Florida Slips to 1–3 for First Time Since 1986
On a night where Florida’s defense did more than enough to win, the offense did not get the memo.
The No. 4 Miami Hurricanes suffocated Florida all night long en route to a 26-7 win Saturday. Florida fell to 1-3 for the first time since 1986 and extended its away losing streak to Miami to four, dating back to 1985.
But the story of the game was the Hurricanes’ defense that dominated the Gators’ offense. Miami (4-0) held Florida to 141 total yards, 60 yards passing and 81 yards rushing. Miami lived in the Florida backfield, overwhelming the Gators’ offensive line and making life difficult on quarterback DJ Lagway with four sacks, seven tackles-for-loss and four quarterback hurries.
Loading ...Florida came into the game beat up on defense, including the absence of three starting defensive linemen. But credit the Gators for giving all Miami all they could handle before the lack of depth and in-game injuries started to mount up. Florida lost two starters in the secondary — Sharif Denson and Dijon Johnson — and defensive lineman Brendan Bett, who played a role down the stretch.
Miami took advantage and physically manhandled Florida up front, which allowed the Hurricanes to go on two late touchdown drives in the fourth to seal the win. The Gators had one good drive of offense but was stuck in the mud for the whole game.
Florida got slammed by a Category 5 hurricane Saturday night. After a three-and-out on offense, Miami moved the ball down the field in seven plays for 56 yards, capped off by CharMar Brown’s 2-yard touchdown run for a 7-0 Miami lead.
The Hurricanes dominated the lines of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Defensively, they held Florida to five total yards of offense in the first quarter and sacked Lagway once. Offensively, Miami’s ability to control Florida up front helped extend drives and keep a shorthanded Gators defense on the field. The Hurricanes were five-for-five on third down conversions that quarter with 116 yards.
Miami opened the second quarter driving, but a second-down sack by freshman edge Jayden Woods helped kill the momentum and forced Miami to settle for a 53-yard field goal to extend its lead to 10-0. The Gators finally got a first down conversion on their third drive of the game before they had to punt it back to Miami.
Miami tacked on another field goal with under two minutes left in the first half to stretch the lead to 13-0. But credit the Gators defense for keeping Florida in the game. The Gators finished the half scoreless, with one first down, 32 total yards while going 0-for-7 on third down and five three-and-outs and allowing two sacks.
Florida flipped the script and dominated the third quarter. Following another Miami punt, the Gators got things going on their first offensive drive. On their first play, running back Ja’Kobi Jackson broke off a 27-yard run. Seven plays later at the Miami 15, Lagway converted a fourth-and-2 to keep the drive alive. Two plays later, running back Jadan Baugh ran it in from seven yards out for the score, making it 13-7.
The momentum carried over to the defense, and the ensuing Hurricanes drive. On first down, quarterback Carson Beck tried to thread a ball down the field and it was intercepted by Cormani McClain. Florida got the ball down to the Miami 33 and decided to roll the dice on fourth-and-3, but came up a yard short to turn the ball back over to Miami on downs.
Both defenses traded blows and forced punts in the fourth quarter, but when a scoring drive was needed, Miami stepped up. The Hurricanes leaned on its big offensive linemen, rushing the ball on nine of the 11 plays.
The physical runs eventually broke down a Gators defense that gave its all Saturday night. Miami marched 80 yards down the field and finished off its six-minute drive with Brown’s second touchdown. Brown finished the night with 17 carries for 74 yards and two touchdowns.
Mark Fletcher Jr., his counterpart who rushed the ball 24 times for 116 yards , put the finishing touches on Florida with a one-yard score to increase the lead to 26-7. Miami finished with 183 yards rushing on 43 carries.
The night was sealed with defensive end Rueben Bain Jr.’s quarterback pressure to force Lagway into a bad pass and a fourth-down stop. Bain had seven total tackles, four solo, half a sack and one tackle-for-loss.
Florida will head into the bye week with plenty of questions and uncertainty surrounding the program that will need answered before the welcome Texas in two weeks on Oct. 4.
Category: ACC, College Football, Feature Sports News, Gators Football, Miami Hurricanes, SEC
