Florida does what is expected, rolls over Towson

Much like last week vs Tennessee, Florida turned in a very business-like effort to dispatch of the Towson Tigers by a score of 38-0. With the win, Florida improves to 5-0 on the season and ensures that it will move into the meat of its schedule without any blemishes on the record.

Kyle Trask got off to a perfect start with a 12-play, 82-yard drive that ended with a touchdown pass from Trask to Kyle Pitts. It was Pitts third catch of the drive, and he would tack on a second touchdown later in the game. Trask would also continue to build on a strong first start, completing 18 of his 20 passes for 188 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Trask hit his first 15 passes of the game, passing Chris Leak for most consecutive completions in program history with 18, due to the 3 completions that carried over from the Tennessee contest.

While Trask needed no time to pick up right where he left off, the Florida rushing attack need some time, and a lot of creative play-calling, to finally settle in to a groove in the second half of the game. 11 players carried the rock at least once for the Gators, including receivers Josh Hammond, Jacob Copeland, and Van Jefferson. Lamical Perine struggled again, rushing for only 16 yards on six attempts. Dameon Pierce was a bright spot however, turning his six carries into 84 yards and a touchdown.

On defense, it was once again a very good effort. The Gators mostly contained Tom Flacco after a few big scrambles early in the game, and Towson missed a couple of field goals to keep themselves off the board. While I’m sure Dan Mullen will be pleased to see his team create turnovers and force a shutout, Florida won’t be able to count on Auburn, Georgia, or LSU to make similar mistakes to Tennessee and Towson.

Jonathan Greenard and Donovan Stiner both picked off Flacco, while Amari Burney and David Reese II led the team with 8 and 7 total tackles apiece. With the dynamic freshman Bo Nix coming to town next week Florida will have to make sure they are prepared to handle a scrambling QB with a much better cast of help than Flacco this week.

It wasn’t perfect from Florida, but just like their other 4 games so far this season, it was good enough to win. The next 4 games for the Gators are #7 Auburn, @ #5 LSU and @ South Carolina, followed by the Cocktail Party vs #3 Georgia. Preparation time is over. It’s time to see what Florida is really made of.