Florida football seniors look to salvage season with win over rival FSU

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Off the sting of a 20-point loss to rival Tennessee, Florida football gets one last chance for redemption at The Swamp when it hosts another rival, Florida State, on Nov. 29 (4:30 p.m., ESPN2).

The Florida Gators (3-8, 2-6 SEC) can knock the rival Seminoles (5-6, 2-6 ACC) out of bowl eligibility with a win. Florida will honor its seniors before the game, a group that includes preseason All-American center Jake Slaughter, defensive end Tyreak Sapp, starting left tackle Austin Barber and starting defensive tackle Caleb Banks.

Florida interim coach Billy Gonzales, who is 0-4, also will try to pick up his first win in his final game leading the program. The Gators are looking to avoid their worst season since going 0-10-1 in 1979. With a win, Florida would finish 4-8, its worst season since 2013.

"Our goal is to try to end this season for the seniors, have an opportunity to play one more time in The Swamp for them and get a victory before we leave the season behind us," Gonzales said.

A season that began with high expectations didn't pan out for UF, as injuries and inconsistency plagued the Gators throughout the 2025 campaign. Florida head coach Billy Napier was fired on Oct. 19 and the Gators have been up-and-down since, suffering blowout losses to Kentucky and No. 18 Tennessee while taking leads into the fourth quarter against No. 4 Georgia and No. 6 Ole Miss before losing both games.

"The reality is the football hadn't been nearly good enough," Slaughter said. "It's one of those things that you do what you can as a leader on the team, to inspire and bring your guys along. But the football hasn't been good enough, and we're still working."

Florida leads the all-time series with FSU 38-28 (two ties) and has won four of the last six meetings between the two schools, including a 31-11 win in Tallahassee last year. The rivalry remains strong, even though the stakes aren't as high as they were since Steve Spurrier and the last Bobby Bowden patrolled the sidelines in the 1990s.

"There's a lot that goes into it," Slaughter said. "We know each other. You play against these guys year in and year out, and a lot of times these guys that you might have gone against in high school, played with in high school. So it's a big game, and it's a year's worth of bragging rights on it."

Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat writer. Contact him at kbrockway@gannett.com. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1. Read his coverage of the Gators’ national championship basketball season in “CHOMP-IONS!” — a hardcover coffee-table collector’s book from The Sun. Details at Florida.ChampsBook.com

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida football seniors aim to go out on high note with win over rival FSU

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