Florida Gators
Missouri
Gators Show in Show Me State 21-3
Sunday, October 11, 2015 | Football, Chris Harry
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- If you're truly a top-10 team, like the Florida Gators are about to be, performances on the road like Saturday night against Missouri are the expectation.
So call this one a "Show Me State statement."
It may not have been overly impressive, but it was utterly effective. A week after manhandling then-No. 3 Ole Miss, the Gators handled their business as if they were on a business trip -- which they were.
Junior tailback Kelvin Taylor had two first-quarter touchdown runs, sophomore cornerback Jalen Tabor had a 40-yard interception return for a score and the Florida defense overwhelmed the two-time defending Southeastern Conference East Division champion Tigers 21-3 before a black-and-gold crowd 70,767 at Faurot Field.
In victory, the Gators (6-0, 4-0) seized command of the SEC East. They now lead every team in the division by at least two games and hold tiebreakers over three of the East teams, based on head-to-head wins.
"It's been a pretty emotional stretch," UF's Jim McElwain said after becoming the first Gators coach since Galen Hall in 1984 to win his first six games. "We needed to win a game like that. We didn't play great. In fact, we played not very good offensively, obviously. But we had our defense step up when it needed to and gave us a kickstart. We flipped the field a couple times."
He paused.
"I'm OK with it.”
UF quarterback Will Grier, making his second start on the SEC road, completed 20 of 33 passes for 208 yards. Taylor rushed a career-high 28 times for 99 yards and the two scores. Together, they led drives of 75 and 82 yards in the first period -- both capped with 1-yard TD runs by Taylor -- to stake the Gators to an early double-digit lead. From there, the UF defense took over, outshining a Mizzou unit that started the game ranked first in the league in both scoring and yards allowed.
"The offense came out fast," said junior safety Marcus Maye, who had one of UF's two second-half interceptions. "They put points on the board for us right away, so we just wanted to feed off that."
And feast on a true freshman quarterback.
Mizzou's Drew Lock, starting for just the second time due to a suspension to Maty Mauck, was under siege most of the night in finishing 16 of 39 for 151 yards and the two picks. The Tigers (4-2, 1-2), who demolished UF each of the last two seasons, found next to nothing going against the Florida defense. Mizzou finished with just 257 yards and went 1-for-14 on third down.
MU, in fact, did not convert its lone third down until 36 seconds remained in the game.
In two road SEC games now, the Gators have yet to give up a touchdown.
"Our defense is for real," tight end DeAndre Goolsby said.
“Boys ball out," Taylor said of his defensive mates. "As an offense we want to keep making plays every time we go out there and score, but at the same time our defense does a great job playing for us too. I feel like it was a team effort win and we just got to keep working with each other and keep playing great ball for each other.”
Tabor's pick-6 at 6:25 of the third period basically iced the game. It was his second interception return for a score this season.
"My whole high school career, I only had one," Tabor said.
Taylor finished off an impressive opening march for the Gators, who rolled 75 yards on 12 plays, with Taylor accounting for nearly half the yards (21 rushing, 14 receiving). He carried a couple Tigers defenders with him on a 4-yard run on third-and-2 on the play before the touchdown to keep things moving.
The Tigers answered the UF score with a 21-yard field goal from Andrew Baggett after Lock took his offense down to the Florida 5 in just three plays before the Gators stiffened on defense.
"They gave us some new stuff we didn't see on film," Maye said. "But we adjusted the second drive and eventually we slowed 'em down."
After that first possession of 62 yards, the Tigers gained just 195 yards on 13 possessions the rest of the way, punting nine times.
"They out-executed us," MU coach Gary Pinkel said. "They are a really good defensive football team. We just made mistakes they didn't make. Obviously, offensively we're still having some problems."
On UF's third possession, Grier needed just eight plays to get the Gators into the end zone. A facemask penalty against Missouri, 19-yard run by Taylor and a 21-yard Grier-to-Ahmad Fullwood completion to the 1 set up the junior tailback's second touchdown for a double-digit advantage.
“Once it was 14-3, I felt like if we buckle down on defense, we'll win the game," Tabor said. "All the offense has to do is put up something."
The Tigers had a chance to cut into the 11-point margin, but Baggett's 54-yard field goal attempt was wide left. UF's Jorge Powell returned the favor with 3:04 to go in the first half when he missed a 36-yarder.
The score remained 14-3 deep in the third period when Lock tested Tabor, the sophomore cornerback, on a sideline route. Tabor timed the play perfected, snagging the ball high, stumbling a few steps, but managing to keep his balance, stay in bounds and race up the Mizzou sideline to put the Gators ahead 21-3.
“We feel like if our offense puts up at least 14 points, it's going to be hard to beat us because we're going to buckle down," Tabor said. "We know we've got the right players."
Right mindset too.
