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Rapid Reaction: Florida starts slow, pulls away in shutout of North Texas
By Andrew Olson
Published:
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Gators are 3-0, but the latest win might have come at a price.
Late in the third quarter, QB Luke Del Rio took a nasty hit to his legs that forced him to leave the game. After being checked out on the field, Del Rio walked with trainers to the locker room.
Without Del Rio, Purdue graduate transfer Austin Appleby took over with the team up 19-0. RB Mark Thompson contributed two big runs to advance the lead to 25-0.
What it means: Jim McElwain’s squad will take it, but this win feels a lot more like beating UMass 24-7 than blowing out Kentucky 45-7. The Gators got out to a slow start and had to pull away in the fourth quarter.
Florida has plenty to work on heading into the meat of the conference schedule, and it might be doing so with a new starting quarterback.
What I liked: The defense came to play. The Gators were hard-hitting and fiery from the first snap, racking up 4 sacks, a safety and an interception in the first half. At the break, North Texas had a meager 19 yards of total offense.
All four Florida running backs scored touchdowns. Freshman RB Lamical Perine continues to impress following his big game against Kentucky. On one scoring drive, Perine accounted for 48 of the 52 yards (29 receiving, 19 rushing).
After Del Rio’s exit, Mark Thompson came up with two of his best runs of the season: 36 yards to convert 3rd-and-18 and a 20-yard touchdown scamper.
What I didn’t like: The offense looked flat when passing. Del Rio and WR C.J. Worton were particularly out of sync, unable to connect on multiple targets. Whether it was due to WR Antonio Callaway’s absence or a lack of focus for an inferior opponent, this was a step back from the explosiveness we saw Florida display against Kentucky. Del Rio made poor decisions on multiple throws and was fortunate to not be picked.
One reason Del Rio didn’t look as sharp was that the offensive line had more trouble against the Mean Green than it did against the Wildcats. North Texas was able to get pressure more often than it should have.
With the defense dominating North Texas’ offense, McElwain rolled the dice – which I liked. What I didn’t like was the result: UF went 0-for-3 on fourth down inside the opponent’s 10-yard line. Granted that would likely be 9 points against a conference opponent, but it’s worrisome that the Gators aren’t showing the ability to move the chains in tough, short-yardage situations.
Who’s the man: On a seven-sack night for the Gators’ defense, which pitched a shutout, redshirt freshman DL Jabari Zuniga particularly impressed with two sacks of his own.
Key play: After a Del Rio interception, North Texas had a prime opportunity to put points on the board and gain some momentum. The Mean Green faced 4th-and-3 on the Gators’ 26 and went for it. LB Alex Anzalone came up with a key hurry to force an incompletion and protect the 19-0 lead.
What’s next: The game we’ve been talking about since January is finally the next one up: Tennessee.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
