Florida football: Top five performers against Florida State
By Sean Doty
Saturday saw the conclusion of the Florida football regular season, as well as the end of a decade-long drought inside The Swamp.
In front of 89,409 fans packed inside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on the final night of November, Florida football poured points all over the scoreboard en route to a 40-17 victory against in-state rival Florida State.
For the Gators, it was the football program’s first victory against the Seminoles in Gainesville since Tim Tebow’s final collegiate home game in 2009.
Unlike previous matchups during the Steve Spurrier and Bobby Bowden eras, Saturday night was not projected to be a close contest. Prior to kickoff, oddsmakers had the then no. 11 Gators (10-2) listed as 17-point favorites over the Noles (6-6).
While the Noles found themselves limping to the end of the regular season under interim head coach Odell Haggins, they still had the psychological edge by winning their last four contests against the Gators in Gainesville. During that four-game winning streak, the Noles defeated the Gators by an average margin of 21.25 points.
Though the Gators ended a five-year losing streak to the Noles in Tallahassee last season, fans of the orange and blue knew that a decisive victory in the Swamp on Saturday night would be needed in order to fully reestablish dominance in the sunshine state .
Saturday’s 23-point blowout not only ensured that Florida would maintain the Makala trophy and an invitation to a New Year’s 6 bowl for a second consecutive year, but it also brought the Florida Cup back to Gainesville for the first time since 2008 thanks to the victory against the Miami Hurricanes back in August.
Second-year head coach Dan Mullen etched himself further into Florida football history by becoming the first Gators head coach to win 10 or more games in his first two years.
As Mullen and the Gators await to find out which bowl game they will be participating in this Sunday, here are five standout players from Saturday night’s victory over Florida State.