Razorbacks Thunder Through Gators From Start, 31-10

Saturday, November 5

Fayetteville, AR

3:30 pm

Florida Gators

Arkansas

It was that kind of day for Jim McElwain and the Gators, who did little on either side of the ball in losing at Arkansas. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)

Razorbacks Thunder Through Gators From Start, 31-10

Saturday, November 5, 2016 | Football, Chris Harry

Box Score Photo Galley by Tim Casey

UF still leads SEC East with South Carolina set to visit Swamp on Saturday..

By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Florida Gators ran into a wounded, hungry and angry bunch of Hogs on Saturday.

The Arkansas Razorbacks did a wire-to-wire number on 10th-ranked UF, stuffing the Gators' offense and zipping through their defense on the way to a 31-10 upset victory in their Southeastern Conference game in front of 74,432 at Reynolds Stadium.

Quarterback Austin Allen passed for 243 yards and a touchdown and tailback Rawleigh Williams carried 26 times for 148 yards and two scores, as the Razorbacks (6-3, 2-3) tallied 466 yards of offense against a UF defense that came in ranked No. 2 nationally in yards allowed per game (239.9).

"Once they got it rolling, it was hard to stop their momentum," Florida senior safety Marcus Maye said.

On the other side of the ball, the Gators managed just 241 yards of offense against the SEC's No. 12 defense — one that gave up 543 rushing yards in a 56-3 loss at Auburn two weeks ago and was allowing 221 per game — including just 14 rushing on 12 carries. Of Florida's first 10 drives, seven ended in punts, two with interceptions (the first returned for a TD) and one on downs to end the first half. The Gators were 1-for-11 on third down. It marked the third time in Coach Jim McElwain's two seasons the offense failed to score a touchdown.

"First and foremost for the guys who made the trip down here, I apologize you had to sit through that," McElwain said. "I feel horrible for Gator Nation and the way everything kind of played out."

The final outcome cut deeply into the margin of error for the Gators (6-2, 4-2) as far as their standing in the SEC East race. With a win over Arkansas, the Gators could have clinched the division with a victory at home against South Carolina next week. They still can if Kentucky (5-4, 4-3), which lost on a last-minute field goal to Georgia on Saturday, defeats Tennessee. However, if the Volunteers beat Kentucky, Florida would need to win at LSU on Nov. 19.

A loss in either could very well take control of divisional fate out of Florida's hands.

"We lost the game," Gators quarterback Luke Del Rio said. "We all know what it means."

They didn't just lose the game, they lost players; some of their best ones. By the end of the game, linebackers Jarrad Davis (ankle) and Alex Anzalone (arm), center Cam Dillard (knee), receiver/kicker returner Chris Thompson (concussion) and wideout Tyrie Cleveland (knee) had all been knocked from the game with injuries; a couple possibly for a significant amount of time.

And it all began unraveling from the outset.

On Florida's first play from scrimmage, Del Rio threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown to instantly fall behind on the road against a proud and capable opponent looking to bounce back from an embarrassing defeat.

"To come out of that [Auburn] game and realize we couldn't stop the run, I just said, `I don't care what we do, we're going to stop the run on defense,' " Arkansas coach Bret Bielema said. "I don't care if we played with 11 guys or had to play with 12. I'll take the penalty; we ain't going to have someone run the ball on us."

Or pass it, as it turned out.

Del Rio finished 19 of 37 for 229 yards (85 on the final drive of the game), two interceptions and no touchdowns. The Gators' leading rusher was Mark Thompson, who had three carries for 19 yards.

Eddy Pineiro's 49-yard field goal with 6:41 left represented the lone scoreboard contribution for the UF offense. His kick came after Del Rio, working out of the hurry-up, moved his unit 68 yards (by far, the longest drive of the day) in 13 plays before things stalled at the Hogs 32. McElwain, knowing his team needed three scores to tie, opted for the three points.

The ensuing onside kick was recovered by the Razorbacks. Three plays (and two UF timeouts) later, Williams blasted through the Florida defense for a 41-yard touchdown run with 5:40 left. That breakaway helped Arkansas finish with 223 yards rushing on 49 attempts, good for nearly five yards a pop. UF was allowing just 105.6 yards on the ground per game and 3.0 per carry.

"We let the game get away from us. It was frustrating," defensive tackle Caleb Brantley said. "We call ourselves the best defense in the nation, so we feel like this was our fault."

There was plenty of blame to go around.

Del Rio's first pass of the game, intended for Cleveland, was broken up by linebacker Josh Harris. The ball stayed airborne and was intercepted by safety Santos Ramirez, who went 24 yards for the touchdown to put the Hogs in front 7-0 at the 12:20 mark.

"Probably should've come off [the receiver]," Del Rio said of his read and throw. "Yeah, that's on me."

34832 — Quarterback Luke Del Rio had a forgettable performance against Arkansas on Saturday in Florida's 24-7 loss. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)

On the Hogs' second possession, a punt pinned them at their own 9. No matter. Arkansas easily drove for a 91-yard touchdown, with running back DeWah Whaley picking up 16 on a run, then 43 on a screen pass and Williams finishing off the march with a 6-yard run up the middle of the UF defense, carrying Gators into the end zone with him to go up by two touchdowns with 5:56 left in the first period.

Quickly, it was 14-0.

Something finally went the Gators' way when nickelback Duke Dawson, who was terrific last week against Georgia, intercepted Allen and returned the play 37 yards for a touchdown, cutting the home team's lead to 14-7. Dawson shadowed tight end Jeremy Sprinkle into the right flat, gave Allen the look of just enough space to try to stick the pass in, then pounced for the pick and went untouched for the score with 2:44 left in the first quarter.

The play gave life to the UF sideline, but the Gators failed to build on that energy.

Florida had a decent chance to tie the game midway through the second period, moving to a first down at the Hogs 38. On first down, Del Rio dropped and fired deep down the middle of the field for Antonio Callaway. The ball was thrown into double coverage and well short, with safety Josh Liddell intercepting the ball.

The Razorbacks started their final possession of the first half at their 13, got out of the hole with plays of 12, 15 and 31 yards, were helped by second pass interference penalty of the game, then finished the march on the Allen-to-Drew Morgan score with only 16 seconds on the clock to go up 21-7.

That's how the scoreboard stood until Adam McFain kicked a 36-yard field with 9:14 to play, giving the Razorbacks a 24-7 lead. For a UF offense that couldn't score more than once (and a field goal, at that), a three-score lead was way, way too much.

"This was going to be a serious test for us and we knew that," offensive tackle David Sharpe said. "We let it slip away."