It was supposed to be a blowout, but the Gators were presumed to be on the receiving end.
Yet No. 25 Florida jumped on No. 3 Ole Miss early with a pair of first quarter touchdown drives, and the Rebels found themselves stunned, unable to recover.
The early offensive success was an indicator of what was to come as the Gators (5-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) shocked the Rebels 38-10 on Saturday night in an unexpectedly lopsided affair at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
“I think in all aspects, we get better every week,” redshirt freshman quarterback Will Grier said. “Preparation is the key to that. We prepare throughout the week and I think we’re learning how to prepare better. That’s showing in the games.”
Florida wasn’t just prepared.
The Gators and Grier seemed to anticipate everything the Ole Miss defense would bring.
A week removed from a come-from-behind victory over Tennessee, Grier showed no signs of the flu-like symptoms he had been battling throughout the week.
In fact, Grier played better than he ever had in a Florida uniform.
Clad in all orange, the Davidson, North Carolina, native threw for 271 yards on 24-for-29 passing – a staggering 82.7 percent completion percentage – and four touchdowns, with the quartet of scores all coming in the first half.
He found sixth-year senior tight end Jake McGee in the endzone for the second touchdown of the game, giving the Virginia transfer his first six points in a Florida uniform.
Grier looked calm and collected, poised and protected by an inexperienced offensive line that refused to play like such, as he went through his progressions and consistently found the open receiver.
And it helped that running back Kelvin Taylor had found his groove as well.
The junior gashed the Rebels to the tune of 83 yards on 27 carries, constantly making Ole Miss (4-1, 2-1 SEC) defenders miss tackles.
But Florida’s suffocating defense made Grier’s heroics possible.
UF gave Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly little time to make decisions, often applying pressure within the first seconds of the snap. With the Rebels looking to slice into the deficit, junior All-American Vernon Hargreaves III baited Kelly into throwing in his direction.
Kelly took the bait and Hargreaves adjusted to make a leaping interception before sprinting 36 yards all the way down to the Ole Miss 10-yard line.
“Our defense played our tails off,” Florida coach Jim McElwain said. “They had a great plan, I thought the guys executed it.”
Kelly would also be forced into fumbling twice, with the Gators pouncing on the ball both times to come away with the turnover.
With Grier’s success came the re-emergence of wide receiver Demarcus Robinson, who had disappeared throughout first four games.
The junior had a game-high 98 yards on eight receptions as he caught the opening 36-yard touchdown from Grier to spark the rout. Brandon Powell added a 77-yard score after he took a slant route all the way to the Rebels end zone. Like Powell’s critical block on freshman Antonio Callaway’s go-ahead score against the Volunteers, Powell’s dash benefitted from a selfless block from Ahmad Fulwood.
“To me, that’s a sign that you care,” McElwain said of Fulwood’s play. “You care about your teammates and you’re not selfless…usually those are the blocks that spring the big plays.”
Florida seems poised to move up in the rankings after entering the AP Top 25 for the first time last week since Oct. 19, 2013. After back-to-back games in Gainesville, the Gators will travel to Columbia, Missouri, to take on the Tigers at Memorial Stadium.
“Tonight kinda solidified who we were,” linebacker Jarrad Davis said. “I think the biggest learning experience was last week when we were down. That really showed us that we can fight through anything.
“We can beat anybody, but we’ve got to do it for four quarters. We can play all four quarters, and when we play all four quarters, you better watch out.”
Follow Graham Hall on Twitter @Graham311
UF wide receivers Demarcus Robinson (11) and Antonio Callaway (81) celebrate after Robinson's first-quarter touchdown during Florida's 38-10 win against Ole Miss on Oct. 3, 2015, at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
