It was not pretty, but in the end, the Gators got it done on Saturday night against the visiting Charlotte 49ers. Florida was expected to have a strong upper hand coming into the matchup with its non-Power Five opponent, but instead, had to settle for an underwhelming 22-7 finish.
After the dust settled on college football’s Week 4 action, ESPN published its 2023 College Football Power Rankings which has the 3-1 Gators at No. 22. Chris Low gave the low-down on the Orange and Blue’s status after the milquetoast victory.
“The excitement from a week ago in the Swamp was tempered Saturday night. The Gators, coming off the big win over Tennessee, followed up with a ho-hum 22-7 win over Charlotte,” Low noted. “At this point, a few games into his second season of trying to rebuild the program, Florida coach Billy Napier isn’t in a position to thumb his nose at any victory.
“But there were certainly some concerns, notably the Gators settling for five field goals, three of those coming after drives stalled inside the 10,” Low continued. “Charlotte entered the game ranked 129th out of 131 teams in scoring defense (39.4 points per game) and gave up 568 yards to Georgia State last week. Quarterback Graham Mertz completed 20 of 23 passes for 259 yards, but Florida couldn’t score touchdowns once it reached the red zone, which will catch up with the Gators down the road.”
Speaking of the road, Florida travels to Lexington this coming weekend for a Week 5 Southeastern Conference matchup with the Kentucky Wildcats. The action starts at noon EDT and can be watched on either ESPN or SEC Network — which is still to be determined.
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