The 19th ranked Florida Gators (4-1, 2-0 SEC) went on the road for the first time in SEC play when they traveled to the Bluegrass state to take on the Kentucky Wildcats (1-3, 0-1 SEC). Florida came into Lexington debuting redshirt junior quarterback Tyler Murphy who would be assuming the role from former starter Jeff Driskel. The Gators also lost standout defensive lineman Dominique Easley to injury early in the week.
After scoring first, the Wildcats tied the game up on a trick play. It was all Florida from there on out though.
FIRST QUARTER
FLORIDA 7, KENTUCKY 0: Florida came out and ran an opening drive that went 93 yards in 7:47 to strike first on the scoreboard. Offensive coordinator Brent Pease was able to ease new quarterback Tyler Murphy into the game with three of four passes going to wide open receivers in the flat. He had a nice completion to Trey Burton who found a hole in the zone to extend a play on a third down and Pease also threw in two option plays to maximize Murphy’s skill set. When Florida reached paydirt it was running back Matt Jones who plunged it in from two yards out with 7:02 left in the first quarter.
KENTUCKY 7, FLORIDA 7: Kentucky came out with an up tempo offense that initially had Florida on its heals at the beginning, but the Gators dug in as the drive neared the red zone. When the drive stalled at the UF 25, Kentucky lined up to kick a field goal and caught Florida flat-footed with a fake. Kicker Joe Mansour received the overhead pitch from his kneeling holder, scampering 25 yards to tie the game up with 1:54 left in the first.
SECOND QUARTER
FLORIDA 14, KENTUCKY 7: For the second week in a row a Florida player impeded his teammate from getting into the end zone when Jones almost broke a 79-yard scoring run only to be tripped up by receiver Quinton Dunbar, who was trying to cut behind Jones for a block. Two plays later Murphy found a wide open Trey Burton in the back of the end zone for a nine-yard score with 9:40 left in the half.
FLORIDA 21, KENTUCKY 7: A six play 62-yard drive came to a completion when Murphy rushed off tackle for a five-yard touchdown. The drive saw Murphy throw three passes, all completions to receiver Trey Burton with 2:53 left in the first half.
HALFTIME SCORE: FLORIDA 21, KENTUCKY 7
HALFTIME SUPERLATIVES:
Matt Jones: 10 rushes, 94 yards, 1 TD.
Trey Burton: 6 catches, 66 yards, 1 TD.
Tyler Murphy: 11-11 passing, 120 yards, 1 TD.
FOURTH QUARTER
FLORIDA 24, KENTUCKY 7: This drive was one run after another as the Gators played their “park the bus” style the entire second half to protect the lead. For their final three points, the Gators drove 64 yards, attempting just one pass, an incompletion to Trey Burton. The only reason the Gators threw the ball was because Jones was tackled in the back field for a two-yard loss on first down, forcing the Gators into an obvious passing situation. Following the incompletion, the Gators went conservative with a running play then settled for a 33-yard field goal by Austin Hardin with 7:14 to go in the game.
FINAL SCORE: FLORIDA 24, KENTUCKY 7.
FINAL GAME SUPERLATIVES
Matt Jones: 28 rushes, 176 yards, 1 TD.
Trey Burton: 6 catches, 66 yards, 1 TD.
Tyler Murphy: 15-18 passing, 156 yards, 1 TD; 36 yards rushing, 1 TD.
Does anybody know the “offical” rule for fake field goals and the actions of the holder. I know the knee being down is excluded when snapped, but the holder in this instance also grounded the ball before flipping overhead to kicker…just wondering if anybody knows.