Expectations were subverted on Saturday when the Florida Gators upset the Texas Longhorns in Austin, 27-24, in a game that exemplified why college football is the best game on turf.
The Orange and Blue had lost two straight games by blowout margins and were double-digit underdogs entering the matchup. Florida fell behind early by 10 points in the first quarter, but things started clicking in the second as the Gators outscored the Longhorns, 27-14, the rest of the way.
Tramell Jones Jr. looked strong in his first collegiate start while Jadan Baugh came close to the 100-yard mark, collecting 91 on 25 runs — both providing leadership and clutch performances for the offense. Meanwhile, the defense looked like it finally started to figure things out,
holding Arch Manning and his corps to 17 points on 272 total yards.
It was, for all intents and purposes, an all-around effort from Florida in the Week 7 win.
Immediately after the final seconds ticked off the game clock, the Gators Wire staff submitted their instant reactions and analysis to the upset win in good, bad and ugly format. Here is what we had to offer.
Adam Dubbin
GOOD: Jones Jr. stepped up in his first start for the Gators, showing poise under pressure and making key plays along the way. He was by no means superlative, but he was as good a field general as Aaron Philo has been — if not better — demonstrating rapid decision-making while showing some quickness on the ground.
Without Jones leading the way with both his arm and feet, it is hard to see the Gators prevailing in this major upset victory for the Orange and Blue.
BAD: Florida's special teams entered the game with the top special teams unit in the country, according to ESPN's SP+ metric.
However, the punt return for a touchdown was not what one expects from a highly-touted corps — the Gators' defense opened up like the Red Sea and allowed Ryan Niblett to reach the promised land unscathed. There was also the first punt of the game where Florida had a chance to pin Texas at the 1-yard line; instead, it resulted in a touchback.
UGLY: Allowing the deep throw from Manning on a 4th-and-6 with five-plus minutes remaining to set up a fourth-quarter touchdown was a low moment for the defense in a second half that Florida had dominated. The score cut the lead to three and made things a bit too close for comfort in the final minutes.
Alas, it ended up not being the difference-maker we had feared.
David Rosenberg
GOOD: Florida's defense was excellent when Texas needed just a yard or two. The Longhorns finished 2-for-10 on third down and 1-for-3 on fourth down, including an 0-for-4 mark on third down in the second half.
Cormani McClain blew up Hollywood Smothers for a 3-yard loss on 3rd and 1 in the 3rd quarter; Ty Jackson stuffed Smothers on 4th and 1 before halftime. The big play came when Lagonza Hayward and Ben Hanks III got Arch Manning on 3rd and 1 before Brendan Bett dropped him for a 3-yard loss on 4th and 2.
Texas kept finding itself in manageable situations. Florida just kept winning them.
BAD: Florida's approach on long-yardage downs in the first half was at times maddeningly conservative.
The best example of this came after the Gators got to the Texas 29: second-and-14, Florida ran Jadan Baugh up the middle for 3; third-and-11, Tramell Jones Jr. dumped it off to Baugh behind the line of scrimmage for a 1-yard loss. Durkin saved the possession with a 45-yard field goal, but that sequence summed up much of the first half.
Short throws and runs rarely convert second-and-long or third-and-long, especially when you finally get the ball in enemy territory.
UGLY: Florida went 0-for-7 on third down in the first half. Zero. Seven.
Then the Gators came out of halftime and converted all five third downs on their opening touchdown drive. They finished 8-for-12 on third down after the break, after failing to convert a single one before it. Whatever Florida figured out in the locker room obviously worked. It just would have been nice to figure it out before spending an entire half going 0-for-7.
Michael Trim Jr.
GOOD: Jadan Baugh looked every bit the player in the first four games of the season on the road in Austin, Texas. He made crucial runs and converted them into first downs. With Duke Clark not traveling with the team, London Montgomery could spell Baugh in spurts to help ease the pressure. Tramell Jones Jr. stepped into a hostile environment for his first career start and delivered, staying composed and leading the team against a top-10 team.
BAD: The Gators struggled to get into a flow early, falling behind 10-0, possibly because Tramell was making his first start, but it didn’t hurt the Gators in the long run, as they battled back and won the game.
UGLY: Though the Gators won the football game, they could have put it away just one drive earlier. The Orange and Blue ran three plays for a net loss of four yards and a punt, but with even slightly better play calling, Texas wouldn’t have had the chance to scare Florida.
Michael Long
GOOD: Jones Jr. showed poise, moxie and elite athleticism in his first start this season. With timely runs and an accurate deep ball, it was a performance that Gator Nation should be excited about as TJJ showed he can be a viable option at quarterback this year and beyond. Led by Jones, Buster Faulkner's unit was seven-for-eight on 3rd down.
We may look back at the 4th and 12 throw from Tramell to Dallas Wilson late in the 2nd quarter as a turning point for this program.
The Florida secondary also stepped up big, making life difficult for Arch Manning, who was nearly picked off in the second quarter by Bryce Thornton. In the first half, Manning only had two completions over five yards; he had a total of 77 yards with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
BAD: Penalties continued to be a bugaboo for the Orange and Blue; Jon Sumrall even came halfway onto the field to berate Caden Jones after an offensive penalty. Overall, it was seven penalties for 55 yards against UF.
The run game has struggled to return to form, only managing to rush for 3.4 yards per carry. Florida failed to convert on 1st-and-goal at the start of the fourth that could have extended the lead further; Jones overthrew his intended receiver for one of his worst throws of the day. While they did control time of possession — especially in the second half — the Florida offense wasn't able to produce any explosive plays.
UGLY: Florida was unable to put the Longhorns away on 4th and long after having Manning pinned in the backfield; that inability to get him down resulted in a 66-yard completion to Emmett Mosley. Two plays later, he found Cam Coleman for a score to cut the lead to three with four minutes left.
The Gators started to unravel a bit down the stretch with a dropped snap that was almost disastrous for Jones.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Instant reactions to Florida's huge upset road win at Texas in Week 7
