Five Takeaways From Florida's 40-17 Win Over Florida State

Florida demolished their in-state rival in The Swamp and sent their 2019 senior class off in high fashion.

Florida ended their 2019 regular season with a bang, and with that bang, the Gators also ended a four game home losing streak to the rival Florida State Seminoles.

Here are my five takeaways from the Gators' victory, one that should propel Florida to a New Year's Six Bowl.

Florida will badly miss their four senior WRs

17 receptions. 193 yards. Four touchdowns. 

That's what Florida's four senior wide receivers - Freddie Swain, Van Jefferson, Tyrie Cleveland, and Josh Hammond - combined to post against the Seminoles on Saturday night.

On the first play of the game, all four receivers were on the field in a five-wide set. Head coach Dan Mullen told the media after the game that that lineup was intentional, and his doing to show appreciation for their efforts.

"I really love what our four senior wide-outs have done this year," Mullen said. "And that’s why I made a concerted effort, they all played on the first play of the game so they could go get that start, they officially start that first play of the game."

On the season, this group of receivers have combined for 127 receptions, 1670 yards, and 16 touchdowns. Without a doubt, Florida will miss both their production and their leadership next year and down the line. However, all four players have helped lay the foundation of Dan Mullen's program.

Run defense has improved dramatically

At the midway point of the season, Florida allowed a combined 435 rushing yards to LSU and South Carolina in back to back weeks.

You'd never know that given the Gators run defense against FSU, as well as their three previous games against Missouri, Vanderbilt, and Georgia - all four teams owning talented starting running backs.

D'Andre Swift, KeShawn Vaugh, Larry Rountree III, and Cam Akers were limited to just 216 across Florida's final four regular season games. Akers gained 102 yards on 17 rushes, but 50 came on one play that went for a score when Florida already held a commanding lead.

Props to defensive coordinator Todd Grantham for making adjustments, because the run game had been Florida's defensive kryptonite for a bit there. 

Emory Jones looked really good with more snaps

Given the blowout and a need to see more from his redshirt freshman quarterback, Dan Mullen finally expanded Emory Jones' role against the Seminoles. And it paid dividends.

Jones was utilized as both a passer and a rusher, and he was incredibly efficient with the ball. He completed five of his six passes for 47 yards and a touchdown, and also led the team in rushing with seven attempts for 33 yards.

With Kyle Trask, who also had a spectacular night passing for 343 yards and three touchdowns, set to return for the 2020 season, all the headlines in spring ball will revolve around a QB competition between the two (and possibly Feleipe Franks, if he's healthy). Given strong performances from Jones in limited fashion this year, he's deserving of a shot to compete.

Jonathan Greenard had another career game

The Gators wrecked the Seminoles backfield all night, tallying eight sacks. BUCK pass rusher Jonathan Greenard recorded three of them, a career high.

The graduate transfer has been a blessing to Florida's defense and the leader of the team's dominant pass rush. Florida's 46 sacks this season is the most they've posted since 1999.

Greenard surpassed all expectations since transferring to Florida, and is regarded as one of the leaders of the team. He was honored with all the seniors as a part of Senior Day, and his teammates rallied around both his energy and his production to wreak havoc on Florida State's passing game.

Florida State is in shambles

Just, wow.

Given the Seminoles fired their head coach almost a month ago, imposed a deadline to hire a new one - the end of November, which was yesterday - and don't even have a clear set of candidates for the job, it was obvious just from reading up on Florida State that their program was without direction.

Watching them take on Florida proved that FSU is a total mess. FSU was held to less than 20 yards on each of their drives other than the three they scored on. Akers gave the Seminoles some life on offense, ane Tamorrion Terry made a big play early in the game by taking a slant route 45 yards down the field, but otherwise I couldn't tell you any players who stood out on either side of the ball. 

I mean, Florida failed to convert on a fake punt at their own 19 yard line, gifting the Seminoles a drive in the redzone. Florida State proceeded to lose seven yards on the drive, and kicker Ricky Aguayo missed a 44 yard field goal to give Florida the ball eight yards further down the field than they had turned it over four plays previously. Just think about that sequence, and pray for your FSU fan friends.