Dooley’s Grades (Florida vs EWU)

OFFENSE A

First half: Obviously, it was men against boys against Eastern Washington. The chunk plays just kept coming as Florida got a TD on its first play and never looked back. We even got to see Jalen Kitna in the game and he was perfect on two passes.

Second half: Kitna got most of the second half and threw an absolute dime to freshman Caleb Douglas on a 62-yard touchdown. And we finally got to see what Lorenzo Lingard could do. He would have led Florida in rushing if not for Ricky Pearsall’s 76-yard run in a reverse.

For the game: Florida did everything it needed to do on offense and Anthony Richardson was able to pretty much do whatever he wanted. Despite hurting his ankle in the second quarter, he came back in and didn’t miss a beat except for the first pass of the second half.

DEFENSE B-

First half: The first drive was not good and gave the Eagles the lead. The defense played a lot of youth and at times it showed as Florida had a bend without breaking half. Still, the Gators only gave up three points despite multiple drives into UF territory.

Second half: Florida seemed to have solved some of its problems in the second half and UF was able to empty the bench. Eastern’s two quarterbacks made really nice plays in the fourth quarter to have the memory of two scores in the fourth quarter in the Swamp.

For the game: Look, I know that Florida played a lot of back-ups and if we recall, Billy Napier k new depth was going to be a problem for this team. But the biggest concern is that the Eagles had 15 first downs in the first half when the starters were in and 423 yards for the game.

SPECIAL TEAMS D

First half: If the Gators were playing, that meant there had to be a penalty on a kickoff. It seems to be a running theme that it happened again, this time on a facemask. Xzavier Henderson did have a nice punt return in the second quarter.

Second half: Henderson, who almost never tries to return the punts, was feeling it. Unfortunately, he forgot the ball on one punt and was fortunate that it bounced back to him. And then, Adam Mihalek had a field goal blocked. Not good.

For the game: In a game where Florida was never worried, the special teams again had some mistakes. It seems to be a recurring theme, but Mihalek did make a field goal and special teams did a good job of covering kickoffs. Therefore, a D.

OVERALL B

Florida took care of business in a game that could have been a real letdown with a smaller crowd than what they have played in front of the first four weeks. The Gators now get ready for the meat of this year’s schedule with six straight SEC games. There is not much question that Missouri will be a tough opponent next week.