Dooley’s Dozen: 12 plays that defined Florida football’s season
For all the time I have been paying attention to Florida football, really all except my formative stages, there has never been a season like the last one.
So many highlights, so many lowlights. It was a mess that played with your emotions and ended up on the wrong end of the final record.
Every time someone thought they found a hero, the same player would either have an injury or a brain freeze or something worse and it felt like The Mean Season, although that was actually a movie about a serial murderer and a newspaper reporter so maybe not.
But it did feel mean. Any time a Florida team loses to its three biggest rivals, gets blown out in a bowl game and sets all-time records for defensive ineptitude, it feels like someone was sticking pins in an orange-and-blue voodoo doll.
This week’s Dooley’s Dozen takes you back kicking and screaming to look at the 12 plays that defined 2022 for the Gator Nation. You may have to avert your eyes at some because they are not pleasant memories.
Can anyone here tackle?
Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun
This was the one for me that definitely defined the Florida ineptitude on defense, which in turn was the definition for a 6-7 season. Florida needed to beat LSU for a number of reasons and started fast, but fell behind 28-21 at the half.
And on the first play of the second half, with the defense needing to get off to a good start after a halftime of adjustments and Rockne speeches, Josh Williams ran for 50 yards. He got there by breaking four tackles from point-blank range. LSU scored four plays later and the tone was set.
No comeback for you. Next!
James Gilbert/Getty Images
OK, that’s kind of a Seinfeld reference, but you remember the FSU game. It was a great comeback with almost all of the wide receivers on the shelf as Florida got the game tied at 38 on [autotag]Trevor Etienne[/autotag]’s 45-yard touchdown run with 7:41 remaining in the game.
But then the defense went to work. After a buzz-kill kickoff out of bounds, FSU needed only seven plays to score. The final 33 came on two runs up the middle by running back Trey Benson for 16 and 17 yards. Sad.
The big pick
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Nobody will question the atmosphere surrounding the first game with Pac-12 champ Utah in town and a new coach taking over. And it was a wild game with fans standing on their heads as Utah drove to what could be the winning score or at least a tying field goal.
But Cam Rising tried to force a pass into a tight space and UF linebacker [autotag]Amari Burney[/autotag] made a diving interception, allowing Gator fans to lose their collective minds. Suddenly, everything seemed OK.
But not for long.
And you know why
AP Photo/John Raoux
After the opener, [autotag]Anthony Richardson[/autotag] was a real Heisman contender. Florida shot up to No. 12 in the country, which made a few of us wince. Then came Kentucky.
The Wildcats stifled Richardson by putting a spy on him, but the real body blow came when AR threw a pass to nobody. Well, nobody from Florida. It went right to Kentucky’s Keidron Smith who returned it for the winning touchdown. His 65-yard return gave the Wildcats the lead late in the third quarter and it held up as Florida was shut out in the second half.
Rumble, young man, rumble
Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun
Let’s start out with the great night Florida had against South Carolina. The Gators became bowl eligible, and it felt like a corner had been turned after pitching a second-half shutout (my how things turned after this game for both teams).
The play that everyone remembers was the 85-yard run by Trevor Etienne. He took the handoff off the right side and used his speed to first get past the linebackers and then to outrun the secondary, just getting into the end zone to make it 21-0.
The throw to nowhere
James Gilbert/Getty Images
Really, when we are defining this season, the Vanderbilt game sticks out like a thumb that was placed in a vise and tightened every 10 minutes. Every time it looked bad, it got worse.
But then there was the comeback that fell short and that’s the thing – with Richardson, Florida always had a chance. And in this case, a 28-12 deficit was trimmed to one score and Florida had one last chance.
Alas, Richardson’s throw didn’t just sail out of the end zone, it might have hit that Marriott behind the stadium. Nice.
The road can be nice
Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports
And this trip was. It wasn’t a defining play, but defining plays, as Florida beat Texas A&M in College Station.
The Gators allowed no points in the second half and only 106 yards. Don’t forget that this was the week after [autotag]Brenton Cox Jr[/autotag]. was dismissed and everybody was ready to explain that Cox was the reason the defense was so bad. It wasn’t.
This also ended a five-game road losing streak for Florida. Yay!.
Moves like Jagger
AP Photo/Gary McCullough
Again, this goes to the roller-coaster ride that Richardson took Florida fans on right from the start of the season.
Florida is down 19-14 to Utah early in the fourth quarter when [autotag]Montrell Johnson[/autotag] scores on a 14-yard run. Florida goes for two, but Utah blitzes and they are in Richardson’s face. Somehow, he pump fakes and pirouettes at the same time, scrambles right, and finds [autotag]Ja’Quavion Fraziars[/autotag] alone in the back of the end zone.
That play made talking heads freak out for a week about the Florida quarterback.
Another example of not quitting
Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun
And the only reason I title this one like that is because after last year we have to mention that this team did not quit. The Georgia game was a good example.
Georgia is way better than Florida. But the Gators were hanging in there when suddenly a lightning bolt hit. Richardson saw the safety cheat up and found [autotag]Xzavier Henderson[/autotag] wide open behind the defense for a 78-yard touchdown.
For the first time, we all thought there was a chance because Florida had pulled to within 28-20.
The sieve was fully operational
Caitie McMekin/News Sentinel
Florida’s defense against Tennessee was embarrassing. The Gators were at full throttle on offense but never made the Vols punt. Especially galling was the touchdown on the first drive of the second half.
Florida was down 17-14 and Tennessee was driving. Former Gator Jeremy Mincey was called for a false start to back the Vols to the Florida 16. On the next play, running back Jabari Small flared out of the backfield. Nobody covered him. That was the theme all day.
Good to have you back
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
The [autotag]Jaydon Hill[/autotag] story was certainly a rough one for him and his family. Torn ACL, then a re-injure in camp.
Finally, he was cleared and in only his second game back magic happened. Hill cut in front of a Brady Cook pass and took it to the house covering 49 yards and giving Florida an early 10-0 lead over Missouri.
His comeback was one of the good stories of the season.
It adds up to a half
James Gilbert/Getty Images
It ends on a bad note because the season ended on a putrid note. Again, this is not a defining play, but a series of plays.
In the second and third quarters of Florida’s game against Oregon State, with the defense battling, Florida’s offense had two yards in the second and five yards in the third.
What it defined was that Florida’s only chance to win games against good teams was Anthony Richardson. Sometimes, he wasn’t good enough, sometimes he was downright bad. But he gave you hope.
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