In many ways the Florida Missouri game this week was a continuation of the themes that have persisted through this season. Billy Napier characterizes the Gators as a work in progress. Indeed they are. We still see inconsistent play, especially at quarterback. Getting stops defensively in third and long situations continues to be frustratingly difficult. Tackling in space is still a problem for several key players. There has, however, been noticeable progress in other important areas. Changing culture and building depth both take time. The progress made isn’t always reflected immediately in terms of winning games. On the days where the programmatic progress is reflected in wins, the effort being made is energized. The Missouri win was important in this regard. Florida hadn’t won a conference game in nearly a year. Saturday’s win ended that drought.

Among the encouraging take-aways are the clear continuing reduction in focus/discipline related penalties and the large numbers of true freshmen playing important snaps. Florida had ONE penalty of any kind this week. The Gators are also enjoying improved offensive line play and the associated productivity gains in the running game. The Missouri game also featured Florida’s first big special teams play of the year and the Gator’s first “pick six”. Both fall in the category of being game changers. Another positive aspect, defensively, from the Missouri game was Florida’s 13 tackles for loss and 4 sacks.

If the Gators hadn’t also given up numerous third and long conversions (again this week), the defensive performance could have been characterized as very good. Of Missouri’s 9 third down conversions, 5 were on plays that gained more than ten yards. Of these, 3 within the final 8:30 of the game gained 18 yards or more. Clearly, there is still much work to be done in Florida’s safe/prevent coverage package.

Areas for work, offensively, include yellow zone execution and play calling. Excluding the clock killing possessions to end each half, Florida had eight possessions. One began at the Missouri 24 yard line and resulted in a Florida field goal. Two other long drives ended with Gator touchdowns. Four of the remaining 5 drives reached Missouri territory, but stalled beyond the 30 yard line and netted no points. Coming away with zero points on those four drives kept the game closer than it could have been. The Gator receivers also dropped several catchable balls this week. Typically, this year, the receivers have been reliable, just not explosive.

At the end of the day, Florida came away with an important (for measuring progress) SEC win despite a large time of possession deficit and execution that wasn’t especially sharp. To notch another win next week against LSU, the Gators will need to execute better than this past week and have fewer turnovers than the Tigers.