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Pat Dooley Grades the Gators after their wild 45-28 win at Mississippi State on Saturday, UF’s first win against a Power 5 team in 11 months:
OFFENSE: A
First half: The two-quarterback plan clearly worked as Graham Mertz threw three touchdown passes and DJ Lagway led the Gators on an impressive touchdown drive. They combined to go 19-for-20 passing and Florida had a 225-yard second quarter.
Second half: The Gators (2-2, 1-1 SEC) had to answer the Bulldogs (1-3, 0-1) again and again and did a great job. The biggest play of the game might have been offensive lineman Austin Barber going all honey badger and sniffing out the Lagway fumble in the end zone.
For the game: Florida clearly has two really good quarterbacks and coach Jeff Lebby clearly has a huge rebuilding job ahead of him in Starkville. It’s a tough deal trying to play two quarterbacks, but there didn’t seem to be any disruption of rhythm in this game. The Gators had more than 500 yards and scored 45 points.
DEFENSE: D-
First half: There were some good things, but (again) deflating Gator Nation with another failure to have a shutdown inning and the 1:17 TD drive by the Bulldogs at the end of the half were bad. Mississippi State helped the Gators out with 50 yards worth of penalties.
Second half: Certainly, Florida’s goal-line stand was a huge part of the game. But Florida also gave up drives of 76, 68 and 75 yards. The Gators allowed 240 rushing yards and Mississippi State went to its backup quarterback and he drove his team down the field multiple times.
For the game: Florida dropped an interception in the end zone and gave up a 25-yard completion with 12 men on the field. The Gators allowed 480 total yards and 31 first downs. This soft defense is not getting any better and it could get ugly the rest of the way.
SPECIAL TEAMS: B-
First half: That was a sweet punt return by Chimere Deke for 35 yards to set up a score. Unfortunately, Florida also allowed a 38-yard kickoff return to the Bulldogs.
Second half: They were not much of a factor, because of the shoddy defenses on the field, but Jeremey Crawshaw (or Crenshaw if you listened to ESPN’s Dave Pasch) was solid on his one punt and Trey Smack’s 47-yard field goal went right down the middle.
For the game: The special teams had that one glitch, but were strong the rest of the game. Smack’s field goal was big, because it basically clinched the game and sent the rest of the Clangers home.
OVERALL: B-
Obviously, this was a game coach Billy Napier had to have and his team played hard and executed well on offense. I still didn’t see anything that makes me think there are many wins left on the schedule, but the Gators get an open date to get healthy and turn down the noise. Good luck with that.
WRUF.com sports columnist Pat Dooley can be heard on “The Tailgate” along with Jeff Cardozo from 4-6 p.m. Monday-Friday on 98.1-FM/AM-850 WRUF.
