Over the last two years, Gators fans clamored and begged for any semblance of a running game to complement a high-octane passing attack.
Too often, UF’s running backs would get stuffed behind the line of scrimmage in short-yardage and goal-line situations. Pretty much every down was a passing down, and it was common to see the Gators rush for less than 100 yards in a game.
After a nearly three-year hibernation, the Gators’ running game sprang to life in a big way against Florida Atlantic on Saturday night. They piled up 400 rushing yards and averaged 8.7 yards per carry.
It was the first time they’ve rushed for 400 or more yards in a game since 2014 against Georgia, and it was their top performance ever in a season opener. By the middle of the third quarter, they had already rushed for more yards than they did in any game last year.
The No. 13 Gators used their historic night on the ground to overcome some shaky quarterback play and defeat the Owls, 35-14.
“We’re going to do what our guys do well,” UF coach Dan Mullen said. “That’s what it is. Honestly, I’d love to continue to be balanced.
“I think you’re able to stay balanced, but our explosive plays came on the ground tonight. So, we’ve got to look at that a little bit. Are we taking the shots we need down the field to be explosive in the pass game as well? Like I said, we’re going to do what we’re going to do. If we’ve got to lead the nation in rushing, we’ll do that. Last year, we led it in passing. Do what our guys do well.”
It became apparent that the Gators (1-0) could run almost at will against FAU (0-1) from the outset. On the fourth play of the game, Malik Davis took a handoff from quarterback Emory Jones on a sweep play to the right. Davis identified a cutback lane, exploded through it and sprinted down the sideline for a 31-yard gain.
“We just saw that they couldn’t stop us, honestly,” Davis said. “Everything we wanted to do, we did it. And the stops that they did make, I believe that we just shot ourselves in the foot. We hurt ourselves at times in the game. But other than that, I think that we just felt like they couldn’t stop us.”
The Gators punctuated the opening drive with Dameon Pierce’s two-yard touchdown run on an option pitch from Jones. Mullen actually gave Jones two plays to choose from, and he went back-and-forth between them as he tried to figure out what the Owls’ defense was doing.
“They were running around, and we had two plays called, so I changed the play,” Jones said. “Then when they got set, they were in the defense for the first play, so I just changed it back and made it work.”
The Davis show continued on the next drive when he again snuck through a small opening in the defense for eight yards. Then Jones scrambled through the middle of the defense for 23 yards on third-and-7. Davis picked up seven and 17 yards on his final two carries of the drive, which paved the way for sixth-year senior Rick Wells to score his first career touchdown on a screen pass from Jones.
Davis was the offensive most valuable player in the first half. He gained 84 yards on eight carries in the opening 30 minutes and finished with 104 yards on 14 carries overall. It was the first time he crossed the century mark since he did so in 2017 against Vanderbilt.
He also scored his first touchdown since the second game of the 2019 season.
“I thought he really ran the ball hard, breaking tackles, yards after contact, his vision,” Mullen said. “I thought he did a really good job with that. But that’s what we’ve been seeing, and that’s the Malik I know and expect to see throughout the season, and he’s really worked hard at that. So, I thought all our backs as a whole played pretty well, to be honest with you.”
It’s been a long journey back to the top for Davis. He was Florida’s featured back as a freshman in 2017, but a knee injury cost him the second half of his freshman year and a foot injury ended his 2018 season after just two games. In 2019 and 2020, something just looked off with him. His quickness, ball security and ability to make defenders miss just weren’t there. As a result, he became a non-factor for most of the last two seasons.
This offseason, though, his teammates and coaches praised him and said he was finally back to running like his old self.
Those comments were easy to dismiss at the time, but it’s now apparent that Davis is back to his former self and will play a major role on this team.
He played with discipline and patience and trusted that a hole would eventually open up. When one did, he exploded through it with conviction. He ran with more physicality than he has in several years, running over multiple defenders.
“It’s definitely been a journey, and I just thank God,” Davis said. “I’m just excited, as you can see, at a loss for words. I love this game and everything that comes with it. So, I’m definitely excited, and I’m definitely going to enjoy the night and enjoy this win.”
Normally, a veteran player enjoying a career night like Davis did would be the biggest takeaway of the game.
But then Anthony Richardson happened. The redshirt freshman quarterback from Gainesville gained 160 yards on seven carries. This was the second time in school history that the Gators had two 100-yard rushers in the same game with one of them being a quarterback. Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin previously did so against Oklahoma in the 2008 national championship game.
Richardson also became just the third Florida quarterback to rush for at least 100 yards in a game since 1996. Tebow did it five times, and Jeff Driskel did it once.
The two biggest offensive highlights of the night were both produced by Richardson in the fourth quarter.
On second-and-8 at the UF 27-yard line, Mullen called a read-option play. Richardson saw that the defensive end crashed hard and pulled the ball out of the running back’s belly. He picked up a block from tight end Kemore Gamble and beat the entire Florida Atlantic defense to the edge. He then turned on the jets and pulled away for a 73-yard touchdown.
It was the longest run by a UF quarterback since Trey Burton scored an 80-yard touchdown against Tennessee in 2012.
Then he did something even more ridiculous on the last possession of the game. On second-and-10 from the FAU 42, he took the snap, took a step forward to fake a run and then backed up to pass. The Owls got great penetration into the backfield, though, and blew the play up.
He scrambled to the right, made one guy miss, slipped through a tackle attempt and leapt over a defender like he was running the hurdles in the Olympics. He took a play that looked like it would lose yardage and turned it into an 11-yard gain.
Of course, the running game wasn’t perfect. The interior of the offensive line got knocked backward multiple times, and they gave up four tackles-for-loss. Most of the big chunk plays came on perimeter runs where the receivers and tight ends made most of the key blocks, which maybe made the offensive line look better than it actually is.
Still, they rushed for 400 yards and four touchdowns. It might’ve taken them four games to reach those figures last season.
The running game clearly did something right against the Owls, and now they want to keep it going.
“I’m definitely excited,” Davis said. “Definitely because I’m a running back, [but] also because it opens up doors and opportunities for other guys. If teams know that we can run the ball a lot, it opens up plays for passes down the field. So, I’m definitely excited about it.”