Florida Gators

THE QUICK SLANT
FLORIDA 24, MISSOURI 17  

WHAT HAPPENED: Redshirt sophomore cornerback Jaydon Hill intercepted two passes, returning one for a score, and his defensive mates (after a tough afternoon at times) bowed up for a late-game stop to seal the outcome and allow the Gators to come away with their first Southeastern Conference victory under Coach Billy Napier in Saturday's homecoming game at Spurrier/Florida Field. Sophomore tailback Montrell Johnson Jr. rushed for a third-quarter score as part of second-half UF ground game assault of 212 yards. Sophomore Anthony Richardson and junior Ricky Pearsall paired for a 9-yard scoring toss with 11:10 to play in what proved to be the decisive score on a day the Gators passed for just 66 yards against a Mizzou defense that threw a nasty scare at No. 1 Georgia a week earlier. A 37-yard field goal by Adam Mihalek in the first quarter and Hill's 49-yard pick-six had Florida up 10 early in the second quarter, but the Gators were unable to muster anything on offense (and missed a pair of long field goals) in finishing with just 66 yards on 18 first-half plays. With Florida flailing, the Tigers were able to erase the 10-0 deficit and tie the game at the break on a 5-yard scoring run from Cody Schrader and 28-yard field goal by Harrison Mevis 20 seconds before halftime. An 82-yard UF drive ended with Johnson's 3-yard score at the 6:55 mark of the third and after Hill intercepted Mizzou's Brady Cook (22 of 30, 220 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT) inside the UF 5, the Gators responded with a nine-play, 91-yard drive capped by Richardson's on-the-move dart to Pearsall in the back of the end zone. Back came the Tigers, though, converting on third-and-22 and third-and-15 on the way to an 18-yard touchdown run by Nathaniel Peat that drew the visitors within seven with six minutes to go. After Richardson's tip-ball interception with 2:57 left, Mizzou reached the UF 48, but Cook's fourth-down slant (under pressure from linebacker Ventrell Miller) for wideout Tauskie Dove fell incomplete with 1:17 to go. Florida was out-gained in total yards 370-297 and gave up nine of 17 third-down situations, yet still managed to come away with the victory.  
  WHAT IT MEANS: A first win in SEC play for the Gators (against the still-winless Tigers), who climbed out of the East Division cellar and inched their way up to a momentary spot in fourth place with five conference games to go. It was also Florida's first SEC win since beating Vanderbilt 42-0 on Oct. 9, 2021, breaking a run of six straight defeats. 

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Hill would be the obvious choice, right? The guy missed all last season with a knee injury, suffered another knee injury in the offseason and made his UF debut just last week, announcing himself with seven tackles and two interceptions in his two games. But the Gators, with all their problems on third down, don't win Saturday without the inspired play from Miller, the sixth-year senior who's battled injuries of his own this season. Miller finished with 11 tackles, 10 of them solos and two of them for loss, and had the QB pressure on Missouri's final play that helped clinched the win. 

STAGGERING STATISTIC: The 66 first-half yards for the Gators marked the team's fewest in a half since gaining just 61 against Missouri in the 2014 homecoming meeting at the "Swamp." UF lost that one 42-13, despite eventually out-gaining the Tigers 283-119 in yards from scrimmage.  

UP NEXT: Florida (4-2, 1-2) will be home again, for the fifth time in the first six games of the season, to face No. 25 LSU (4-2, 2-1), which was manhandled at home by No. 8 Tennessee 40-13 in another league noon game Saturday. The Gators have lost three straight in their series against the Tigers.