The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly from Florida's Cotton Bowl Performance
Yikes. One of the many words to describe Florida’s performance in their season finale.
Taking a 55-20 beating at the hands of the Oklahoma Sooners in the 2020 Cotton Bowl, Florida finished the season on a three-game losing streak, dropping to 8-4 on the year.
Being a good year that fizzled out in the back portion of their schedule, a once Playoff-hopeful squad now goes into the offseason with thoughts of what could have been and necessary changes to be made to reach that point in 2021.
As the new year approaches—and Florida football in 2020 is no more—let’s take a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly from their blowout loss to the Sooners.
The Good: Young Players Saw Meaningful Action
It may not have been pretty, but the future of the Florida Gators football program gained valuable experience against the Sooners on Wednesday night.
With a multitude of young pieces—both offensively and defensively—lining up for Florida at various points throughout the contest, the preparation for the 2021 season has already begun.
Most significantly, Florida saw a significant increase in snap count for Kyle Trask’s predecessor Emory Jones. Providing a spark to the offensive unit in the early portions of the game, Jones led the Gators in rushing with 60 yards (tied with running back Dameon Pierce) and a touchdown.
Entering the game on a hot streak, Jones’s presence early on in the contest started to fade as the game went on. As a result, the former Heard County (Ga.) quarterback finished 8 for 16 with 86 yards on the night through the air. Numbers heavily skewed by the Gators receivers' inefficiencies—a group riddled with drops and sloppy route running—and a factor in accessing Jones’s performance overall.
Sporting an entirely new-look receiving corps in the absence of their top four receivers, the Florida offense was given an opportunity to test the future of the wide receiver and tight end positions at once.
Despite the lackluster results from nearly every individual, twelve Florida pass-catchers left AT&T Stadium with a reception, a bright spot in continuing the trend of spreading the football around the yard.
Defensively, fresh faces like Ty'Ron Hopper, Kamar Wilcoxson, Lloyd Summerall, Mordecai McDaniel, and Derek Wingo made impacts in their respective ways.
Hopper was consistently all over the field throughout the evening, while Bogle and Wingo combined to force the Sooners first turnover of the game with a hit on quarterback Spencer Rattler, a play that had the potential to flip the favor back into Florida’s favor.
Even the special teams saw some new life. As expected, younger players rotated through on coverage teams, while kicker Chris Howard and punter Jeremy Crawshaw did some work as well. Howard, who previously started in place of an unavailable Evan McPherson vs. Missouri, connected on Florida's final extra point, while Crawshaw recorded his first two career punts, including a 48-yard boot that was pinned at the Oklahoma 11.
At the end of the day, the 55-20 loss stings for the surrounding parts of the Florida football program. However, employing the young pieces—no matter their performance—to help them gain experience is a major positive to take away from this contest, if there is any.
The Bad: Kyle Trask
Well, this is a new one.
Looking to end the season with one last bang before departing from the University of Florida, Kyle Trask’s send-off resulted in a nightmare.
Throwing three interceptions on the Gators' first three drives of the game, Trask grew visibly frustrated on the sidelines, uncharacteristic for the usually even-keeled Heisman finalist.
Looking to be a shell of himself in the absence of his four main pass-catching targets, the unfamiliarity with his new weapons proved fatal as vital aspects of a quarterback-wide receiver relationship were lacking.
Only practicing three times throughout the week leading up to the meeting with the Sooners, Trask had little preparation to grow accustomed to the new faces he would be throwing to. As a result, the timing was thrown off, leading to him forcing the football into spots he shouldn’t.
His final game in blue and orange failed to live up to the legacy he created throughout the 2020 season.
As a guy that seemingly carried the Florida program back to the SEC Championship Game off a fantastic senior campaign, the Cotton Bowl showing did little to his standing as a Gator great.
However, going for only 158 yards on 16 of 28 passing and three interceptions, Trask may get hit where it hurts the most come time for the NFL Draft in April, his pocket.
The Ugly: Florida was Outcoached
This section could honestly define the performance as a whole. In fact, ugly might be an understatement to describe what Florida produced on the field Wednesday night.
However, the cloud looming largest is that of the discrepancies in coaching.
Projected to be a battle of high-powered offenses in AT&T Stadium, Lincoln Riley lived up to his hype when it came to a dominant offensive performance. Gashing the Florida defense with a mixture of counter RPO’s and play-action play calls, Spencer Rattler, Rhamondre Stevenson, and Oklahoma’s offense had their way with the Gators en route to 684 total yards and 55 points on the scoreboard.
On the opposing sideline, UF head coach and play-caller Dan Mullen did not have such luck. Looking unprepared to combat the strengths of the OU defense, play calling played a major role in Florida's failure to score points.
Unable to find a rhythm throughout the longevity of the contest, Florida was could not get anything going on the offensive side of the football and scored their lowest point total of the season as a result.
Sooners defensive coordinator Alex Grinch implemented the ideal game plan, and his unit executed it to perfection.
Despite Florida gaining 521 total yards, the "bend don’t break" mantra sported by the Gators defense last season was embodied by OU, only allowing 20 points for a unit that averaged over 40 throughout the season.
The coaching efforts stretch further than just play-calling, though. From the first kick to the final whistle, Oklahoma was more motivated and more prepared to play than the Gators, from top to bottom.
Riley had his team as a unified group from start to finish, ready to go to battle for one another. The same couldn't be said about UF. Sure, Florida lacked the talent that Oklahoma’s roster holds, given the opt-outs and inactives. However, the lack of energy and enthusiasm for playing in the game from the Gators sideline is inexcusable.
What happened to the message of wanting to win everything, even thumb wrestling? As of last night, that didn’t seem to stand as a standard any longer.
