Florida defeated Mississippi State 45-28 behind 503 yards of total offense, improving to 2-2 (1-1 SEC) on the 2024 season. Gator Country provides five key takeaways from the Gators’ road victory over the Bulldogs.
It’s been a while
October 14th, 2023, vs South Carolina was the last time Florida beat an FBS team. That’s 343 days, for those who were counting. It was also the last time the Gators won a game away from Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, where Napier previously held a 2-10 record in road or neutral site games. Those long and dreadful streaks ended today as the Gators offense dominated a poor Mississippi State defense and cruised to a three-score victory. It’s always a good day when Florida football finds the win column, especially against an SEC opponent, which Gator Nation has waited far too long for.
Mertz and Lagway played admirably
Billy Napier stuck to his plan to play both Graham Mertz and DJ Lagway regardless of outcome. The good news is that there wasn’t a major drop-off between either quarterback as both played admirably against one of the worst defenses in college football.
Mertz completed 19-21 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns, which all came in the first half. Lagway was a perfect 7-7 for 76 yards. Both quarterbacks picked up critical first downs with their legs and averaged more than 7.5 yards per carry.
Florida’s pass protection was the best it’s been all season long and the quarterbacks were able to make plays without much pressure in their face. I did think the rushing attack was better with DJ Lagway in at quarterback.
Just two incompletions for Mertz and Lagway combined with no turnovers is a recipe for success.
Aidan Mizell should start
10 different pass catchers caught a ball against Mississippi State but the one that stood out to me was Aidan Mizell. His stat line will not tell the full story as it shows just five catches for 36 yards and no touchdowns. What it doesn’t show is Mizell’s 65-yard touchdown that didn’t count due to a horrible blindside block penalty on Montrell Johnson, who laid down a textbook block on a Mississippi State defender. Easily the most impressive play we’ve seen from a singular player this season. Mizell was able to turn a five-yard hitch into a long touchdown with his ability to make people miss and open field speed.
Florida was also able to screen the Bulldogs to death, and Mizell was a large part of that success.
I don’t think Florida has any issues at WR even with Eugene Wilson sidelined, but Mizell’s effort in week four should earn him much more playing time moving forward.
Still have glaring issues defensively
Different year, different week, same story. Florida’s defense allowed 480 yards including 271 rushing yards gained, which is a major concern as the Gators are set to face one of the best rushing teams in the entire country in UCF after the bye week. This is a Mississippi State team that averaged 3.8 yards per carry against Toledo last week but turned around and averaged 4.3 against the Gators.
Florida was able to create seven tackles for loss and three sacks, but the pass rush and run defense was inconsistent at best. The Gators allowed 31 first downs to Mississippi State. The highlight of the game defensively was a goal line stand where Florida held the Bulldogs scoreless after a 1st and goal from the three.
One notable performance was Jason Marshall, who teams have pretty much avoided targeting in 2024. He continues to excel in man coverage and has been one of the very few bright spots on defense. His decision to come back for the 2024 season has certainly made him much more money.
This doesn’t change anything
Mississippi State is a really, really bad football team. They had eight penalties for 70 yards and made it really easy on the Gators at times. The Bulldogs are now 1-3 on the season with losses to Arizona State, Toledo, and Florida, two of which were at home. MSU is a bottom two team in the SEC, a road win over the Bulldogs does not change my opinion on the current staff and direction of Florida’s football program.
The Gators are significantly better than Mississippi State, but that is not what Florida is striving for in year three under Billy Napier. Changes still need to be made.