UNION HOME MORTGAGE GASPARILLA BOWL
TULANE vs. FLORIDA
Raymond James Stadium (65,000/Natural Grass)
Tampa, Florida
Television
ESPN
Anish Shroff, Andre Ware and Paul Carcaterra
Live Statistics
StatBroadcast
THE GAME
The Union Home Mortgage Mowers Gasparilla Bowl has existed since the 2008 season, first under the St. Petersburg Bowl moniker, before assuming its current brand identity in 2017 … The game was played at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg before moving to Raymond James Stadium in Tampa in 2018 … Teams from the American Athletic Conference are 3-3 in the Gasparilla Bowl since the conference’s formation … Temple gave The American its first win in the game in 2018 with a 28-3 victory against Florida International … Tulane and Florida will meet for the 22nd time in a series that dates to 1915, though the schools have not played each other since 1984 … Florida holds a 13-6-2 series lead and has won the last 11 meetings … Tulane’s last win against the Gators was a 27-13 decision in New Orleans Oct. 5, 1945 … The schools competed concurrently in the SEC from 1933-65 … Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall and Florida coach Billy Napier combined to win three consecutive Sun Belt Conference titles at their previous institutions … Napier won the 2021 title at Louisiana before Sumrall claimed the 2022 and 2023 championships at Troy.
rv/rv TULANE
9-4, 7-1 American
Head Coach
Jon Sumrall (Kentucky ’05)
9-4, first season at Tulane
32-8, third season as collegiate head coach
Tulane is making its 17th bowl appearance as the Green Wave plays in the Gasparilla Bowl for the first time … The Green Wave is 7-9 in its previous bowl appearances and looks for its first bowl win since its memorable 46-45 victory against USC in the 2022-23 Cotton Bowl … Tulane brought an eight-game winning streak into its regular-season finale against Memphis, but the Green Wave has dropped two straight heading into Bowl Season … The loss to Memphis ended the Green Wave’s streak of 17 straight American Athletic Conference regular-season victories, which tied the conference record … Tulane’s nine wins have been by an average of 31.3 points … The Green Wave is 32-9 in its last 41 games, trailing only Georgia (38), Michigan (35) and Oregon (35) in total wins … Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall, in his first year with the Green Wave, made his third consecutive conference championship game appearance after he won back-to-back titles at Troy in 2022 and 2023 … Tulane had 18 players - the most of any American Athletic Conference school - named to the 2024 all-conference teams … RB Makhi Hughes earned first-team honors for the second straight year and has rushed for 1,372 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2024 … OT Derrick Graham and OG Shadre Hurst were first-team choices on the offensive line, while OG Josh Remetich and C Vincent Murphy took second-team honors … OT Rashad Green was a third-team pick … QB Ty Thompson, a transfer from Oregon, is expected to make his first start with Tulane … WR Mario Williams leads a talented group of receivers with 54 catches for 940 yards and five touchdowns, while WR Yulkeith Brown has 34 catches for 470 yards and four TDs … Tulane leads the nation with six defensive touchdowns, two special teams touchdowns and eight non-offensive TDs … Veteran DE Patrick Jenkins is a first-team all-conference choice with 4.5 sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss … LB Tyler Grubbs is the leading tackler with 59 stops to go with 3.0 sacks, 6.0 tackles for loss and two interceptions … LB Sam Howard has 57 stops and a league-leading five fumble recoveries.
FLORIDA
7-5, 4-4 SEC
Head Coach
Billy Napier (Furman ’02)
18-19, third season at Florida
58-31, seventh season as collegiate head coach
Florida is making its second appearance in the Gasparilla Bowl after the Gators fell to UCF 29-17 in the 2021 edition of the game … Florida is making its 49th appearance in Bowl Season … The Gators are 24-24 in their previous bowl appearances and are looking for their first bowl victory since a 36-28 win against Virginia in the 2019 Orange Bowl … Florida takes a three-game winning streak into the Gasparilla Bowl … Four of the Gators’ five losses have been to teams ranked in the most recent top-25 polls … Three of the losses were to teams that reached the 12-team College Football Playoff (Georgia, Texas, Tennessee) … Florida has scored points in an NCAA-record 460 consecutive games, dating to 1988 … Florida enters the Gasparilla Bowl as the unofficial college football lineal champion — the team that defeated the previous champion dating back to the first game between Rutgers and Princeton in 1869 … RB Cam Carroll played at Tulane from 2018-22 and amassed 1,885 all-purpose yards and 24 touchdowns … DB DJ Douglas played in 37 games at Tulane from 2021-23 … The Gators are led offensively by QB DJ Lagway, a true freshman who has completed 93 of 157 passes for 1,610 yards and 11 touchdowns against seven interceptions … RB Jadan Baugh is the leading rusher with 603 yards and seven touchdowns on 119 carries, while RB Montrell Johnson has 593 yards and six TDs … The Gators have a big-play receiving corps, led by WR Elijhah Badger, who has 37 catches for 789 yards and four touchdowns, averaging 21.3 yards per reception … WR Chimere Dike has 36 receptions for 687 yards and two TDs and averages 19.1 yards per catch … The defense is led by LB Trikweze Bridges, who has 69 tackles … DE Tyreak Sapp has 7.0 sacks and 13.0 tackles for loss, while CB Bryce Thornton has a team-high three interceptions … K Trey Smack has hit 14 of his 17 field goal attempts … P Jeremy Crawshaw has averaged 45.9 yards per punt … Florida was an affiliate member of the American Athletic Conference in women’s lacrosse from 2019-24, during which time the Gators won five consecutive conference titles.