It was a good day for an exorcism in Austin

“What an excellent day for an exorcism.” – Linda Blair as Regan MacNeil in the 1973 film “The Exorcist”

Perhaps there is a better explanation for the supernatural event that took place at Darrell K. Royal Stadium in Austin, Texas Saturday afternoon, but for the moment, it does indeed seem as if an exorcism took place either in the Florida locker room or on the sidelines. What other rationale is there? Those same Florida Gators whose defense spent the first six weeks of the season doing a dandy impersonation of a demon-possessed unit channeled their inner Doomsday, haunting Arch Manning into a game he will never forget.

Other than the first two drives of the first quarter that produced a TD and a field goal and a desperation heave late in the fourth quarter that led to a touchdown that gave the game a white knuckles feel to it, the heir to the Manning throne was turned into a very ordinary quarterback. The Gators harassed Manning into poor decisions, a few bad throws and a lost fumble just when 7th-ranked Texas was in dire need of a play to fend off an upset of major proportions.

Florida 27, Texas 24. How in the name of all that is sacred did the Gators manage to pull that off? How did a defense that ranked dead last in the SEC and 110th in the nation sack the heir to the fabled Manning throne five times? How did those same guys from that same defense that both Missouri and South Carolina toyed with find the fire, the passion and intensity to leave the Texas O-line in a side of the road heap gasping for air?

“You know what our guys did?” Sumrall asked in the post game press conference. “They executed with more detail, more urgency, more violence, more strength. They finally took it upon themselves to play with that mentality.

And since the defense was so busy re-discovering the age-old principle of beating the other team silly, Florida’s offensive line remembered its party invitations and showed up. A little late, mind you, since they spent the first quarter whiffing and flinching away, but it was timely when they, also, cast out the demons of the past two weeks helping Tramell Jones Jr. become the first Florida quarterback to win his first start on the road against a ranked team since Jesse Palmer got a notch in his belt against 6th-ranked Auburn way back in 1997.

Jones played turnover free, completed 22 of his 35 passes for 155 yards and found tight end Lacota Dippre in the end zone twice for touchdowns. That vaunted Texas defense, coached up by Will Muschamp and led by national sack leader Colin Simmons, managed only one sack on Jones, so elusive in the pocket that he must have been coated with Teflon. Like the defense on those first two Texas drives and the offensive line that didn’t figure things out until the final two drives of the first quarter, Jones played like you expect a quarterback who hasn’t started a football game in two years and the O-line was busy absorbing blows from that monstrous Texas front four rather than deliver the punishment.

Following a 63-yard punt return for a touchdown by All-American Ryan Niblett that gave the Longhorns a commanding 17-3 lead with 11:27 left in the first half, a jolt of lightning must have struck Jones and the Florida O-line. From that point onward, Jones was lucid, poised, decisive and in complete command of a risk-avoidance offensive game plan dialed up by Buster Faulkner. Jones spent most of the day finding open receivers for short throws, but when the Gators faced a fourth-and-12 at the Texas 36 with less than a minute to go in the first half, he delivered a 17-yard strike that Dallas Wilson caught and got both feet inbounds going against Bo Mascoe, the Longhorns’ best cover corner. On the next play after that fourth down reprieve, Jones showed his wheels with a decisive 14-yard run. Two plays later he connected with Dippre on a 7-yard pass for a touchdown that cut the Texas lead to 17-10 with 18 seconds remaining in the half.

The touchdown drive to end the first half and the 15-play, 69-yard drive for a TD to start the second half were defining moments for Jones. In the first quarter he was tentative, choosing the easy throw even when there was an open receiver farther downfield. The final drive of the first half changed the entire complexion of the game. Working with a short field after Ty Jackson decleated Hollywood Smothers on a fourth-and-one, Jones took the Gators down the field 49 yards to a touchdown on nine plays, scoring on the pass to Dippre.

That TD drive was huge from a psychological point of view since going from down 17-3 to within a touchdown at the half took the air out of the Longhorn faithful. To start the second half, the Gators drove methodically, taking 8:03 off the clock. Two possessions later, Jones led the Gators on another time-consuming drive, this one 14 plays for 57 yards that ate up 6:31 of clock time while carrying over into the fourth quarter, ending with a 28-yard field goal by Patrick Durkin that gave UF the lead for good.

