After a rocky November stretch that featured one-score wins against Vanderbilt and Florida Atlantic, the Florida Gators were not as fortunate on Saturday.
Reality and the Florida State Seminoles smacked the Gators in the face.
Offense has been a problem for the Gators since Will Grier was suspended for using performance-enhancing drugs in October. Treon Harris kept the offense afloat and did just enough to preserve Florida’s slim hopes of making the College Football Playoff. However, since taking over under center, Harris has completed just over half of his pass attempts, including just 19-of-38 in Saturday’s 27-2 loss to Florida State.
The odds finally caught up to Florida. The Gators entered Saturday’s contest 100th in total offense and 80th in scoring. Some successful high-wire acts against bad teams (Vanderbilt, for instance, came within one play of beating the Gators in The Swamp, but was thrashed the past two weeks by Texas A&M and Tennessee) allowed Florida to enter the game with only one loss. Saturday, Florida State added to the loss column. It wasn’t hard to see it coming.
Give this much to the Gators: Their defense has been strong all season, including Saturday. Early in the fourth quarter, Florida had twice as many first downs as Florida State, but still found itself down 13-0 in a game that felt one-sided toward the ‘Noles. It’s impossible to put this loss in a regular season finale on the Gators’ defense.
Florida’s defensive unit cracked the scoreboard for the home team in Gainesville. A sack of Florida State quarterback Sean Maguire forced a fumble and a safety. The score at that point in time was 13-2. Florida got the ball back after the safety, receiving one more chance to make the Seminoles sweat. Nothing happened, however, a simple and apt summary of Florida’s offense over the past month.
Kelvin Taylor chalked up a high percentage of the Gators’ offense in this game: 136 yards on 24 carries. However, he had absolutely no help. It’s a searing indictment of Harris and the passing game that they could not function well despite a credible running threat.
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On the opposite sideline, Florida State has about the exact same team. The Seminoles are built around a strong defense and running attack.
However, the ‘Noles did just enough on offense without stalwart Dalvin Cook making much noise for most of the game. Cook picked up no yards in four touches in the first quarter, but eventually broke out to go over 180 yards. A majority of those yards came on the final few drives that nailed down the game for the visitors from Tallahassee.
While Maguire was not as efficient as he could have been, he avoided turnovers (removed from the safety) and guided Florida State to the win, just as Harris had been doing prior to Saturday. Since taking over as the starter under center, Maguire has given Florida State the stability Everett Golson was not able to provide. Maguire completed half of his passes for 169 yards and a touchdown. It wasn’t flashy, but he didn’t lose this game against an inferior opponent.
Florida State won its first two games away from Tallahassee this season over Wake Forest and Boston College, before dropping the next two against Georgia Tech and Clemson. Saturday was a noticeable confidence builder with a road win going into the bowl season. In the first four road games, the ‘Noles averaged just 16.8 points per game. Slapping 27 on a quality defense (albeit one which was exhausted in the fourth quarter) enables FSU to think it can reach a higher plateau in the bowl season and beyond.
On a night when Florida needed a win and some style points to impress the selection committee, it got neither and can now only hope to play spoiler next week in the SEC Championship Game against Alabama. As ugly as the Florida offense played on Saturday, it could be extra bad against the Tide. The Gator offense didn’t reach 300 yards against Florida State; it might have a problem gaining 200 yards against Alabama.
With the win, Florida State still holds some hope for a New Year’s Six bowl bid. Most importantly, the ship has been righted since the Clemson loss. A young team with a lot of limitations has managed to produce a 10-2 record. It’s a reminder of how good Jimbo Fisher has become as a head coach.
Saturday’s win was also a reminder of how impotent Florida has become without Will Grier.
