6 key takeaways from Florida’s narrow win over USF
The Florida Gators came away victorious from their Week 3 meeting with the USF Bulls, but it took everything they had and a bit of luck to get the job done, 31-28.
There’s no way to be kind about it. Florida was outplayed by an inferior opponent at home and things look as bad as they were a year ago at this point. The loss of Ventrell Miller proved to be just as devastating as it was in 2021 and the Bulls gashed the Gators for 286 rushing yards. Pass protection was a bit better, but the big story is of course on offense with the continuing struggles of Anthony Richardson.
The first-year starter threw another pair of interceptions and failed to score for the second-straight week. There’s still a lot of time left in the season for Billy Napier, Richardson and the Florida Gators to right the ship, but this victory was as hollow as “winning” gets in sports.
Here are six takeaways from Florida’s tight win over USF.
Florida didn't deserve to win
Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun
Billy Napier has a few coach phrases he likes to stick to, one of them being some version of “you have to put yourself in a position to win the ball game to come out on top.” The Gators did that against a perhaps overrated No. 7 Utah in Week 1 and then fell to a legit No. 20 Kentucky because of mistakes on offense. Neither unit looked great this week, and even Napier didn’t put the team into a position to win with a bold play call that resulted in a late interception.
Keep in mind that it took a pair of bad snaps on USF’s final drive to blow a game-tying field goal that would have forced over time, and it starts to feel like Florida didn’t deserve to win this game at all. Add in the questionable penalties in the first half that extended drives and created scores for UF, and it seems like Florida should have definitely lost this one.
Something has to change before the team faces its first road test next week in Knoxville.
Anthony Richardson might be a two-year project
Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun
Anthony Richardson didn’t bounce back the way a first-round pick does against a team he should have. It’s tough to write those words, but it’s the truth and it might be time to start thinking about a clearly talented player as a two-year project. Perhaps he’ll turn things around against Tennessee next week and make this narrative look silly, but he hasn’t thrown a touchdown yet this season and looks far from NFL-ready.
SEC Network’s Jordan Rodgers is right about one thing: Florida needs to get Richardson running downhill. Get him some designed runs early next week and his confidence up. The overthrows and miscommunications with his receivers will slow down if his mind does too. The best way to do that is to get him going where he’s most dangerous.
Life without Michael Tarquin will be bearable
Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images
[autotag]Austin Barber[/autotag] looked fine in his first start at right tackle for the Gators. He was flagged for unnecessary roughness in the first half, which negated a 9-yard run and put Florida at second-and-long, but the offense still put up good rushing totals and gave up just one sack.
Barber isn’t going to take over the spot permanently, but he’s a fine replacement and proved it this week. Getting him back into the rotation for another year of development is best, but the O-line is far from the most concerning unit on the team right now.
Life without Ventrell Miller might be unbearable
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
The most concerning unit on the team right now (other than quarterback) is the linebacker room. Not the outside linebackers, the inside ones. In fact, [autotag]Brenton Cox Jr[/autotag]. was a force to be reckoned with late in this one and may have been the defensive MVP for his late contributions. But Jeremiah [autotag]Scooby Williams[/autotag] and [autotag]Shemar James[/autotag] struggled to fill in for the injured Ventrell Miller, and USF carved up the defense all night.
James did get a sack and a fumble recovery in the first quarter, but in no world should USF be putting up 250+ rushing yards on an SEC defense. [autotag]Amari Burney[/autotag] is another name in the group to watch out for until No. 51 returns.
Both he and Tarquin were in air casts tonight, but Miller was seen lightly warming up. Without an official diagnosis, a hopeful guess is a sprained ankle, but even those can linger if not left to heal entirely. If it’s worst than that, Florida’s defense is in for another long year.
The secondary had a decent night
AP Photo/John Raoux
[autotag]Jalen Kimber[/autotag]’s pick six was the big moment in the game from the unit, but the secondary had a pretty good night as a whole. Bohanon only threw for 116 yards on 12-of-28 passing and never connected with a receiver in the painted grass. USF isn’t a great litmus test for a pass defense — the Bulls came into the game ranked 100th in the nation in passing yards per game — but it’s good to see at least one unit get the job done where they were supposed to.
The one complaint is that the defensive backs were giving the wideouts too much room rather than pressing late in the game. It’s unclear if that was a directive or not, but Xavier Weaver took full advantage of that and brought in eight catches for 82 yards. The rest of the Bulls’ receiving core was kept fairly quiet.
Trevor Etienne is legit
Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun
In case you haven’t noticed, this [autotag]Trevor Etienne[/autotag] kid is pretty good. He delivered the game-winning touchdown in this one and led the team with eight carries. [autotag]Montrell Johnson Jr[/autotag]. beat him in yardage with 103 because of a 63-yard score in the first half, but Etienne still averaged 7.0 yards per carry.
If Richardson is going to take his time figuring things out, leaning on the true freshman might be the ticket to Florida’s success in the near future. He now has 166 yards on 22 carries through three games as a freshman.
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