Florida's spring game will be an actual game

Florida's 2015 spring game will, in fact, be a game.

That's the word announced by Scott Carter on GatorZone this Thursday, after weeks of rumblings that a thin offensive line would force the Gators to scrap a traditional spring game for something more like the glorified practice that Florida put on in 2013 under Will Muschamp.

The Gators announced Thursday that the annual spring game will match the Orange Team versus the Blue Team. The Florida quarterbacks will wear white jerseys.

While the Gators are thin at offensive line in their first spring camp under head coach Jim McElwain, the game will feature four 12-minute quarters on Saturday at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

A running clock will be used except for the final two minutes of the second and fourth quarters when the clock will be operated like during a regular game.

The teams will take a 12-minute halftime break and once the fourth quarter concludes, there will be an untimed overtime period regardless of the score.

There's also going to be a concert after the game, at 2:30 p.m. on the lawn north of The Swamp, and with the Orange and Blue Debut set to begin at 12:30 p.m., that means the Gators will get in about two hours of work under the Gainesville sun (please, please, let this not be a jinx) on Saturday.

I think a spring game is maybe only slightly more valuable to players than a glorified practice would be, especially given that top players are annually held out or given light reps in such games. But there's no doubt that an actual game, and not a glorified practice, is more intriguing and satisfying to fans — and maybe especially so in Florida's case, given how the 2013 season that followed that spring practice played out.