The 15,120 member crowd at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium today fell a little below expectations and so did the performance by the Gators. In the end, Florida fans will be satisfied with the 38-24 win, but also concerned about the Gator’s uneven play. Admittedly, expectations for the offense were unrealistic after last weeks performance against Ole Miss. Expectations for the defense were much more realistic, but the Gators underachieved again this week.

Early on, the offensive tempo was good. The Gators moved the ball up and down the field and, minus the one drive killed by a Kyle Trask fumble, put points on the scoreboard board in every first half possession. Midway through the third quarter, with a 38-14 lead, Florida lost offensive focus and limped to the finish line producing only 13 total yards of offense over the final twenty minutes of the game.

Defensively, Florida returned 2 of the 4 players who missed last week’s bloodletting in Oxford. Even with Jeremiah Moon and Shawn Davis on the field, the Gators struggled. Kyrie Campbell and Brad Stewart were still missing in action. The Gator’s problems on defense were allowing too many yards after first contact and the related inability to get opponents off the field on third down and fourth down. South Carolina converted on 6 third downs and on 5 (of 6) fourth downs. The Gamecock game plan, in typical Will Muschamp fashion, was to manage down and distance and run the game clock. South Carolina helped themselves a great deal by limiting turnovers to one and by converting so many third and fourth downs. The time of possession favored South Carolina, 36 minutes to 24 minutes as the Gamecocks ran 83 offensive plays to Florida’s 53. To be fair to the Florida defense, it’s important to note the fatigue factor and how little help the Gator offense provided the last 20 minutes of the game.

Highlights for the Florida offense included another mostly strong performance by Kyle Trask. He continues to manage the offense with poise and focus. He won’t be happy about the previously mentioned early 2nd quarter, first down, fumble and an early 4th quarter series where he threw two balls into coverage and then was intercepted when two Gator receivers collided on third down. He will be happy, though, with the 38 points scored with only 53 plays. Other highlights on offense included another solid performance by the offensive line. The yards per carry in the running game, excluding when Florida was kneeling to run out the clock in the last series, was about 4. Pass protection was good for the most part. No procedure penalties and just one holding penalty. Using three running backs continues to yield nice results as all three keep fresh legs. Dameon Pierce carried the biggest load today. Nine different receivers caught balls and the yards per catch was an impressive 9.2. Kyle Pitts was impressive early and the younger receivers continued to emerge with Trent Whittemore catching his first touchdown pass and Xzavier Henderson contributing with an important third and long conversion. Kadarius Toney had six receptions for 86 yards and a touchdown.

The Florida defense didn’t allow very many explosive plays. Only a handful of over 15 yards. Shawn Davis tackled well in space and Zachary Carter was disruptive along the line. Marco Wilson left the game with an injury on the last possession and true freshman, Travez Johnson finished for him. Other true freshmen seeing action on defense included Gervin Dexter and Rashad Torrence.

It was a nice day for the Florida special teams. South Carolina accomplished zero yards on all of their returns combined. For the Gators, Toney averaged 21 yards per punt return and Keon Zipperer handled two pooch style kickoffs very well. Jacob Finn averaged 45 yards per punt and Evan McPherson has yet to miss a placekick of any kind this season.

Florida will need to play better on defense next week to beat Texas A&M next week in College Station. The Aggies rolled up 450 yards of total offense against Alabama in Tuscaloosa today.

Florida slogged thru the rain and persevered to beat a solid South Carolina team, 38 - 27, on a wet Saturday in Columbia, South Carolina. The difference was in the “big” plays. The Gators capitalized with a (Pierce) 75 yard touchdown run, a 37 yard touchdown pass (Copeland), and with a fourth quarter strip sack (Carter) fumble recovery (Campbell) on the Gamecock’s 29 yard line. For the day, SC out gained (387 to 354)and out possessed (32:03 to 27:53) Florida, but gave up too many big plays.

First the good. Florida’s defense survived despite the absence of their two top pass rushers and several in-game injuries that forced the Gators to play freshmen in key situations. At different points, at least 5 Florida defenders were helped off the field. David Reese rallied the troops and stabilized a wobbly run defense in critical moments. Kyle Trask wasn’t sharp early, but gained momentum (and accuracy) as the game progressed. The O-line pass blocked pretty well. Kinlaw (SC DT) is a beast. Four TD passes to four different receivers is a nice accomplishment against a tough (Muschamp) defense. The Gators extended drives with two fourth down conversions and a couple long third down conversions. Special teams were good, making a long field goal and averaging nearly 45 yards per punt.

Now the bad. The run game for Florida is still unreliable. Without the 75 yard touchdown run, the Gators netted less than 100 yards on 29 carries. The receivers had several dropped passes and blocked poorly on the perimeter today. Without Greenard and Zuniga, the Florida defense failed to get consistent pressure on Hilinski.

With the exception of last week at LSU, the Gators have made good in game adjustments and finished games strong. Florida leverages it’s superior conditioning and depth to dominate late in most games. The open date comes at a great time. The Gators are a banged up team with a physical Georgia team looming in two weeks. It was great having Pierce back today. By the Georgia game, Florida could be close to full strength (barring injury reports from today).