Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In a 24-point win that had fans barking at defensive coordinator Todd Grantham on social media – and Gators head coach Dan Mullen doing the same on the sideline – UF's defense turned in its best outing of the season statistically.

In Saturday's victory over Kentucky, the Gators limited the Wildcats to 221 yards and 10 points, both season-best performances.

Meanwhile, in the perception-is-not-always-reality department, Mullen and offensive coordinator Brian Johnson both pointed the finger at the offense as the unit that needs to improve heading into Saturday's game at Tennessee. The sixth-ranked Gators (7-1) travel to Neyland Stadium with an opportunity to clinch the program's first Southeastern Conference East Division title since 2016 with a victory over the Vols (2-5).

"I don't think we were very efficient offensively last week,'' Mullen said Monday. "We didn't hit any of our goals offensively going into the game, so I don't think we played very well there."

Mullen was in no mood to run down a laundry list of what ailed the Gators in their 34-10 win over the Wildcats, but a glance at the game book offers ample details. For instance, Florida's 418 yards snapped a four-game streak of 500-plus-yard performances for the Gators. The Gators managed only 21 first downs, their second-lowest total of the season. They converted only three of nine on third down and for the first time since a loss at Texas A&M, Florida held the ball less time than its opponent.

Was it a disaster? Far from it. Quarterback Kyle Trask threw for 256 yards and three touchdowns and tight end Kyle Pitts, in his first game since suffering a concussion and facial injury in the victory over Georgia, had five catches for 99 yards and three scores.

Still, after scoring 35 or more points in a school-record nine consecutive games, falling a point short of extending the streak and not executing at the preferred rate caused Mullen and Johnson to fret while reviewing film of Florida's fifth consecutive victory.

"Sometimes you can have a game with 34 points and you played really, really well,'' Johnson said after practice Monday night. "It's whatever the circumstance is based on: the number of possessions, the flow of the game you're playing. That was a game where we scored 34, but we did not play well and we didn't play clean. We left eight points in red-zone possessions. Fourteen points by turning the ball over.

"So, it just was not a complete effort. We obviously didn't play to the best of our abilities."



The Gators trailed 10-7 on Saturday until punt returner Kadarius Toney turned the momentum with a 50-yard return for a touchdown 42 seconds before halftime. Both teams had 175 yards of offense in the first half. The Gators added 243 in the second half, the Wildcats, 46.

The Trask-Pitts connection provided an early offensive highlight when they combined for a 56-yard touchdown on Florida's sixth offensive snap of the game. A fake punt on fourth-and-2 from UF's 25 kept the drive alive when running back Dameon Pierce took the snap and picked up 15 yards.

Kentucky controlled much of the game offensively in the first half, at one point running 37 plays to Florida's 15. In the second half, Trask and Pitts connected twice more on scoring plays and the defense did the rest, forcing three turnovers.

The return of Pitts was more than enough against the Wildcats for the Gators to stumble on their clear path to Atlanta and the SEC Championship Game.

"I mean, he can just make so many explosive plays,'' Johnson said. "He makes very difficult plays look routine. More often than not he's going to win his matchup."

Trask finished 21 of 27 to keep his Heisman Trophy bid alive and well. But like his primary offensive mentors, Trask is looking for more production at Tennessee. He gave the Wildcats, who entered as the top pass defense in the SEC, credit for slowing down Florida's high-powered attack.

"First of all, I think Kentucky did a great job of trying to keep our explosive plays to a minimum and I think they had a great game plan,'' Trask said. "They did a great job executing their game plan, in the first half especially, kind of keeping the ball out of our hands and trying to run down the clock. But at the same time, we've just got to overcome those things and be more efficient as an offense, putting the maximum amount of points that we can up while we have the ball in our hands."

That is always the goal for Mullen. That is why missed opportunities Saturday still stung 48 hours later.

"He has an unbelievably high standard for himself, but you surround yourself with highly motivated people that want to be great at what they do,'' Johnson said. "That's the beauty of the game is you get a bunch of guys pulling in the same direction toward a common goal. The key is just understanding what the standard is and playing to your standard, playing to the best of your ability each and every play, and we didn't do that this past Saturday."

The message at Monday's team meeting: play better mentally and physically at Tennessee. If the Gators do that and win, they are SEC East champions.

"It's a great opportunity for us that way,'' Mullen said. "The biggest emphasis on us is finding ways that we've got to improve as a team. That's the biggest emphasis. It's a long season, it's a tough season to make sure we have the mental toughness and the physical toughness to continue to play at a high level, to continue to do the things you need to win."