Florida State Seminoles 27, Florida Gators 2: The Offense Collapses. Get Ready

With the win, the Seminoles (10-2) won their third consecutive game at Florida Field – the first time that’s happened in the history of the storied rivalry.

Spread: Florida opened as a three-point favorite, but injuries to key defensive players for the Gators have helped push the line to the Seminoles, who are now favored by 1.5 points. The team overall delivered 256 yards rushing, 25 catches, and two touchdowns in the game.

(AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack).

The Gators averaged just 318 yards per game over their final six games, including a putrid 257 yards in a 27-2 loss to Florida State on Saturday night at “The Swamp”. The Gators entered the week 12th in the CFP rankings. The Gators have to be searching for answers in how to move the football and make sure Taylor is able to be a factor in the game as he has three straight 100-yard games and has gone over 100 yards in four of his last five. “Our players know how hard it is to do that”.

Florida averted its first shutout in its series with Florida State when McGuire fumbled into the end zone and fell on it for a safety.

“Well, it’s a huge challenge, we’re playing the best team in college football”, McElwain said on an SEC Championship Game teleconference. The SEC Championship Game will provide a great opportunity for one last quality win, but could a two-loss Florida team jump, say, both Stanford and Ohio State? The Seminoles probably locked up a spot in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on December 31 in Atlanta. The Gators don’t play pretty football, but they continue to find ways to win regardless. The leverage on the ball, the pressure on the quarterback and controlling the line of scrimmage, the defense really came to play. Harris was 19-of-38 for just 134 yards.

The Seminoles did force a UF turnover as quarterback Treon Harris bobbled a snap and was tripped up in the backfield on a 4th and 3 play. Antonio Morrison leads the Gators with 84 tackles, Vernon Hargreaves, III has four interceptions and Alex McCalister has 6.5 sacks.

“When you turn it over like we did in the second half, we didn’t give our defense a chance to get set”, said third-year FGCU coach Joe Dooley. FGCU is 1-0 in games decided by a margin of 18 points or more.

For the game: McElwain said after the game, “We’ll get a kicker and we’ll get a good one“. It’s also worth noting Florida State has only played on the road four times this season.

The Seminoles tacked on three goals in the second half with Williams scoring in the 52nd minute and Elin Jensen notching goals in the 69th and 75th minutes.

Florida reached the red zone twice Saturday, but failed to convert a fourth-and-2 play and had a 37-yard field goal blocked. Twice as a freshman, once as a sophomore and now once as a junior. But it’s still gone on long enough that it’s sort of unusual that the Seminoles will be looking for their first three-game winning streak in Gainesville on Saturday.

“Part of that, you need to look a little bit at me and what I’m asking him to do as well, and trying to push the envelope a little bit”, McElwain said. Florida mounted their own drive to end the half but came away empty after a missed Austin Hardin field goal.

The 90s Bobby Bowden era at Florida State was the golden age for the ‘Noles, with two national titles in just six years (1993 and 1999).

While the quarterback position is a big topic of discussion for Florida State their offense starts with running back Dalvin Cook.

“I did feel they were wearing down in the fourth quarter”, Cook said.