Rapid Reaction: Utah Dominates Florida, 24-11
Photo: Florida head coach Billy Napier; Credit: Zach Goodall
Year two of the Billy Napier era at Florida kicked off with a lackluster start for the Gators. Behind offensive woes and special teams gaffs, UF was routed by Utah, 24-11, on Thursday night in Salt Lake City.
Below is All Gators' rapid reaction to the Gators' season-opening loss to the Utes, identifying the factors that led to Florida's defeat.
Poor results offensively despite a strong game from Graham Mertz
As much as the Gators struggled to finish drives by putting points on the board, quarterback Graham Mertz showed tremendous poise in the first quarter of his debut start with the program, in part due to the play designs Napier drew up early on.
But in the second quarter, the wheels began to fall off.
Mertz threw for 330 yards — a personal record as he had not previously eclipsed 300 yards in a game in his career — and a touchdown while completing 70% of his passes in his first game with the Gators. However, questionable play calling and a lack of execution down the field cost Florida potential points.
Florida only rushed for 13 yards across 21 attempts throughout the game, a reversal of the team's dominant ground-game output from a year ago. And in the second quarter specifically, the Gators were out-gained 112-to-eight in total offensive yards.
The woes continued in the second half with an interception deep in Florida territory off a drop by Ricky Pearsall, and three failed fourth down conversions, despite the Gators out-gaining Utah 214-38 over the final 30 minutes.
At that point, the Gators were trying to play catch up. They just couldn't.
Penalties, third downs and special teams gaffs turn the game away
Week 1 woes hit the Gators with penalty issues and special teams struggles. Florida converted only one third down over 13 attempts, and "game-changing" gaffs led to Utah putting points on the board.
On the night, Florida had nine penalties for 45 yards. However, the yardage does not tell the full story due to the timing and magnitude of the mistakes. Seven of their penalties were on third or fourth down. Additionally, seven penalties were either illegal formation or false starts.
All three of Utah's touchdowns came from either a special teams mistake or a missed fourth down conversion from Florida. The Gators were penalized on a punt return for having two players on the field wearing the same number (Jason Marshall Jr. and Tre Wilson), which extended Utah's drive and led to a touchdown.
Self-inflicted wounds in crucial situations cost Florida points and helped their opponent consistently.
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