The No. 13 Florida Gators Open 2021 With 35-14 Win, Stout Defensive Front and Explosive Rush Attack
Updated: Sep 5, 2021
The No. 13 Florida Gators opened their 2021 season with a 35-14 win over the Florida Atlantic Owls, extending their home opener win streak to 32 straight. It’s the longest such streak in SEC history and the longest current ongoing streak in the Power 5. In front of a crowd of 86,540 Gator fans in an (attempted) white out, Florida welcomed home fans as they look to defend their SEC East title.
“The best part of the night was the crowd,” expressed Head Coach Dan Mullen after the win. “That was the absolute best part of the night was seeing all the Gator fans and the energy and the electricity in the stadium again and you know you realize how much you miss that.
“Just that feeling of that energy of having all the Gator fans in there cheering and that noise in the stadium. That was awesome, that was definitely the best part of the night, was the whole, all the Gator fans cheering us on."
The fans had a good bit to cheer about—and to fret over—as the Gators fielded a new look on both sides of the ball.
Florida received the opening kickoff and put together a drive that went exactly how one imagined it would and all fans could hope for. A couple of early jitters caused plays to fall flat, then a quick Emory Jones pass to Jacob Copeland picked up 15-yards and jolted life in the offense. A 31-yard run by Malik Davis officially kicked up the energy then two more good decisions and quick throws from Jones put the Gators in the redzone. A bruising run by Dameon Pierce found pay-dirt, and the Gators were up 7-0 before some people could find their seats.
The score came on a pitch from Jones to Pierce that exemplified the leeway Mullen is giving his veteran—but first time starting—quarterback. The decision was indicative of what Jones can do after three years in the program, and for Mullen, it outweighs the mistakes he expected to see from Jones in his first start.
“That was a check play. He saw them in a certain defense and he got the check right. That’s part of it,” Mullen said of the score. “There’s things that, you know, if you look at Emory there’s things that he did really well. And then there's some things he missed. And when you look at some of the misses, I'm fine wine with.
“Some of the misses are tough things and then a couple simple misses, and I know he's frustrated with it. The good thing is coming off the field, you're like, ‘Hey, what’d you see?’ And he knows what the issue was, you know what I mean? ‘Hey, I missed this. Hey, I missed that,’ and that's what you want from the quarterback. It’s not like he was kind of looking like he had a confused look on his face. What he missed, that’s what you want so we can get it cleaned up.”
On the Gators ensuing offensive drive, Pierce, Davis and Jones ate up yardage on the ground yet again, moving Florida back into scoring territory. In total, Florida had 400 yards rushing, the third most in a game in the past 25 years. This, a year after leading the nation in passing offense.
“We are going to do what our guys do well, that’s what it is. Honestly, I would love to continue to be balanced,” remarked Mullen. “We ran it a bit more that we threw today, 46 runs and 35 passes, but some of those were scrambles too. I think you’re able to stay balanced, but our explosive plays came on the ground and so we got to look at that a little bit. Are we taking the shots down the field to be explosive in the pass game as well?
"Like I said, we're going to do what we're going to do. If we've got to lead the nation in rushing, we'll do that. Last year we lead it in passing. Do what our guys do well.”
Malik Davis, who finished with 104 yards and scored a touchdown for the first time since 2019, knew early on he and the rushing attack would dominate.
“We just saw that they couldn’t stop us, honestly. Everything we wanted to do, we did it. And the stops that they did make, I believe that we just shot ourselves in the foot. We hurt ourselves at times in the game. But other than that, I think that we just felt like they couldn’t stop us.”
Davis formed a duo with redshirt freshman quarterback Anthony Richardson that put up the best rushing performance by a quarterback and teammate in over a decade. Davis’ century mark was surpassed only by Richardson, who racked up 160 yards on the ground. The only other time in program history that a quarterback and teammate duo both passed 100 yards rushing was in the 2008 National Championship, when Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin did it, in route to defeating the Oklahoma Sooners.
