Entering the season, the idea that UF's offense could possibly cost the defense a game would be ludicrous.
That's just what happened Saturday afternoon when two third quarter fumbles by the Gators led to 10 points for Mississippi, turning a 17-7 lead for UF into a 17-17 dogfight.
"We did not play Florida football," Coach Urban Meyer said. "Too many miscues, too many dropped passes, too many turnovers."
The defense entered the weekend allowing just over 6 points per contest but gave up 17 points in the third quarter alone due to the prime field position the Rebels received thanks to the sloppy play of the offense.
The Rebels dominated the time of possession in the third quarter, holding onto the ball for well over eight minutes in the quarter and that appeared to wear the defense down eventually.
Mississippi RB Dexter McCluster's 40-yard touchdown run up the gut of a Gators defense that had been proficient at limiting big plays prior to Saturday illustrated this point the best.
Don't tell the Gators that fatigue may have played a factor in the games key moments, though.
"They came out a little more ready to play today than we were," CB Joe Haden said. "And the field was so short that there wasn't much we could really do to stop them. So we were just trying as hard as we could sometimes with a short field like that we don't really have a chance."
Some of Florida's third quarter from hell spilled over into the next period. Rebels QB Jevan Snead threw an 86-yard touchdown pass to WR Shay Hodge for what turned out to be the game-winning play.
Hodge scored on what appeared to be a blown assignment for the Gators as he waltzed into the end zone untouched.
"We were keying up on [McCluster] because he was their go-to-guy the whole time and [Snead] did a really good job of looking off so me and Major [Wright] were ready to jump the route and he threw it deep," Haden said.
If you scanned the box score one would think that the Rebel's offense had an above average day at the office as they totaled 325 yards with 140 of them coming on the ground. But Snead completed just 9-of-20 passes and 126 of those 325 yards came on the two big plays that hurt Florida's chance at a comeback.
"There were four plays that netted 169 yards," Meyer said. "Those are big plays and when you're giving up big plays you'll have problems.
"We've just got to get better. This is part of college football."
After executing their game plans nearly flawlessly in their first three games Florida enters next week's matchup with Arkansas with some question marks, which the Gators plan on using for motivation.
"I want it to say in our hearts and remember that pain," QB Tim Tebow said. "This will motivate me and everyone else, the coaches and the rest of the players. We need to remember this especially when we feel like we're the better team and don't play to our abilities."
