It’s been 20 years since a Florida Gators pass catcher finished a season with 1,000 receiving yards or more, and that streak will live to see another year after [autotag]Ricky Pearsall[/autotag] came up short in his bid for history Saturday night.
The former Arizona State Sun Devil entered the night just 52 yards shy of the threshold, but redshirt freshman quarterback Max Brown didn’t target his top receiver through the first 30 minutes of the game. Finally, the two connected in the second half for a 17-yard gain, but Brown only went to him one more time.
That puts Pearsall’s season total at 965 yards, which is still good for the second-best number at Florida since Taylor Jacobs last broke the thousand-yard threshold.
Plenty have come close since Jacobs finished the 2002 season with 1,088 receiving yards. Kadarius Toney came the closest with 984 in 2020. Chad Jackson had 900 in 2005, Dallas Baker finished with 920 in 2006 and Riley Cooper came the second closest with 961 in 2009. Surprisingly, Percy Harvin’s best season came in 2007 when he ended the year with 858 yards.
Pearsall’s name will still be etched in the history books in Gainesville, but it’s hard not to think he would have hit 1,000 with ease if Graham Mertz were healthy.
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