COLUMBIA, Mo — The Florida Gators (9-2/6-2) beat the Missouri Tigers (5-5/2-4) 23-6 at Memorial Stadium to cap off the 2019 SEC schedule. Here are 10 observations from the game.
1. Coaching
It hasn’t always been pretty for the Gators but they find ways to win football games in different ways. This season it’s been all about how the team finishes football games, excelling in the fourth quarters.
Florida is outscoring opponents 220-69 in the second half, 111-29 in the fourth quarter this season. Also, Dan Mullen’s offense has been a revelation — 96 offensive touchdowns in the first 24 games under Mullen. Florida scored 93 offensive touchdowns in 38 games from 2015-17.
2. Is Jon Greenard the second-best edge rusher in the country?
Yes.
Ohio State edge rusher Chase Young is one of the best players in the country regardless of position but Jon Greenard is earning respect each and every week. He missed two critical games but has six sacks on the season. Every offensive coordinator that has faced the Florida defense this season has keyed on him and it hasn’t mattered. He’s a terror. He’s made himself a lot of money this year and he’s going to hear his name called early during the NFL Draft. I can’t even begin to imagine what the Gator defense would look like without Greenard this season.
3. Gators OL struggled again
We’re really just beating a dead horse at this point but the Gators’ offensive line was not good. They did get better and find some answers in the second half but that was only after four sacks in the first half. And the running game? Well…
4. Running game completely abandoned
Through three quarters the Gators called 35 passing plays to just 13 rushing plays. It’s because Florida’s offensive line has shown that it cannot run block. The coaching staff tried, they really did. For a good chunk of the early part of the season, they called run play after run play and carry after carry the running backs would have to break two tackles just to get back to the line of scrimmage. However, Saturday might have been the first real game I’ve sat and watched and thought that Florida didn’t even have an interest in running the ball. It’s sad to see but as long as they’re finding ways to manufacture offense even though they’ve been relegated to being one-dimensional thanks to the line.
5. Sloppy penalties
The Gators had six penalties for 64 yards. Four of those were personal fouls. Zach Carter had a facemask, Kyree Campbell slapped a player in the helmet in front a referee for 15-yards, Trevon Grimes picked one up and Mohamoud Diabate had a late hit on Kelly Bryant out of bounds. You can get away with stuff like that playing a team a bad a Missouri but that’s not the kind of team Florida is and that’s not the program Dan Mullen is running. Just an uncharacteristically undisciplined day.
6. Perine ending career strong
It’s been tough sledding on the road for Lamical Perine but the senior is having a good season. He ha a touchdown catch that looked more like a veteran receiver coming down with the ball in the endzone than a running back. He’s really helped himself in terms of showing he can be a three-down back and an asset in the passing game at the next level.
That touchdown, by the way, was his team-leading eighth touchdown on the season and it gives him 25 the past three seasons.
7. LET EMORY JONES THROW THE FOOTBALL
Jones threw one pass on Saturday and it was completed for 48-yards. The pass was underthrown but Kadarius Toney did a good job to come back to the ball and make a play. It was nice to see Jones get in there and run a play that was just him running the ball but he’s still not getting the full playbook on Saturdays.
I asked Dan Mullen about it after the game, what does Emory need to show you to get more involved in the passing game. He answered: “I have complete trust in him to do it. Kyle’s pretty good, too. Those guys, I love how they’ve handled it. They run on the field, they run off. Kyle’s never questioned anything when hey Emory who’s in. You know, they don’t question any of that, they just go do their thing.”
So not an answer, really.
8. Gators defense has given up 1 TD in 10 quarters.
The Florida defense has been exceptional since the second half of the Georgia game. The Gators gave up 11 points in the second half to Georgia and the touchdown was a fluke blow coverage. They pitched a shutout last week and only allowed a pair of field goals on Saturday. They’ve been so good this season and lights out the last two weeks.
“Our defense played lights out,” Kyle Trask said. “We have amazing athletes on there, they’re very well-coached. I always feel really confident when they’re on the field.”
9. CJ Henderson may be playing himself out of the first round
Henderson was the lone preseason All-SEC player on the Gators’ roster and came into the year projected as a mid-late first-round pick. He hasn’t been awful this year but there have been some instances where he’s been exposed. He’s allowed four plays of more than 40-yards this year and, at times, his tackling has been suspect. He’s a great football player but maybe not as great as we thought before the season? Only 32 guys become first-round picks every year, so it’s not saying that Henderson is a bad football player, he’s just not playing like one of the best 32.
10. Exorcise the Missouri demons
For whatever reason, the Florida Gators struggle with Missouri. The games are weird and filled with turnovers, penalties, and shenanigans.
Today the Gators went to Memorial Stadium, where the Tigers were 5-0 and averaging 40.5 points per game, and completely dominated. They held Missouri to just two field goals, just a hair over 250 total yards and the outcome of the game was never in doubt. It was a cathartic win for Florida, the fans and for Josh Hammond.
I haven’t beaten them since my freshman year, so it felt good to finally come out with a win against them. It’s been a long time since we beat the Tigers,” Hammond said. “It was definitely big for him to come down with that and us to get the ball to keep the drive going, it definitely put us in position to put the game away in a way. We were able to put points on the board on that drive and kind of finish it out.”