Florida takes down USF, 42-20

The Florida Gators picked up a win over an in-state foe on Saturday.

One week before they host juggernaut Alabama, the Gators took down the USF Bulls, 42-20. They were pressed a bit defensively in the second half, but still would pull out a 20+ point win.

Florida took a 35-3 lead into halftime and seemed to have full control of the game. But they played sloppily in the second half, allowing 17 points from a pretty porous Bulls offense. They obviously were able to get the victory, but a tale of two halves like that can’t happen against more quality opponents. Especially the one they play next week in The Swamp.

Offensively, the Gators hit the ground hard. They ran for 363 yards and averaged 8.3 YPC along the way. Anthony Richardson, who did some quarterbacking too, led the team with 115 yards on only four carries. He also went 3-for-3 in passing for 152 yards and two touchdowns. We’ve run the math, and can conclude that that’s pretty damn good.

Starting quarterback Emory Jones went 14-for-22 with 1t51 yards and a touchdown. He did, however, throw two interceptions to USF’s Brock Nichols and Mekhi LaPointe. Jones, who should be expected to start versus Bama next week, will have to clean that up against a ferocious Tide defense.

Wins are wins obviously, but outside of Richardson’s performance and the ground game in general, the Gators were pretty inconsistent in this one. They simply cannot afford to play like this next week in Gainesville. For their sake, they will need to clean their game up and come ready for Alabama next week on CBS.