Oliver Barry CRS, GRI
Begin forwarded message:
From: Shane Ford <goufgators@bellsouth.net>
Date: October 29, 2016 at 10:59:48 PM CDT
To: GatorNews <gatornews@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [gatornews] [SUN]: Dooley: UF offense good enough
Reply-To: gatornews+owners@googlegroups.com
--Dooley: UF offense good enough
Florida Gators defensive lineman Jabari Zuniga (92) reacts after throwing Georgia Bulldogs wide receiver Reggie Davis (81) to the ground in the backfield during the second half of the Gators' 24-10 win against SEC-rival Georgia Saturday, Oct. 29, 2016 at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Fla..
Rob C. Witzel/The Gainesville SunPublished: Saturday, October 29, 2016 at 9:23 p.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, October 29, 2016 at 9:23 p.m.
Seconds after Jordan Scarlett had converted a fourth-and-1 that removed any doubt about the outcome of another Cocktail Party, Luke Del Rio turned to the sideline and did the Gator chomp.
Because there are no bad days when you beat Georgia.
They say you can throw out the records with rivalry games like this one. Well, the winning team gets to throw out the stats if it wants to.
So forget that Florida barely cracked 200 yards of total offense. Del Rio was the winning quarterback.
Hence, the chomp.
"You never think to do the chomp," Del Rio said. "It's such a cool thing. Not every team has a thing like that to do."
Del Rio didn't have the best night, but he had a great memory. Every Gator in a stadium where the other side emptied out after another failed fourth down enjoyed a victory, Florida's third in a row over the Bulldogs and 21st out of the last 26.
That's why there were a lot of toothy grins in the bowels of EverBank Field. Scott Stricklin, who will be Florida's athletic director in a few days, wore a wide grin from ear to ear every time someone reminded him he couldn't count this game on his resume.
"I'm still 0-0, but I'm bowl eligible," he said.
Instead, this was the final football game in the win column for Jeremy Foley, who has a couple of days remaining on the job. To go out with another win over Georgia had him beaming.
Of course, he had just come from the locker room where coach Jim McElwain had asked him to break the team down at the end of their celebration.
"I gave him a do-over," McElwain said. "He flubbed the first one (after the Missouri game)."
And so Foley huddled with the victorious team and shouted, "GATORS FOREVER, 1, 2, 3!"
Playing for only the second game in 28 days, UF's offense could be described as rusty except that's an insult to rust. Another of those ill-advised Del Rio passes — this interception on his first pass of the night — handed Georgia three early points. A big sack of Del Rio later in the first quarter took the Gators out of field goal range.
And when Georgia quarterback Jacob Eason hit on three huge scramble plays to give the Bulldogs a 10-7 lead, you thought it might be enough.
But there are some things that remain constants. Georgia will drop big passes, struggle with the kicking game and make some odd play calls.
To start the second half, the Bulldogs had three straight three-and-outs. Nick Chubb never saw it.
The outstanding Georgia tailback carried the ball only twice in the second half.
"We couldn't get any rhythm going," Chubb said. "It seemed like it was three-and-out all the time."
Florida's plan was predictable, to stuff the run and try to confuse Georgia's freshman quarterback Jacob Eason. When the Gators stuffed the run, it was like Georgia gave up trying.
"I'm pretty surprised they didn't use him that much in the game," said Florida defensive tackle Khairi Clark.
I'm sure Georgia fans were, too.
Florida's defense can do that to an offensive coordinator.
So again, Florida had just enough on offense to win. Nobody knows how far this defense can take this team. We only know how far it has taken it so far.
And we know that there are some tough guys on this team.
Like linebacker Jarrad Davis, who played on a sore ankle because he refused not to.
"It was a little frustrating in the first half because I just wasn't there," Davis said. "I was kind of slow on a few things, but the second half, I got right."
That included a textbook tackle on Georgia's Terry Godwin on a fourth-down play that got fellow linebacker Alex Anzalone so excited he sprinted across the field "to maul him."
And there was the much-maligned offensive line chewing up 5:33 of valuable clock with a short drive that led to a field goal. And being asked to go for it on fourth down to seal the game.
"I just challenged them," McElwain said of his linemen. "I said, 'Look it's time, it's time to assert your will. Don't take no for an answer.' And it was a bit of a statement."
Jordan Scarlett squeezed through a hole for two yards when one would clinch the game. By then, there weren't many fans left on the West side of the stadium where Georgia fans gathered to see what their new coach would do in his first rivalry game.
Meanwhile on the field, Del Rio was chomping. I reminded him that Tim Tebow had once been penalized for doing it.
"Yeah, I know, but that was at a player," he said.
This was at his players, his coaches and a Gator Nation that went roaring into another Jacksonville night.
Contact Pat Dooley at 352-374-5053 or at pat.dooley@gvillesun.com. And follow at Twitter.com/Pat_Dooley.
Sent From Shane's iPhoneGo Gators! & Skål Vikes!ALPCA #8756Europlate #1045
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GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY!
1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions |
Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007)
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