As a team, only Missouri and Oklahoma State have more tackles for loss than Florida’s 46, and the Gators are 15th in the nation in yards allowed per carry (2.89).
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The Tigers came in passing just 25 percent of the time. However, he looked a bit shaky in his first couple of games and through the first three quarters of the Tennessee contests.
Both LSU and Florida go into Saturdays game as the two highest ranked SEC teams in the AP Poll, as Texas A&M fell to No. 9 and Alabama dropped down to No. 10. Florida moved up three spots from No. 11. Grier, a freshman, has started the last five games for the Gators.
Missouri is the two-time champion of the SEC East. That’s quite the feat for a team that’s only been a member of the conference since 2012. After a 32 yard pass to J’Mon Moore to setup Mizzou first and goal at the six, the Gators were able to make a stand in the redzone and force a 21 yard Andrew Baggett field goal midway through the first.
He played nine games as a freshman last season, completing 45 percent of his passes for 1,019 yards, nine touchdowns and four interceptions. “We have to get back to where we used to be”.
“But our ceiling is to be better than that”, first-year defensive coordinator Barry Odom said.
Causing even more depth issues, fifth-year senior Trip Thurman missed all of spring practice with a chronic shoulder injury and experienced guard Rod Johnson was forced to end his career in April because of a spine problem. “Obviously, they’ll be picked to beat us by a bunch and that’s OK”.
The Missouri offense stalled, however, and after Lock almost gifted Florida an interception, kicker Andrew Baggett converted from 21 yards out to pull the Tigers within 7-3.
Spread: Florida is favored by five points. They could show up and play to their full potential and pull off the win, but that doesn’t seem too terribly likely at this point in time. In Tampa, Marlon Mack rushed 179 yards and a pair of second-half touchdowns Saturday to help South Florida end a three-game losing streak with a 45-24 victory over Syracuse. At one point, Missouri had attempted 33 pass plays to just 14 designed runs. Florida pulled off a major upset by beating Ole Miss, 38-10, last week.
Aarion Penton had three breakups to only 1.5 tackles, a sign that Florida had both little interest and little success in throwing toward him. In receiving, Demarcus Robinson had 98 yards and one touchdown in eight receptions while Brandon Powell caught a 77 yard TD-pass. The Tigers average 209.6 rushing yards per game, ranked last in the conference.
For the Tigers, their once potent offense has now become one of the worst in the SEC.
The freshman quarterback entered the game with Missouri fans in love with him. “That’s frustrating that I didn’t have them prepared well enough to go win one”.
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“That’s the first time I’ve played against a true defense like that, ” Lock said. Just look at who/what is scheduled to return in 2016 and beyond. Backup Derrius Guice added 161 yards on 16 carries after the game was out of reach in the third quarter. Tabor returned his 40 yards for a touchdown that served as the final score of the game. Cornerback in 2016 is set with Penton, John Gibson (who I thought was strong last night), Logan Cheadle, Anthony Hines, and company.
