Double digit shots did not get the job done for Amato’s Gators Sunday afternoon. The Gators outshot the Ole Miss Rebels 10-9, but fell 0-1 for their first SEC loss of the season. With the win, Ole Miss improves to 7-2-2 while the Gators fall to 3-6-3.
Senior Channing Foster opened up the scoring in the 13th minute. Channing’s shot to the right side of the net went just beyond Goldberg’s reach for her fifth goal of the season.
The Gators’ struggles with capitalizing on chances continued, as they were able to apply pressure, but not do much with it.
Redshirt sophomore Nicole Vernis took each of the team’s first two shots. Both attempts went right into the keeper’s arms. She found the back of the net in the 30th minute, but was called for an offside.
Maddy Rhodes had a chance to even the score as she took the ball downfield. However, she lost her footing and slipped as she attempted a shot.
Florida lined up for a free kick from right outside the box in the 74th minute. Delaney Tauzel attempted to put the ball in the back of the net, but she didn’t put much on it, leading to the fourth Ole Miss save of the match.
The final five minutes of the match provided nothing but entertainment.
In the 87th minute, Maddy Rhodes created space, found the ball, and lined up for a shot. She put the ball on the bottom right quarter, but Ashley Orkus made a diving effort to come up with the ball, getting her sixth save of the match.
Taylor Baksay got a final opportunity to even the score, but her efforts went wide left and added to the total of missed chances for the Gators.
“It was really about the final product in terms of finishing some of those chances or really executing in those moments,” coach Amato stated. “That’s really the next step for us. I thought we did the tough stuff well.”
The Gators will travel to Tennessee to face the Volunteers on Thursday, October 7th at 7 p.m.
Under head coach Dan Mullen, Florida has lost to Kentucky twice in the last four years, something that the last five Gators’ coaches never did in 31 seasons.
The Wildcats beat Florida 20-13, marking their first home win over UF since 1986.
Quarterback Emory Jones led Florida down the field to open the scoring. He was perfect through the air, completing three passes for 38 yards. Jones hit wide receiver Xavier Henderson on two-consecutive passes before capping the drive with a quick-hitter to wide receiver Ja’Quavion Fraziars. The sophomore dove to the goal line for his first career touchdown.
During the Gators’ scoring drive quarterback Anthony Richardson saw his first action since suffering a hamstring injury against USF. The redshirt freshman spelled Jones for one play, carrying the ball for 11 yards and a first down.
The Wildcats answered Florida’s drive with a big-play score. Kentucky quarterback Will Levis threw a screen pass to wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson and he did the rest. The junior took it 41 yards to the endzone, leveling the score at seven.
The Gators reclaimed the lead, 10-7, with a 51-yard field goal from Jace Christmann. The make matched the Mississippi State transfer’s career high and was his longest field goal since coming to Florida.
Florida regained possession on its own 13 yard line with 1:56 left in the second half. Despite some movement on the ground, Mullen questionably took all three of his first-half timeouts with him into the locker room.
At halftime, the jury was out on if the game was either an offensive struggle or a defensive battle. The two teams were a combined one for nine on third down. Florida punter Jeremy Crawshaw and Kentucky punter Colin Goodfellow totaled seven boots for 321 yards.
Defensive back Tre’Vez Johnson made the first splash play of the second half. His second- career interception came off a saling pass from Levis. The sophomore returned the pick 26 yards to the Wildcats 16 yard line. Florida was dropped back to the 31 following a personal foul on defensive lineman Antonio Valentino. The Gators failed to capitalize off the turnover, gaining no ground on offense and sending out Christmann for a 48-yard field goal attempt.
Kentucky defensive end Josh Paschal swarmed Christmann, blocking the kick. The football was scooped by linebacker Trevin Wallace and returned 76 yards for the Wildcats go-ahead score. Kentucky’s lead would only be three though. Valentino responded with a block of his own on kicker Matt Ruffolo’s PAT attempt.
On the opening play of the fourth quarter the Wildcats lined up for a 4th-and-2. Outside linebacker Jeramiah Moon and defensive end Gervon Dexter stuffed running back Christopher Rodriguez Jr. for no gain. However, Florida couldn’t capitalize on the turnover on downs.
Jones threw his sixth interception of the season handing the ball right back to Kentucky. The throw was forced into double coverage on a pass intended for tight end Kemore Gamble. Five plays later Rodriguez Jr. sprinted untouched into the endzone, extending the Wildcats’ lead to 10.
Florida responded with a 13 play 59-yard drive that ate up 5:09 of the clock. Mullen kept his offense on the field to go for it on fourth down before the Gators sixth false start of the game brought Christmann on the field. He knocked through the field goal to tighten the game to a single possession.
