Here are the key takeaways from Florida’s Week 9 loss to Georgia
The Florida Gators fell to the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday, 42-20.
Although the final score may seem one-sided, it doesn’t tell the full story of the game. The first half of the game was all Georgia. The Bulldogs jumped out to a three-score lead while facing little resistance, leading to plenty of the Florida faithful leaving the stadium at half time.
Anyone who chose to leave regretted it almost instantly. Florida started the second half firing on all cylinders. The Gators produced a pair of turnovers and put up 17 unanswered points to bring things down to a one-score game.
Quarterback Anthony Richardson looked a lot more like himself in the second half, and the running game even picked up a bit against one of the top front sevens in the country.
It’s not the outcome any Gators fan wants to see, but this chapter of the Florida-Georgia rivalry could have wound up being far worse than it was. UF will be playing for a win next year, but there were plenty of positives (and negatives) to take away from this one.
Georgia is still in a class above Florida, but Napier's on the right track
Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun
Let’s get this out of the way. Georgia is better than Florida right now. There’s no debating that fact. Their defense is the standard in college football, and the offense might be paving the way for the two-tight-end era of the sport. Having a team filled with two dozen former five-star recruits makes for a big talent gap, and that discrepancy was on full display late Saturday afternoon against Florida.
But the Gators still proved that the Bulldogs aren’t invincible in the third quarter. That second-half surge from UF was a small but much-needed sign that Billy Napier has this team headed in the right direction. Last year’s group crumbled against the nation’s top team, but that didn’t happen under Napier. Florida fought back and played a respectable second half.
Sure, this game could’ve played out a lot better, but the fight is important. It shows that Napier is succeeding in changing the culture at UF, and that sort of thing isn’t lost on players or recruits. Is it a silver lining? Sure. But things looked bleak in the first half, and you have to like what some of what you saw in the second half if you’re a Gators fan.
Too many penalties to win
Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun
Now, let’s talk about that first half. UF was penalized seven times for 53 yards, most of which came during the first two quarters of the game. That doesn’t even include the three penalties Georgia declined throughout the game, either. Simply put, Florida can’t afford to be at its least disciplined when facing the elites.
Florida has seen a ton of improvement in the penalty department under Billy Napier. Coming into this game, the Gators ranked 10th among college football teams in average penalty yards per game with 36.57. It’s fair to assume that Napier and his coaching staff will focus heavily on the team’s penalty woes over the next week. The Gators will be in College Station next week against Texas A&M, and it’s going to be loud.
Napier's second-half adjustments paid off
Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun
We already talked about it a little bit, but the difference between the first and second half of this game was night and day. In fact, Florida outscored Georgia 17-14 in the second half of the game after being blown out 28-3 in the first.
The defense looked like a legitimate SEC unit in the third quarter, forcing fumbles and punishing Stetson Bennet for a pass attempt that should’ve never left his fingertips. Anthony Richardson had his best moment of the season as a true passer, looking off a safety and connecting with [autotag]Xzavier Henderson[/autotag] for a 78-yard touchdown.
If Napier can get his team to play with that passion for all 60 minutes of the ball game, Florida might be able to pull off an upset against Texas A&M next week.
Adam Mihalek is back
Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun
After missing four of his last six field goal attempts for Florida, kicker [autotag]Adam Mihalek[/autotag] bounced back in a big way this week. Mihalek got Florida on the board in the first half with a career-long 52-yard field goal and then hit a chip shot through the uprights from half that distance in the third quarter.
It may seem minor to many, but Florida being able to rely on its kicker from deep is a big game-changer. Napier has gone for it on fourth down plenty of times this year, and it’s hard not to imagine Mihalek’s misses influencing that decision. But Napier seemed to trust him a bit more after that 52-yarder, and that should help keep games closer down the stretch.
The defense has a lot of trouble with tight ends
Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union
Georgia has a very balanced offensive attack, but it’s hard to deny the impact tight end Brock Bowers had on this game. His five receptions for 154 yards and one touchdown don’t tell the full story. Bowers looked like a man among boys out there at times, and that’s not throwing any shade at Florida’s defense. The personnel simply didn’t match up, and Bowers was every bit of the unicorn he’s nicknamed after.
Florida’s season opener against Utah exposed this weak point in the Gators’ defense when Brant Kuithe lit up the Swamp for 105 yards and a touchdown on nine receptions. Bowers is likely the best Florida will see at the position, but any team with a decent tight end package in the playbook is going to test out against UF from here on out.
Defensive coordinator [autotag]Patrick Toney[/autotag] should consider fixing that issue a top priority moving forward.
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