Florida mauls Michigan in Peach Bowl victory

It took almost four years, but the Florida Gators finally got their revenge on the Michigan Wolverines for the 2015 Citrus Bowl. Florida picked up a 41-15 victory over the Wolverines Saturday to win the Peach Bowl and cap off their first 10-win season since 2015, an undoubtedly promising sign in Dan Mullen’s first season at the helm.

While the score makes the game seem like a laugher, it was actually quite competitive in the first half, as the Gators led 13-10 going into the locker room thanks to a 20 yard Feleipe Franks rushing touchdown with two minutes to play.

Whatever Mullen said in his halftime speech certainly worked, though, as the Gators looked like a whole new team in the second half. The Gators came away with touchdowns on each of their first three drives of the second half, and Michigan answered with just a field goal. In fact, Michigan mustered just five points in the entire second half, with the other two coming on a punt block out of the end zone after the game was already well out of hand.

Lamical Perine had a nice day for Florida, leading the Gators with 76 yards, 53 of which came on the touchdown run that extended Florida’s lead to 34-13. Perine also had a receiving touchdown. The rushing attack was the big story for the Gators, as they outgained Michigan 257-77 on the ground.

Defensively, Florida was buzzing all day. The Gators recorded seven tackles for loss, and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson had two interceptions, the second of which he returned for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.