BUDDY MARTIN: Welcome To The SEC, Billy Napier. This Is What Champagne Tastes Like When You Win.

When he needed it, Richardson threw a TD strike to Pearsall. (Chris Spears Photo)

Despite lavish Gator D gifts that erased large double-digit deficits for the Tigers’ offense on third-and-Lake City, perhaps prompting the notion for the term “Third and Toney,” the defense was bent but not broken. It was worse than a mere fender bender, however and more like a rollover. Fortunately, they ended right side up and, at times, made some brilliant plays when needed.

By BUDDY MARTIN

GatorBaitMedia.com

On a day when Florida’s third down defense was so awful it almost revived the derogatory nickname of a former coordinator -- and the offense appeared to be on snooze control -- the Gators did just enough to avoid an embarrassing loss that would have cast them into the SEC cellar.

Maybe nobody said it, but the inability to stop Missouri’s ridiculous third-and-forever plays and close out the game for a critical win certainly conjured up the memories of “Third And Grantham,” a tag Todd Grantham brought with him to Florida from his days at Georgia. But this maligned defense rose above it and made big plays to preserve the win.

Instead, they rewarded their new coach with his initial SEC victory in this topsy-turvy, hard-to-handicap conference which is not for the faint of heart. Among 88,471 Saturday, most of them homecoming celebrants, there were some major nail-biting occasions and heart-palpitating episodes.

Despite lavish Gator D gifts that erased large double-digit deficits for the Tigers’ offense on third-and-Lake City, perhaps prompting the suggestion of the term “Third and Toney,” the defense was bent but not broken. It was worse than a mere fender bender, however and more like a rollover.

Fortunately, they ended right side up and, at times, made some brilliant plays when they needed to. Linebacker Ventrell Miller brought the Thunder on defense with his wide swath, making 11 tackles, and Amari Burney included a smackdown of gritty Missouri quarterback Scott Brady in the closing minutes.

Jaydon Hill was the lightning to Miller's thunder and the real hero. The redshirt sophomore cornerback, just back from his second knee surgery in his fourth season, pulled off his first career Pick Six to provide the Gators’ only first half touchdown.

A nerve-racking day for the homecoming crowd at The Swamp (Chris Spears Photo)

Miller’s coach praised him profusely. “I don’t know how many times where they got a play that looks like it is going to develop and then #51 (Miller) just comes out of nowhere. Ventrell is productive as a player, but it is more impactful than just the production. That’s the thing that is significant. The guy is inspirational relative to his example, his consistency as a person, his leadership, his presence. He makes other people around him better. That showed up today.”

The big difference, said Napier, was having Jaydon Hill.

“He was the first person that we called up in front of the team. If we were giving out game balls, we would give one to him today. What a story, if you really dig into it, what the young man has been through. The ACL in high school, the ACL here early in his career, then the LCL. The discipline to continue to rehab. The toughness to stay the course. He’s got passion about this game. I always felt like, watching him in spring ball, he was one of the best players we had. That showed up today. He’s a character. The guys stayed the course. To get him back, he was a difference maker today.”

Later, when the Tigers drove down the field, threatening to score and ruin UF homecoming, Hill’s larceny saved the day with his second interception. At least it seemed so in the fourth quarter, until Brady found some magic to convert third down and 17, third down and 22 and third down 15 all on the same drive before Nathaniel Peat’s 10-yard touchdown run to make it a one-score game.

It got even scarier when Richardson’s pass to Ricky Pearsall was tipped and intercepted. One more challenge for the spotty Gator defense. But it held.

What saved the offense, which struggled the first two quarters, were the impressive revival of the running game and chunk plays. As noted in the post-game notes, Florida had just one explosive play in the first half, but followed that with seven explosive plays in the second half including five in the third quarter:

▪ After a slow first half, RBs Montrell Johnson and Trevor Etienne both broke off explosive runs in the third quarter.

▪Johnson posted a 41-yard rush while Etienne broke off a 39-yarder – the longest run of his young career.

▪ Johnson later added a 32-yard rush in the fourth quarter to move Florida into the red zone, while Etienne added a pair of 16-yard carries in the fourth quarter.

▪ QB Anthony Richardson followed with a 33-yard run on 4th and two to set up the eventual go-ahead touchdown scamper by Johnson.

Although he posted just 66 yards passing, he made the big play when it counted. Of his beautiful strike TD pass to Ricky Pearsall, Richardson said: "I just happened to see Ricky just running through the back and I was like ‘OK, I’ve got to hit him’ and I just ripped it in there and he caught it for me.”

Now, as the Gators prepare to host rival LSU on Saturday night, they have a few days to tweak that sluggish offense which produced only 65 first half yards vs. Mizzoui and maybe plug up that Swiss Cheese defense. But save all that for another day while you savor the bubbly. It’s been a long time between drinks of champagne for SEC wins -- since last Oct. 9. Enjoy it for a day or so.