It just goes to show you, it's always something

“Well, it just goes to show you, it's always something! If it isn’t one thing it’s always something else!" – Roseanne Rosanadanna

JACKSONVILLE – While we were pointing fingers at Todd Grantham for the abysmal performance of his defense a couple of weeks ago in Baton Rouge when LSU slapped the Gators silly for 321 rushing yards and 49 points, we conveniently overlooked the four turnovers that giftwrapped at least three LSU touchdowns.

Saturday, Grantham’s defense actually showed up. It’s hard to blame them for Florida’s 34-7 loss to No. 1 Georgia. It was the offense that giftwrapped three touchdowns in the final three minutes of the first half, turning what seemed like a brewing upset into another notch in Kirby Smart’s belt.

For the first 27 minutes, Florida’s defense kept the Bulldogs out of the end zone. It was 3-0 and while Anthony Richardson wasn’t exactly ripping and shredding, he had made just enough decent plays to offset the kind of plays you might expect of a freshman quarterback getting his first career start against the nation’s most dominating defense. A step here, a better throw there. That’s all it would have taken.

Sleep experts say the typical nightmare lasts less than five minutes. The biggest nightmare of Anthony Richardson’s still young career lasted three. In that short span he fumbled at the UF 11 while trying to fight his way for the extra yard that would have given the Gators a first down. Next play, Georgia scored on an 11-yard run by James Cook and it was 10-0, still close. Still a winnable game.

Then came the first of two interceptions. It was third and 15 at the UF 20 when Richardson threw a yard or so behind Xzavier Henderson. Quay Walker got a hand on the ball, deflecting to Nolan Smith. Next play, Georgia scored again, this one on a Stetson Bennett to Kearis Jackson pass and it was 17-0. Situation grim.

The second interception, the absolute killer that essentially was game over, came on a sideline pass on second-and-11 near midfield. Richardson needed to throw a dart. Instead he put air under it and that gave Nakobe Dean all the time he needed to cut in front of the UF receiver and run it back 50 yards for a TD.

From grim to unwinnable, all in the span of three minutes, the kind of nightmare that will haunt Anthony Richardson and the Gators for a long, long time.

The Gators came into this game 14-point underdogs, needing to play as close to flawless as possible to hang with the nation’s No. 1 team. At 3-0 it felt like the Gators had a puncher’s chance. At 24-0, everyone in the stadium knew Georgia wasn’t going to allow the Gators to rally.

The way Grantham’s defense was playing when the score was 3-0, you would have thought the Gators had played the scout team against LSU, saving the scholarship guys for Georgia. Actually, with the exception of that last TD, which was almost a gimme since the game had long since been decided, the Florida defense played winning football. It’s hard to fault the defense for Georgia’s two offensive touchdowns at the end of the first half since they both came deep in UF territory and after a sudden change turnover. And let’s face it, the second of the two sudden change turnovers took a near perfect throw from Bennett to Jackson.

Because the Gators were such heavy underdogs, it was fairly clear in everyone’s mind that mistakes in all phases of the game had to be minimized. Grantham’s defense held Georgia to 354 yards and for all practical purposes 13 points – two field goals and that last TD. The Gators forced Georgia to turn the ball over three times, two interceptions by Rashad Torrence and a fumble, also recovered by Torrence. Coming into the game, Georgia had turned it over only seven times all season.

Had you told Dan Mullen that Grantham’s defense would give him the ball three times while holding Georgia to two field goals and a touchdown, he would have all but chalked this up in the Florida win column. The defense didn’t let him down. The offense did. Teams of Georgia’s caliber don’t lose games when they have the ball handed to them twice deep in the other team’s territory and get a defensive touchdown on a pick six.

This loss was all about the turnovers, which have been a serious issue since game No. 1. Through eight games, the Gators have yet to play turnover-free. UF is 4-4 and in each of the four losses, turnovers have played a prominent role.

Against Alabama, Emory Jones was hit as he threw and Alabama picked it off to set up one of its three first quarter touchdowns. The Gators lost by two in a game they scored 29 points. In a penalty-plagued game at Kentucky, Jones threw an interception and UK ran a blocked field goal back for a TD. The Gators lost by seven. Two weeks ago, Jones threw two interceptions and Richardson threw two more. LSU scored 21 points off the four turnovers and won by seven. Florida scored 42 and should have won the football game despite the fact the defense was a no show,

Counting the loss to Georgia, the Gators have turned the ball over 16 times this season. Jones and Richardson have combined to throw 15 touchdown passes. They have completed 14 passes to the other team. Richardson’s fumble was just the second the Gators have lost this season and the first one that led to an opponent’s touchdown.

