The Florida Gators invaded Memorial Stadium in Columbia, Missouri to take on the Missouri Tigers. The tigers, starting freshman quarterback Drew Lock, came into the game with their offense ranking 120th out of 128 teams. They faced a Florida Defense that is a top 15 defense.
Florida, undefeated to date and leading the SEC East, looked to have an easy day against the Tigers. Jim Mcelwain, in his first time in Columbia, will also start a freshman QB in Will Grier.
Florida, electing to take the ball first, was able to march the ball down the field, with the help of a couple penalties from the Tigers. In 12 plays, for 75 yards, Florida is fist to go on the board, taking 5:29 off the clock.
Not to be outdone, Drew Lock comes out with guns blazing, throwing the ball down the field with ease against the Gator defense. Getting the ball down to the 3 yard-line, the Gators are able to hold them tigers to a field goal, making the score 7-3.
The next few drives, each team shared punts, until the Gators methodically put the ball down the field. With a little over one minute left in the first quarter, Kelvin Taylor ran in for a 1 yard touchdown run. With the field goal, the gators went up, 14-3.
It became a defensive battle, with the offenses struggling to gain any momentum. With three minutes left in the first half, Mizzou was able to hold the Gators to a field goal attempt. That attempt was no good, due to a bad hold on the ball. The tigers got the ball back on their own 20 with 3:04 left in the first half.
The Gators were determined not to give any yards as they get a huge sack on Lock, making it 2nd and 19. With another defensive hold, the Tigers are forced to punt it down field. The offense, with just 1:30 left in the half, Grier is able to get it to mid field, but runs out of time and the Gators go in at half leading 14-3.
The 2nd half started out with each team 3-and-outs. They continued the back and forth until Lock threw his first interception with about 6 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. Jalen Tabor ran the interception back 40 yards for the Gator’s third touchdown of the night. That put the score to be 21-3
The Gators continues to pummel the Tiger’s offense. With 12 minutes left, the tigers seemed to be forming a good drive, getting the ball within the Gator’s 30 yard-line. However, they continued to be unsuccessful on 3rd down, being 0 for 12 on 3rd down. Following an unsuccessful pass on 4th, the Gators got the ball back with 11 minutes left in the game.
From that point on, it was a mere push and shove match between the defenses, with neither team able to score for the rest of the game.
The final score was 21-3 in favor of Florida
Key Players:
It was all Florida tonight.
Grier went 22-33 for 208 yards.
Kelvin Taylor carried 28 times 99 for yards.
The Tigers went 1 for 13 on third down conversions.
