How Florida Fared in Its Key Matchups vs. South Carolina
Consider the weight of playing away from The Swamp lifted off of Billy Napier's and the Gators' shoulders.
Behind Graham Mertz's career afternoon, Ricky Pearsall's hands and a pair of clutch stops by the defense, Florida turned a 10-point deficit into a two-point win over South Carolina in Week 7.
Prior to the game, All Gators broke down three key matchups that could have determined the outcome of Florida's matchup against South Carolina. Here's how those battles played out.
Spencer Rattler vs. Florida's pass defense
Putting it bluntly, Spencer Rattler torched the Gator defense. Had South Carolina won, it likely would have been Rattler winning the SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors and not Mertz.
The senior quarterback went 23-for-30 for 313 yards and four touchdowns before throwing an interception. Florida also struggled to contain Xavier Legette, who caught five passes for 110 yards, which included a 46-yarder to set up a field goal.
Two of Rattler's touchdown passes came from 20 yards and 33 yards, and he also completed passes of 45 yards, 20 yards and 24 yards throughout the game.
"He's a great quarterback, great player, great leader for this team," said UF linebacker Shemar James. "It's kind of hard to defend a quarterback when you let him sit back there and make his decisions."
Against one of the worst offensive lines in the SEC, the Gators failed to consistently put pressure on Rattler. Princely Umanmielen played well with 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack, but Florida wasn't able to really pressure the South Carolina quarterback until the final two drives.
"[Rattler's] ability to extend and escape, ultimately, that's where he caused the most problems for us," Napier described Rattler's Saturday performance. "He's a good player, everybody knows that. I think they got good offensive line play around him today. Protected him a little bit better, had a running game to complement him."
That being said, those final two drives ultimately won this battle. Prior to Pearsall's go-ahead touchdown, Florida forced a two-yard pass and an incompletion to stifle South Carolina's offense.
With the Gators up 41-37, a three-man pressure from Umanmielen, TJ Searcy and Caleb Banks forced Rattler to underthrow a deep pass, leading to Miguel Mitchell's win-clinching interception.
Rattler won 99% of this battle, but the Gators only needed to win 1% to seal the victory.
Game Changers vs. Game Changers
Although both teams' offenses were the stars of the show, there's no doubt that special teams successes and miscues could've caused the game to go either way.
Trey Smack continued to be a consistent leg with four field goals made in five attempts, which earned him Co-SEC Special Teams Player of the Week Honors. His only miss was blocked.
In the second quarter, South Carolina jumped offsides on an extra point attempt, which led to a Hayden Hansen two-point conversion for Florida. The Gamecocks then failed to convert a fake PAT after their final touchdown.
However, South Carolina blocked Smack's final field goal attempt early in the fourth quarter, which stopped the Gators from making it a one-possession game.
Not to mention, the final play was in the third phase. Instead of giving Beamer Ball a chance to block a punt, Florida took a safety with four seconds left making the score 41-39, giving the Gamecocks time for only a kickoff return to try and win the game.
The lateral attempt on the ensuing return was caught by Aaron Gates, thus sealing the win for Florida.
Special teams nearly cost the game for Florida, won the game for Florida, nearly won the game for South Carolina and lost the game for South Carolina. Because of course.
Florida vs. an away atmosphere
On paper, a comeback win against a team with a losing record is not a tremendous feat, but Saturday's win might be Billy Napier's most important to date.
Not only was it the Gators' second road win under Napier in as many seasons, but the team proved that it can score points, make a late comeback and get crucial stops late in a game.
From the start, Florida's offense was rolling.
Florida scored points on five of its six first-half drives, giving UF a 24-21 lead going into the break. Although that lead disappeared and turned into a 10-point deficit with under 10 minutes to go, the Gators buckled down and didn't let the game get away from them as they did in the past.
The offense kept scoring in the second half and avoided any major self-inflicted wounds. The defense made multiple clutch stops late in the game, which included forcing the Gamecocks to kick a field goal in goal-to-go territory.
"We've struggled on the road and certainly tonight was one heck of a football game," Napier said. "But I do think some of the toughness that we've built, some of the resolve that we've built, some of the relationships, this group has done nothing but get closer. I think it's almost galvanized the group and we came here today to prove something.
"What a way to win a football game."
The road only gets harder from here, especially with three tough non-home games on the schedule. Florida plays No. 1 Georgia in Jacksonville in two weeks, against LSU in Death Valley on Nov. 11 and at one-loss Missouri the week after in the back half of the season.
That being said, Saturday's win was a massive step in the right direction.
Keys moving forward
Not only is Saturday's win refreshing because the weight of road woes are lifted off of the Gators' backs, but they get the benefit of the momentum entering a bye week.
Florida will have two weeks to build on the win and prepare for a matchup with No. 1 Georgia in Jacksonville. As always, though, Florida cannot allow itself to become complacent and underperform after a big win.
"I think it's probably more important to remember what we felt like in the past than it is to remember how we feel right now. Look, the game was won during the week in my opinion. We had the best week we've had," Napier said after the game when asked about Florida sustaining momentum.
The Gators defeated No. 7 Utah to open the 2022 season and followed it up with a loss to Kentucky the next week. Florida upset No. 11 Tennessee for their first signature win over a rival under Napier and followed it up with a lackluster performance against Charlotte and an inexcusable loss at Kentucky.
They cannot allow the hype of a big conference win to hang over their heads, especially with the back-to-back national champions up next. Napier knows that.
"Certainly proud of our team and the character that they showed. That's a good way to go into an open date, that's what I would tell you," Napier said.
"We're going to enjoy this thing but it's important that we keep our humility. We have lots to do to improve as a team. Individual players can improve, parts of our staff can improve and we need to play better going forward, there are definitely things that we can get better at."
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