but Clemson held strong when it mattered most.

The Tigers had a fourth-down stop and forced a fumble with Florida State on Clemson’s 8 to end two promising first-half drives by Florida State.

Florida State finally broke through right before the half on Castellanos’ 7-yard touchdown pass to Lawayne McCoy.

The Seminoles’ last chance to make things tight ended when Castellanos was chased by cornerback Avieon Terrell and slipped to the ground on fourth down with 2:51 to play.

Klubnik completed 19 of 26 passes for 221 yards. Castellanos was 20-of-38 passing for 203 yards and an interception to go along with his fumble.

Clemson circle

After the Tigers entered the stadium, they came on the field and surrounded the Tiger Paw logo, locked arms and gave thanks for another opportunity to play instead of dwelling on three straight home losses. Offensive lineman Blake Miller said the moment calmed the players down and gave them focus to face the Seminoles. “It was a special moment for us,” said Miller, who started the past 50 games.

Missed chances

Florida State coach Mike Norvell said the Seminoles missed too many opportunities, particularly early, to take care of Clemson. The difference, Norvell said, was that the Tigers made the plays that Florida State missed out. “It’s those missed chances that cost us,” he said.

The takeaway

Florida State: The Seminoles, ACC champions two seasons ago, need to defeat Virginia Tech, North Carolina State or Florida to qualify for the postseason after missing out last year.

Clemson: The Tigers were ACC favorites and expected to compete for a national title. Instead, they are also looking to reach a bowl game after a struggling start to the season.

Up next

Florida State returns home to face Virginia Tech on Saturday night.

Clemson has a short week and will play No. 14 Louisville on Friday night.

___

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A Confused Homebuyer Says Their Realtor Banned Them From The Home Inspection. They're Asking—When Did That Become Normal? - Yahoo

Home Inspection - Sat, 11/08/2025 - 07:16

A Confused Homebuyer Says Their Realtor Banned Them From The Home Inspection. They're Asking—When Did That Become Normal? Yahoo

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