MIAMI GARDENS — Florida got away with living dangerously in 2012. Saturday did not prove as kind. The No. 12 Gators’ (1-1) stout defense could not make up for a mistake-prone offense in a 21-16 loss to the Hurricanes (2-0) in Sun Life Stadium.
A five-turnover effort in Saturday’s defeat does not alter Florida’s season. A loss to the Hurricanes does not knock the Gators out of Southeastern Conference contention, which paves the way to the BCS Championship Game.
With a bye week to recuperate before welcoming Tennessee to The Swamp on Sept. 21, Florida is focused on moving on.
“We’re going to have to respond from this and not hang our heads,” quarterback Jeff Driskel said. “It’s frustrating right now, but we’ve still got a lot of football to play this year.”
In the mean time, Driskel, who enjoyed a career-high 291 passing yards and not much else in a three-turnover performance, and the Gators have a lot to think about.
Florida’s past three defeats — Georgia, Louisville and Miami — have all come in a similar fashion. The Gators pride themselves on efficiency and turnover margin but came up short in both categories during each contest. UF has committed 14 turnovers and scored only seven times in 14 red-zone trips in its past three losses.
The stakes were higher in Jacksonville and New Orleans than they were in Miami Gardens on Saturday, but that did not lessen the disappointment.
“We’ve just got to play smart football,” coach Will Muschamp said. “You can’t throw the ball into traffic in the red zone. In those critical situations, you’re taking points off the board. You create momentum for the other team. A lot of things go on when that happens. It’s not just the fact that you had a turnover. Those are situations that we’ve got to correct.”
The first mistake came from an unlikely source — starting running back Matt Jones.
Jones made his season debut against the Hurricanes after a viral infection he contracted in July kept him out of pads until the week before the season opener against Toledo.
Jones finished with only 47 yards on 18 carries.
Miami linebacker Denzel Perryman separated Jones from the ball on the sophomore running back’s third carry of the game, setting up the Hurricanes’ first touchdown drive.
“We need to hold onto the ball,” Muschamp said. “It was a good tackle on their part. He put his hat on the ball. We’ve given Matt plenty of contact going into that situation. That was a good hit on their part.”
After Miami turned the Jones fumble into a nine-play, 50-yard touchdown drive, Loucheiz Purifoy — returning after a one-game suspension — helped the Gators regain momentum on the Hurricanes’ next drive.
Purifoy blocked a punt deep in Miami territory, setting up the Gators offense at the 9-yard line. Driskel put UF on the board two plays later with a 9-yard touchdown run.
But then the mistakes continued.
Instead of kicking the extra point to tie the game, Muschamp chose to attempt a two-point conversion and failed. The try failed, keeping Florida behind.
“That’s a situation where we had the look we wanted,” Muschamp said. “If we block it right, we’re going to get two points. We just didn’t block it right. I’d do it again. There was a lot of football to play in that situation.”
Momentum shifted, and the Gators offense finished the first half with three drives ending on an interception at the Hurricanes’ 11-yard-line, a turnover on downs and a lost fumble by Trey Burton 13 yards away from the goal line.
Those drives were three of Florida’s four best on the day in terms of length, totaling 54, 56 and 66 yards, respectively.
The turnover on downs occurred at Miami’s 16-yard-line. Muschamp elected to go for the first down on fourth-and-1 rather than let freshman kicker Austin Hardin attempt a field goal. Driskel took the snap under center and was stuffed on a quarterback sneak.
“We had confidence in our O-line that we could get a push,” Driskel said. “On that play, Miami did a great job of really stuffing every hole. Sometimes the defense beats you.”
UF finally lit up the scoreboard again in the third, trimming the deficit to 14-9 on a 33-yard field goal by Hardin. But the Gators offense quickly returned to sputtering, punting on the following three drives.
Meanwhile, the Florida defense bent but rarely broke. However, a forgettable first quarter was too much for the Gators to overcome.
UF surrendered 14 points and 143 yards on 18 first-quarter plays. The biggest blow was a 52-yard touchdown pass from Stephen Morris to Phillip Dorsett that upped Miami’s early lead to 14-6.
“Gave them a big play,” Muschamp said. “You give a team belief. Certainly, that’s what we did defensively early.”
The Gators shut down the Hurricanes the rest of the way, giving up only 69 yards on the home team’s final 35 snaps. Florida forced seven three-and-out possessions and held Miami to 1 of 11 on third-down conversions.
“That’s their job,” Muschamp said of the Gators’ defense. “Regardless of the situation, they need to play well. We expect that. I’m just very disappointed in the way we started the game.”
After playing more than two quarters with a one-score deficit, cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III gave the Gators an extra boost. The freshman made his second interception in as many weeks, putting UF in UM territory at the 47-yard-line.
Hargreaves looked like he might take the ball all the way back for a touchdown, but he stepped slightly out of bounds on the left sideline while cutting across the field.
Unfortunately for the Gators, the pick was for naught as Driskel threw his second interception five plays later with Florida again in the red zone at Miami’s 17-yard-line.
“The mistakes were costly,” Driskel said. “Where we were with the ball is what made them so costly. Got to be smarter with the ball in the red zone.”
Although the onus fell on Driskel in the public eye, Burton, who was responsible for one of Florida’s three fumbles, took the blame for the second interception.
“I think I might’ve clogged it up, because I ran the wrong route,” Burton said. “I’m not too sure. It’s my fault I ran the wrong route.”
The Gators had another chance to notch the go-ahead score on their next possession, but Driskel committed Florida’s fifth turnover of the day when he fumbled while being sacked by Miami’s Tyriq McCord. The ‘Canes made it a two-score game two plays later.
“I was careless with the ball,” Driskel said. “A couple of interceptions, putting the ball on the ground there at the end and a couple of fumbles. They were costly.”
An inability to finish drives marred an otherwise productive day for offensive coordinator Brent Pease’s much-maligned — some say “vanilla” — unit. The Gators amassed 413 yards on 77 plays, controlling the football for 38:20.
After racking up nearly 40 minutes of possession last Saturday, no team has held the football longer than Florida in 2013. But Saturday’s game was lost in the moments UF could not hang onto the ball.
The season is not lost, but the margin of error is slimmer. Each mistake will be more magnified.
“We did some good things at times, but bottom line is you cannot continue to shoot yourself in the foot and give somebody else an opportunity, especially on the road,” Muschamp said. “We certainly did that.”
Follow Joe Morgan on Twitter @joe_morgan.
Jeff Driskel lies on the ground after being sacked by a group of Miami defenders during the Gators’ 21-16 loss to the Hurricanes on Saturday in Sun Life Stadium. Driskel had three turnovers in the game.
