The Florida Gators (2-2, 1-1 SEC) came out on top Saturday in Starkville, beating Mississippi State (1-3, 0-1 SEC) 45-28 behind a strong offensive performance. Nevertheless, not all of the question marks surrounding the Gators leading into the game were answered.
“For us, it definitely feels good to win,” redshirt senior quarterback Graham Mertz said. “You play this game to win, and you compete to win. Now, it’s about building on it. How do we maximize the bye week, and then going into the next one at home, how do we go get a win there?”
The Gators excelled offensively against the Bulldogs, tallying 503 total yards. For the first time this season against a Power Four opponent, UF had a balanced attack and, for the most part, controlled the line of scrimmage.
“I was really impressed offensively,” Florida head coach Billy Napier said. “I thought we played really well around the quarterback. I thought both quarterbacks did a really nice job of being the point guard of the offense, and we had some balance.”
Entering the game with a rushing offense that ranked outside the top 100 in the nation, the Gators pounded the rock 36 times for 226 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 6.3 yards per rush as a team. In previous games against then-No. 19 Miami and Texas A&M, UF failed to sustain any sort of rushing attack, including rushing for just 2.1 yards a carry against the Aggies.
Napier has emphasized that this team is not built to be one-dimensional. He believes that balance is key, and without it, the team can get into trouble.
In the two games that the Gators played with balance (Samford and Mississippi State), they won. The ones where they haven’t done so (Miami and Texas A&M), they lost in dominant fashion.
“We have to play complementary football,” Napier said after the 33-20 loss to Texas A&M. “That's the type of team that we have. If we're out of whack in one area, it's certainly not good for our team.”
The other key component to balance is quarterback play, and the Gators had quite the day against the Bulldogs. With varying opinions from fans and analysts about Florida’s two-quarterback system coming into the game, both Mertz and freshman DJ Lagway showed out, but the day belonged to the former.
He displayed his leadership and talent all game, delivering on 19-of-21 passes for 201 yards and four total touchdowns, recording a Florida career-high in single-game completion percentage.
Lagway also had an impressive day, throwing for 76 yards on 7-of-7 passing.
“I talked to DJ, and I just thought we were really efficient. I was proud of him,” Mertz said. “We had a great game plan going into the game.”
In previous weeks, the Gators have struggled with their third-down offense, ranking 120th in the nation. UF had also not converted on a single third down in the first quarter of any game this season, but that changed Saturday, as the Gators converted on six of their nine third-down conversion attempts.
Perhaps the biggest source of frustration for the Gators this season has been on the defensive side of the ball. The team has been hard-pressed to stop the run, making defending the pass even more challenging.
“We need to simplify things,” said redshirt senior defensive back Trikweze Bridges. “We can’t complicate things. The first thing we have to do is align…and when it comes to game time, we just have to execute.”
Entering the game, UF’s 101st-ranked rush defense squared off against MSU’s 113th-ranked rushing offense, which was held to 66 yards by Toledo in a loss the week prior. The Bulldogs gashed the Gators, rushing the ball 56 times for a total of 240 yards, averaging 4.3 yards per rush.
“Defensively at times, we did some really good things, but there's three, four or five possessions where we just disappear,” Napier said.
Another concern for the Gators' defense has been its performance on third down. For the season, Florida ranks 122nd in the country in third-down defense, allowing a 47% conversion rate. On Saturday, the Bulldogs went 11-of-20 on third down, converting on 55% of their third downs.
“We are what we are,” Napier said when responding to the defensive struggles. “I don't have any other answer for you other than I think we are capable of better.”
When any given offense can run the ball that efficiently against the defense, it can stay on the field longer, run more plays, gas the defense and keep the opposing offense on the sidelines. The Bulldogs ran 26 more plays on offense than the Gators and had about five more minutes in time of possession despite coming out on the losing end of the game.
Looking ahead, the Gators have a bye week before the UCF Knights (3-0) come to Gainesville the following weekend.
“Growing up in Jacksonville, you live for games like UCF, Miami and Florida State,” sophomore linebacker Grayson Howard said. “It’s going to be a good game for us.”
The Knights currently have the nation's best-rushing offense, averaging 375 rushing yards per game. Needless to say, the Gators will have to make adjustments in order to keep UCF at bay.
Contact Chandler Hawkes at chawkes@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter @HawkesChandler.
