COLUMBIA, Mo. — The Gators’ offensive-line woes do not seem to be improving anytime soon.
A week after appearing overmatched in a loss to LSU, the unit was again outworked and outmuscled as No. 22 Florida fell to No. 14 Missouri 36-17 on Saturday in Faurot Field.
“We’re very disappointed,” right guard Jon Halapio said.
“Probably more disappointed this week than last week. We’ve just got to fix our problems, especially up front, and go from there.”
Following an underwhelming performance against LSU that saw quarterback Tyler Murphy sacked four times and hurried four times, Florida chose to make changes along the offensive line.
D.J. Humphries, the incumbent starter at left tackle, was benched to start the game. In his place, left guard Max Garcia rotated to tackle and reserve Kyle Koehne was inserted into the starting lineup at guard.
The shuffling proved to be fruitless as the offensive line suffered through its worst performance of the year.
Murphy was sacked a season-high six times and hurried on six other occasions as the Gators’ punchless offense mustered just one touchdown during the game.
“We’re struggling right now to get the right combination,” coach Will Muschamp said.
“We’re doing everything we can do. We shuffled guys around. We’ve just got to get better.”
For Florida’s third-year coach, the failures of the offensive line are especially frustrating.
Since taking over prior to the 2011 season, he has looked to renovate the unit he once called soft into a foundation for a successful power offense.
Entering the 2013 season, he seemingly had succeeded. Florida returned three key cogs from last year’s unit — Halapio, Humphries and center Jon Harrison — while adding transfers Tyler Moore and Max Garcia for increased stability.
Through seven games this season, that plan has hit a severe snag.
“I didn’t see this happening,” Halapio said of the inconsistency that has plagued Florida’s offensive line. “We’ve just got to do a better job and block.”
Behind a shaky line, Murphy turned in his least impressive numbers since taking over for Jeff Driskel during the first quarter against Tennessee on Sept. 21.
He completed just 15 of 29 passes for a meager 92 yards and was consistently forced to roll out on passing downs to avoid pressure and buy additional time.
“I want to spread it out like everybody else does, but you know what? We have a hard time protecting the quarterback — more than most teams do,” Muschamp said. “You watch the games. We need to get better.”
Missouri defensive lineman Michael Sam led the onslaught. He collected three of the team’s six sacks as the Tigers (7-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) limited the Gators (4-3, 3-2 SEC) to 151 yards of total offense, the fewest by a UF offense since 1999.
“They have a good bunch, a good front over there,” said Murphy, who battled a sore shoulder that kept him out of practice until Thursday of last week.
“They did a good job of finding ways to bring more people than we could protect.”
Follow Phillip Heilman on Twitter @phillip_heilman.
Tyler Murphy (3) attempts a pass during Florida’s 36-17 loss against Missouri on Saturday at Faurot Field in Columbia, Mo. Missouri sacked Murphy six times.
