In the first night game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in nearly two years, Tyler Murphy shut out the lights.
The redshirt junior quarterback led No. 18 Florida (4-1, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) to a 30-10 win against Arkansas (3-3, 0-2 SEC) in The Swamp on Saturday night.
“He did a great job of finding the window, stepping up and buying a little bit of time,” coach Will Muschamp said.
After Brad Phillips kicked a field goal and Loucheiz Purifoy returned an interception for a touchdown to give the Gators a 10-7 lead, Murphy ensured the Razorbacks would not make a comeback.
On third and 12 with time ticking off the clock in the second quarter, Murphy dropped back and Arkansas’ defense quickly pressured him. The redshirt junior stepped up in the pocket and delivered a strike to wide receiver Solomon Patton, who had his back to the end zone.
Patton made the catch just beyond the first-down marker and turned it into a 51-yard touchdown. The senior darted past Arkansas cornerback Tevin Mitchel and outran three other defenders en route to the end zone, putting Florida up 17-7 with only 20 seconds left in the first half.
“I take a lot of pride in [getting yards after the catch],” Patton said. “I really focus on that in practice. After I make a catch, I make sure I get a good 5-to-10-yard burst.”
Murphy and Patton continued their connection later in the game.
On the Gators’ first drive of the third quarter, Murphy found Patton for a 38-yard touchdown.
The senior caught the pass at about the 30-yard line — losing Mitchel as he made the reception — and bolted toward the sideline.
Patton broke one tackle at the 10-yard line, juked past safety Eric Bennett and dashed into the end zone for his second touchdown of the game.
“We haven’t had a night game in two years,” Patton said, “so (it was) just a great feeling to perform like that.”
Patton finished with six catches for a career-high 124 yards, leading the team in catches, yards and receiving touchdowns. Aided by Patton’s running, Murphy ended his second career start with 16 completions on 22 attempts for 240 yards.
“We have a little momentum going,” Murphy said. “And we’re just going to keep building on that, and hopefully he just continues to make plays.”
It was surprising to see the passing game take precedence, as both Florida and Arkansas rely on running the ball on offense.
However, both run defenses were stout. The Gators limited the Razorbacks to their second lowest rushing output of the season; Saturday was the worst running performance by UF in 2013.
Coming into the game, Arkansas freshman Alex Collins had run for 100 or more yards in four of his first five games. He looked poised to do it again following a productive first half.
The freshman tailback racked up 51 yards on six carries as Florida’s defense had trouble plugging the holes Collins ran through.
However, the Gators bottled up Collins for the rest of the game. He finished with 54 yards on 13 carries — an average of 0.6 yards per run during the second half.
“The gap control wasn’t very good there in the first half,” Muschamp said. “We came back in the second half and played the runs better.”
While Florida’s defense stymied Arkansas on the ground, the Razorbacks halted any attempts by the Gators to dominate the running game.
Sophomore Matt Jones struggled to establish his presence. He finished the game with 50 yards on 17 attempts for a meager 2.9 yards per carry.
His backup, Mack Brown, also had trouble. The Razorbacks held the redshirt junior, who ran for 112 yards in Jones’ absence in the season opener, to 39 yards on 11 carries.
But while Florida struggled on the ground, it made up the difference through the air while halting any potential Arkansas aerial assault.
The Gators’ pass defense bumped and hurried Razorbacks quarterback Brandon Allen, who completed only 17 of his 41 passes.
After Allen completed a 31-yard pass that led to a touchdown in the first quarter, Florida buckled down for the rest of the game.
Purifoy made Allen pay on the next drive, returning an errant pass for a 42-yard touchdown to give UF a lead it never relinquished.
“I’ve seen that play a lot,” Muschamp said. “I haven’t seen him finish that play.”
Murphy eliminated any chance of an Arkansas comeback with 4:47 remaining in the fourth quarter.
He dumped off a shovel pass to running back Valdez Showers, who returned from an ankle injury that kept him out for two games, and Showers scampered into the end zone to give Florida a 20-point lead.
Phillips missed the extra point, but the damage was done. The Gators’ defense contained the Razorbacks, stopping their final drive at the 3-yard line before Murphy kneeled to end the game.
“As long as we get wins, I’m happy,” Murphy said. “[Things have] been clicking in the game for us, so we just need to keep doing what we’re doing.”
Follow Adam Lichtenstein on Twitter @ALichtenstein24.
Tyler Murphy runs the ball during Florida’s 30-10 victory against Arkansas on Saturday in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Murphy completed 16 of 22 passes for 240 yards and three touchdowns.
