Florida 52 ... Eastern 3 Final from Ben Hill Griffin

[jbcarol]

Edgar Thompson @osgators  ·  8 hours ago
Max Garcia knew this day was coming. Will Muschamp did not. Each will exit tunnel at the Swamp Sat. for final time: http://bit.ly/1Hxu8IK

On Saturday, the Gators senior leader and the team's outgoing head coach will exit the tunnel in the Swamp for the final time when UF hosts Eastern Kentucky.

Emotions will be swirling for Garcia - one of 24 players being honored on Senior Day - and Muschamp - who was fired Sunday but will coach the final two games of the regular season.

Each will carry a mix of regret and sadness, coupled with the determination to leave on the right note.

[jbcarol]

Eastern Kentucky at Florida, 11 a.m. (SEC Network Alternate): Last year, the Gators stumbled at home against FCS opponent Georgia Southern on one of the darkest days in Florida football history. The Colonels, whose logo bears a strong resemblance to a certain fried chicken purveyor, are 9-2 and have already beat one FBS opponent, although I would add parenthetically that the victim was lowly Miami (Ohio). With Muschamp staying on for the final two regular-season games as he finishes up his first tenure at Florida, I suspect the inspired Gators will reduce the Colonels to a grease spot. Prediction: Florida 38, Eastern Kentucky 10.

[jbcarol]

EKU 0  Florida 3  12:00 1st

[jbcarol]

EKU 0  UF 10  8:27 1st

[jbcarol]

EKU 3  UF 10  :46 1st

[jbcarol]

Eastern 3  Florida 17  13:06 2nd

[jbcarol]

Eastern 3  Florida 24  8:29 2nd

[jbcarol]

EKU 3  UF 31  4:40 2nd

[jbcarol]

Eastern completes a long TD pass with 26 seconds left in the half.

Flag: celebration on Eastern.

Under review.

[jbcarol]

Ruled incomplete.

[jbcarol]

Treon Harris   3/7   143 yards   2 TD

[jbcarol]

Eastern 3  Florida 45  8:30 4th

[jbcarol]

EKU 3  UF 52  6:18 4th

Bagger from Publix got a TD reception.

[jbcarol]

Sideline reporter asks Muschamp post game questions like he is going to be there for awhile...

He is indifferent.

[jbcarol]

Gators defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin will serve as interim coach for their bowl game, Florida announced Saturday....

[jbcarol]

Pat Dooley @pat_dooley  ·  Nov 22
This is actually a decent crowd considering all of the circumstances -- opponent, coach fired, rain, noon.

[jbcarol]

Pat Dooley @pat_dooley  ·  20 hours ago
Dooley: Bowl game and pride are on line for Gators: You remember sitting in that meeting room for the first ti... http://bit.ly/11J3fR9

It's never easy.

You remember sitting in that meeting room for the first time all season with your head coach telling you how important it is to buy in to what he was selling. And then you do that in every practice and every game and every meeting.

And then you sit in that same meeting room and your coach tells you he has been fired.

Some blame themselves. Some blame the administration. Some blame the fans.

But none of it does any good.

College football is the ultimate reality show played out in front of millions of viewers with winners and losers.

It was 10 years ago the last time this happened, when a coach was let go during the season but coached out the string in the regular season. For Ron Zook, Starkville was his Waterloo. A loss to Mississippi State, a team that had lost to Maine that year, was the pink-slip game.

"We were feeling some of the things these guys are going through," said Ciatrick Fason, the SEC's leading rusher in 2004. "We heard it all year long how our coach was on the hot seat. You just have to keep playing."

That would be his advice to the 2014 Gators, whose coach was let go last Sunday with two games remaining in the regular season...