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Florida football: Behind Toney and a revamped, simplified defense, Gators dominate Missouri
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Playing a home game on Halloween night for the first time in decades, a shorthanded Florida team steamrolled Missouri 41-17 on Saturday in The Swamp.
In a game that had plenty of surprises, the Halloween setting suited the result.
Wearing throwback uniforms that paid homage to the terrific Florida teams of the 1960s, the much-maligned defense donned another costume — that of a dominant, physical unit capable of taking a game by the throat. Florida limited Mizzou to 248 total yards, 75 of which came on a garbage-time touchdown drive against Florida’s backups in the fourth quarter. Missouri averaged only 3.9 yards per play, a season low, and a week after bullying a physical Kentucky front for 220 yards rushing, the Tigers managed just 40 against the Gators, who manhandled Missouri at the line of scrimmage.
Even more important than the statistical improvement was the fact that while Florida’s electric offense sputtered early, the Gators defense kept the game within reach. In fact, Todd Grantham’s defense pitched a first-half shutout, as Missouri’s only opening-half score came on Jarvis Ware’s pick-6 off Kyle Trask.
Late in the second quarter, the Gators offense shook off the COVID-19 cobwebs and came to life. The main reason? The continued sensational play of senior Kadarius Toney, who seemed to be dressing up as another Gator who wore No. 1 for Halloween. For at least one glorious evening, Toney looked like Percy Harvin, the All-American who dazzled fans and demonized defenders in Dan Mullen’s first stint in Gainesville as an offensive coordinator more than a decade ago. Toney touched the ball 7 times, delivering 3 touchdowns, including this spectacular catch and run to give Florida a lead they would never relinquish late in the second quarter.
KADARIUS TONEY. TOO SHIFTY ⚡ #SCtop10 pic.twitter.com/xgapjY84TJ
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) November 1, 2020
The game wasn’t all treats and no tricks, as the first half closed with a ghastly incident.
After the Gators added another late second-quarter touchdown, they appeared headed to the half up 20-7, but playing aggressively, they went for more. On the first half’s final play, a ghoulish late hit on Trask wasn’t called. Florida’s offensive line and sideline took exception to the hit, and Mullen barged onto the field to ask the referees what happened. Tempers flared, and a melee broke out.
Here's what actually sparked the Missouri-Florida fight. pic.twitter.com/SYatXlfx5g
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) November 1, 2020
Multiple players were ejected, including one key piece for Florida’s defense, senior lineman Zachary Carter. We will see what the league office does, as more suspensions could be coming ahead of Florida’s tilt with Georgia next week in Jacksonville. There will be plenty of time this week to ask whether the SEC should punish players for a situation that could have been avoided had the officiating crew made the right call on the field in the first place. For now, the sideline-clearing soiree is a stain on what was a complete, impressive performance from the Gators.
As for Trask, he shook off the early pick-6 and threw for 345 yards and 4 touchdowns, padding his SEC-leading tally to 18 on the season through only four games. Nine Gators caught passes, with Toney, Justin Shorter and Trevon Grimes all collecting touchdowns.
By night’s end, Florida’s offense, which entered the evening trailing only Alabama nationally in success rate, had ripped apart a Missouri defense that surrendered season highs in yards (514), points allowed (tied) and yards per play (7.2).
But the biggest story of Florida’s big win was the revamped Gators defense.
Florida played the game without seven starters, including three in their embattled secondary. The Gators responded by flashing the program’s improved depth, with several young players delivering massive performances against a Missouri offense that had given LSU fits and collected 26 first downs against a salty Kentucky defense earlier this month.
The return of free safety Brad Stewart Jr. and nose tackle Kyree Campbell helped, and the Gators staff appears to have figured out that Jaydon Hill and Kaiir Elam are the team’s best corners, something analytics through three games clearly showed.
Perhaps more importantly, Florida’s staff made schematic adjustments.
Gone were the exotic blitz schemes and packages that struggled to get home against Texas A&M. The Gators weren’t blitzing from all angles or bringing safeties from nearby Micanopy. Instead, with Campbell back on the interior of the line, Grantham trusted his front seven to get pressure, simplifying things defensively and letting young players swarm to the football. Letting kids play fast, instead of play tentative and lost in thought, worked beautifully Saturday night.
Whether it was a one-week fix or a sign of things to come for the Gators defense is a question we’ll know the answer to soon enough. Everyone in Florida’s locker room knows who is waiting for them next weekend.
But in a season so surreal it’s almost spooky, Florida avoided a frightful loss on Halloween night, setting up another colossal Cocktail Party. After three weeks of COVID-19 and a program shutdown, that’s quite an accomplishment for this group of Gators
Neil Blackmon covers Florida football and the SEC for SaturdayDownSouth.com. An attorney, he is also a member of the Football and Basketball Writers Associations of America. He also coaches basketball.