Speaking of Richardson, the Gainesville native put together two scoring drives that invoked memories of Tebow himself, sporting the No. 15 jersey and all. After two Jones’ drives ended in an interception and a punt respectively, Richardson came in to provide a different look for an entire drive. He led a seven play, 73-yard drive that ended in a Malik Davis touchdown, and was kickstarted with a 26-yard run from Richardson.
The following offensive drive saw Richardson scramble on a keeper, before turning on the jets, leading to the 240-pound passer making a house call for a 74-yard touchdown.
Without that 74-yard run, Richardson finishes with 86 yards on the ground, just 12 more than Jones. The upperclassmen Jones went 17-27 for 113 yards and a touchdown through the air as well. But he also had two turnovers and a missed call on the goal line that had Mullen shaking his head. On 4th and goal from the 4-yard line, Jones ran a QB power that went two yards before being stood up by the FAU defense. Mullen’s reaction on the sideline made it clear he was as confused by the play as anyone. It also served as a learning opportunity for the coach and the first quarterback he recruited to play at Florida.
“He got the wrong signal from the sideline, thought we called something we didn’t and missed communication. Great things there to learn from, I mean, if he’s not sure with the communication I didn’t know he wasn’t sure when we’re running a play because it looks like we’re in the right formation and all that stuff he wasn’t sure with the play call. That’s an experience deal in a first start right there.”
For Jones part, there was plenty he was pleased with in his first start, but even more he wants fixed, especially his two interceptions in which he stared down defenders.
“I feel like it was just, I mean sloppy, rusty. We just gotta go back in the lab, get better, try to get better every week,” admitted Jones. “I feel like I still made a lot of mistakes early in the game that you probably couldn’t see when you’re watching the game. I missed too many throws that I never do. It’s me getting more comfortable, just being out there actually being excited. Got to lock in and get better every week.”
One thing that did improve drastically from last season was the push from the defensive front seven. Led by Zachary Carter and Brenton Cox, the Gators landed six sacks for a loss of 36 yards. One sack from Carter (four tackles, three sacks and a forced fumble) put the ball on the ground and then a botched handoff with the Owls led to another fumble. Both were recovered by Gervon Dexter.
“Well I gotta give credit to my back end, they did a great job covering tonight, helping me get back there,” bragged Carter. “Especially my guys inside for giving me that push. It was just one of those games. I was feeling it tonight and, you know, I’m excited for this year. I’m planning on having a big year. I’m excited.
"I read the tackle’s stance [on the fumble] and I knew it was about to be a pass. I just got off the ball as fast as I could and I just so happened to run by him. I’ve been working on stripping the ball so when I have my chance I executed that.”
The defensive push was necessary as the Gators young secondary took their lumps. Other than Trey Dean and Kaiir Elam, the majority of the defensive backs were young and new faces. There is still ample room to grow in that aspect. In total the secondary gave up 13.7 yards per completion (somewhat skewed by explosive plays in garbage time) but the Gators kept FAU out of the redzone until there were less than five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. The two Owls touchdowns game against third and fourth string underclassmen.
“I thought solid at times,” Mullen said of the defensive front seven. “I thought we got after the quarterback. I thought they [FAU] did a good job getting the ball out pretty quick early, and, you know, a lot of times when they got the drop back pass we got a bunch of pressure, got some sacks.”
The Owls finished with 353 yards total, but Todd Grantham’s defense held FAU to 173 total yards through the first three quarters. Head Coach Willie Taggart’s team surpassed their entire total to that point in the fourth quarter, picking up 180 in the final quarter. Of those 180 yards, 143 came on the two garbage time touchdown drives.
“This is just a sneak peek. I know we can do a lot better,” said Carter of the performance. “We’re just scratching the surface. It’s the first game. We have a lot to correct.”
The Gators have a week to correct more mistakes against the South Florida Bulls, against whom they’re favored. Kickoff is set for 1pm EST in Tampa at Raymond James Stadium. They’ll return home for Week 3 for the early season showdown against the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide.
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