Florida Gators

THE QUICK SLANT
No. 9 FLORIDA 38, OPPONENT 27  

WHAT HAPPENED: Three of Kyle Trask's four touchdown passes came in the fourth quarter, as the Gators erased a three-point deficit on the road and in the rain Saturday and ran away from the Gamecocks late for a big Southeastern Conference East Division win in Columbia, S.C. The Gators trailed 20-17 after Parker White's 31-yard field goal with 3:13 remaining in the third period. From there, Trask threw touchdown passes of 25 yards to wide receiver Freddie Swain (after a huge fourth-down conversion along the way), five yards to tight end Kyle Pitts after the UF defense forced a fumble, and then five yards to wideout Trevon Grimes, the latter with 4:02 remaining to cap 21 unanswered points and put the Gators in command. South Carolina managed a Ryan Hilinski-to-OrTre Smith scoring pass of four yards with 1:53 to go, but Grimes covered up the ensuing onsides kick attempt and UF finished things off. Trask got off to a slow start, but finished his day 21 of 33 for 200 yards, the four TDs (including a 37-yarder to redshirt freshman Jacob Copeland in the first half) and one interception. Sophomore tailback Dameon Pierce had a 75-yard touchdown run on the first snap after South Carolina took a 17-10 lead on a 20-yard scoring run by Tavien Feaster early in the third quarter, a play that kept things settled on the UF sidelines. Florida finished with 354 total yards, while South Carolina tallied 387, including 217 on the ground. Hilinski, a week after being knocked from his team's mega-road upset of Georgia with a knee injury, completed 17 of 35 for 170 yards and one touchdown, while Feaster had a monster afternoon of 25 carries for 175 yards and one TD. 
WHAT IT MEANS: The Gators' fourth win in five SEC games was significant because it was a East Division win, and it kept UF alone in second place in the league standings, behind 22nd-ranked Missouri, which took a 2-0 league record into its afternoon game at Vanderbilt. It was also a road win, which are never easy in this league. Give the Gators credit for staying the course amid difficult circumstances (venue and weather) and ultimately making the plays to win for the 11th time in their previous 12 games. 

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Pierce did not play last week at LSU because of a concussion suffered the week before in the win over Auburn. The timing of his 75-yard touchdown run was perfect because it wiped out whatever momentum the Gamecocks had seized after intercepting Trask and scoring a go-ahead TD to start the second half, plus put the home crowd back in their seats. Pierce finished with seven carries for 87 yards and helped the Gators' very average running game total 157 yards on a very damp day. His big run, though seemed to loosen the South Carolina defense up and helped Florida play offense with more balance. 

STAGGERING STATISTIC: Last year, the Gamecocks led the Gators 31-17 to start the fourth quarter in Gainesville. Florida won 35-31. This year, the Gators trailed 20-17 to start the final period and won 38-27. So make that Dan Mullen 35, Will Muschamp 7 in fourth quarters of their meetings the last two seasons. That's also six wins under Mullen when the Gators have entered the fourth quarter trailing. 

UP NEXT: Florida (7-1, 4-1) has its second of three open dates next weekend, setting the stage for yet another marquee showdown Nov. 2 against rival and 10th-ranked Georgia (5-1, 2-1) in Jacksonville, a game that will carry major SEC East ramifications. The Bulldogs are home later Saturday against Kentucky, as they try to bounce back following last week's home upset loss to South Carolina, which fell to 3-4 overall, 2-3 in SEC play.