Florida Gators Football

The Florida Gators fell to the Oregon State Beavers 30-3 on Saturday in the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl, finishing the year with a 6-7 record in Billy Napier's first season as head coach.

Florida kicked a field goal with just seconds remaining on the clock to record its only points of the game.

The Gators were short-handed Saturday, with the biggest loss being quarterback Anthony Richardson, who opted out and declared for the 2023 NFL draft. However, the team's performance as a whole was still unacceptable.

Quarterback Jack Miller III completed just 13 of 22 passes for 180 yards. Running backs Trevor Etienne and Montrell Johnson Jr. each rushed for just 14 yards, and wide receiver Ricky Pearsall caught four passes for 65 yards.

The offense was hideous, but the defense wasn't much better, allowing Oregon State to total 353 yards.

With Napier's squad putting together a disappointing performance Saturday, and for much of the season, Twitter questioned whether the Gators made the right decision in hiring him to replace Dan Mullen.

Before joining Florida, Napier spent four seasons at Louisiana, going 40-12 and 2-1 in bowl games.

Saturday's loss is frustrating for Florida and its fans, but Napier will likely be sticking around for longer than one season, and the Gators will be hoping the 2023 campaign goes far better.

DJ Lagway, a 5-star quarterback, announced his intention to attend the University of Florida on Wednesday, choosing the Gators over USC, Clemson, Texas A&M and Baylor.

"I feel they're going to build something special and I definitely want to be part of it," Lagway told Steve Wiltfong of 247Sports. "The coaching staff, I have a really good relationship with those guys. I love the system that they have. Coach Napier has an amazing system and I feel I fit perfectly in there."

Lagway is the No. 24 player and fourth-ranked quarterback in the 2024 recruiting class, according to 247Sports' composite rankings. The Willis High School product is also the fourth-ranked prospect from the state of Texas.

Florida previously landed 4-star linebacker Myles Graham and 4-star running back Chauncey Bowens. Lagway says he hopes to help coach Billy Napier build a stellar recruiting class in Gainesville.

"I'm truly ready to start recruiting," Lagway said. "That's why I wanted to decide early so I can go ahead and start building up that No. 1 class."

Napier went 6-6 in his first season at Florida after coming over from Louisiana. The Gators ranked as high as No. 12 in the country after upsetting Utah in the opening week of the season but struggled with their consistency the rest of the way.

Napier hopes to avoid the program suffering through its second straight losing season when the team travels to play Oregon State in the Las Vegas Bowl later this month.

Florida Gators quarterback Anthony Richardson declared for the 2023 NFL draft on Monday and announced he will not participate in the team's upcoming Las Vegas Bowl matchup against Oregon State on Dec. 17.

While Richardson has declared for the draft, he's likely not going to be one of the top five quarterbacks selected in this year's class despite entering the 2022 season as a projected first-round pick.

Alabama's Bryce Young, Ohio State's C.J. Stroud, Kentucky's Will Levis and Tennessee's Hendon Hooker have all been mentioned as the cream of the crop in the 2023 draft class, and understandably so.

Entering 2022, Richardson seemed to be the prototypical quarterback teams would be interested in looking at for the 2023 draft with a strong arm and peak athleticism, but he hasn't put together the best season.

Richardson didn't toss his first touchdown pass until four games into the season, and he only threw for at least 300 yards in two games.

Richardson spent the last three seasons with the Gators, taking over as the team's full-time starter in 2022. In 12 games this season, he completed just 53.8 percent of his passes for 2,549 yards, 17 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He also rushed for 654 yards and nine scores.

Florida has gone a disappointing 6-6 in the process.

Any team interested in drafting Richardson in 2023 must also realize that he's likely not going to be a starting quarterback immediately. The Florida product will need some time to develop at the next level, and the best situation would be for him to sit for at least one season and learn from a veteran starter in the NFL.

Quarterback Jalen Kitna has been dismissed from the University of Florida football team following his arrest on child pornography charges, per ESPN's Pete Thamel.

The Gainesville Police Department arrested Kitna and he was booked into Alachua County jail on Wednesday. He was formally charged with two counts of distribution of child exploitation material and three counts of possession of child pornography.

According to Mark Long of the Associated Press, Kitna was released from jail on Thursday after posting $80,000 bond.

Long added Judge Meshon Rawls ordered Kitna not to have any unsupervised contact with minors and no internet access as part of the conditions for his release.

