Florida Football: Gators turn USC Jr into fried chicken on senior night
![Florida Gators quarterback Anthony Richardson (15) looks for a receiver as Florida defeated Missouri 24-17 during homecoming at Steve Spurrier Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, October 8, 2022. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]Ncaa Football Florida Gators Vs Missouri](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape%2Fcover%2Fsport%2Fc20926d3b337c46055432cc7ed2afaa21e56750467c720979c31d5b951116e9f.jpg "Florida Gators quarterback Anthony Richardson (15) looks for a receiver as Florida defeated Missouri 24-17 during homecoming at Steve Spurrier Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, October 8, 2022. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]Ncaa Football Florida Gators Vs Missouri")
In normal years, blowing out the University of South Carolina wouldn’t raise any eyebrows. It’s par for the course that Florida football blows out USC Jr.
Given the Gators inability to put a complete game together this entire season though, Saturday’s beatdown of the Gamecocks felt like catharsis that Florida fans haven’t been able to feel in quite some time.
Florida Football: One last ride in The Swamp
The second half against Texas A&M felt like it could have been a turning point in the season for Florida football, but the Gators have been too inconsistent to have faith.
In retrospect, the eight point spread underestimated the corner the Gators have turned. The 38-6 beatdown of USC Jr. was a complete game that left minimal room for complaints.
Anthony Richardson, potentially making his last start inside The Swamp, wasn’t particularly great throwing the ball (TD pass to Ricky Pearsall aside) but it didn’t matter. The Gators ran at will down the throats of USC Jr. Richardson had 96 yards rushing, Trevor Etienne had 100 yards off eight carries (85 coming on one electric run), and Montrell Johnson carried the load with 161 yards on 24 carries.
8️⃣5️⃣ YARD RUN. @Trevor_Etienne takes it to the house.
— Florida Gators Football (@GatorsFB) November 12, 2022
📺 @SECNetwork pic.twitter.com/VfEWNeuK1b
Patrick Toney’s defense also looks like it turned a corner. With the lone points Florida football surrendered coming from a fake punt, the defense pitched a shutout to continue its second half performance from last week.
With Vanderbilt and our Neighbors to the West left, an 8-4 season and finishing ranked is very possible for the Gators. As we’ve said before, 8-4 isn’t the long term standard for Florida football, but given dumpster fire Billy Napier inherited it’s a good start.
And with recruiting trending upwards and the defense finally looking like it knows what it is doing, the future for the Florida Gators under Napier looks like it’s going to be just fine.