Florida has struggled this fall, carrying a 3-5 record into its Week 11 showdown at Kentucky and having already fired head coach Billy Napier.
Things haven’t gone according to plan in 2025, and that’s an understatement. But Florida has a big-time opportunity on Saturday night to get back to .500 in the SEC, and that opportunity will come in Lexington against another struggling SEC team in Kentucky. The Wildcats are also 3-5 and even worse in the SEC at 1-5, so Florida, which is a slight road favorite in the 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff on SEC Network, will hope to bounce back from last week’s agonizing loss to Georgia.
Who will lead the Gators in their Week 11 battle? Well, everybody will play a part.
But Florida singled out 4 players on Friday afternoon who will be team captains on Saturday night against Kentucky. That important quartet of players will be senior offensive lineman Damieon George, junior tight end Hayden Hansen, senior edge rusher George Gumbs Jr. and senior defensive back Devin Moore.
Hansen, a Texas native, has caught 22 passes for 198 yards and 1 touchdown this season. On the other side of the ball, Gumbs has 23 total tackles this season, 9 of them solo, with 2.5 sacks and 1 forced fumble.
Moore, who was born in Naples, Fla., and stayed in state to play in Gainesville, has 22 total tackles this season, 13 of them solo, with 1 sack and 2 interceptions.
This trio, along with George up front on the offensive line, is who UF will be counting on for leadership as it tries to gain some traction late in an otherwise forgettable season.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
