Gators Set Tone Early on Defense and Never Let Up
Sunday, October 4, 2015 | Football, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Ole Miss offense stepped onto Florida Field on Saturday night as the most prolific in the Southeastern Conference.
The No. 3-ranked Rebels led the conference in points (54.8 per game) and yards (543.5) under the direction of quarterback Chad Kelly, the Clemson transfer who slid as easily into Hugh Freeze's offense as a slice of bread into a toaster.
That was before Kelly was introduced to Florida's in-your-face defense.
Kelly discovered what kind of night he was in for on the Rebels' opening drive when Gators linebacker Jarrad Davis sacked him for a 9-yard loss. On Ole Miss' second series, Bryan Cox Jr. plucked a fumble out of the air on a bad exchange between Kelly and running back Jaylen Walton.
Florida quarterback Will Grier hit tight end Jake McGee for a 2-yard touchdown pass four plays later and the rout was on in Florida's 38-10 victory.
The offense scored the points, but four times Saturday the UF defense forced a turnover to provide the Gators with a short field.
“Our defense played their tails off and they had a great plan,'' Florida head coach Jim McElwain said. “I thought the guys executed it and they communicated."
Besides Cox's fumble recovery that led to McGee's touchdown catch and a 13-0 lead less than nine minutes into the game, Florida added a pair of field goals and a touchdown run by Jordan Cronkrite in the fourth quarter on drives that started off Mississippi turnovers.
Safety Marcus Maye forced Kelly to fumble in the third quarter, which was recovered by Florida defensive lineman Alex McCalister. Jorge Powell made the first field goal of his career on the ensuing drive, which put the Gators up 28-3.
Later in the third quarter Kelly was picked off by Vernon Hargreaves, who returned the interception 36 yards to the Ole Miss 10-yard line. Four plays later Powell's 22-yard field goal made it 31-3. And on the Rebels' first play of the ensuing drive, McCalister sacked Kelly and forced a fumble that CeCe Jefferson scooped up and returned to the 1-yard line.
Cronkrite scored on the next play as Florida took a 38-3 lead while the announced crowd of 90,585 kept the party alive in The Swamp.
“Everybody was talking about their defense and just kind of pushing us to the side,'' Cox said. “We felt we had to come out and prove something.”
The Gators also forced Ole Miss to kick a field goal after the Rebels had first-and-goal at the 1 on their opening drive of the second half. Gary Wunderlich kicked a 22-yard field goal to cap a 19-play, 70-yard drive that used 9 minutes, 35 seconds off the game clock.
The Rebels were on the board but the Gators won the goal-line showdown.
“That was a big point in the game because that knocked the win out of their sails and let them know we run this,'' Davis said. “No matter where we are on the field, this is ours.”
The Gators pressured Kelly throughout the game and sacked him four times. Kelly finished 26 of 40 for a season-low 259 yards and an interception. His longest pass of the game was a 23-yarder to Derrick Jones.
Meanwhile, All-American receiver Laquon Treadwell was limited to five catches for 42 yards by a Florida secondary that was motivated to slow the Rebels' high-powered attack down.
Florida held the Rebels to 328 total yards, more than 200 below their season average. Ole Miss didn't find the end zone until Kelly hit Markell Pack for a 7-yard score on a screen pass with 4:04 left in the game.
Still, the score irked Davis.
“I wish we would've finished it off strong,'' Davis said. “As a defense, I feel we haven't played four quarters of football yet this season. But we took it personal this week. They came in here talking about how they're landsharks.
“They do this and that. We wanted to step up and show that we are a top-tier defense and somebody that can't be matched, especially at home.”
Ole Miss got the message. The Rebels faced five third downs of 10-plus yards and seven third downs of seven-plus yards. They converted just 5 of 14 third-down attempts.
“We just never got into a rhythm,'' Kelly said. “When a big play came our way, we didn't make the play.”
The Gators had 11 tackles-for-loss with senior linebacker Antonio Morrison leading the charge with 3.5 TFLs. Morrison also had a team-high 13 tackles.
Florida's defensive effort was a big turnaround from the Tennessee win the week before when the Gators allowed 419 yards and missed more than 25 tackles according to McElwain.
They emphasized tackling all week during practice knowing what offensive firepower they would face in the Rebels.
“We wrapped up and tried not to go for the big hits,'' senior defensive lineman Jon Bullard said. “Just wrap 'em up and get 'em down.”
Mission accomplished.
