Florida Gators Win Big; 70-19 Over The Citadel

Scoring came early and often for

Florida

as they marched to a 70-19 win over

The Citadel

. The Gators got out to a 42-0 lead early in the game and never looked back. Although any blow out would’ve been acceptable, Florida needed a score this lopsided to show the nation they are still on one of the hottest streaks we’ve seen in recent years. Over the last seven games, the Gators have now outscored opponents 369-82. That means, since the loss to

Ole Miss

, Florida is winning games by an average score of 53-12. The word you’re looking for is GOO!!!

I thought the Gators needed to do a few things in this game before heading into matchups against FSU and Alabama. They seem to have accomplished all of them.

First of all, Florida needed to keep the momentum going. A 30-point win isn’t what pollsters and fans were looking for. Gator fans wanted to be reminded of the days of Steve Spurrier when Florida ran over opponents with reckless abandon. That’s exactly what they did; hitting the 70-point plateau for the first time since…well, it was before Urban Meyer was around and of course before that other guy was the head coach. The most impressive statistic of the game had to be 706. The Gators piled up that many yards of offense, including 395 on the ground.

Meyer and Kenny Carter needed to figure out a way to get Emmanuel Moody valuable carries without overworking him. That was definitely accomplished as Moody finished the day with a modest 13 carries for an impressive 116 yards. He led all Florida rushers in carries, but Chris Rainey led the way with 142 rushing yards, including a highlight reel 73-yard jaunt. I, for one, was very happy to see Kestahn Moore get some carries and get into the end zone twice. It’s been an up-and-down career for Moore, but he had a great day in his final home game.

The Gators did what they needed to do and didn’t try too much in this game. The first-team offense and defense both looked like it was just another game to them. It didn’t look like Florida went outside the standard playbook and instead just stuck to what has been working.

This might have been the first time this season that we got a chance to give high marks to the backups. That’s not to say they’ve played bad this year, but at times they looked on and at others they looked off. That could especially be said about quarterback John Brantley. In this one Brantley looked calmer and in control of the game when he was on the field. He completed 8-of-11 for 110 yards and a touchdown. I’ll be very excited to see what Brantley can do when he’s the starter one day.

We’ll give out a few extra pats on the back to a few specific players. At this point in the season, what more can we say about Will Hill and Janoris Jenkins. They are both playing like All-SEC performers and it’s great knowing they are only freshman. They are two very special talents and should make everyone drooling at the thought of next season’s secondary. Riley Cooper also gets a quick shout out for what could’ve been the catch of the year. And we can’t forget about Javier Estopinan who ran one in during the third quarter.

Now it’s crunch time. Florida is clearly the superior team, but all bets are off for in-state rivalry games. And then it’s on to the SEC Championship. Go Gators!