The Florida Gators traveled to Columbia, South Carolina, this past weekend and came back home victorious over the South Carolina Gamecocks.
It was an offensive shootout in Williams-Brice Stadium and Florida quarterback Graham Mertz proved his worth again in leading his team to a triumphant win.
SEC officials were enthralled by Mertz’s performance on the road, the Wisconsin transfer recorded career highs in pass attempts (48) and passing yards (428). The accomplishments are also the best of the season so far.
Mertz also broke the narrative of being lackluster during throws of 15 yards or more, completing 11 long passes and five of them occurring in the fourth quarter.
Mertz is the first Gators quarterback since to pass for 400 yards since Anthony Richardson in last season’s meeting against Vanderbilt, and the first ever 400-yard passing game by a UF quarterback against South Carolina.
Mertz led a go-ahead drive to put the Gators in front of the Gamecocks within the last two minutes of the game, throwing a dart to senior wide receiver Ricky Pearsall.
Here’s the game winning score for @GatorsFB from our radio broadcast. pic.twitter.com/WhtPZJHPrH
— Sean Kelley (@SeanKelleyLive) October 15, 2023
The Gators are celebrating their SEC win with a bye week. They’ll travel to Jacksonville on Oct. 28 to challenge the No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs in the annual grudge match.
Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.