Florida Gators smack around Idaho on Senior Day; Show sneak peek into the future

It’s not like this is a surprise or anything, but the Florida Gators did what they needed to do, and well what they’re supposed to, in Saturday’s dominant display— as they crushed Idaho 63-10.

It was a day in which Florida’s defense actually outscored Idaho’s offense, reaching the end zone twice.

Florida racked up 600 total yards and scored 7 TD’s offensively and made it look easy. Throughout the first quarter and into the second, it was primarily the same familiar faces that we’re used to seeing, but then from there it was mostly all of the new offspring that indeed should excite the fan base as we all got a glimpse into the future.

It didn’t take Florida long to strike, all of 6 seconds in fact. On the very first play from scrimmage, Idaho QB Mason Petrino’s pass was well behind his intended man, and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson picked it off in stride the other way for his first career touchdown.

After a quick three-and-out on Idaho’s following possession, Feleipe Franks and the UF offense would go 47-yards on only 3 plays, capped off by Franks 17-yard TD run. Within the first three minutes of this game, it was already 14-0 Florida.

Franks would deliver TD passes later in the quarter to both freshman tight end Kyle Pitts for 52-yards and then to Van Jefferson from the 3, and UF would lead 28-0 after one.

Josh Hammond would make it 35-0 early in the second frame on an end-around scoring from 21-yards out. And then it was Franks again with a 34-yard dart to Tyrie Cleveland for his 3rd TD pass to bring it to 42-0. And that’s when Franks’ day would come to a close as he finished with 274 passing yards to go along with those 3 passing TD’s. Believe it or not, Franks’ 274 passing yards is actually a career single-game high for the maligned sophomore.

Everyone has been waiting for freshman sensation Emory Jones to get his opportunity, and he would take over for the remainder of this day from there. We finally got to take a look at Jones with a significant amount of reps, and he looked crisp throwing the football and showcased his phenomenal athleticism to go along with that.

After runs of 16 and 2 by Dameon Pierce, Jones would make three consecutive highlight plays on his first series after being inserted into the game— starting with a scamper for 15 yards, following that up with a 35-yard strike to Trevon Grimes, and then finishing off the drive with an 8-yard TD pass to Hammond.

With what was a firework filled first half from the offense, and an Idaho offense that was overwhelmed by UF’s swarming defense, the Gators took a 49-0 lead to the locker room.

Idaho actually only allowed 14 points in the second half and 7 of those came on another Gators’ pick-six by redshirt freshman linebacker Ventrell Miller. Meanwhile, the Vandals managed to score 10 on the Gators’ third and even fourth team defensive members, albeit in garbage time when Florida was just in coast mode.

It was certainly a beautiful way to send off Florida’s senior class, while also making way for the talented pieces that we’ll see in the coming years. And that is indeed the biggest takeaway from Saturday’s outing. For a fan base that simply doesn’t get this kind of performance very often anymore, it was nice to be able to sit back, relax, and not sit on the edge of our seats like we do just about every week. It was nice to just enjoy this one.

I get that it was Idaho, but this Florida defense brought their ferocious edge back that had been missing since October.

And on the other side, Franks connected with 8 different Gators in his short stint, from using his slew of receivers, tight ends, and running backs— all were involved in the passing game. In all, 13 Gators caught passes from either Franks and/or Jones, as Florida showed what kind of high-quality talent and depth that they have on offense, and some are just waiting in the wings.

Some notable freshman that received their first fair amount of live work include: high-prized recruit Jacob Copeland, who had a 16-yard catch and a 26-yard kick return in late game action; running back Iverson Clement, who had 12 yards on 3 carries; Miller, who scored on an 82-yard interception return that I touched on earlier; safety Amari Burney, who had 3 tackles, a pass breakup and a QB-hurry; defensive end Zachary Carter, who also had 3 tackles; the other linebacker named David Reese and fellow linebacker Lacedrick Brunson, who each had 2 tackles.

So, Florida notches their 8th win of the season and we can now officially move on to the showdown that lies ahead next week in Tallahassee. It gets no bigger than this and this rivalry needs no introduction. You can silence all of the New Year’s Six talk, or Dan Mullen’s rising first season in Gainesville, or even FSU’s tumultuous season by their standards. Right now, it’s only about Florida-Florida State. Need I say more?