Moral victories don’t exist, and close, emotional losses count just as much as five-touchdown blowouts. With that being said, against an Alabama team who rarely even sweats during regular-season games, Florida had a real chance to win in the final minutes. The Gators were a missed extra point and/or a failed two-point conversion away from sending the game to overtime, and it seems the team made quite a national impression despite the loss.
CBS Sports’ Barrett Sallee graded the performance of several college football teams, and he gave Florida a B+ grade, even with the loss.
Losing leaves a small margin for error for the rest of the season, but the Gators gained a ton of street cred by pushing the Crimson Tide. The defense showed up in a big way after falling behind early, while the offense found an identity with QB Emory Jones. It’s a loss, but we learned a lot of good things about Dan Mullen‘s team. Florida is the only team to come within 15 points of Alabama in one-plus years, and it’s done so twice.
While Sallee is right that UF really can’t afford another slipup if it wants to return to Atlanta or compete for a spot in the College Football Playoff, but the Gators proved beyond a reasonable doubt on Saturday that their performance in last year’s SEC Championship was no fluke.
Even without Kyle Trask, Kyle Pitts and Kadarius Toney, the Gators remained within one score of the best team in the nation. Florida will be a trendy pick the rest of the year, and it will hope it fares better, outcome-wise, in what will likely be its second top-five matchup against Georgia on Oct. 30.
[lawrence-related id=55126,54978,54964,54965,54940]
[listicle id=54983]
[vertical-gallery id=54984]
Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.