The No. 13 Gators defeated South Florida 42-20 on Saturday afternoon at Raymond James Stadium. It was Florida’s first regular season game in Tampa since 1989 and only their second all-time meeting with the Bulls (0-2).
Here is our instant recap.
How the game was won
UF had this win wrapped up by the end of the first quarter.
Emory Jones got things started on UF’s second drive when he connected with Rick Wells for 20 yards on a crossing route. Dameon Pierce took it from there, rushing for 16, 20 and seven yards on three consecutive plays for a touchdown.
The Bulls kept the Gators’ defense off-balance on the ensuing possession by going up-tempo and getting the ball out of quarterback Cade Fortin’s hand quickly. Fortin missed an open receiver on third-and-goal, though, and UF held them to a field goal.
UF’s backup quarterback, Anthony Richardson, entered on the next drive and fired a 75-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Copeland on a post pattern off of play-action.
South Florida again moved the ball on their next series, but Fortin underthrew an open receiver on fourth-and-3 for a turnover-on-downs.
Jones reentered and found Xzavier Henderson over the middle of the field for 17 yards. Later in the drive, on third-and-7, Jones dropped in a pass over the top of Henderson perfectly for a 35-yard touchdown to make it 21-3 early in the second quarter.
The Gators added a couple of more scores to take a commanding 35-3 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Player of the Game
Anthony Richardson
Richardson continued to make a very strong case to be the starting quarterback sooner rather than later.
He completed all three of passes for 152 yards and ran four times for 115 yards.
He scored three touchdowns of more than 40 yards, 75- and 41-yard strikes to Copeland and an 80-yard touchdown run.
He came up gimpy after his touchdown run in the fourth quarter with either a cramp or a hamstring injury. His status for next week is unknown.
Play of the Game
When Richardson took over the offense for the third series of the game, most observers probably expected Dan Mullen to ease him into action with a handoff or a screen pass.
Nope.
Instead, Richardson faked a handoff, rolled out to the right for a few steps, stopped and lofted a deep ball to the left for Copeland, who was running wide open past a cornerback.
The ball landed perfectly in Copeland’s outstretched arms. He made the catch and cruised into the end zone for a 75-yard score.
Richardson impressed with his legs last week against Florida Atlantic, but he stole the spotlight with his arm this week.
Stat of the Game
666
That’s the amount of total offense that the Gators racked up. They gained 373 yards in the first half, as they pretty much did whatever they wanted against the Bulls’ defense.
A couple of interceptions and turnovers-on-downs impeded them in the second half, but it was still an excellent day for the offense overall.
Up next
One of the biggest home games in recent UF history is on deck. Defending national champion and No. 1-ranked Alabama visits the Swamp in the SEC opener for both teams next weekend. The Gators (2-0) played the Crimson Tide (1-0) closer than anybody else last season in a 52-46 loss in the SEC Championship Game, but the core of that Gators offense is now playing in the NFL.
The new-look Gators will look for revenge starting at 3:30.