Losers on the scoreboard, losers in the news.
The Florida Gators suffered a horrid loss Saturday night, losing in last-second fashion to the Missouri Tigers on the road.
It was another offensive battle for the Gators and the defense didn’t do much to assist them in the effort, giving up 508 total yards of offense to the Tigers. The Florida State Seminoles are on deck and stand in the way of Florida’s hopes for a trip to a bowl game.
USA TODAY Sports released its “winners and losers” of the week and just as predicted: the Florida Gators were dubbed as one of few “losers.” College sports reporter Paul Myerberg summarized Florida’s loss with one simple word.
“Brutal. Brutal.” Myerberg wrote. “This has already been an ugly year for Florida, which went 6-7 in Billy Napier’s first season and was 5-5 heading into games against Missouri and Florida State to end the regular season, needing at least one win to reach a bowl and two wins in three possible games to avoid back-to-back losing seasons to start Napier’s tenure — something that would be very, very hard to overcome.”
“Despite losing quarterback Graham Mertz to injury in the second half, the Gators led Missouri 31-30 with 1:34 left and were in position to earn bowl eligibility with one defensive stand. Instead, Missouri went 62 yards in 12 plays, including a ridiculous fourth-and-17 conversion to star receiver Luther Burden, and then kicked a 30-yard field goal with five seconds left to win 33-31. That’s brutal.”
The Florida Gators will look for redemption on Saturday night when they host the Florida State Seminoles in what could be the final game of the season for the Orange and Blue. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET and the rivalry game will be broadcast on ESPN.
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