Jacksonville sports review 2023: Florida hall adds giants, Lawrence injury jolts Jags

This is the last of a four-part series looking back at the biggest sports stories from 2023 in Jacksonville.

A Jaguars run to the divisional playoffs, the next step in stadium rumblings and a virtual earthquake in the golf world.

A record catch in the ocean, gold medals in the pool and a no-no for the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp on land.

Another Bulldog romp in the annual Georgia-Florida game, the return of UFC and new shakeups on the First Coast soccer scene.

Perfection, but frustration, for Florida State football.

Those were just a few of the storylines of note from 2023 in Northeast Florida sports, a year to remember from the gridiron to the green and beyond.

The Times-Union looks back at some of the area's big stories from the past year, rounding out 2023 with the fall months.

Oct. 5: Vandals damage five greens overnight before the Furyk & Friends pro-am at Timuquana Country Club. Workers repair the damage in time for the first round.

Oct. 8: The Jaguars defeat the Buffalo Bills 25-20 in London, becoming the first NFL team to win overseas games in consecutive weeks.

Oct. 8: Brett Quigley overcomes a double-bogey at the 14th hole to hold on for victory at the PGA Tour Champions Furyk & Friends at Timuquana.

Oct. 14: Jyron Russell completes a Hail Mary touchdown pass to Arsiah McCorker, leading Edward Waters University football to a 41-38 win at Tuskegee.

Oct. 21: Southern comes from behind to defeat Bethune-Cookman 28-18 in Southwestern Athletic Conference college football at EverBank Stadium.

Oct. 27: Ponte Vedra native Corinne Quiggle wins a bronze medal for the United States in beach volleyball at the Pan American Games in Chile.

Oct. 27: Lavar Johnson wins to headline the Valor BK bare-knuckle boxing series card at UNF Arena.

Oct. 28: Former Mandarin High School quarterback Carson Beck completes 19 of 28 passes for 315 yards to lead top-ranked Georgia to a 43-20 victory over Florida in front of 76,251 at EverBank Stadium.

Oct. 30: Former University of North Florida baseball coach Tim Parenton, who stepped down in June amid a battle with cancer, dies at age 61.

Nov. 1: The Texas Rangers, including former Clay High School pitcher Dane Dunning in the bullpen, defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-0 to win the World Series 4 games to 1.

Nov. 2: The Jacksonville Armada announces plans to return to professional soccer in 2025 in MLS Next Pro, and releases video renderings of its new stadium on the Eastside.

Nov. 4: Edward Waters University defeats Virginia University of Lynchburg 41-17 in the regular season finale, clinching a 6-4 record and the football team's first winning season since 2004.

Nov. 7: Otis Lee Anderson Sr., the father of former University Christian School and UCF football player Otis Anderson Jr., pleads guilty to charges including armed manslaughter and receives a sentence above 12 years in his son's November 2021 death.

Nov. 8: At the Florida Theatre, the Florida Sports Hall of Fame inducts a class that includes Jacksonville-linked standouts LeRoy Butler, Greg Coleman, Tom Coughlin and Shannon Miller.

Nov. 9: The Jaguars announce that original head coach Tom Coughlin will be inducted into the Pride of the Jaguars in 2024.

Nov. 9: Middleburg defeats Barron Collier in the Florida High School Athletic Association Class 5A volleyball championship for the team's first-ever state title.

Nov. 11: Former Jaguars cornerback D.J. Hayden is among six people killed in a car crash in Texas.

Nov. 13: Jaguars wide receiver Zay Jones is arrested on a domestic battery charge.

Nov. 14: The Jacksonville City Council approves the rezoning of land for the Jacksonville Armada's planned soccer stadium.

Nov. 19: Ludvig Aberg ties a PGA Tour 72-hole record, shooting a 29-under 253 to win the RSM Classic at Sea Island.

Nov. 22: Jacksonville's Tom Piatak, chief executive officer of Magellan Transport Logistics, and his family complete their acquisition of English soccer club Carlisle United.

Nov. 30: Former Jacksonville Jaguars running back Fred Taylor joins the ownership group for JAXUSL soccer.

Dec. 3: Despite a 13-0 record and an ACC championship, Florida State is excluded from the College Football Playoff in favor of one-loss teams Texas and Alabama.

Dec. 3: The TaxSlayer Gator Bowl announces Clemson and Kentucky as the teams for the Dec. 29 bowl game at EverBank Stadium.

Dec. 4: Timuquana Country Club elects not to extend its partnership with the Constellation Furyk & Friends PGA Tour Champions tournament beyond the contract's expiration in 2025.

Dec. 4: Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence sustains a high ankle sprain during the fourth quarter of a Monday Night Football loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

Dec. 6: Edward Waters University and football coach Toriano Morgan agree to a three-year contract extension after the Tigers' first winning season since 2004.

Dec. 10: Connor Roche and Hayleigh Haid win the Ameris Bank Jacksonville Marathon, while Jeannie Rice runs 1:41:53 at age 75 to surpass her world-best half-marathon age group mark.

Dec. 12: The Florida High School Athletic Association votes to scrap the Metro-Suburban division system for football after two seasons.

Dec. 12: JAXUSL announces Sporting Jax as the franchise name for its new men's USL Championship and women's USL Super League soccer teams.

Dec. 12: Armada owner Robert Palmer announces the launch of a new business entity aimed at bringing a National Women's Soccer League team to Jacksonville.

Dec. 14: Former Jaguars employee Amit Patel pleads guilty to charges including wire fraud in connection with the theft of around $22 million from the NFL team.

Dec. 17: Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence enters the concussion protocol following a second-half injury in a loss to the Baltimore Ravens, a defeat dropping the Jags from sole possession of the AFC South lead.

Dec. 18: Harrison Endycott wins medalist honors at a weather-delayed PGA Tour Q-School at TPC Sawgrass Dye's Valley, while Jacksonville University graduate Raul Pereda charges on the back nine to earn his Tour card.

Dec. 24: Trevor Lawrence again leaves a Jaguars game with an injury, this time to his shoulder, during a Christmas Eve loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that leaves the Jags' postseason hopes in jeopardy.

Dec. 27: Former Jaguars running back Fred Taylor is named among the 15 modern-era finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The Hall will vote on its 2024 class in February.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville 2023 Sports Year Review: Jaguars' Trevor Lawrence injury