Florida Gators

COLUMBIA, S.C. — This one didn't follow the pattern of the abject collapses the previous two weeks. Not at all. The Florida football team put up a fight against South Carolina.

But if the Gators were going to break a four-game losing streak, they needed more from their offense than they got Saturday.

Quarterback Jake Bentley and Mon Denson each ran for a pair of touchdowns, A.J. Turner rushed for 136 yards, and the Gamecocks offense easily outgained its UF counterpart in total yards on the way to a 28-20 victory that hung a fifth straight loss on the Gators in their second outing since the exit of Coach Jim McElwain.

Florida (3-6, 3-5), now with just its second five-game losing streak since going 0-10-1 in 1979, was outgained in total yards 469 to 301 by South Carolina (7-3, 5-3), which came into the game ranked 114th among FBS programs in total offense -- behind even UF (111th) — and was averaging just 335.2 yards per game. When the Gamecocks weren't sabotaging themselves with turnovers, though, they went up and down the field, including 249 yards on the ground, despite coming in averaging just 114.6 rushing per game (also 114th nationally).

UF, meanwhile, managed just 74 yards rushing on 22 attempts, went 2-for-15 on third-down conversion tries, got crushed in time of possession by more than 11 minutes (35:41 to 24:19), and was flagged for 10 penalties.

But the Gators never gave up, for whatever that's worth at this point of a season teetering on lost.

"Is this up to the expectations of this program? No," UF interim coach Randy Shannon said afterward. " We wanted to win. There are no moral victories."

Sophomore linebacker David Reese, who last week challenged some of his teammates' effort in the aftermath of an ugly 42-16 loss at Missouri, echoed Shannon's remarks. That was not Florida football. Nor was the 42-7 debacle against Georgia the week before.

"We've been going through a lot of obstacles from the offseason until now," Reese said. "It's been a bumpy path. But we just have to step up and do what's right for the program and stuff like that. We've just got to be Gators."

Turner carried 22 times and averaged 6.2 per carry, but it was Bentley and Denson who finished off drives for South Carolina. Bentley scored on runs of 4 and 7 yards, while Denson took it in from 24 and 12 yards out.



Bentley's 7-yard dash with 2:08 left in the third quarter put South Carolina up 28-13 and was particularly demoralizing for the visitors, given the second-half play of the UF defense to that point. The Gators stopped the Gamecocks on a fourth-and-1 and also intercepted Bentley deep in UF territory the previous two possessions, but each time the Florida offense torpedoed any momentum with a three-and-outs. 

For the afternoon, Bentley hit 19 of his 29 throws for 249 yards, no touchdowns and was intercepted three times.

The Gamecocks got a 17-yard run by Bentley and 25-yard run by Turner to set up Bentley's scoring run and 15-point lead with just over a quarter left. That was still the score late in fourth when Florida quarterback Feleipe Franks, on in relief of injured starter Malik Zaire, bought enough time to heave — ala the Tennessee game earlier this season — a 63-yard completion to tight end Moral Stephens that reached the Gamecocks' 1. Running back Mark Thompson scored on the next play to make it a one-possession game with 3:43 left.

UF, thanks to its defense, got the ball back one more time, with 3:19 remaining, but Franks was intercepted on a ball tipped at the line that defensive back Jamyest Williams pulled in with 1:06 to go, icing the outcome and clinching a winning season for Gamecocks coach Will Muschamp in his second season.

Franks finished 10 of 25 for 174 yards and the one interception. Zaire was 7 of 14 for just 49 yards before suffering what appeared to be a leg injury.

With two games remaining (Saturday against UAB and Nov. 25 against Florida State, both at home), Franks is the team's only healthy scholarship quarterback. 

"My focus is just to continue to work, continue to get these guys going and make sure they keep a positive attitude," Franks said. "As long as the players and coaches have trust in me, it doesn't really matter what the whole outside world has for me. As long as the players trust in me and they think that I can get the job done and the coaches think that I can get the job done, then, what else do I have to worry about?"

Florida sophomore tailback Lamical Perine went off-tackle for an 18-yard touchdown late in the second quarter to draw the Gators within 21-13. The UF scoring drive, a 75-yard march in seven plays, followed a 7-play, 75-yarder by the Gamecocks that was capped by Denson's 12-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-1. Denson's score came after the Gators had closed what was a 14-0 USC lead to 14-6 after a pair of Eddy Pineiro field goals.

Both Bentley and Denson each rushed for touchdowns in the first quarter. The first Gamecocks' score came after the Gators opened the game with a three-and-out possession. Bentley took over and got a 27-yard run by Turner and 26-yard completion from Bentley to wide receiver Shi Smith down to the Florida 1. Two plays later, Bentley was flushed to his right, kept the ball and ran through a tackle of UF linebacker Vosean Joseph and into the end zone.

On South Carolina's third possession, the Gamecocks started from their 4, with Bentley throwing downfield and intercepted by cornerback C.J. Henderson at the 25. The true freshman returned the ball to the 1 -- and fumbled into the end zone. The ball was scooped up by Gamecocks running back Turner, who ran it back to 24 to cap one of Florida's strangest plays of the season.

"That was tough," Shannon said.

But kind of typical of how the 2017 Florida season has gone.

Given the second chance, the Gamecocks eventually were given a third when, after being forced to punt, UF return man Brandon Powell -- like he did on Missouri's first punt last week -- muffed the catch and USC recovered at the Florida 13. On first down, however, Bentley fired into the end zone, where Chauncey Gardner Jr. intercepted the ball and returned it to the Gators' 47.



Again, UF could not capitalize on the turnover and punted the ball away. Bentley hit OrTre Smith for 23 yards on third-and-8, Turner had a 17-yard run, and Denson broke through the line and went untouched for a 24-yard touchdown (with no Gators defender within 10 yards of him) at the 2:08 mark of opening period.

Though Florida's next possession also ended in a punt, the Gators got a break when Gamecocks return man Damani Staley elected not to field the kick, but the ball bounced and hit his foot. UF's Rayshad Jackson was there to recover at the USC 38, but the UF offense could do nothing more than settle for three points from Pineiro.

The Gators got the second Pineiro field goal after Thompson had a 31-yard run, followed by a 23-yarder by Zaire, who was injured on the play. Zaire was replaced on the next play by Franks, then returned the play after that, only to pull up and collapse to the turf on a running play. Pineiro's 37-yard field goal made the score 14-6.

South Carolina, though, extended the margin to 21-6 after a seven-play, 75-yard drive, capped by Denson's blast up the middle on fourth down. Along the way, Bentley hit Smith for 14 yards, Turner had a 13-yard run and Gators defensive lineman Cece Jefferson was flagged for a facemask penalty. On the next series, Franks hit Josh Hammond for a 37-yard gain to the USC 38, then Brandon Powell for a 17-yard gain on a fourth-and-7 play. Two snaps later, Perine scooted off the left side for the touchdown to make it 21-13 at intermission.

Two quarters later, the eight-point cushion remained, as the Gamecocks celebrated their seventh victory. They won sixth last year. That's progress.

Meanwhile, Florida's athletic director is searching for the team's next coach.

"I'm thinking about the now," junior offensive lineman Tyler Jordan said. "I'll worry about that when the time comes. We've still got games to play."

And a standard to rediscover.

"Our coach talked to us about what a Florida Gator is — having swag, having confidence, doing what's right and try to lead by example," Reese said. "We need to do those things and really implement those things in this program."