The Florida Gators left the Swamp victoriously on Saturday after a tough battle against the Missouri Tigers. [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] and Co. claimed their first SEC win of the season, 24-17, thanks to some outstanding defense from the secondary and clutch performances from the Gators’ top two running backs in the second half.
The entire offense was weak in the first half. A long punt return and pick-six gave Florida a 10-point cushion to start the game, but the Gators only managed 65 yards of total offense in the first half. [autotag]Montrell Johnson Jr[/autotag]. and [autotag]Trevor Etienne[/autotag] picked things up in the second half, and that helped a scuffling [autotag]Anthony Richardson[/autotag] pull things together a bit. AR looked better as the game went on, but he turned the ball over twice and had an atrocious first half.
The defense looked a bit stronger than it has in the past. [autotag]Jaydon Hill[/autotag] picked off the first two passes of his collegiate career, and [autotag]Ventrell Miller[/autotag] was a leader on the field in every sense of the word. Heck, even [autotag]Trey Dean[/autotag] made a stop in the backfield early on.
That’s not to say everything was perfect on that side of the ball, though. Missouri converted on third down nine times and totaled 370 yards of offense. That number probably could have been lower, but it was enough to win the game.
Here are five key takeaways from Florida’s first conference win of the year.