Florida football imploded snapped its six-game SEC losing streak on Saturday, holding off pesky Missouri 24-17 in front of an announced crowd of 88,471 at The Swamp.
The Gators (4-2, 1-2 SEC) picked up their first SEC win since beating Vanderbilt 42-0 on Oct. 9, 2021 in 364 days. It was also the first SEC win for first-year Florida coach Billy Napier.
“It’s definitely a great feeling,” Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson said. – We talked about it all week, that we needed to get the first one. I’m so glad we got the first one. The energy is great in the locker room, it was great on the field. A lot of guys said, “We have to win. We have to win.” And we finally got out.”
Missouri (2-4, 0-3 SEC) outgained Florida 370-297. But with the score tied at 10 at halftime, Florida won thanks to its fast play. The Gators gained 212 yards rushing in the second half after rushing for just 19 yards in the first half.
“We’re a very capable group, but we’re still not as precise and detailed as we need to be in many areas, but we’re getting there,” Napier said. “The one thing about this group, as you can hear, it’s a very competitive team, so I think we’ve got the right squad, we’re bringing in young players and at the end of the day, at some point here, we continue to improve,
Game Summary:The Florida Gators held on for a 24-17 victory over the Missouri Tigers
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Here are five takeaways from Saturday’s game.
Jaydon Hill backs up his words
Florida starting cornerback Jadon Hill said earlier this week that the Gators “shouldn’t have lost” to Missouri despite the series being tied (5-5) since the school joined the SEC.
Hill held up his end of the bargain Saturday afternoon with two interceptions. The first, an interception return 49 yards for a touchdown, gave the Gators a 10-0 lead.
“It’s what we have to do and what I said, I should have supported it,” Hill said. “And we got there and did it.”
Hill had another big interception late in the third quarter in the red zone to make it 17-10 Florida, derailing a potential Missouri scoring opportunity.
“The second one was bigger than the first one because we literally didn’t hold them scoreless,” Hill said. “They could have kicked it out right away. Every score is good, but to pick it up when they’re in the red zone is completely different because it’s points.”
Up and down afternoon for QB Anthony Richardson
Richardson was 8 of 14 passing for 66 yards.
He threw a 9-yard TD pass to Ricky Piersol to put Florida up 24-10 and had a big 32-yard scramble on a fourth-and-2 play.
“Anthony, he did enough, he did enough to win,” Napier said. “His team won today, so when you play defender, that’s the goal.”
But Richardson also lost a fumble late in the second quarter and threw an interception in the fourth quarter as Florida tried to run out the clock. Richardson has turned the ball over at least once in five straight games.
“Coach Knapp says every time we have to post a zero and we haven’t posted a zero yet,” Richardson said. “So I’m trying to take charge of that so we can limit the turnovers as much as possible.”
The run game wakes up in the second half
After gaining just 19 yards on 10 carries in the first half, Florida started the game with 135 yards in the third quarter.
Overall, Florida rushed for 231 yards on 7.2 yards per carry. The Gators had four runs of 30 or more yards in the second half, including runs of 41 and 36 yards by Montrell Johnson Jr.
“It helps the offense a lot because it’s a momentum game and they gave us a lot of momentum at the time,” Johnson said. “We just built on that and had a great game.”
A 39-yard run by freshman Trevor Etienne and a 32-yard scramble on fourth-and-2 by Richardson set up Johnson’s 3-yard TD to give Florida a 17-10 win.
Johnson’s 36-yard run in the fourth quarter put Florida up 24-10.
Johnson finished with 86 yards on eight carries and one TD, while Etienne had 83 yards on 10 carries.
“We were a little more accurate and I thought our guys up front did a good job,” Napier said. “Good vision. Obviously you could see the backs, we took it to the second level. And then Anthony made kicking plays, big kicking plays on fourth down, third down.”
Mixed bag on special teams
Xavier Henderson returned a 48-yard punt return for Florida’s longest punt return of the season, leading to a 37-yard field goal by Adam Michalek to give the Gators a 3-0 lead in the first quarter.
But Michalek missed field goals of 50 and 47 yards later in the game, dropping to 1-of-3 on the day and 5-of-9 on the season.
“They were both deep,” Napier said. – I think that this is one thing that should be taken into account. I think I could help him. That’s what I’m thinking. I think I could help him by directing the game a little bit there. We have a couple of two-game stretches there where I could coach better.”
Defensive bends do not break
Florida allowed Missouri to gain 370 yards and convert nine of 17 on third downs during the contest. That included Missouri converting a 3rd and 9 game in the first quarter and a 3rd and 18 game in the fourth quarter.
“Third, the national average is less than 15 percent,” Napier said. “So when you’re giving up that much, there are some things you have to look at, but I think it’s all fixable.”
But in four trips to the red zone, Missouri scored just 17 points. Senior quarterback Ventrell Miller applied a lot of pressure on a fourth-and-2 play, leading to an incompletion by Missouri quarterback Brady Cook that sealed the win.
Four different Florida players accounted for four UF sacks — defensive lineman Prinkley Umanmillen, defensive lineman Brenton Cox Jr., defensive lineman Chris McClellan and defensive lineman Gervon Dexter Jr.
Miller was all over the field with 11 tackles, including 2 tackles for loss.
“I don’t know how many times they’ve had a play that looked like it was going to develop and then it just came out of nowhere for 51,” Napier said. – Ventrel is productive as a player, but it’s more impactful than just production. That’s what’s important. I mean, the guy inspires by his example, his consistency as a person, his leadership, his presence. He makes other people around him better, and it certainly showed today.”