Rapid Reaction: Florida escapes Samford scare despite dreadful defensive performance
SEC vs. FCS games in November are supposed to be an opportunity to empty the bench and play the walk-ons. Instead, the Gators needed their starters for all four quarters to escape with a 70-52 come-from-behind win over an FCS Samford squad that entered The Swamp with a losing record (4-5).
In the first game since Todd Grantham’s dismissal, the Gator defense had a historically bad first half under interim defensive play-caller Christian Robinson. With the help of a kickoff return for a TD, Samford scored 42 points in the first 2 quarters against Florida, more than the Bulldogs scored in complete games against UT Martin (33), Wofford (27), Chattanooga (13) and The Citadel (35). Samford finished with an offensive performance for the FCS vs. SEC record books: 52 points and 530 yards of offense.
Dan Mullen famously considers the battle of total yardage the most important stat in the box score. He’ll presumably celebrate the Gators out-gaining the Bulldogs 717-530 yards.
One of Twitter’s favorite meme gifs is Jake Tapper describing a 2020 presidential debate as “a hot mess, inside a dumpster, inside a train wreck.” Turns out he was also describing the Florida defense in 2021.