Bowl eligibility seemed like it had slipped out of Florida’s grasp after a loss at home to Arkansas a few weeks ago, but the Gators came one down away from locking up a sixth win on Saturday night against the Missouri Tigers.
As anyone who has watched this Gators team play all season long might expect at this point, the defense blew a fourth-and-17 that could have sealed the game and the Tigers took a two-point lead to win it with eight seconds left on the clock a few plays later. Heartbreak. Missouri wins, 33-31.
Florida fought all night to reach that point, and to lose it all in a moment was almost poetic. Not to mention the loss of Graham Mertz, which doesn’t seem like a one-game deal. This will be a tough loss to swallow for many, but there’s a lot of good to take away from it as well.
Here’s what we learned about the Gators in Week 12.