Saturday, November 10, 2018 | Football, Chris Harry
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By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
THE QUICK SLANT
No. 15 FLORIDA 35, SOUTH CAROLINA 31
WHAT HAPPENED: Maligned UF quarterback Feleipe Franks scored on a 1-yard quarterback sneak with just over four minutes to play to cap a rip-roaring comeback by the 15th-ranked Gators, who stormed from 17 points down late in the third quarter to beat the Gamecocks and snap a two-game losing streak before a fired-up Spurrier/Florida Field crowd. Maybe more fired up, though, was Franks, who was resoundingly booed after UF's first possession (6 plays, 4 yards), as the Gators fell behind 14-0. Later, on each of his two rushing touchdowns, both greeted with rousing home-crowd cheers, Franks put a finger to his face mask, as if to say "Shhhhh" to his own fans. The third-year sophomore passed for 161 yards and a touchdown, while rushing for 36 yards and the two scores, but it was the Florida ground game that was the superior force in the afternoon and helped fuel the comeback. Both Jordan Scarlett and Lamical Perineeclipsed 100 yards, as the Gators amassed 367 yards on the ground on the way to 528 total yards on the day. South Carolina quarterback Jake Bentley completed 18 of 28 passes for 239 yards and a pair of touchdowns and worked his team to a 31-14 lead, but accounted for the Gamecocks' lone turnover when UF cornerback CJ Henderson came up with an interception (the Florida defense's first forced turnover in three games) on a third-and-11 throw with 3:21 remaining. From there, the Gators canceled out the Gamecocks' timeouts when Scarlett took off on a 29-yard run for the last first down needed to run out the clock.
Junior tailback Jordan Scarlett breaks loose during the first half on his way to a career-high
WHAT IT MEANS: What a comeback by the Gators, who easily could have rolled over, especially after their defense surrendered 241 first-half yards and allowed the Gamecocks to get to the locker room up 21-14. Somewhere on the sidelines, someone (coaches, players, likely both) kept the team together and willed it to one of the great rallies in the "Swamp" in recent memory. Florida secured third place in the Southeastern Conference East Division, behind champion Georgia and runner-up Kentucky, and further positioned itself for a decent bowl game. Seriously, how much better do fans feel about the program now versus just a day ago?
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Welcome back, Scarlett and Perine, who led a Florida rushing attack that -- a week after gaining just 113 yards in the loss to Missouri -- piled up those season-high 357 on 62 carries. Running the football is what the Gators do best. Some of UF opponents have taken it away by building leads (the Tigers led 35-10), but even in falling behind 14-0 after two South Carolina possessions, Florida got back into the game by feeding Scarlett (18 carries, 159 yards) and Perine (16 carries, 107 yards, 2 TDs) to go with some nice and clutch runs by Franks and special spectacular ones by all-purpose guy Kadarius Toney (4 carries, 53 yards).
STAGGERING STATISTIC: On its first eight drives, South Carolina gained 350 yards, scored 31 points and averaged more than seven yards per play. On their last three drives, when the Gators absolutely needed stops to have any chance to rally, the Gamecocks ran 14 plays for a measly 29 yards (just over two yards per play) and had their lone turnover.
UP NEXT: Florida (7-3) is done with SEC play and will be back in the "Swamp" for the 2018 home finale, a noon Senior Day sendoff against Idaho (4-5). The Vandals, out of the Big Sky Conference, take on Montana later Saturday.
