Last week, I told readers after Florida’s 30-27 loss to LSU at home that Will Muschamp was on thin ice. Florida had two losses on the season but still had a chance to make it to Atlanta for the Southeastern Conference Championship.
But after Florida’s 42-13 homecoming blowout to Missouri on Saturday night, it’s probably safe to say Muschamp is a dead man walking.
The Gators came into the game as five-and-a-half point favorites, and Missouri entered with a defeat to Indiana at home and a 34-0 loss to Georgia the week prior.
When Missouri’s Marcus Murphy took the opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown, it was clearly a sign of things to come.
In the week leading up to the game, Muschamp said the coaching staff would go with the quarterback who had the "hot hand" in the game, but it was presumed Jeff Driskel would start over true freshman Treon Harris.
Driskel did start and fumbled on the exchange during a handoff to Matt Jones on the opening Florida possession.
Driskel came back out on the next series.
He threw four incompletions.
Harris made his debut on the third series, but on third down he was sacked and fumbled, allowing Missouri to go up 14-0.
Driskel’s next possession ended three-and-out, and the possession following that he threw an interception on first down.
Florida was down 20-0 at halftime.
On homecoming.
The boo birds were seemingly flying from the alumni section all evening, and the second half was just as ugly as the first, featuring a Missouri punt return for a touchdown, a Driskel fumble for a touchdown and even a Driskel pick-six.
Perhaps the one bright spot was Harris leading two touchdown drives, but he threw an interception in between those two.
With the loss to Missouri and the SEC East title hopes virtually out the window, the wheels have fallen off the Muschamp wagon.
"It falls on my shoulders," Muschamp said. "Nobody’s looking around right now, we’ve got to get back and get our guys dialed back in."
Getting the players dialed back in is much easier said than done.
The goal Florida set out to achieve — winning the SEC East — is gone barring major upsets happening within the division in the next few weeks, which is unlikely.
"Now not putting the destiny in our hands any more, we’ve got to rely on some other teams," center Max Garcia said. "But we’re still going to fight. We’ve still got three more SEC games in the East."
While it is true that they still have three games remaining — Georgia, Vanderbilt and South Carolina — Florida lost to all three of those teams last season by a combined 26 points.
It wasn’t even the Florida defense that was to blame for the 42 point loss.
The unit held Missouri to just 119 total yards of offense on Saturday night.
Yes, 119 yards and 42 points, you read that correctly.
An even more glaring statistic regarding that number: Muschamp is 0-2 when allowing 120 total yards or fewer.
Compare that to other FBS head coaches? 94-0.
Over the past 10 seasons all other FBS head coaches are 94-0 when holding opponents to 120 total yards or less.
Florida football deserves higher standards.
I don’t know if Jeremy Foley has seen that statistic. You’d hope someone found a way to slip it to him.
Even if he hasn’t seen it, seeing the 42-13 homecoming loss should be enough. It’s time for the sun to set on the Muschamp era in Gainesville.
When exactly that will happen remains to be seen.
Follow Morgan Moriarty on Twitter @Morgan_Moriarty
Freshman quarterback Treon Harris walks off the field following Florida's 42-13 loss to Missouri on Saturday at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
