Florida (6-6, 2-6 SEC) defeated Florida State on Saturday afternoon, 24-21. The Gators have now won three games in a row over the Seminoles (5-7, 4-4 ACC).
Here are my five thoughts on the regular season finale.
1. That was the most energy and swagger the Gators have played with since early in the season.
Since their slide began in October, the Gators looked some combination of uptight, disinterested, lethargic and emotionless for large portions of every game. When they ran onto the field for warmups and pumped up the crowd, it seemed like they were trying to artificially create some positive energy instead of having it naturally.
That wasn’t the case against FSU at all. From the moment they ran onto the field for pregame warmups, you could tell that they wanted to win this game really badly. That skirmish they started before heading into the locker room is something I don’t think they would’ve done even a week ago.
Then there were times that the players urged the fans to get louder at key moments in the game. It felt a lot like the Alabama game from that standpoint. It felt like everyone in the stadium was fighting together to beat Florida State.
Not having to worry about what’s going to happen with their head coach anymore seemed to take a ton of pressure off of them. They were able to relax and have fun for the first time in a long time.
2. Greg Knox deserves a ton of credit for holding this team together.
It would’ve been very easy for the players to look like they’d rather be anywhere else but the Swamp given what they’ve been through over the past two months. And with most, if not all, of this coaching staff on the way out, it would’ve been easy for the players to check out and not want to listen to their coaches anymore.
Frankly, that’s what I was expecting to happen when I picked the Seminoles to win this game by two scores.
Instead, Knox got them to stay together and treat this game like it was the SEC Championship Game.
You can criticize Knox all you want for some of his recruiting misses and the way he rotates the running backs, but you’ve got to applaud the leadership he’s shown since taking over the program amidst a horrible situation. This win doesn’t happen without his steadying influence.
3. The crowd was amazing.
First of all, to sell out the game given the Gators’ struggles and lack of a head coach was impressive by itself.
But the crowd wasn’t just there; they were an integral part of the action at times. There was one point in the second half when the fans started chanting “Let’s go Gators!” extraordinarily loud. The players then waved their arms to fire them up even more.
That scene almost gave me chills. It was so cool to see how much love the Gators and their fans have for each other despite the team having done everything possible to drive the fans away this season.
If you didn’t know what UF’s record was, you would’ve thought that they were 9-2 or 10-1 entering the game based on the crowd.
Gator Nation proved that in all kinds of weather, they really do stick together.
4. Dameon Pierce is absolutely nuts, and I mean that in the best way possible.
The guy dove headfirst into the end zone in between two FSU defenders and didn’t have any care in the world.
That was an extremely dangerous situation. He could’ve cut his face up or suffered some kind of brain injury.
And yet, after the game, Pierce said he would do the exact same thing again if the opportunity presents itself.
Pierce loves the game and his team so much that he was willing to risk serious injury to score a big touchdown.
That kind of tenacity is what has made Pierce one of my favorite players to watch over the last four years, and it’s what will allow him to enjoy a nice NFL career.
But still, he’s insane.
5. Brenton Cox played like a man possessed.
He became the first Gator to record four sacks in a game since sacks became an official NCAA stat in 2000.
I felt like he was in the backfield on every single passing play no matter who was trying to block him.
That game vaulted him all the way to within half a sack of Zachary Carter for the team lead with 7 ½.
That was the type of pass-rushing production that I expected to see when he transferred in from Georgia prior to the 2019 season. It’ll be interesting to see if he can use this game as a springboard to a breakout year in 2022 or if this game will prove to be an outlier.