Florida Gators

THE QUICK SLANT
No. 10 FLORIDA 24, No. 7 AUBURN 13   

WHAT HAPPENED: Senior tailback Lamical Perine broke off an 88-yard touchdown run with just over nine minutes to play Saturday that ignited a seismic celebration at sold-out Spurrier/Florida Field and helped the No. 10 Gators finish off the seventh-ranked Tigers amid the hysteria of 90,000-plus who witnessed a Southeastern Conference victory with national implications. Fourth-year Florida junior quarterback Kyle Trask passed for a couple first-half touchdowns, but also was responsible for three of UF's four turnovers, the collection of which allowed Auburn to stick around. The Florida defense, however, was not so accommodating in holding the Tigers and their lethal rushing attack to just 269 yards of total offense. The Gators harassed quarterback Bo Nix most of the day, especially in the second half when the true freshman fell victim to the infamous noise inside a packed "Swamp." Trailing just 17-13, Nix was intercepted in the end zone by safety Donovan Stiner on a third-and-7 from the UF 10 late in the third quarter. With inside 10 minutes to go in the game, and the score the same, Nix faced a third-and-8 from the UF 36. Under pressure, Nix tried to escape the Florida pass rush by running backward, only to fall down for a 22-yard loss. Auburn punted the next play, pinning Florida at its 12. The next snap was Perine's 88-yarder and delirium for the home team. Trask, who left the game in the second quarter with a knee injury but returned two series later, finished 19 of 31 for 234 yards with TD passes of 64 yards to Freddie Swain on the second play of the game and 13 to Josh Hammond in second quarter, leading the offense to 398 total yards. Perine carried 14 times for 130 yards, while Swain caught six passes for a career-high 146 yards. Nix's day looked like this: 11 of 27, 145 yards, one TD, three interceptions. Auburn's lone touchdown actually came after UF coach Dan Mullen gambled with a fake punt in his own territory that did not work. Other than that, the Tigers managed very little offensive success on the road. 
 
WHAT IT MEANS: UF is unbeaten six games into a season for the first time since 2015 and now with a five-star victory on the résumé should start being mentioned in the national-championship conversation; certainly at least for another week as things are about to get even tougher (read on). The Gators took full advantage of the best "Swamp" atmosphere in years, but now have to take their level of play to another level (and far more mistake-free one), given what awaits them away from Gainesville in the coming weeks. In the interim, though, enjoy a magnificent win that marked just the second defeat of Auburn in the last six meetings, dating to the 2001 season. 

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Before taking the handoff and going the distance, Perine had just 33 yards on eight carries for the game. For the season, he had averaged just 3.6 yards per carry to that point. He upped that number at a very opportune time. The run was the longest by a Gator since Emmitt Smith, who was in the house Saturday, went 96 yards against Mississippi State on Sept. 24, 1988. UF, which came into the game 11th in the SEC in rushing, actually outgained Auburn for yards on the ground 132-124. 

STAGGERING STATISTIC: Auburn came into the game with a rushing attack ranked third in the SEC and 14th nationally at 251.2 yards per game. The Tigers managed just 109 yards on 33 attempts, allowing the Florida defense to put Nix in difficult down-and-distance situations, send pressure his way and make him deal with the crowd noise.

UP NEXT: Not only does it get no easier for Florida (6-0, 3-0), it actually gets harder, with a road date at LSU (5-0, 1-0) next week. The Tigers began the day ranked fourth and took care of their non-conference business by clobbering Utah State 42-6 at home. For UF, the trip to Baton Rouge, La., will be the program's first since 2016 after Hurricane Matthew turned the schedule upside and gave the Gators consecutive home games in the series in '17 and '18.