Dooley’s Grades (Florida vs Mizzou)

Pat Dooley grades the Gators after a 24-17 win over Missouri:

OFFENSE B-

First half: Pretty pathetic. Florida only had 65 yards and three first downs and Anthony Richardson reverted to earlier in the season with another huge turnover. Billy Napier was very conservative with his play calling, including a third-and-4 run up the middle at the Missouri 32.

Second half: Florida was able to run the ball like crazy in the second half with 211 yards including a great run by Richardson on fourth down to set up a touchdown. It was still a struggle in the passing game, but the rope to Ricky Pearsall for what ended up being the winning touchdown was a beauty.

For the game: Richardson was not great, but Napier said it best – “He did what was required to win today. His team won today. Yep, but the offense has to start quicker and get more plays (19 in the first half and one was a kneel-down). Mizzou has a really salty defense and it showed, but Florida did only punt one time in the game.

 

DEFENSE C

First half: The Gators started fast with some stops and obviously the pick six by Jaydon Hill. But then, the defense settled into not being able to get off the field and Mizzou was able to tie the game. The Tigers had 196 yards and 11 first downs.

Second half: Jaydon Hill got his second pick of the game, but Florida has to figure out how it can play three straight downs of good defense to get the offense back out there. Particularly alarming were the three fourth-and-a-mile plays that Missouri converted.

For the game: This defense is what it is. We should call it Ventrell Miller and 10 other guys. He had 10 solo tackles and was a beast again, but Florida allowed 370 yards and Missouri converted 9-of-17 third downs. I said this last week – I don’t think the defense is a solvable problem this season.

 

SPECIAL TEAMS B-

First half: Hey, something good happened. In this case it was a nice 48-yard punt return from Xzavier Henderson that gave the Gators the ball at the Missouri 24. Adam Mihalek made the field goal that followed, but for the second time in three weeks, he missed a 50-yard attempt.

Second half: And then he missed again in the second half. Other than that, special teams were not a huge factor after being kind of a big deal in the first half. Trey Smack continues to be solid on kickoffs.

For the game: Henderson did whiff another punt, but Missouri was penalized for interfering with his catch. Jeremy Crawshaw only had to attempt one punt but back the Tigers up inside the 20. You tell me, do the missed field goals negate the long punt return?

 

OVERALL B

It wasn’t pretty, especially in the first half offensively, but Florida really needed to win an SEC game after six straight losses. The sad thing is that a very pedestrian quarterback went 22-for-30 for 220 yards against Florida and the defense again could not get off the field enough times to give the offense the ball. This is your team, Gator fans. Prepare for a lot of stressful fourth quarters in the second half of the season.