CFB insider blames Morgan Wallen for Florida star Graham Mertz's season-ending injury

Billy Napier's Florida Gators took a double hit after quarterback Graham Mertz was injured during Week 7 overtime 23-17 loss to the Tennessee Volunteers. The season-ending injury happened after Mertz threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Arlis Boardingham to put the Gators ahead 10-0 midway through the third quarter.

Mertz was a sixth-year transfer from the Wisconsin Badgers after the 2022 season and with the season-ending injury, his college career came to a brutal end. Vols coach Josh Heupel also suffered the loss of linebacker Keenan Pili whose college career also came to an end with an ACL injury in the same game.

Fox Sports radion analyst Davey Hudson blamed Morgan Wallen for the injuries. The musician held a concert at the Neyland Stadium before the game.

“Shoutout Morgan Wallen! His Neyland concerts only cost 2 players their final season of college football eligibility due to knee injuries thanks to the new turf,” Hudson said.

Graham Mertz outlines new Florida role

Graham Mertz who has had a rocky season held a news conference on Wednesday where he thanked the Florida Gators fans and coaching staff for the opportunity to play for the team and further outlined the role that he would occupy in the team now that his season was over.

“I think that my job right now is – obviously you got surgery coming up, and the initial getting back from that – but this week and up until that, my job is to be a coach, to be in the meeting rooms, to talk to guys, just be myself and continue what I was doing,” Mertz said. “Obviously it’s a little different, not being able to be out at practice.

The Florida quarterback who also suffered a concussion earlier in the season, showed his team first approach while outlining how he would help to support his teammates.

"But I think my job right now is to help," the signal caller added. "I mean, I said it in my post, it’s my job to help this team win any way I can. For right now, it’s the meeting rooms. It’s talking through defensive structures, our game plan and prepping as if I’m playing.

"Because in doing that I can help out a lot of people and just kind of help them do their job a little bit better."

Graham Mertz said he is waiting for the swelling around his knee to subside before he gets surgery to repair his ACL and with the end of his eligibility, he further said that the NFL was his ultimate goal.