"Jalen Kitna was at the Alachua County Jail and on a closed-circuit feed when Jon and Jennifer Kitna stepped to a podium in the courtroom and promised they would supervise their 19-year-old son back home in Burleson, Texas," Long wrote.

Per the arrest report from the Gainesville Police Department (h/t Long), authorities began an investigation into allegations of images of child pornography being shared on social media site Discord following a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

"Kitna shared two images of a pubescent girl, police said in the report, adding that the phrase 'so young junior' was written on both pictures," wrote Long. "Kitna told a detective he thought they were legal because he found them online."

The report also noted police found three more images of "two nude pubescent girls in the shower" when they searched Kitna's phone that had been saved since December 2021. Police said Kitna told them he thought the images "were legal because he found them online," per Long.

All of the charges against Kitna are felonies. Two of them are second-degree felonies that could result in a prison sentence of up to 15 years and a fine of up to $10,000. The other charges are third-degree felonies.

Kitna enrolled at Florida last year. He redshirted during the 2021 season and has been the primary backup to Anthony Richardson in 2022. The 19-year-old appeared in three games for the Gators this season.

University of Florida quarterback Jalen Kitna was reportedly set to be released on $80,000 bond Thursday after being arrested Wednesday on child pornography charges.

According to Mark Long of the Associated Press, Judge Meshon Rawls set the terms of Kitna's bond in Gainesville, Florida, decreeing that Kitna could not have any unsupervised contact with minors nor access to the internet.

Kitna's dad, former NFL quarterback Jon, and mom, Jennifer, reportedly addressed the court and said they would supervise their son at their home in Burleson, Texas.

The Gainesville Police Department announced Wednesday that Kitna had been arrested on two charges of distribution of child exploitation material and three charges of possession of child pornography.

Police said in a statement that an investigation into Kitna began when they received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about an account linked to Kitna sharing images of child sexual abuse on Discord.

Per Long, "Kitna shared two images of a pubescent girl, police said in the report, adding that the phrase 'so young junior' was written on both pictures. Kitna told a detective he thought they were legal because he found them online."

Police said they also found three further images of nude girls in the shower when they searched Kitna's phone.

Kitna, 19, is a freshman backup quarterback for the Gators who threw for 181 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions in limited action this season.

The University of Florida released a statement on the matter Wednesday, noting that it was "shocked and saddened" by the allegations against Kitna.

It was also announced by the school that Kitna had been suspended indefinitely from the football program.

Florida quarterback Jalen Kitna was suspended by the team after being arrested on child pornography charges Wednesday.

“We are shocked and saddened to hear of the news involving Jalen Kitna," the university said in a statement, per Fan Nation's Zach Goodall. "These are extremely serious charges and the University of Florida and the UAA have zero tolerance for such behavior.

"Jalen has been suspended indefinitely from the football program.”

The Gainesville Police Department released a statement Wednesday (via CBS4) saying they received an anonymous tip accusing a user of distributing child pornography on Discord. Officers were able to trace the posts to Kitna, who police said admitted to sharing images he thought were "legal" because he found them online.

A search of Kitna's electronic devices allegedly uncovered three additional images of child pornography. He was arrested and charged with two counts of child exploitation material and three counts of possession of child pornography.

The son of former NFL quarterback Jon Kitna, Jalen Kitna served as the backup to Anthony Richardson during the 2022 season. He threw for 181 yards and one touchdown in three appearances.

Jon Kitna played for the Seattle Seahawks, Cincinnati Bengals, Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys across 17 NFL seasons.

The University of Florida has pulled its scholarship offer to quarterback prospect Marcus Stokes after he used the N-word in a social media post, per TMZ Sports.

A two-second clip showed the white player singing along to a rap song featuring the N-word in his car, leading to backlash online.

Stokes apologized on Twitter while announcing that he lost his scholarship offer:

"I fully accept the consequences for my actions, and I respect the University of Florida's decision to withdraw my scholarship offer to play football," he wrote.

Stokes initially committed to Florida on July 7 amid offers from Penn State, Pittsburgh, Utah and more.

The Nease High School (Florida) player is considered a 4-star recruit and the 23rd-best quarterback in the country by 247Sports' composite rankings. He was one of two commits at the position for Florida in the 2023 class, along with 4-star Jaden Rashada.

Universities are not allowed to publicly comment on prospects until they sign their letter of intent, and Stokes had only given his verbal commitment to Florida.