“I think he [Jones] started to do some things simple, better in the second half and just take what's there,” Sumrall said. “Don't have to do anything crazy, put the ball in play, give guys opportunities and get the ball in the hands of our playmakers.”

By playing turnover free and putting the Gators in plus situations on second and third downs, it backed the Texas safeties out of the box which opened up the running game for Jadan Baugh. Held to just 72 yards combined in the losses to Missouri and South Carolina, Baugh carried 25 times for 91 yards, scoring what proved to be the game-winning touchdown on an 11-yard sweep around the right side with 6:22 left in the game. On the drive, Baugh also had a 13-yard run in which he juked a couple of defenders then ran over two more before he hit the ground.

It was vintage Baugh and in large part, a statement by the O-line, whose first quarter performance was far too reminiscent of the previous two weeks. In the first quarter, the O-line struggled against the Longhorns’ space eaters up front, but they went beast mode, particularly in the third and fourth quarters. In the second half, the Gators had perfect balance, 85 yards on the ground, 85 through the air.

“It's a whole lot easier to play quarterback when the O-line plays good,” Sumrall said. “And so, no matter who's the quarterback for us, when the O-line plays better, it's a lot easier to play quarterback and the last couple weeks, no secret, we haven't played very good on the O-line. This week, we played better on the O-line, so it made everything tick. Just a little bit cleaner on third down as well. We also ended up in less what felt like third and crazy extra longs today. At times where in the past, I don't have all the stats in front of me, but last week I felt like every time we looked up it was third and 12.”

The long drives by the offense allowed a rested defense to dominate the second half. A 62-yard Manning to Emmett Mosley V that set up the only Texas score of the second half, accounting for all but 26 of the Longhorns’ second half yards. Florida held the ball for 46 second half plays while Texas only managed 19 snaps after the halftime break.

When Texas cut the Florida lead to 27-24 and then forced a punt, the Longhorn faithful envisioned another come-from-behind win like the one against Ohio State in game two, but on second down at the Texas 48, the Gators brought the house with Myles Graham sacking Manning and forcing a fumble that Kanye Clark recovered at the UT 39. Texas still had three time outs remaining, but on third down Jones sprinted nine yards for a first down at the Texas 27, effectively ending any chance the Longhorns had of a comeback win.

Three kneels from a victory formation by Jones and it was over, Florida’s first win on the road against a top-10 opponent since the Gators beat then No. 10 Florida State in Tallahassee in 2012.

Make no mistake about it, this was a total team win, but considering the way the defense had played in the previous six games, their effort paved the way for the upset. Texas scored only two offensive touchdowns and managed just 272 total yards. The Gators controlled the football for 38:11 of the 60 minutes. Besides getting sacked five times for -29 yards and fumbling the ball way at the most inopportune moment, Manning was just 14-20 passing for 173 yards. Take away the one big play and he was 13-19 for 111, a miserable 5.84 per attempt.

The win revived hope among a Florida fan base that viewed the second half of the season with serious trepidation. Losing two straight will do that for you. Giving up 83 points points a lot of fingers at the defense but this was their game to shine. Getting a win on the road with the backup QB getting his first collegiate start was also an emotional lift, although Sumrall once again reiterated that he believes the Gators will win games whether it’s Tramell Jones or Aaron Philo at quarterback.

What he doesn’t want is for his team to lose focus just because they just beat a team that two weeks ago was ranked No. 1 nationally.

“We got better today,” Sumrall said, putting it in perspective. “I think if we've learned anything about this in this game or in life, you don't get to go, yeah, it was good last week, so I get to be good next week, right? I guess part of why we got our ass kicked in Missouri and last week at home is because everybody around Gainesville was patting our guys in the back telling them how good they were. And I'm like, guys, we suck. I think I've watched this practice. We're not very good. We still suck. We just suck less. So we have to figure out how to suck less each week. But we're not like a complete team yet.”

Photo: Florida defenders gang-tackle a Texas ballcarrier in Austin. (Photo courtesy UAA and Hannah White)

Photo courtesy UAA (University Athletic Association, FloridaGators.com) and Hannah White. See more of her work on Instagram, and the official Florida Gators photo galleries at FloridaGators.com.