Jachai Polite ripped past Florida State’s left tackle and reached out. FSU quarterback Deondre Francois pulled the football back for a throw, but the hand of the junior pass rusher prevented it from going any further. The ball squirted out, and defensive end CeCe Jefferson jumped on top of it.
The turnover led to a touchdown pass to Trevon Grimes on the very next play, and it gave the Gators a 20-point cushion midway through the third quarter at Doak Campbell Stadium.
Florida never give up that advantage. The UF defense frustrated its opponents in garnet and gold in all elements of the game and stifled the Seminoles’ offense from the opening possession of the 41-14 beatdown.
Dominant Pass Rush
It started with the pass rush’s ability to make Francois uncomfortable.
Florida only caused two quarterback hurries, but the tandem of Polite and redshirt junior Jabari Zuniga caused the FSU signal caller to leave the comfort of the pocket and throw the ball away. Polite had 2.5 sacks including his forced fumble, the first turnover of the contest.
“That's a man against boys,” junior Chauncey Gardner-Johnson said of Polite. “He's got two guys blocking him, the linebacker and the running back, and he still got a strip-sack.”
Zuniga also notched a sack for himself, while the defensive line racked up five in total.
Francois finished the afternoon completing just 14-of-29 passes for 154 yards, a touchdown and two fourth-quarter picks as a result. It was Florida State’s second-lowest passing output of the season. Only Miami held the Seminoles to fewer yards through the air.
Nothing going on the ground
The talented backfield of Cam Akers and Jacques Patrick had nowhere to run against a Florida front that dominated the line of scrimmage. The two combined for only 89 yards on 23 carries, and 24 of Patrick’s team-leading 52 yards came late in the fourth quarter with the game out of reach.
UF’s front seven stonewalled the Seminoles’ rushing attack and added three tackles for loss (excluding sacks). It held FSU to an 0-for-2 clip when facing third down with four or less yards to go.
“D-line took advantage of something that they felt was the strong point of our team, and that was going after their O-line,” Gardner-Johnson said. “There was times in the game if you watch, their O-line was going at each other.”
The only real success FSU you had running the ball was when Francois pulled the ball down on pass plays and scrambled. His longest scamper was for 32 yards when no defensive player was assigned to him.
UF got off the field on third down
The Gators got off the field 13-of-14 times on third down.
They put together their best performance of the season on the critical down and forced third-and-long seven times and an average distance of nine yards
UF sacked Francois three times and forced the momentum-swinging fumble on third-and-6.
The team also caused seven three-and-outs and gave its offense a big field position advantage by quickly getting off the field.
Florida State’s average offensive starting point was its own 19, while Florida’s was its own 35. And the Seminoles’ average time of possession per drive was just over 1:27.
The Gators’ defense finished their drives, and it finished off the game with two three-and-outs in the fourth quarter.
“They kept giving us a lot of three-and-outs,” running back Jordan Scarlett said of the defense, “and just forcing them to, just showing us that, 'Just offense go do your thing, man, we've got those guys.’”
Follow Mark Stine on Twitter @mstinejr or contact him at mstine@alligator.org.
UF defensive players pose with rapper Kodak Black after presenting him with the football from the second interception of the fourth quarter.
Players left to right: Jeawon Taylor (29), CJ Henderson (5), Shawn Davis (31), Chauncey Gardner-Johnson (23) and Donovan Stiner (13).
