FLORIDA FOOTBALL: Kentucky First Half Notes

Florida finds themselves a baker’s dozen and then some after an embarrassingly sluggish first half leaves them trailing Kentucky 23-7 on the road. Kentucky was successful in large part due to the legs of Ray Davis. Davis has 206 yards on just 12 carries and has two touchdowns. Unprecedented numbers for an SEC matchup.

The Gators could not catch a break the whole half, allowing chunk play after chunk play. They look defeated after the first drive ended in a three-and-out.

When Florida was finally able to force a punt at the end of the first quarter when the score was still 10-0, a personal foul on the special teams gave Kentucky the first down. The very next play Ray Davis would take it 75 yards to the house.

"Tough break there,” Napier said on the flag that led to the Davis touchdown run. “Freshman player making a rookie mistake."

Davis TORCHED Florida in the first half. He had eclipsed the 200-yard mark when there were still nine minutes remaining in the second quarter, making Florida’s defense look like an FCS squad. Davis becomes the eighth player to have 200 yards rushing against the Gators, going with the likes of Hershel Walker, Marcus Lattimore and Willis McGahee. Kentucky has dominated the trenches and gotten whatever they want at will on both sides of the ball.

Florida finally got something at the end of the half, when Caleb Douglas rose up and grabbed a deep ball from Graham Mertz down to the one-yard line. Douglas got landed on and shaken up at the play and had to head to the locker room early for X-rays.

Nonetheless, the Gators were able to get a much-needed touchdown on a Hayden Hansen grab, thanks to Douglas’ catch.

Graham Mertz went 10/15 108 yards along with a touchdown and interception each. Neither running back could get anything going on the ground with a combined 46 rushing yards compared to Kentucky’s 223.

The Gators only down 16, will look to have a better half and try and make this thing more competitive.