No Missouri Scare This Time: Florida Gators Thump Tigers 41-17 On An Oddity-Filled Night
GAINESVILLE, FL – The only thing missing was someone turning into a werewolf. And had Dan Mullen’s spat with Eliah Drinkwitz been resolved a second later, we might have seen that happen.
If Saturday night’s game was a cast iron cauldron, its ingredients would include 15 members of Florida’s roster missing, a sideline-clearing brawl, three touchdowns for Kadarius Toney, four touchdown passes for Kyle Trask and a Florida defense that needs to stay in its Halloween costume for the rest of the year.
And by the end of four quarters, all of the oddities brewed together for a 41-17 victory for the No. 10-ranked Florida Gators.
As announced prior to kickoff, the Gators were to be without 15 players – one of which was junior place kicker Evan McPherson.
In his place, senior Chris Howard would earn his first start of his four-year career – all without ever attempting a field goal for the Gators. And as fate would have it, the Gators would call on Howard to cap off their opening drive.
After marching 72 yards down the field, Howard would line up for a 28-yard field goal before splitting the uprights to help the Gators strike first.
“I’ve been waiting for four years now,” Howard said of getting his first start. “I was overwhelmed with joy.”
Howard would have an opportunity to post 11 points in his debut, with six coming off of field goals and five coming from PATs.
“He did a great job, but we have a lot of confidence in him,” Mullen said of Howard. “You have such a great deal with Evan [McPherson], but to have a guy come in and play like him, I’m really proud of his performance.”
The Gators offense would require five drives before finding the end zone against Missouri. But once Florida broke the plain the first time, it had no trouble.
With under two minutes to play in the second quarter, Kyle Trask found Kadarius Toney on an 18-yard passing touchdown. Thirty-three seconds later, after Missouri’s Tyler Badie fumbled the football at the Tiger 30 yard line, Trask found Toney once again for a touchdown – this one coming from 30 yards out.
“One of the things that’s so impressive with him is you know, I think everyone’s used to, watch a playmaker… put the ball in his hand and something crazy is gonna happen,” Mullen said of Toney. “He plays within the scheme, he sets up runs, he sets up blocks. And then he can make special things happen and make you miss great tackles as well.”
Carrying a 20-7 lead into the half, in true Dan Mullen fashion, the Gators’ offense took one more shot down field as time expired in the first half.
Following the pass, Missouri’s Trajan Jeffcoat administered a late (and malicious looking) hit to Trask, yet all yellow flags seemed to have been residing comfortably in the pockets of the officials.
In defense of its quarterback, Florida’s offensive line was quick to engage with the Tigers’ defense. And Dan Mullen wasted no time in joining the scrum.
“We were out there trying to get our guys off the field ‘cause it was getting testy,” Mullen said following the win. “Really unfortunate situation. It’s not something we condone, obviously. It’s not something that you really want to see in the game at all.”
Getting lost in the center of over 100 Division I football players, Mullen eventually made his way to the outskirts of the brawl, where he and Missouri’s Eliah Drinkwitz continued to go toe to toe before being separated by assistants and authorities.
Sure to get the last laugh, before making his way to the locker room, Mullen stood at the tunnel flailing his arms, enticing a rambunctious home crowd.
“I mean, I talked about let’s create an exciting environment in The Swamp, with the crowd,” Mullen said. “And I love hearing them be loud and I love hearing them cheer so I was just trying to get them to continue to stick with the game and continue to cheer… and I did that the whole game too.”
Once both teams returned to the field, every player on both rosters would have been nabbed with an unsportsmanlike penalty. Meanwhile, Zachary Carter and Antwaun Powell were both ejected for fighting, but should be available in the first half of next week’s game against Georgia.
Rightfully juiced, the Gators would come out of the locker room .38 hot and continue to keep their foot on the gas pedal.
On the opening drive of the third quarter, Kadarus Toney would cap off an eight-play, 75-yard drive with a 16-yard rushing touchdown, his third of the night.
Meanwhile, the Florida defense would allow just 1-yard on the next two Missouri drives.
Those two defensive stands in the third quarter represented a small sample size of a much improved defensive unit.
“Our defense did an unbelievable job allowing the offense to continue to put pressure on Missouri and eventually pull away,” Mullen said.
In Saturday’s win, Todd Grantham’s defense, albeit missing three starters, allowed the Tigers to have just 40 rushing yards.
Missouri quarterback Connor Bazelak wasn’t shy about picking on the depleted Gator secondary early, the Gators eventually made proper adjustments and gave up a total of 208 yards through the air.
Seniors Brad Stewart and Jeremiah Moon led the defensive stat sheet for the Gators with six tackles a piece, while sophomore Brenton Cox Jr. also had himself a night with five tackles and three quarterback hurries.
Offensively, Kyle Trask posted his fourth consecutive four-touchdown pass game, becoming the first quarterback in school history to do so. Trask also broke the league record for most touchdowns thrown through the first four games. He finished 21-for-36 for 345 yards and four TDs.
Transfer receiver Justin Shorter earned his first touchdown in the Orange and Blue with a two-yard reception in the third quarter, while Trevon Grimes also added a score with an 18-yard scoring reception in the fourth.
With a 41-point performance, the Gators have scored at least 38 points in each of their four games. Meanwhile, the Florida defense posted a season low in terms of points allowed.
Mullen, who instead of turning into a werewolf, donned a Darth Vader costume in his postgame meeting with the media, won’t have a week off to prepare for the Georgia Bulldogs.
Instead, the Gators (3-1) will get right back to work and hope for a full week of practice following Saturday night’s madness.
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