Cornerbacks Jalen Tabor and Quincy Wilson return interceptions for touchdowns in first half of UF's defeat of Missouri.
By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — If Florida was going to get back into the Southeastern Conference race, the Gators were going to need some help. And some wins.
My, how the tables have turned in the SEC East Division.
The UF defense set the tone against Missouri on Saturday, getting interception returns for touchdowns from star cornerbacks Jalen Tabor and Quincy Wilson on back-to-back possessions to ignite an eventual 40-14 victory before 88,825 at Steve Spurrier-Florida Field. Meanwhile, up in Knoxville, top-ranked Alabama smashed Tennessee 49-10, handing the Volunteers a second straight defeat and jetting the Gators (5-1, 3-1) into sole possession of first place in the division by a game.
"We're number one in the East again and control our destiny," Tabor said. "That's how we wanted it."
The final statistics will be somewhat skewed, due to some oh-by-the-way late yardage from the Tigers (2-4, 0-3), but make no mistake: the UF defense set the table for this win by turning Missouri's offense away on three-and-outs on its first six possessions. By the time the Tigers registered their first first down — with 2:52 left in the first half — the Gators led 20-0 behind those touchdown returns from Tabor and Wilson, plus a pair of field goals from Eddy Pineiro.
"It starts with defense," UF coach Jim McElwain said. "To see how the team was feeding off everything on the sidelines was just outstanding."
UF coach Jim McElwain congratulates kicker Eddy Pineiro (15) after one of his two field goals in the first half.
Fourth-year junior quarterback Luke Del Rio, out the last two games with a sprained left knee, was back under center in replacing Austin Appleby. Del Rio appeared rusty in hitting just 18 of 38 passes for 236 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. He got help, though, from the UF defense, but also from a rushing attack that produced a season-high 287 yards, including 106 from true freshman Lamical Perine and 101 and a score from sophomore Jordan Scarlett.
That's good production from the backfield, but the guy doing the handing off -- despite 523 total yards of offense -- turned a finger at himself because of his miscues.
"Three picks," Del Rio said. "That's awful. You'll lose a lot of those games. Thankfully, we have a great defense."
If Del Rio's numbers looked shaky, consider what happened to Missouri's Drew Lock, who started the day ranked first in the league in passing at 336.5 yards per game. Lock went 4-for-18 for just 39 yards and his only touchdowns were to Florida defensive backs.
UF's pair of pick-six scores came on consecutive possessions in the second quarter, with the Gators clinging to a 6-0 edge after five offensive possessions that reached Mizzou territory produced just six points.
Tabor and Wilson soon made up for those shortcomings.
For Tabor, it was his second interception runback against the Tigers in as many seasons. It came with 3:25 left in the first half and one play after Del Rio was intercepted. Instead of Mizzou making a move late in the half, the Gators padded their lead when Tabor stepped in front of running back Damarea Crockett and raced untouched to the end zone with Lock's fifth interception of the season.
On the ensuing possession, the Tigers were on the move. After failing to record a first down the first six times they had the ball, the Tigers worked for three straight and faced a third-and-7 at the UF 32 when Wilson stepped in front of Lock's sideline pass for tight end Sean Culkin and raced 78 yards for the score and 20-0 lead with 1:14 to go before intermission.
"Florida took away the the passing game in every area," Mizzou coach Barry Odom said. "If we can't pass, we need to make adjustments in order to get first downs."
By the time the Tigers did that -- gaining 160 yards on their last two possessions -- the Gators had emptied their bench. That made for quite the end to a homecoming date that began with a motivational pregame chat from iconic former player/coach/field namesake Steve Spurrier.
"Coach Spurrier talked about how one guy can affect the whole team," Tabor said. "I just wanted to be that guy today and I feel like any time you get a defensive score or a non-offensive score, it's a momentum shift for the whole team."
It was. And it was needed.
Pineiro kicked field goals of 53 and 24 yards to give UF its 6-0 lead, though he also missed a 32-yarder on Florida's first series. His makes came on a couple second-quarter drives, including one when the Gators had a first-and-goal at the 5, but a false start (one of eight on the day) and three unproductive plays put the field-goal unit on the field, instead.
Del Rio's first-half struggles, as in two interceptions and several underthrown balls, carried over into the second half when he threw a quick third pick on the second play of the third quarter to set up Mizzou for its first score. The Tigers turned the turnover into a four-play, 46-yard drive, capped when 6-foot-4, 355-pound defensive tackle Josh Augusta dove into the pile for a 1-yard touchdown run that put Mizzou on the board.
Cornerback Jalen Tabor races down the Mizzou sidelines with his 39-yard interception return for a touchdown in the second quarter.
The Gators helped cancel that score out when Del Rio hit true freshman wideout Tyrie Cleveland (3 catches, 79 yards) on a wide-open crossing route that Cleveland easily took in for his first career touchdown with 3:47 left in the period.
A 33-yard Scarlett scoring scamper came early in the fourth period after the Gators recovered a fumble by Lock. That made the score 33-7.
Missouri scored again midway through the fourth on a 99-yard drive — its offense totaled 160 of its 363 yards in the final period, with all those 160 after linebacker and leading tackler Jarrad Davis left the game with a left leg injury — that closed the gap to 33-14. The Tigers' ensuing onsides kick was taken cleanly on the left flank by UF's Antonio Callaway, who zipped untouched 44 yards for the touchdown.
That made three TDs by units other than the offense.
"They got some cheap yards at the end, but that's OK," McElwain said. "We were able to play a ton of guys from our scout team. To be able to put them in a game, in a place like the 'Swamp,' that just puts a smile on my face."
Put the Gators back atop the SEC East, too. Also worth smiling about.
