KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Will Muschamp called his team “soft” last November. Throughout the 2011 season, the Gators repeatedly struggled to finish close games.
“We weren’t tough enough,” Muschamp said.
In 2012, consecutive second-half rallies on the road against Texas A&M and Tennessee have proven one thing — Florida is a changed team.
“Nobody in that locker room thought for a second that we were out of that game,” Jeff Driskel said. “We know that we’re going to make big halftime adjustments and win the game in the second half.”
UF has outscored opponents 50-13 in the second half this season. In the fourth quarter, Florida holds a 27-0 advantage.
“That’s something our kids have bought into,” Muschamp said. “We’re going to win the fourth quarter. They believe that. They have a strong belief. We grew up a lot last year.”
The Gators won the fourth quarter against the Volunteers, but they got started on their comeback before the third quarter expired.
During Saturday’s 37-20 victory against No. 23 Tennessee (2-1, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., No. 18 Florida (3-0, 2-0 SEC) scored 24 unanswered points in the final 19 minutes.
Trey Burton got the ball rolling by finding a hole and running 80 yards up the right sideline to score the game-tying touchdown with 3:15 to play in the third quarter. Earlier, Burton scored on a 14-yard rush up the left sideline. Both plays came in the wildcat formation, with Andre Debose running away from Burton’s intended path on misdirection shifts.
“Same play as the first touchdown, just the opposite side,” Burton said of his game-tying touchdown run. “They have to respect Debose’s hand sweep. They overplayed it again for the second time. And Hunter (Joyer) came and pinned the linebacker, and I saw a hole and I ran.”
The Venice native’s career-long touchdown run spurred 302 yards of total offense for Florida in the final 18 minutes and 27 seconds. In all, UF tallied 555 yards against UT.
“We have athletes all over the field and we know if we keep giving them the ball and giving them touches that eventually they’re going to break,” Driskel said. “Fortunately for us, we hit a couple of big plays when we needed them and that really changed the momentum.”
Burton’s touchdown followed the Gators defense’s emphatic response to a failed fake punt. Safety Matt Elam carried the ball 5 yards on fourth and 9, and the Volunteers gained possession 47 yards away from increasing their 20-13 lead.
On Tennessee’s next play, Elam wrapped up quarterback Tyler Bray and forced an intentional grounding penalty. Two straight completions from Bray on second and third down could not make up for the 10 yards lost on the sack.
“We were right there,” UT coach Derek Dooley said. “We don’t get the protection, Tyler grounds it.”
When asked if the defensive stop was a testament to the Gators’ mental toughness, Jon Bostic said, “You can definitely say that, but we’ve still got a long way to go.”
Once Burton knotted the score at 20-20, Driskel took control of the Gators’ offense in their season-best performance. He threw for 219 yards and two touchdowns while also picking up 81 yards on the ground, but his best effort came after halftime.
The sophomore signal-caller completed 6 of 8 throws for 129 yards while engineering five scoring drives in the second half to spearhead Florida’s season-best 37-point effort.
The last time UF scored more than 30 points on the road against a ranked opponent was a 51-31 win against South Carolina in 2007.
“I still have a long way to go,” Driskel said. “I hit some big plays, and definitely got better from Game 1 to Game 2 and now Game 3. But I still have a long way to go.”
Muschamp added: “He made some gutsy plays and runs. He’s a tough kid, and he was very accurate with the football.”
Last season, Florida improved to 3-0 by defeating Tennessee but failed to capitalize on the undefeated start.
Lopsided losses against BCS Championship Game participants Alabama and LSU crippled UF. Missed opportunities in close contests against Auburn, Georgia, South Carolina and Florida State sunk Florida.
“When I walk into the locker room at halftime, there’s not anyone pointing fingers and there’s not anybody complaining or asking what’s going on out there,” Muschamp said. “Last year, to be quite honest, we had some of that.”
The Gators acknowledge their improvements from last season, but they maintain a cautious optimism. Muschamp said UF is “not ready to wave the flags yet.”
But the second-year coach is more encouraged by this season’s fast start than he was by the 4-0 beginning to 2011. It’s early, but Florida has shown a knack for finishing strong.
“This is a different 3-0,” Muschamp said.
Contact Joe Morgan at joemorgan@alligator.org.
UF head coach Will Muschamp, celebrates after their 37-20 victory against Tennessee on Sept. 15, 2012 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn.
