Florida LB eating crow after giving Oklahoma bulletin-board material

Florida linebacker James Houston is eating his words after talking down Oklahoma in the lead up to the Cotton Bowl. Now his team is getting trounced.

Life comes at you fast. One day, you’re trash-talking an opponent. The next day, you’re getting curb stomped.

Florida’s James Houston now knows all about that.

Last week, the linebacker claimed Oklahoma couldn’t hang with Florida or the SEC.

On Wednesday night, the Sooners got a chance to respond with actions, not words. They jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the first quarter of the Cotton Bowl.

Florida LB James Houston learned not to trash talk the hard way vs. Oklahoma

The trouble for Houston was trying to write checks his team couldn’t necessarily cash. Missing eight starters going into the Cotton Bowl definitely wasn’t going to help the Gators. They didn’t need to give Oklahoma any added motivation.

Indeed, the Sooners got off to a hot start on Wednesday night. Spencer Rattler dropped a dime for a 27-yard touchdown to Marvin Mims for the opening score of the game.

A Kyle Trask interception doubled up the lead for Oklahoma as Tre Norwood returned his pick 45 yards for a score. The Sooners settled for a field goal after another Trask interception while denying Florida a response with an additional pick in the endzone.

It was a nightmare start for Trask with three turnovers in the first quarter of the game. He had never thrown more than two interceptions in a game with just five all season.

For his part, Houston, who had 36 tackles on the season, didn’t have a tackle in the opening quarter.

It’s a harsh lesson, but one other players can learn from: Don’t give an opponent bulletin board material. It’s never a good idea.

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