At the end of an oftentimes turbulent season and a game with its share of yawns, the Gators did what winning bowl teams do.
They danced and laughed and took silly photos together. They clutched the Gasparilla Bowl trophy and paraded around the field at Raymond James Stadium, relishing Friday's 33-8 victory over Tulane.
Florida's first bowl victory in five seasons was far from a masterpiece, but that had little significance to the players and coaches celebrating the final moments of a long and trying season.
"Great to finish the right way,'' head coach Billy Napier said.
The Gators, after a pair of blowout losses to Miami and Texas A&M early in the season, after Napier's future in charge of the program was in question, after losing several key players to season-ending injuries, after not becoming bowl-eligible until the next-to-last game of the regular season, finished the season on a four-game winning streak and a healthy dose of momentum heading into 2025.
Florida's season featured more zigzags than anything the players rode at Busch Gardens earlier in the week. And Fridays' thumping of the Green Wave was no different.
Two moments stood above all others in the end. Both featured 6-foot-5, 449-pound senior defensive lineman Desmond Watson, who grew up a short drive from downtown Tampa and played at nearby Armwood High School. The first came in the first quarter when Watson stopped Tulane quarterback Ty Thompson on a third-and-2 play at UF's 48. Watson didn't just stop Thompson short of the first down; he bear-hugged him and lifted him three feet off the ground as officials blew their whistles. He turned the 6-foot-4, 224-pound Thompson into a rag doll.
The second play that had people talking about Watson afterward — and earned him a highlight on ESPN's "SportsCenter" — happened on third-and-1 from Tulane's 26-yard line late in the fourth quarter as Florida attempted to run out the clock. Napier inserted Watson into the game at running back as part of what the Gators call the "Hawk Package," a nod to Armwood High's mascot.
"Been thinking about it the whole year," Napier said. "And Des has played really good. Bowl games, you're looking for buttons to push. I think this one helped our team. You saw that sideline light up when he went out there. A lot of fun, and he did a great job. I think the guys rallied around him."
Watson took the handoff from backup quarterback Aidan Warner and rumbled for a first down to the delight of the prominent Orange & Blue faithful among the announced crowd of 41,472. Watson stayed in on the next play to serve as lead blocker for walk-on running back Anthony Rubio, the son of Florida senator Marco Rubio.
The party had officially started with the Gators on their way to a final touchdown scored on a 9-yard run by Rubio, a walk-on who rushed six times for 32 yards in his memorable bowl debut. Watson grinned ear to ear when discussing his turn in the spotlight.
"It was great,'' he said. "Since I came to college, every time I go on the internet, I see somebody say I should be in some type of package to get the ball, especially since I wear No. 21, a running back number. I never really looked too much into it. I never went to Coach Napier about it. But I feel like he's seen it, too. It was a great moment to finish off my career as a Florida Gator.
Watson even did a Heisman pose when he returned to the sideline.
"They were begging me to do it," he said.
Watson is part of a senior class that had not tasted victory in a bowl game until Friday. He is a rarity in today's landscape, playing as a true freshman in 2021 and spending all four seasons at one school.
Watson said he had 20 friends and family at the game and, more than anything else, wanted to leave the field as a winner in his final game.
"That was the biggest thing for me, being here all four years, that was a great way to finish it,'' Watson said. "I feel like the season we had, it set the floor for the young guys. I say the floor because we always feel like we need to get better. If things go the way they should go, I feel like I'm part of the reason and helped the team."
While Watson's show-stopping moments highlighted the victory, Gators true freshman quarterback DJ Lagway (22 of 35, 305 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT) earned MVP honors. Lagway tossed a 7-yard touchdown to tight end Tony Livingston late in the third quarter to overcome a pair of first-half interceptions that cost the Gators in the red zone.
Lagway finished 6-1 as Florida's starting quarterback and was undefeated in games he started and finished. His only loss came to Georgia when he left the game in the second quarter with the Gators leading because of a hamstring injury. Lagway is still not 100 percent, but he and kicker Trey Smack (four field goals) provided enough offense for the Gators to turn back the Green Wave handily.
But he was not satisfied.
"It's a bad taste in my mouth, that performance,'' Lagway said. "I was just playing bad football, not taking care of the football. Seeing plays that I thought I could make and just forcing it."
Lagway's two interceptions, one a pass into coverage in the end zone, became a nonfactor thanks to another strong defensive performance. Despite missing starting defensive linemen Caleb Banks and Cam Jackson to injuries and edge rusher T.J. Searcy absent after he entered the transfer portal, the Gators recorded three interceptions, stopped Tulane on fourth down three times, and limited the Green Wave to a season-low 194 yards.
"We were sloppy early,'' Napier said. "We were a little rusty on offense. We could have had control of the game earlier if we played cleaner on offense. You're going to have days like that. That's why you play complementary ball.
"One of the reasons we've been able to turn it around is we've played really good defense. Today was no different. We stopped the run. We made them one-dimensional. We kept the shots in front of us. We did a good job of tackling on the perimeter."
Smack scored the early points, Lagway was MVP, and the defense dominated. Those factors added to a winning recipe, as Florida finished 8-5 in its first winning season since 2020. With the victory, Napier climbed back to .500 (19-19) and boarded the bus back to Gainesville, eager to work on the future.
But before all that, he took part in the fun. He put in a running play for Watson that they created on the fly.
"I can do it all,'' Watson said.
"We literally put the play in on the field at practice,'' Napier said. "The guys were, 'Hey, give him the ball, Coach. Give him the ball.'
"Have you ever seen a 400-plus guy run the ball before?"
No, Coach, we have not. Refrigerator Perry was listed at only 335 pounds. But it was fun to watch, another memorable moment in a season full of plot twists.