The Gators are 12-8 since the 2020 season. Of the eight losses, six were one possession games and in five of them, UF scored more than enough points to win the game in spite of the defense. Last year, if the defense shows up in losses to Texas A&M, LSU and Alabama, the Gators are 11-0 and the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff because in each of those three losses, UF put plenty of points on the scoreboard.

Last year, we could put so much of the blame on the defense for not doing its part. This year, the defense has been a roller coaster, playing well enough to win in both the Kentucky and Georgia losses, bad enough to lose in the first quarter of the Alabama game and downright horrible against LSU.

A year ago, the Gators could count on Kyle Trask throwing to Kyle Pitts and Kadarious Toney to at least make even the losses white knuckles affairs. This year, one week the offense shows up and the defense leaves its game on the bus. Then, as in the case of the Kentucky and Georgia losses, the offense gives the game away.

So what’s wrong with the offense? We can’t blame the receivers. They aren’t dropping the football and they do get open but open receivers need the football thrown accurately. We can’t blame the offensive line. They’ve only given up seven sacks all season (Georgia managed only two) and they’ve done their part to open holes for the running backs. The Gators ran for 161 Saturday, the most any team has run on Georgia all season and almost as many as Arkansas, Auburn and Kentucky combined (172) in their losses to the Bulldogs.

The quarterback play has been an issue. After all, they’re the ones throwing the interceptions and they’re the ones who are quite often indecisive whether to hold the ball or take off running. The perfect example Saturday was when the score was 3-0. Florida had the ball at the Georgia 42 after Richardson had been sacked on a play when he held the ball too long. Jones was inserted into the game with Richardson going wide into the slot.

Georgia wasn’t the least bit fooled. The Bulldogs expected a double pass and that’s exactly what they got. Jones threw the long lateral to Richardson who had so much time he could have ordered pizza. He had 20 yards of green space in front of him, but instead, he threw. Into double coverage. Incomplete on a play when the first down was possible if Richardson had just taken off running.

By the time Richardson was lifted for Jones in the third quarter, he was 12-20 passing for 82 yards, a very bad 4.1 yards per attempt, with two interceptions. He took a pair of sacks so his net rushing total was 26 yards. Jones got the Gators their only touchdown on an 10-play, 89-yard drive, running it in from two yards with 2:49 to go to avert the shutout. He finished with 22 rushing yards and was 10-14 passing for 112 yards.

The offense clearly ran better with Jones at the helm but it isn’t always that way. Against LSU, Richardson was the one who was effective and Jones the one who was indecisive. From a pure talent standpoint, Richardson has it all over Jones. Jones is a good athlete who hasn’t mastered the quarterback position. Richardson is a spectacular athlete who needs time to develop.

There are four games left in this season and Mullen has a dilemma on his hands. He can’t be sure what the defense will do since Grantham hasn’t shown any measure of consistency. He also can’t be sure which of his quarterbacks is going to deliver the goods, not to mention he risks one of them electing to hit the transfer portal as soon as the clock flatlines at zero on November 27 when the Gators play FSU in the final regular season game.

Make no mistake about it, Mullen needs a 4-0 November. There isn’t a team on the schedule that the Gators can’t beat and probably shouldn’t beat by at least four touchdowns. However, this team is so inconsistent that we’re past the point of knowing what we’re going to get since we haven’t had a single game in which the Gators have played lights out for four quarters on both sides of the football.

If Mullen wants to impress recruits prior to the early signing day in December, then these next four games need to be a showcase of what’s good with football at the University of Florida. Back in 2018, the Gators struggled in October only to put together a nice winning streak in November that earned them a New Year’s Six bowl against Michigan, where they won handily. A New Year’s Six bowl is out of the question now, but a winning streak will keep the Gators out of Shreveport, Nashville or Birmingham when the bowl invitations go out and that’s important.

While a season-ending win streak may convince some recruits that UF is their best bet, it's going to take consistency that hasn't been there all season long. We can’t look back on UF football after Thanksgiving and say the same thing we have been saying all of September and October, that it’s always something. If it isn’t one thing, it’s always something else.