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Florida routed Miss State 45-28 in Starkville on Saturday and for one sun-soaked September Saturday, the Gators were fun again.
Sure, the win came over a Miss State team that is in Year 1 under Jeff Lebby and remains in transition less than 2 full years removed from the tragic death of Mike Leach.
Yes, Florida needed a goal-line stand to keep State from cutting what was once a 28-7 lead to 35-28 in the fourth quarter.
Yes, the doubts about Billy Napier’s future at Florida remain and Saturday’s result changes little.
But forget the disclaimers.
After as miserable a week and open to the season as Florida football has suffered in decades, the Gators and their long-suffering fan base needed this one and you’ll have to excuse the Gators players, coaches, and fans if they savor it for a little while.
There will plenty of Saturdays to keep talking about Florida’s future.
Saturday was about celebrating what has become too rare in Gainesville: a win.
Florida’s win Saturday was the first for the program over a Power conference opponent since a win at South Carolina last October, a span of nearly a year and ending a streak of 7 consecutive losses to FBS foes.
Florida’s veteran leaders played their part, as is the case anytime you win on the road in the SEC.
Senior quarterback Graham Mertz was instrumental, completing 19-of-21 passes for 206 yards and 3 touchdowns and adding 24 crucial yards with his legs, including a pivotal first half 3rd-down conversion and a rushing touchdown.
Senior corner Jason Marshall Jr. was Florida’s best player on defense, allowing just 2 receptions against on 6 targets, breaking up 2 passes, posting 3 tackles in run support and helping the Gators limit Kevin Coleman Jr., Miss State’s young star receiver, to just 19 yards receiving after Coleman Jr. averaged 80 yards and a touchdown in each of the first 3 games.
But as good as Mertz and Marshall Jr. were, the primary take away from Florida’s win at Davis Wade Stadium on Scott Field Saturday was Florida’s youth movement.
Florida’s young talent made winning plays early and often, a nod whoever is coaching Florida next season will have a chance to keep players capable of building a winning foundation.
Take redshirt freshman Aidan Mizell, who led the Gators with 5 receptions for 36 yards and who was deprived, after a questionable call, of a touchdown that featured a healthy dose of speed and magic after the catch.
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Or consider the hard running of Treyaun Webb, who powered his way for 41 yards, including a vital 3rd-down red-zone carry with the Gators leading by just 7 in the third quarter to move the chains on a day when All-SEC running back Montrell Johnson lost a fumble.
Florida’s youthful tight ends were marvelous, too. Hayden Hansen caught a 35-yard strike of a seam route from Mertz in the first half and his fellow sophomore, Arlis Boardingham, opened up the scoring for the Gators with a 3-yard touchdown reception on Florida’s second possession.
Florida’s youth showed up defensively, too.
Sophomore linebacker Pup Howard made the defensive play of the game when he snuffed out a Blake Shapen option on 4th-and-goal in the fourth quarter with the game still very much in the balance. Howard finished with 7 tackles, 2 quarterback pressures and a pass breakup.
https://twitter.com/GatorGuyBilly/status/1837568670719005098
And of course there’s DJ Lagway.
Napier promised to give his 5-star freshman every third possession on Saturday, and to his credit, he stuck with the plan despite Mertz having the red hot hand throughout the opening half.
Lagway rewarded his head coach’s confidence by leading 2 touchdown drives of 90 yards or more, completing all 7 of his passes for 96 yards and adding 22 yards with his legs, including a brilliant 1-cut quarterback draw for a first down on 3rd-and-9 inside the shadow of his own goal posts in the first half.
In so doing, Lagway became the first SEC freshman quarterback since Jalen Hurts to post 2 90-yard plus touchdown drives in a SEC road game. Make all the “It’s just Miss State” comments you want, but other SEC freshman quarterbacks have played bad teams since Hurts was a freshman, too. None of them managed to do what Lagway did Saturday. It was the latest evidence of the Texan’s massive talent, coming just 2 weeks removed from setting Florida’s all-time freshman record for passing yards in a game.
In the grand scheme, all you can take from a win like this is what it portends for the future.
With a bye week coming before a massive home game against UCF, there will be chatter about whether Florida can turn around its season with a win over the Knights, a quality Big 12 team led by a rushing offense savant in Gus Malzahn and a terrific quarterback in KJ Jefferson who has already slayed The Swamp once.
Florida’s leaky run defense, which surrendered 240 yards and 3 touchdowns to Miss State a week after allowing 310 yards rushing to Texas A&M, will need improve dramatically to avoid being run out of their own building by an in-state opponent for the second time this season.
Given Florida’s issues defensively and on the offensive line, the Gators might enter the UCF game a home underdog.
Favored or not against UCF, the Gators almost certainly won’t be favored to win another game this season after the UCF game, unless FSU’s collapse extends deep into November and Florida is given a Vegas edge over the hated Noles in Tallahassee.
There are bigger hurdles to overcome than a three-quarters full Davis Wade Stadium, and any sober observer of the Florida program understands that.
For one Saturday, though, the Gators were fun again.
Florida’s younger players had a whole lot to do with that fun, and if the program becomes consistently fun again, you can bet Lagway and the other young heroes from Saturday’s win will be the ones leading the way.
Neil Blackmon covers Florida football and the SEC for SaturdayDownSouth.com. An attorney, he is also a member of the Football and Basketball Writers Associations of America. He also coaches basketball.
