Of course, Muschamp had two quarterbacks on his roster in 2012 – and Jacoby Brissett – who are now starting at other programs and are infinitely more talented than current UF quarterback Treon Harris.
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And Harris, while showing off some elusiveness and athleticism, managed to complete just 19 of 38 passes for 134 yards.
(That would likely end the SEC’s streak of having someone at least make the playoff field, but that’s not Florida’s concern.) Lose, and this becomes a great debut season for Jim McElwain, but not an historic one.
“This guy plays his tail off, plays with energy, practices with energy and loves to play the game”, McElwain said. “In the second half, they did a better job of hitting us first and taking our confidence down a little bit”. Florida comes into this game at 10-1 (7-1) and ranked 12th in the nation while Florida State comes in at 9-2 (6-2) and ranked 13th in the nation.
The Gators announced the suspension about 75 minutes before kickoff. FSU RB Dalvin Cook is averaging 222 total yards per game against FBS teams with winning records, the highest total in the country. He was suspended for the 2014 season opener against Idaho and twice in 2013.
“It will be interesting in the building of this organization to see how we rebound, ” McElwain said. “And who knows whether he can choose to do what’s right or not”. So if you want playoff chaos, cheer for the Gators over the Tide. The redshirt junior made his two longest field goals of the season, the second of which was a 51-yarder that bounced off the left upright and in for a 13-0 lead. Roberto Aguayo has missed eight field goals in three seasons.
“We need a leader that brings us together, not a leader that’s separating us”, he said. “That one mistake turned into multiple (mistakes) and we got down and couldn’t come back”. The Gators were one of the worst good teams in the recent history of college football. Florida (10-2) has a date with Alabama in the SEC championship game at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on Saturday.
Florida’s lone bright spots were running back Kelvin Taylor and a defense that allowed 158 yards through three quarters.
Take on the game: Our offense will step up in a big time game and our defense will shut down their run attack even without our defensive line starters.
The unit faded down the stretch, though.
“They’re going to be awesome next year”, fellow senior defensive lineman Nile Lawrence-Stample said.
“We were down here to win the football game”. It appears that bettors flocking to the FSU side are reacting to Florida’s lackluster overtime win over Florida Atlantic last week. The Gators entered the week 12th in the CFP rankings.
Even after the Gators lost to the Florida State Seminoles, head coach McElwain was still able to coach his team to 10 win in his first season with the team. Florida State began with a Dalvin Cook fumble (recovered by the ‘Noles), miscommunication between Sean Maguire and multiple recievers, a handful of FSU drops through the early third quarter, and some off-target throws.
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In the state of Florida, there are plenty of fish in the sea. Florida’s offense is a mess but its defense will create enough scoring opportunities through turnovers and field position for the Gators to get it done today. Just for good measure, Walker blocked Austin Hardin’s 37-yard attempt to keep UF off the scoreboard. They had just scored a safety for their first points of the game and, after a long kick return, seemed primed for a potential touchdown that would have made things awfully interesting down the stretch.
