O&B Game Recap: Blue 34, Orange 0 - Florida Gators

THE QUICK SLANT
BLUE 34, ORANGE 0

Quarterback **Anthony Richardson** (15) barks signals for his Orange team during Thursday night's spring game at the "Swamp."

WHAT HAPPENED: Sophomore quarterback Anthony Richardson passed for 207 yards and a pair of touchdowns to lead his Blue squad to victory Thursday night in the annual Orange & Blue Spring Game that doubled as the public debut for new Florida coach Billy Napier. Richardson, the 6-foot-4, 237-pounder from Gainesville, staked his team to a 21-0 halftime lead with touchdown marches of 80, 80 and 65 yards on his three drives of the first half. Richardson finished the drives with touchdown passes of 19 yards to Ja'Markis Weston and six to tight end Noah Keeter, with sophomore tailback Montrell Johnson, who accompanied Napier from the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, scoring on a 1-yard run in between. Richardson added a 12-yard touchdown run in the second half in the second half when the night was over had put plenty of distance between himself and backup Jack Miller III, who commandeered the Orange team. Richardson finished 18 of 24, while Miller went 13-for-23 for 121 yards and also threw an end zone interception, one of three turnovers for the Orange. One of the turnovers came on the first possession of the second half and led directly to Richardson's 12-yard scramble (untouched) for a score and 28-0 lead. Late in the third period, redshirt freshman kicker Adam Mihalek kicked a 51-yard field goal that fell one yard shy of the record for longest in a UF spring game. Mihalik added a 48-yarder midway through the fourth quarter. The Blue team, with Richardson playing all but two possessions, finished with 298 total yards without a turnover, while the Orange was held to just 199 yards and had the three giveaways. Napier, who went 12-1 at UL last season and won the Sun Belt Conference championship, watched the game from behind the offenses, while UF's two new basketball coaches, Todd Golden and Kelly Rae Finley, served as honorary coaches of the Blue and Orange teams, respectively.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT (Offense): Take a wild guess.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT (Defense): Senior linebacker Amari Burney, suiting up for the Orange, was game's top tackler of the night, finishing with 11 stops and a pass breakup. Burney, though, was injured in a late collision and had to be assisted off the field, though he walked to the bench under his own power.

UP NEXT: The Gators will open the 2022 season Sept. 3 against Utah in a rare home date against an opponent outside of the state of Florida and from another Power 5 conference. The Utes went 10-4 in 2021 and won the Pac-12 Conference by destroying Oregon 38-10 in the league's championship game. Utah went on to lose 48-45 to Ohio State in the Rose Bowl and finished No. 12 in the final Associated Press rankings.

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