UF had its chance to force overtime. Jones got his offense into a goal-to-go situation. The game hung in the balance on 4th-and-goal from the eight. A pass break up by Kentucky linebacker Jaquez Jones sealed the game in favor of the Wildcats.
Adding to the frustration, the Gators were penalized 15 times for 115 yards, including a costly false start in the final goal-to-go sequence.
Kroger Field was swarmed by fans and Florida will head home following a demoralizing defeat.
The Florida Gators travel to Lexington to take on the Kentucky Wildcats in SEC play this weekend. While the Gators come in ranked No. 10 in the nation, Kentucky boasts a 4-0 record but are just outside the Top-25.
Florida has won 33 of the last 34 meetings and haven’t lost at Kentucky since 1986.
The following is our staff’s predictions for the Florida – Kentucky game on Saturday:
This just feels like one of those games that Dan Mullen loses every year. I do believe Florida is more talented, but that gap has gotten much tighter as the Wildcats have hit the transfer portal as hard as any team in the nation. Kentucky actually has a QB who can throw the football for the first time in a while (Will Levis). Additionally, they have one of the top playmaking wideouts in the conference in Wan’Dale Robinson. Robinson currently leads the SEC in yards and receptions and will likely play a large role against the Gators’ secondary.
Also, remember when a lot of people made a big deal of Bryce Young’s first road game environment being at the Swamp just a few weeks ago? This will be Emory Jones’ first “true” road start in a hostile environment as Kroger Field has been announced as a sell out.
The Gators have an opportunity to prove something this week against an opponent that is not as inferior as they have been in the past. The last few trips to Lexington have seen Florida lucky to leave with the win, despite a much larger talent gap. With very little confidence, I have Kentucky winning, 28-24.
Coming off a win against Tennessee, Florida has a good shot at beating the Wildcats this Saturday. While Kentucky is on a 4-0 run, they’ve conquered mediocre teams in Chattanooga and South Carolina. Florida, on the other hand, has only lost to No.1 Alabama Crimson Tide and by two points at that. Though the Gators lacked defense in the first quarter of the Tennessee game, Emory Jones and his offense picked up the pace for the remainder of the game, as they defeated the Volunteers 38-14. Atop Jones’ excellent performance, Richardson is expected to make a return Saturday. With a deep quarterback game in Florida and with strong offensive players like running back Malik Davis, I have them winning, Florida, 35-13.
Florida hasn’t lost in Lexington in 35 years, and I don’t expect them to start now. The Gators exposed some soft spots in their defense last week, allowing Tennessee a couple big scoring plays, but managed to clean themselves up and walk away with a decisive victory. We should see a similar story this weekend against the Wildcats. Emory Jones appears to be settled at the helm of the offense as he secured a 77.8 completion percentage, his best of the season. I’m sure the AR-15ers are itching to see their guy get some action out there, however, and for entertainment’s sake, I wouldn’t mind either. Florida seems to get better each week, while Kentucky has barely managed to squeak out a couple Ws over South Carolina and Chattanooga. Kentucky is liable to put up a solid fight. Historically, they always do. If Florida can keep big plays to a minimum and win the turnover battle, it should be smooth sailing. Florida, 38-10.
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Florida and Kentucky will kick off from Kroger Field in Lexington at 6:00 PM on Saturday. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN.
After splitting a home series against Mississippi State last weekend and falling eight spots in the latest rankings, No. 22 Florida swept Georgia Wednesday night in Athens — marking its 10th straight road victory against the Bulldogs. The win improves Florida’s conference record to 2-1 — seventh in the SEC — and brings its overall record to 8-5.
Sets 1-2
The Gators cruised to an opening set victory and dominated Georgia in terms of efficiency. Florida recorded 16 kills and only one error (.536), while the Bulldogs landed just seven kills and committed five errors (.071). Freshman outside hitter Merritt Beason led Florida with five kills. In the second set, Florida had the statistical advantage once again and was in command from start to finish.
Set 3
Trailing 20-15, Florida scored five straight points to tie the set before seesawing points forced a win-by-two tiebreaker. Knotted up at 24, Beason landed her eighth kill of the match to give the Gators match point and an attacking error on Georgia — its 16th of the night — clinched Florida’s 38th win all-time versus UGA. Florida setter Marlie Monserez was spectacular in the final set; the senior tallied 15 assists and added an ace and a block.
Box Score
No. 22 Florida: 25-25-26
Georgia: 14-17-24
Stat Leaders
Aces
Ceasar: 3
Beason: 2
Monserez: 1
Kills
Ceasar: 13
Hall: 11
Beason/Forte: 8
Assists
Monserez: 40
Hall: 1
Digs
McKissock: 10
Hall: 7
Beason: 6
Blocks
Dooley: 5
Ceasar/Forte: 3
Next Up
The Gators return to the O’Connell Center Saturday where they’ll welcome Ole Miss in a weekend series. Florida swept the Rebels twice on the road last season and is 26-0 in the all-time series dating back to 2002. Saturday’s match is scheduled for 3 p.m. and Sunday’s match will start at 1 p.m.
