For a second consecutive week, the Florida Gators have upset a ranked opponent in The Swamp. The Orange and Blue took down the No. 9 Ole Miss Rebels, 24-17, to improve their record to 6-5 and secure bowl eligibility.
[autotag]DJ Lagway[/autotag] didn’t need to be the hero, but he still made some incredible throws, including two touchdown passes. The winning score came with senior running back [autotag]Montrell Johnson Jr[/autotag]. under center, though. Johnson lined up in the wildcat formation, faked a handoff and ran nine yards to his right into the endzone.
The remaining 7 minutes and 40 seconds of the contest was thrilling and proved that a depleted Gators secondary was still enough to stop one of the top quarterbacks in the country. Ole Miss signal-caller Jaxson Dart threw two interceptions — both secured by safety Bryce Thornton — to squash the Rebels’ chances to make the College Football Playoff.
The victory is, without a doubt, the best win of the [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] era and perhaps the best win since Kyle Trask was leading the glory year under Dan Mullen.
Florida is back!
The Billy Napier era has been filled with disappointment and uneasiness, but no longer is the future dim for the Florida Gators. The emergence of [autotag]DJ Lagway[/autotag] and the miraculous improvement of the defensive, at various levels, over the course of the season provides a path for Napier to not only stay on board for another season but perhaps thrive in Gainesville.
Lagway is a Heisman candidate moving forward, and he hasn’t even played with a fully healthy Eugene Wilson III. Replacing veteran receivers like [autotag]Elijhah Badger[/autotag] and [autotag]Chimere Dike[/autotag] won’t be easy, but there’s going to be a lot of interest from the big names in the transfer portal.
On defense, Gerald Chatman has transformed the line. [autotag]Caleb Banks[/autotag] looks like a future high-round pick, [autotag]Tyreak Sapp[/autotag] is dominating on the edge and [autotag]Cam Jackson[/autotag] is the anchor up front that Florida has needed all year. The pressure created, especially once Ole Miss center Reece McIntyre went down, forced Dart to make mistakes and an underestimated Gators secondary came up big in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter.
It’s hard not to be excited about what this team can do moving forward, and the dark cloud that’s hung over The Swamp for the past three years seems to be finally fading.
Great day for the RBs
Coming into this matchup, Ole Miss had the second-best run defense in the country. The Rebels allowed just 79.9 rushing yards per game and held opposing running backs to just 2.23 yards per carry.
Napier and his staff didn’t care about any of those numbers, though. The game plan was to run the ball early and often, and it worked like a charm. Florida’s three-headed monster in the backfield totaled a combined 174 yards on 39 carries, averaging 4.46 yards per carry — double the season average allowed by Ole Miss.
Johnson was the primary back in this one, rushing for 107 yards and the wildcat touchdown on 18 attempts, but Baugh flashed his talents with 46 yards on 13 rushes. [autotag]Ja’Kobi Jackson[/autotag], Florida’s JUCO gem, added 21 yards on eight carries.
Baugh and Jackson will be back next year to lead Florida’s running backs room, and Johnson will likely turn to pro now that he’s out of eligibility.
It’s been an injury-riddled year for Johnson, who had minor knee surgery during the preseason and missed a few games as the quarterback transition from Graham Mertz to Lagway took place, but he came back at the perfect time. Florida doesn’t win this game without him.
‘Next man up’ mentality prevails
Florida has dealt with a number of injuries this season and came into this game down its top three cornerbacks, a starting linebacker and safety. But that doesn’t matter when the entire team is repeating the line “next man up” at every opportunity in front of the media.
Banks is the breakout star over the last two weeks. He looks like an NFL-ready defensive lineman at times and racked up 2.5 sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss against Ole Miss. Sapp is the heart and soul of the front seven, and [autotag]Shemar James[/autotag] is another leader at the second level of the defense.
Thornton’s two interceptions were the most timely turnovers of the year for Florida, and the secondary has been held together by Trikweze Bridges’ position versatility as he moves from safety to cornerback.
[autotag]Sharif Denson[/autotag] deserves praise for delivering hit after hit, many of which came against runners in the open field, and [autotag]Jordan Castell[/autotag] is finally playing like he did during his freshman year — talk about a big hit to start the game.
This defense could have folded weeks, if not months, ago, but they didn’t. Austin Armstrong, Napier and Ron Roberts all deserve praise for keeping these guys focused through a tremendous amount of adversity throughout the season.
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