GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida defense was awfully generous at times Saturday. Key times, actually. Missouri exactly didn't go up and down the field, but three conversations on third-and-at-least-15-to-go in the fourth quarter alone had the Spurrier/Florida Field homecoming crowd on either their heels or the edge of the bleacher seats. 

With UF clinging to a 24-17 lead and facing fourth down at his own 48, Tigers quarterback Brady Cook dropped and instantly felt the heat from blitzing linebacker Ventrell Miller. This time, Cook's fourth-and-14 attempt — a left-to-right slant for wideout Tauskie Dove — was at the intended receiver's shoe laces and the Gators claimed both a second consecutive win and first Southeastern Conference victory under Coach Billy Napier. 

"The intangibles that we've developed with this group of players, I'm proud of that," Napier said of a triumph that was truly a grind, like most UF-Mizzou contests have been since the Tigers joined the league in 2012. "They continued to respond and play through the ups and downs of the game."

Sophomore quarterback Anthony Richardson was just 8-for-14 passing, was intercepted twice and finished with only 66 aerial yards, his fewest in seven career starts. But Richardson's 9-yard, rolling-right touchdown toss to junior Ricky Pearsall with just over 11 minutes to go gave the Gators (4-2, 1-2) a two-score lead and proved the difference in the final margin. Sophomore tailback Montrell Johnson Jr. rushed eight times for 86 yards and a second-half score, part of a 231-yard ground onslaught for the home team after being held to just 66 total yards of total offense in the first half. 

"I feel like I played decent first half," Richardson said. "There wasn't really anything spectacular happening with the offense. We were moving the ball well, but couldn't capitalize on drives, couldn't finish, so I kind of took the burden on that. I felt like coming into the second half we had to switch up the energy and we did that." Redshirt sophomore defensive back Jaydon Hill, who missed the 2021 season with a knee injury, and made his season debut just a week ago in the win over Eastern Washington, had a pair of interceptions. The first he took back 49 yards for a touchdown early in the second quarter. The second came inside the UF 5-yard line in the third quarter to stave off what looked like sure-fire points for Missouri (2-4, 0-3). Miller, the sixth-year senior and soul of the defense, finished with 11 tackles, including 10 solo, plus was credited with the game-icing QB pressure. 

It was as hard-fought as it was rewarding. 

"It was homecoming and the fans came out and did their job," Miller said. "There was energy in the stadium. It was electric and it feels good to have that first SEC win. We are trying to keep stacking them on each other."

Cook, who last week nearly fashioned an upset of No. 1 Georgia, completed 22 of 30 passes for 220 yards, but had the two Hill interceptions, and was sacked four times. Tailback Nathaniel Peat carried 20 times for 117 yards, with an 18-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to cut a 14-point UF lead in half with six minutes left and set up the game's dicey ending. 

The Tigers out-gained the Gators in total offense 370 to 297, but fell a defensive TD short. 

"You give up an interception for a touchdown and you have what would have been three points and you take it off the board and that went to a touchdown drive," Missouri coach Eliah Drinkwitz said. "It can't happen."

The first three possessions of the game ended with punts, but that third punt was taken back 48 yards by UF's Xzavier Henderson — the program's longest punt return since 2020 — to the Missouri 24. The Gators, though, went three and out, leaving Adam Mihalek to salvage the opportunity with a 37-yard field goal and 3-0 lead with just inside three minutes to go in the first period.

The Florida defense made it 10-0 on the next possession when Hill had an easy read on a Cook pass intended for wideout Mookie Cooper. Hill stepped in front of the play and and went untouched 49 yards for the pick-six with 1:01 to go in the opening quarter. 

What did Hill see when he caught the ball?

"Green grass," he said. "It was over." The play, yes. The game, far from it. The Gators had a chance to stretch the lead midway into the second, but a promising drive and first down at the Tigers' 33 only netted a 50-yard field-goal attempt by Mihalek. It was wide left. Cook and company took over at their 33 and moved 67 yards in 11 plays, converting a pair of third-and-shorts along the way, and also getting a 28-yard run up the gut of the UF defense from Peat. Tailback Cody Schrader's 5-yard touchdown run made it 10-7 with 3:55 to go before halftime. 

UF's next possession ended when Richardson was sacked for a 3-yard loss. As he was going down, Richardson tried to get rid of the ball, which squirted loose and was covered up by linebacker Dameon Wilson at the Florida 33. Richardson's arm appeared to be going forward, but the call on the field was confirmed by replay, with the Tigers taking over with 2:57 to go before halftime. 

Mizzou got to the Florida 9, but had to settle for a 28-yard field goal by Harrison Levis with 20 seconds to go, sending the teams to the locker room locked at 10.

The Gators went there with a mere 66 yards of offense on 18 plays through the first 30 minutes. 

"Very few opportunities," Napier said. 

They nearly matched that yardage total on the first drive of the third quarter, thanks to a 41-yard run by Johnson, but the drive faltered at the Missouri 30 and led to nothing, as Mihalek missed his second straight field goal wide left, this one from 47 yards. 

Florida's second possession was more of the same, but finished in the end zone. A 39-yard run by Trevor Etienne and 32-yard dash by Richardson on fourth-and-2 to the Missouri 3 set up Johnson's short scoring run and 17-10 advantage. 

And when the Tigers were on the verge of tying of the game — with a first down at the UF 20 — it was Hill again snuffing out an interception, this one on third down. He made the play at the Gators' 4. Hill's second interception set in motion a 9-play, 91-yard, aided by a face-mask penalty and featuring runs of 32 yards by Johnson, 36 by Etienne and capped by a rolling-right, 9-yard TD dart from Richardson to Pearsall in the back-right corner of the end zone. The play pushed the Gators ahead 24-10 with 11:10 to go. 

"I think that [their] defense got worn out in the second half," Johnson said. "That's why everything started to pop as it did."

Just over five minutes later, the 14-point lead was cut in half. The Tigers did some popping of their own, going 75 yards in nine plays, converting both a third-and-17 and then a third-and-15 three plays later, with Peat scoring on an 18-yard touchdown run to make it 24-17 with 5:58 left. 

"It's hard to say right now," said Miller of the long third-down breakdowns. "We are going back to the film room tonight and tomorrow, so we will see what happened there."

It was up to Richardson and friends to run out the clock. 

The Gators, with back-to-back runs of 16 yards by Etienne, got the ball in Tigers' territory, but a negative play and false start penalty set up a third-and-14. Richardson's pass for Pearsall down the middle was high. It skimmed off Pearsall's fingertips and landed in the arms of safety Daylan Carnell for Richardson's second turnover of the game, this one with 2:57 to go. 

This time, it was up to Miller, Hill and the Florida defense to close it out. They came through with 1:17 to go. 

"We're supposed to beat Missouri," Hill said. 

Especially at home. Especially on homecoming. 

"It was a team win," Napier said. "It wasn't necessarily the best of any of the three phases of the game, but we did just enough."

And that counts.