GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Idaho threw a pass on the first snap from scrimmage Saturday, a play that junior defensive back Chauncey Gardner-Johnson broke on instantly, intercepted in stride, and virtually walked into the end zone for a 26-yard touchdown return six seconds into the game. The Vandals' next possession was a three-and-out that Florida turned into a three-play, 47-yard, 42-second drive, with quarterback Feleipe Franks going 17 yards, also untouched, for a rushing touchdown and two-touchdown lead less than three minutes in. 

And that's pretty much how this cool, sun-splashed afternoon at the "Swamp" went for the home team. 

Franks threw for 274 yards and three touchdowns in less than a half, the Gators piled up 600 yards of total offense, and the UF defense held Idaho to just 227 yards in a 63-10 victory Saturday at Spurrier/Florida Field. Franks had scoring tosses of 52, 3 and 34 yards to go with his rushing touchdown before giving way to true freshman Emory Jones, who added a couple more scoring tosses, as UF won its second straight and immediately turned focus toward next weekend's regular-season finale at Florida State, winner of five straight in the rivalry series.

And beyond.

"I'm certainly going to try to find ways to improve, but the day went really well," UF coach Dan Mullen said. "We're in great position." 

The Gators (8-3) have now doubled their victory total of last season — when Coach Jim McElwain was fired before the calendar flipped to November — and if they halt the Seminoles' longest winning streak in the series' 60-year history they'll likely be selected for a coveted New Year's Six bowl game.
 
The UF senior class, honored during pregame ceremonies of their final home date, got a tip of the helmet from the head coach and teammates for helping redirect the orange and blue ship after last year's 4-7 debacle. A blowout was a nice way to show their gratitude.

"They just set the tone, and really bought into what [Coach Mullen] was doing and spreading the word to the younger guys," Franks said after coming 10 yards from his career-best passing yardage performance. "That's what it's all about. Making other people just believe in what they're doing."

The 600 yards was the most amassed by a UF offense since gaining 606 in the 2015 opener, a 61-13 win over New Mexico State and run of 49 games. The 53-point margin of victory was the largest since beating Eastern Michigan 65-0 for the first win of the '14 season. 

Thirteen different players caught passes. Eight took turns running the ball. 

"It was great to see all my fellow classmates play," said freshman tailback Dameon Pierce, who had 77 yards rushing and caught the first touchdown pass of his career. "The older guys set the tone for us in the first two quarters and gave us a chance to go out there and see where we are. Everybody performed."

In a lot of ways, with the quick start and big plays, the game had a feel of some Florida games of yesteryears, though even the best teams Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer trotted out never scored in a game's first six seconds. 

"I don't think we could have scored faster; we couldn't have run a kickoff back that fast," Mullen said. "Just couldn't start off any better, to get an early lead. Idaho coming out ready to play, looking for a spark, something to get them going — us doing that kills the spark." 

And lit a fire. 

After the Gators struck on their first possession, the score was 14-0 when Franks just barely overthrew Van Jefferson for what would have been a 52-yard touchdown pass on the first play of their third possession. No matter. On the very next snap, tight end Kyle Pitts went uncovered about 25 yards downfield. Franks found him and Pitts scored his first career touchdown, a 52-yarder, to make it 21-0. 

Franks came back to Jefferson, though, firing a 3-yard touchdown strike on a slant the next possession, taking the lead to 28-0 with 1:44 left in the first period. That finished a 10-play, 73-yard drive and four-touchdown cushion that set in motion the Jones watch. Arguably the marquee recruit of Mullen's first signing class, Jones was going to play against the Vandals; it was just a matter of how soon. 

His veterans teammates hastened the appearance.
 
Idaho mounted something of a drive on its sixth possession, moving to the UF 31 before being stopped on downs. Six plays and 48 yards later, Franks flipped the ball to wideout Josh Hammond on an end-around that went for a 21-yard rushing score and pushed the lead to 35-0 not five minutes into the second quarter. 

"Obviously, we got our butts kicked," Idaho coach Paul Petrino said. 

Again, the Vandals made it  into Florida territory, but again were turned away. Cade Coffey pulled a 42-yard field-goal try to the left, then the Gators needed only four plays to go 75 yards. Franks hit Tyrie Cleveland with a 34-yard touchdown at 5:22 of the period to push UF in front 42-0. 

It was time for some new faces.

"Great game. Offense came out and played, defense came out and played," senior tight end C'yontai Lewis said. "Coach Mullen always is preaching that every game is a big game because it's a game."

UF got the ball right back and Jones, for the first time since the Georgia game, trotted onto the field. One of his first passes was a gorgeous deep ball up the right sideline that dropped into Pitts' mitts, but fell incomplete, albeit in good coverage. Jones had a 15-yard run, followed by a 35-yard completion to Trevon Grimes to the Idaho 8. On the next play, Jones fired a quick-hitter into the left flat to Hammond, who darted down to the goal line and snuck the ball across for Jones' first career touchdown pass and 49-0 lead that stood till the break. 

The second half went completely to the youngsters. 

"Us young guys have some big shoes to fill," redshirt freshman defensive end Zach Carter said. "These older guys have pushed us since we've been here and we need to pick up where they left off."

Jones fumbled a snap on UF's first possession of the second half, but on the second took the Gators 50 yards, throwing a 4-yard touchdown pass to Pierce midway through the third quarter to go up 56-0.

Coffey's 38-yard field goal with 1:02 to play in the third averted the shutout, but sophomore linebacker Ventrell Miller trumped those points with an 82-yard pick-6 return for a touchdown, making it 63-10. 

The Vandals finally reached the end zone with 1:47 to play when quarterback Mason Petrino, who was 12 of 31 on the afternoon for 70 yards and an interception, threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Jeff Cotton, capping a 63-yard drive that represented a quarter of Idaho's offensive output on the day. 

Less than two minutes later, the Gators walked off their home field for the final time this season; the seniors did so for the final time of their careers. 

"We started out the Mullen era pretty good," Lewis said. 

There's still work to be done, and potential to make it even better.