We’re a few days removed from Florida’s 38-14 win over the Tennessee Volunteers in The Swamp Saturday night. There was talk about how the Gators would respond following the loss to Alabama. Early it looked like a letdown game might be taking place but Dan Mullen utilized a strong second half to get the win.
Offense: B+
Another day, another game totaling over 400 yards of total offense. The offensive line looked good with starters Stewart Reese and Jean Delance on the sideline. Not to mention Emory Jones posting some career numbers and being the first player since Tim Tebow with 200 passing yards and 100 rushing yards in a game. Not to mention those two touchdowns. Jones, who earned SEC Co-Offensive Player of the Week said he looked more comfortable and happy with his performance overall. There were some times where the Gator offense had issues. A false start and delay of game forced Florida to kick a field goal on it’s second drive. Then a fumble by Jacob Copeland kept the Gators from putting more on the board later in the game too. It was just a little slow out of the gate too. But Dan Mullen mentioned how his team did a better job with mental errors this week.
This unit too had a sluggish start too. Again, some bad mistakes cost the Gators on the scoreboard but were able to make the adjustments and pitched a shutout in the second half. There were the missed tackles on a screen that went 45+ yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 7-7. Then a blown coverage allowed for a 75-yard touchdown pass that gave the Vols the lead. Those mistakes were the different between over 400 yards allowed and over 300. Mohamoud Diabate mentioned postgame how those little mistakes were what led to the big plays. They knew Tennessee couldn’t drive on them and once those were cleaned up it showed. However, the Gators did a job of getting off the field on third down as they forced conversion rate in the 30s. The defensive front did another good job getting pressure and harassed Hendon Hooker.
Jace Christmann got his chance at placekicker. He nailed his only attempt which came from 47 yards plus went perfect on all of his extra points. Gator punt returner Xzavier Henderson was consistently kicked away from so not much opportunity was present there. But the Gators need to improve in kickoff returns as they don’t have many quality returns there. Mullen even mentioned that. Lastly, Jeremy Crawshaw averaged nearly 46 yards per punt on three attempts.
Conclusion:
The Gators overcame another slow first half and pulled away in the second half for their third win of the year and got to 1-1 in the SEC. Yes it could’ve been by more but it’s hard to argue with a 24-point win over a rival at home after an exhausting week prior.
Check out the latest episode of The Gridiron Growl Podcast with Mark McLeod and Jake Hitt. Mark and Jake recap the Florida – Tennessee matchup, including quotes from Dan Mullen.
From there, the guys begin to preview the upcoming road showdown with undefeated Kentucky in Lexington.
Click play to listen to this week’s episode of The Gridiron Growl Podcast:
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The Gators are starting to build momentum in SEC play with consecutive victories for the first time all year.
A 2-1 final score on Thursday night keeps the Gators unbeaten in SEC play and improves their season record to 3-5-3. On the opposite end, the Bulldogs are yet to win in conference play and their season record drops to 2-4-3.
Graduate Kit Loferski opened up the scoring in the 20th minute. Cameron Hall advanced the ball to Kouri Peace who made an impressive backwards header, setting up Loferski for her fourth goal of the season.
Five minutes passed before the Gators would extend their lead to two. Sophomore Delaney Tauzel placed a corner in the box where Georgia Eaton-Collins would put her head on the ball and get it to the top right of the net.
Mississippi State’s Hailey Farrington-Bentil responded with a goal of her own to cut the Florida lead in half. Gators goalkeeper Alexa Goldberg had made two saves earlier in the match, but she was unable to get her hands on Farrington-Bentil’s shot.
The Bulldogs lacked efficiency with the ball all night. The team took a total of 20 shots, but were only able to put five of them on goal (25%). Alexa Goldberg recorded a save on four of the five Bulldogs shots on net.
Florida was quite the opposite. The Gators took only four shots all night, but half of them came on goal, both of which found the back of the net.
The Gators will get a week off before returning home to Donald R. Dizney Stadium to face Ole Miss on Sunday, October 3rd at 3 p.m.
The Florida Gators defeated Tennessee by a 38-14 final score, but it was far from a perfect game.
Here are some of my biggest takeaways from the Gators’ win:
Emory Jones look comfortable as QB1.
After weeks of hearing about how much better Anthony Richardson is for this offense from fans on social media, Jones appears to have settled in as QB1. Jones went 21-27 for 209 yards and two scores. More importantly, Jones didn’t turn the ball over. Jones also rushed for 144 yards on 15 carries and managed to extend plays when the protection broke down. Jones became the first QB to throw for 200 and run for 100 yards in one game since Tim Tebow in 2009. All in all, it was a really solid outing by Florida’s quarterback.
