FLORIDA FOOTBALL: The Swamp Takes Over the First Half

Florida dominated the first half, or should I say Gator Nation dominated. The Volunteers had four penalties in the first half, in large part due to the crowd noise and energy in the stadium. This noise gave the Gators fuel.

Photo of Florida Gator running back Trevor Etienne taking a carry 62 yards for a touchdown against the Tennessee Volunteers. Photo via Chris Spears GatorBaitMedia.com

In one of the more electric atmospheres Gainesville has seen in recent history, Trey Burton served as the honorary Mr. Two Bits before Billy Napier took the field with his team in the biggest game of his Florida career. Kingsley Eguakun also made his return as the starting center and served as one of the team’s four captains.

Tennessee won the toss and deferred which allowed Graham Mertz and company to see the field early. After 7 and a half minutes and six Eugene Wilson touches on the first drive, Florida was forced to settle with a field goal attempt from the Volunteer’s 30. Adam Mihalek would miss badly short and looked as if someone had almost got a finger on it.

Tennessee would take over and Joe Milton led them down the field in just two minutes to make the score 7-0 Volunteers, that fast. Milton made a beautiful throw down the sideline to get the Volunteers in the redone followed by a beautiful fade route where Jason Marshall got burned.

Things turned up. Trevor Etienne lit up the Swamp in the Gainesville night on a 62-yard dash that left the fans covered in blue LED lights, one of its newest additions. The momentum shifted to the other side of the ball as the Gators were able to shut down the Volunteer’s offense and put the ball back in the hands of Mertz.

Montrell Johnson joined the party on the third drive of the night, finding pay dirt and making 12-7 Florida. After a missed two-point conversion, the score remained 12-7 along with the problems with special teams thus far.

The Gators really began to impose their will on both sides of the ball after pressure by Desmond Watson forced a fly ball by Joe Milton that was picked off by Devin Moore. Moore would bring it to the redone resulting in a QB sneak at the goal line for Graham Mertz, and the extra point was even converted this time after Trey Smack was put into the game to make it 19-7 Gators.

After another hold by the defense, it allowed Mertz to get back to work and milk the clock before halftime. Thanks to 119 rush yards by Trevor Etienne pacing the Gator's offense, Mertz also went 17-20 for 146 yards along with a touchdown on both the ground in the air. Mertz would find Montrell Johnson for his second touchdown of the night on a slip screen followed by a nifty run, and a Trey Smack extra point would make the game 26-7.

After one last defensive stand, the Gators head into the locker room up 26-7 after a near-perfect first half from Billy Napier's squad. The Gators finished with 281 yards, 16 first downs and had the ball for nearly 13 minutes more than Tennessee in the first half.