GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida Gators were in need of a game to demonstrate that under head coach Billy, the team could triumph over a formidable Power 4 opponent at their home turf, The Swamp, and do so convincingly. They achieved this by defeating UCF with a score of 24-13. Despite the seemingly narrow margin, the Gators dominated the Knights in every facet of the game.
Graham Mertz threw a touchdown pass, Montrell Johnson ran for a score and Florida beat UCF 24-13 in the Swamp. The Gators (3-2) won consecutive games for the first time in nearly a year and handed the Knights (3-2) a second loss in as many weeks.
Facing the nation’s No. 2 rushing offense and a quarterback who’s already gotten the best of the Gators once before in KJ Jefferson, the Florida defense played its best game of the season. The Knights were held to 273 total yards of offense, 108 of which came on the ground. UCF came into the game averaging 326 yards a per game on the ground.
Additionally, the Gators held Jefferson to 126 yards passing, no touchdowns, sacked him five times and intercepted him once.
UCF out-scored Florida 10-0 in the second half, but a lack of urgency and over-reliance on the run cost the Knights, whose hopes for a comeback were ended by a Bryce Thornton interception with 1:48 left in the game.
Offensively, Florida used a two-to-one ratio of drives for quarterbacks Graham Mertz and DJ Lagway. Mertz completed 19 of his 23 passes for 179 yards and one touchdown, while Lagway went 4-for-4 with 50 yards passing.
Florida opened the game with a five-play, 75-yard drive, which ended with Mertz finding a wide-open Elijhah Badger for a 13-yard touchdown. The Gators converted three third downs with rushes from Montrell Johnson Jr. and Jadan Baugh as well as a reception from Hayden Hansen.
Florida wouldn’t relinquish its early lead for the entire game, despite UCF answering with a 12-play, 65-yard drive, which ended in a 27-yard field goal by Grant Reddick. From there, what’s been a lackluster, ineffective UF defense for most of the season completely stifled the Knights’ offense.
Florida held UCF to 69 yards of offense in the first half after the Knights’ opening drive, forced two turnover on downs and forced two punts. By the halftime break, the nation’s No. 2 rushing offense had only 29 rushing yards. The Knights had 35 rushing yards after the first drive.
On the Gators’ third drive, Lagway replaced Mertz and only needed one play to make an immediate impact. A 37-yard pass to Chimere Dike set up a one-yard score for Ja’Kobi Jackson on the Gators’ third drive.
Two drives later, Mertz led Florida on a seven-play, 58-yard drive capped off by a three-yard Johnson Jr. touchdown. The Gators’ sixth-year quarterback threw for 51 yards on two completions and drew a roughing-the-passer call to set up the score.
UCF was forced to punt, but a running-into-the-kicker call on Caleb Banks combined with a post-play unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Napier extended the Knights’ drive and pushed them into UF territory.
However, the UF defense continued it’s dominant effort with a fourth-down sack on Jefferson, and a Johnson Jr. 34-yard rush set up a 28-yard field goal from Trey Smack to end the scoring in the first half.
UCF’s three points was the least-allowed by the Gators through one half of football since holding Eastern Washington to three on Oct. 2, 2022.
However, the Knights kept things closer in the second half. Florida was held to 108 yards of total offense as UCF shoutout the Gators.
UCF immediately answered Smack’s field goal with a 37-yarder from Reddick to begin the third quarter, and Knights’ running back RJ Harvey scampered in from 13-yards out to make it a 24-13 game with under eight minutes left.
However, UCF’s over-emphasis on the run and lack of urgency eventually cost them. UCF drained nearly eight minutes of clock in the fourth quarter over the course of three drives and scored only seven points in the final 15 minutes.
UCF only took one shot down the field in that time, which was intercepted by Thornton.
The Gators (4-2, 1-2 SEC) next take the field on the road at No. 4 Tennessee with kickoff set for 7 p.m. Television coverage is on ESPN.
