Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Florida vs. Florida State: Week 14 Press Conference Live Blog
As the 2019 regular season comes to a close, Florida Gators head coach Dan Mullen along with several players are scheduled to meet with the media today.
Quarterback Kyle Trask, wide receiver Josh Hammond, and linebacker David Reese II will speak at the press conference.
Stay tuned to the GatorMaven press conference live blog for quotes and updates from the press conference, as the No. 8 Gators (9-2, 6-2 SEC) prepare to face their in-state rival the Florida State Seminoles (6-5, 4-4 ACC) on Saturday.
LIVE BLOG
1:56 P.M.: Trask says he will return to Florida in 2020.
1:54 P.M.: Trask says the team's goal this Saturday is to "win the state". He calls it the Gator Standard.
1:52 P.M.: Trask says he's "grown-up quicker" this season as the team's starting quarterback, compared to his time as the backup.
1:50 P.M.: "It kind of just opens your eyes to how fast these four years go... I've been through the grind with them for four years. It's been very eye-opening, very humbling," Trask says of the upcoming Senior Day.
1:47 P.M.: QB Kyle Trask is now at the podium.
1:39 P.M.: Hammond speaks on being in FSU's position previously.
"It definitely sucks... a bunch of questions going through your head because you don't know what's next."
1:37 P.M.: "I think it was just something that was understood," says Hammond of Florida's goal of jumping to 11 wins from 10.
1:35 P.M.: Hammond says he will be shaving his face for Senior Day "for my mom" - she doesn't like his facial hair. Hammond has been the subject of age jokes as of late, despite only being 21 years old.
1:34 P.M.: Hammond believes that his class has helped change the Gators' offense and that the offense is "heading in the right direction".
1:27 P.M.: WR Josh Hammond is at the podium now. He tells us that he was at the game the last time Florida beat Florida State in The Swamp, in 2009.
1:24 P.M.: Mullen says it's a "taste in your mouth" effect, not as much a recruiting effect, that makes Florida vs. Florida State so important.
1:20 P.M.: Mullen says that defensive end Jonathan Greenard is playing at an All-American level.
1:18 P.M.: Mullen says "you don't sleep" during the December/January time frame of bowl games and early National Signing Period. "It's a little bit of an emotional rollercoaster."
1:16 P.M.: 'To be successful in the conference, you've got to win at home,' says Mullen. Says it's important to pack the stadium to win, not the other way around.
1:12 P.M.: Mullen says it's "pretty easy" to call plays despite a lack of a consistent running game.
"Call other plays."
1:10 P.M.: Mullen says that he started telling the team during their first team meeting this year that it's tougher to go from four wins to 10 than it is from 10 to 11, and the team embraced that. Notes that the team bought in and believed in the message, and expects to win games.
1:00 P.M.: Some guys missed practice being sick last week, but otherwise the team appears healthy. Mullen says linebacker Amari Burney is "ahead of schedule", and defensive end Jabari Zuniga has been cleared to play.
12:50 P.M.: What was life like last time Florida beat Florida State in The Swamp? Read here to take a trip down memory lane.
12:50 P.M.: Last week, Dan Mullen spoke with any underclassmen who could declare early for the NFL Draft, claiming that he expects eight players to consider it.
I wrote about eight potential early entrants and argued whether they should declare for the draft or return to school for another year here.
12:50 P.M.: With senior day looming, several Gators have been named semifinalists for national, season-ending awards.
12:50 P.M.: Not football related, but after winning the Charleston Classic on Sunday, Florida Gators basketball finds itself back in the AP Top 25 at the No. 24 spot. This comes after the Gators (5-2) fell out of their No. 6 preseason ranking into the unranked abyss two weeks into the season.
