Pat Dooley’s Six Pack: Quick takes from Florida’s blowout win vs McNeese St.
Florida got pretty much what it wanted against McNeese State Saturday night… except for a shutout.
A late fumble by fourth-team tailback Eddie Battle gave the Cowboys a cheap late score against Florida’s reserves in a 49-7 blowout.
McNeese obviously wasn’t in the same league as Florida, but the Gators did break a four-game losing streak by playing its first game at home since Nov. 12. UF was able to play just about everybody with a pulse and rolled to the easy win in anticipation of next week’s game against Tennessee.
The Dooley SixPack hits the highlights from Florida football’s win over the Football Championship Subdivision McNeese State Cowboys.
Florida had a real shot at setting the school record...
… for first downs in a game. That record is still 36 (set three times), and Florida could have reached it if the Gators stayed with their starters. Instead, they had 33 first downs — 20 of them coming in the first half.
Obviously, Florida was not going to hand the ball...
… to its two stellar running backs only 10 times in this game the way they did in the opener. Florida’s three tailbacks rushed for 212 first-half yards and each scored a touchdown. Montrell Johnson had three carries against Utah, 11-for-94 yards in the home opener.
Johnson finished with 119 yards...
… on only 15 carries while Trevor Etienne had 84 on 11 carries. Florida finished the game with 327 rushing yards (still way short of the top 10 in UF history) after the bewildering first game when the Gators hardly ran it at all.
One reason the rushing numbers were so good was that Graham Mertz was not sacked after taking six sacks against Utah. This was a different level of competition.
And the Gators only had one penalty in the first half
The Gators were obviously a lot cleaner against an inferior opponent and the offensive line, still missing Kingsley Eguagun, was able to dominate the line of scrimmage.
Sidenote: Did anyone else notice that Utah’s first play on the road Saturday was a delay of game?
Ricky Pearsall keeps looking like a receiver...
… who is going to rewrite the single-season record at UF shared by the great Carlos Alvarez and Chad Jackson. They both had 88 catches in a season and Pearsall already has 14 in two games. He has 108 for his career (Arizona State and Florida) and already has 215 receiving yards for the season.
The bottom line is...
… that Florida manhandled an opponent that was soundly beaten by Tarleton State last week. Anything less than a dominating victory would have been alarming. Basically, it sets up a kind of make-or-break home game next week with Tennessee. The Swamp will be loud. Bring your earplugs.
Read more
PHOTOS: Highlights from Florida football’s win over McNeese State
PHOTOS: Florida football heading into home opener vs McNeese State
Good, Bad and Ugly: Looking at Florida’s win over McNeese State
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