Florida’s rushing attack can’t be stopped.
The Gators once again rank No. 1 in the nation in rushing after compiling 283 yards on the ground against the Vols. Dameon Pierce and Nay’Quan Wright barreled over and through defenders on the way to 94 yards on 15 carries (combined) while Malik Davis added 45 yards and a score. Tennessee entered with the SEC’s number one run defense, but Florida made it look all too easy against the Vols.
Tackling still an issue.
Florida experienced way too many missed tackles on the defensive side of the ball. This has been a recurring issue for years now, but didn’t seem to get any better this weekend against Tennessee. In addition to missed tackles, the Gators had several busted coverages as well, including, Tennessee’s 78-yard score in the first quarter. These issues didn’t bite Florida this game, but against a team equal or better than Florida, it could be the difference in a win or a loss.
Gators have their kicker?
Last week, Florida lost to Alabama and a missed extra point played a major role in the result. This week, transfer Jace Christmann handled all of the kicking duties (FG, XP, KOs) in place of Chris Howard, who appeared to win the job out of fall camp.
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What were some of your biggest takeaways from Florida’s 38-14 win over Tennessee?
It’s Tennessee Hate week, as Jesse Richardson alluded to on the latest episode of The Gator Slant on Monday.
Florida looks to build on a strong performance against No. 1 Alabama while Tennessee hopes for a Gators letdown in the Swamp.
The Gators have won fifteen of the last sixteen games in the series, but that doesn’t mean the recent meetings have lacked any flare or intrigue.
Both teams are 2-1 entering Saturday’s primetime matchup as Tennessee dropped a week two game against Pittsburgh.
The following is our staff’s predictions for the Florida – Tennessee game:
Florida is the better team in this matchup, but that doesn’t always translate into wins and losses. The Gators will need to be able to run the ball in order to set up the passing game, much like we saw last week. Tennessee enters with the top run-defense in the SEC, but Mark will explain why that figure is misleading shortly. Tennessee will try to run the up-tempo style of offense that Josh Heupel was known for at UCF, it’ll be up to the Florida front seven to disrupt the UT passing game and create havoc in the backfield. I expect the Gators to start a little slow, but get things rolling by halftime. Florida, 34-13.
We all know the infamous pass from QB Felipe Franks to WR Tyrie Cleveland to break the 20-20 tie against the Volunteers back in 2017. In my mind, that sets the tone for this weekend — only we have home advantage. Tennessee currently sits 2-1, taking wins against Bowling Green and TN Tech and a close loss against Pittsburgh. Does that say much though? The strength of the wins, or lack thereof, doesn’t compare to Florida’s 31-29 close loss against the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide. Florida leads the series 30-20, and I’m confident that they can make it to 31. Starting quarterback Emory Jones made great, strategic plays against Alabama; Gators defense held their own, and the game came out to be a success. Florida has the strength and capabilities to come out victorious. Gators, 46-28.
Florida is coming off a disappointing loss to the Crimson Tide in Gainesville and there’s no way the Gators will allow the Volunteers to walk out of the Swamp with a win. Last week, the Gators tore Bama apart in the trenches with the running back combination of Nay’Quan Wright and Dameon Pierce to combine for 144 yards and lead a third quarter comeback to bring the game within two. However, Saturday night, we will see Pierce and Wright ram through the Vols defense from start to finish to allow Florida to outgun Tennessee and redeem the two-game home stance. Gators, 31-10.
Florida (2-1) boasts the nation’s #2 rushing attack. Tennessee (2-1) comes to Gainesville with the nation’s #5 run defense. I’m not buying into the Vols defensive front hype. Why? Tennessee’s opponents simply haven’t run the football well. Bowling Green (1-2) currently ranks 129th in rushing offense. Tennessee Tech (0-3) with an offense that hasn’t scored since week one. And Pitt (2-1) just lost to Western Michigan where they ran for 75 yards.
I think the Florida offensive line pushes the Vols around for more than 200 yards on the ground.
Quarterback play will be interesting too. Emory Jones looked much improved in the Gators 31-29 loss to top-ranked Alabama. There is still much work to be done, especially with regards to his timing and accuracy. Will we see Anthony Richardson?
In Knoxville, head coach Josh Heupel said the first two days of practice would determine just how healthy Joe Milton for the Florida game. I think that you’ll see both Milton and Virginia Tech graduate transfer Hendon Hooker this weekend.
The Tennessee offensive line is a little banged up, while Florida has a deep rotation on their defensive front. The Gators must clean-up the missed tackles. Containing Hooker and Milton will be a priority, as the UT quarterbacks account for 87 of the Vols 223 yards per game. A night game in “The Swamp”? Beautiful! Florida 42, Tennessee 17.
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Florida and Tennessee will kick off from Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at 7:00 PM on Saturday. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN.
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