Gator Football Falls to South Carolina

The Florida Gator football team called upon redshirt freshman Sklyer Mornhinweg to play quarterback after Tyler Murphy couldn’t go because of a shoulder injury on Saturday against South Carolina.

Mornhinweg and the Gators fought hard and battled but in the end came up short. South Carolina won their 16th straight home game after scoring 13 unanswered points in a 19-14 win at Williams-Brice Stadium. The Gamecocks (8-2, 6-2 SEC) keep their hopes of a trip to Atlanta alive after Auburn defeated Georgia earlier. The Gators (4-6, 3-5 SEC) lost their fifth straight game, the longest losing streak since Florida dropped nine in a row and finished 0-10-1 in 1979.

The Gators held the Gamecocks to a field goal on their opening drive. UF then responded on their opening possession scoring a touchdown thanks to a 20-yard run by freshman tailback Kelvin Taylor. Taylor would find the end zone again on a 29-yard run to give Florida a 14-6 lead in the second quarter. He finished the day with 96 yards rushing on 21 carries with those two scores. Fellow halfback Mack Brown contributed to Florida’s rushing attack that was able to gain 200 yards on the ground. Brown carried the ball 11 times for 51 yards and also had 28 yards receiving on a screen pass.

South Carolina came out strong after halftime. Quarterback Connor Shaw hit wide receiver Bruce Ellington for a 32-yard touchdown on 4th and 2 to cut the deficit to 14-13. The Gamecocks took the lead with 6:43 remaining in the 4th quarter on a field goal to take a 16-14 lead.

On UF’s next possession, it faced a fourth-and-13 at its 32 and attempted a fake punt, with Trey Burton shifting into position, taking the snap, rolling to his right and hoisting a pass to defensive lineman Leon Orr about 20 yards downfield. Orr went up for the ball between two USC defenders, but couldn’t come down with it.

South Carolina then turned to kicker Elliot Fry who was able to secure his fourth field goal giving the Gamecocks the 19-14 lead.

Mornhinweg was 10-for-13 for 107 yards and threw an interception that was the only turnover in the game.

Next up for the Gators is Georgia Southern on Saturday.  To hear comments from Gator players and coaches, click below.