Florida football gave their home crowd something to cheer about early on, scoring a touchdown on their opening drive against UCF on Saturday night. Graham Mertz connected with Elijhah Badger on a 13-yard pass, giving the Gators their first home lead over a Power Four opponent in 2024. It was also their first opening drive touchdown since November 18, 2023, against Missouri, providing a much-needed spark for Gator Nation. Florida held onto the lead for the rest of the game, thanks to a dominant defensive effort, and defeated UCF 24-13.
“We’ve put in a lot of hard work over the past two weeks, and I think that showed today,” head coach Billy Napier said after the game. “We made significant progress during the open week. I can’t say enough about the players’ and staff’s attitudes toward the work we’ve done, and it really paid off tonight.”
With co-defensive coordinator Ron Roberts in the booth for the second consecutive game, Florida limited UCF to just 273 total yards, not allowing a touchdown until there were 7:50 left in the fourth quarter. The Gators racked up a season-high five sacks, overwhelming UCF’s offensive line with relentless pressure throughout the game.
Florida effectively neutralized UCF’s second-ranked rushing attack, holding the Knights to 108 yards on 40 carries, an average of 2.7 yards per rush. This marked the third-lowest rushing total UCF has recorded under head coach Gus Malzahn. The Gators also limited star running back RJ Harvey to 75 yards and 4.7 yards per carry, both season-lows for the senior.
“We played with better gap discipline, tackled well, and had great pursuit,” Napier said of the run defense. “I think we played well at all three levels, but there are still areas where we can improve. A few plays got away from us, and we can definitely clean that up.”
A key aspect of the game was Florida’s red zone defense. After the Gators’ opening touchdown, they held UCF to a field goal on the Knights’ opening drive. UCF controlled the ball for over eight minutes to start the second half but managed only three points, a big win for a Florida defense holding a three-touchdown lead.
Florida also came up with two crucial fourth-down stops in the first half, helping them build a commanding 24-3 halftime lead.
The Gators’ offense stalled in the second half, failing to add any more points, but UCF struggled to establish rhythm in their passing game. Florida’s defense capitalized, forcing UCF into inefficient, clock-draining drives.
With the win, Florida improved to 3-2 (1-1 SEC) and will face Tennessee in Knoxville next week.
Leave a Reply