Florida's Wins Over FSU Don’t Have To Be Pretty To Be Sweet

The expectation of a rout did not materialize even though the outcome never seemed in doubt. So go ahead and light one up, DJ.

By Carlton Reese

GatorBaitMedia.com

The Florida Gators won Saturday night, and in the final analysis that is all that really matters. If the uniforms had been switched, all Gator fans would be talking Sunday about what a fluke that was in Tallahassee – a gift that wasn’t earned. The expectation of a rout did not materialize even though the outcome never seemed in doubt.

It felt, well, rather unclean, a bit grotesque even. The Florida State Seminoles are a terrible football team this season, yet the clearly superior Gators relied on whatever charity offered up to them on this night. Anyone who had not watched FSU this season was able to see first-hand what built their 2-9 record heading into this one: it is not a want for athletes, but a team that looks to be poorly coached and constantly waiting for something bad to happen, so it usually does.

This is a Florida State program that actually sees the addition of Gus Malzahn to its coaching staff as a significant upgrade. What a pity. How the once mighty have fallen into the abyss of mediocrity.

No matter the circumstances, a win over Florida State should be celebrated and this one is no exception. Yes, we were all in need of a shower soon afterward, but the stench of an ugly win is still far more tolerable than the bloody show of a loss. This one will not go down in the annals of this great rivalry, but it is forever etched in the record books, so drink it in.

Normally, a 31-11 final score would signify a drubbing, a curb-stomping that leaves little doubt as to who deserves the spoils of victory. This one, though, did not seem that way. Florida’s young stud quarterback was rather pedestrian, and all those fans in garnet and gold who were expecting a show from No.2 left the stadium likely wondering what all the hype was about.

Clearly uncomfortable in the first half, D.J. Lagway threw behind receivers on multiple occasions, missed the open ones, and saw several bounce off the hands of those same receivers. Outside of Jadan Baugh’s 21-yard run on the Gators’ second possession, the Florida offense seemed rather hapless against what is actually a decent FSU defense. Seven plays and two punts gave everyone the illusion these were two teams on equal footing.

Thankfully for the Gators, the FSU offense was forced to participate in this one. For a change, Noles head coach Mike Norvell dialed up the right play at the right time to move the chains, something the Gators were not doing. Then Gator linebacker Jack Pyburn drilled FSU QB Luke Kromenhoek from the blind side and forced a fumble at the Nole 14-yard line. That set up an easy 2-play scoring drive for Florida and informed the home crowd nothing had changed during this entire season of misery for FSU.

With three minutes left in the first half, Florida led just 7-0, an embarrassing reality for those who expected, nay, demanded, a 49-0 rout. When Lagway hit Chimere Dike on a 25-yard pass play to the FSU 2, the inevitable began to take shape. Two plays later Lagway connected with Marcus Burke in the end zone for a 14-0 lead. Only five other times had FSU scored more than 14 points in a game, so this one seemed over despite Florida’s sluggishness.

“We didn’t have our fastball on offense, I think it was evident,” UF head coach Billy Napier said. “We had some missed opportunities, and it could have been worse is what I would say. We got to play better around the quarterback. But, in general, good ball – good to see us finish in the second half.”

The difference was Florida’s relentless harassment of Kromenhoek, who earned the respect of everyone in the building by enduring eight sacks but kept fighting. Despite being sacked eight times, he still finished with 32 yards rushing. As good as FSU’s defensive line may be, its offensive line more than tips the scales in the other direction with its complete ineptitude.

In the second half, the Gators started with punts on each of their first two drives as FSU cut Florida’s lead to 14-3. The second punt led to FSU’s next gift to the Gators: a muffed punt that Florida recovered and drove zero yards for a field goal. FSU followed up with a nice drive then gave it up again on a poor exchange that George Gumbs recovered at the UF 7-yard line. Six plays later, Montrell Johnson tore off a 65-yard TD run that put the Gators up, 24-3, and it was time to put the kids to bed.

Defensively, the Gators looked good, but it was against the worst offense in college football. Still, because the guys on the other side were wearing helmets donned with feathered spears, there was beauty inherent.

"I thought defensively we were really lights out,” Napier said to open his post-game press conference. That translated into eight sacks and 14 tackles for loss, incredible numbers for one game, but in line with the recent trend. Over the last three games, the Gators defense has recorded 19 sacks and 34 tackles for loss.

For all the bouquets thrown at Lagway during this late run of Gator success, it’s clear the defense is mostly responsible for the turnaround. Florida held LSU, Ole Miss and Florida State to 16, 17 and 11 points, respectively. Without those numbers, the Gators are looking at another losing record and a new head coach.

Good teams find ways to win when they are not at their best and Saturday night in Tallahassee the Gators not only weren’t at their best, they were a fairly sick and discombobulated lot. Despite this, they found a way to beat their biggest rival by 20 points at their stadium.

This would not have happened at any point the previous three seasons or even the first two months of this season. That’s because those weren’t good teams – this one is. But why belabor the point of how this was a subpar performance? The bottom line is that it was a win, and the fact that it came on a night when Florida was not even close to its best should bring great comfort to Gator fans.

After the game, the Florida players and coaches knew full well it was not a great performance, but they smoked victory cigars anyway. They knew they earned it.

So what if it wasn’t 49-0? Sometimes ugly wins are beautiful. Have a cigar – you’ve earned it.