South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Gators shake off slow start
Toney TD on punt return finally lights fire before halftime
GAINESVILLE — The Florida Gators followed a ho-hum performance at Vanderbilt with here-wego-again against Kentucky.
Or so it seemed as the first half drew to a close Saturday in the Swamp against the pesky Wildcats.
Then Kadarius Toney’s 50-yard punt return for a touchdown swung the momentum in Florida’s favor and effectively shut the door on Kentucky’s upset bid during the Gators’ 34-10 win.
“That was huge,” quarterback Kyle Trask said. “It gave us the lead going into halftime. At the end of the day, that had a huge impact on the game.”
Trask and tight end Kyle Pitts, back after a two-game absence due to injury, soon took over as coach Dan Mullen’s squad cruised to its fifth consecutive win to stay on track for an SEC title game bid and avoid another stunning home loss to Kentucky coach Mark Stoops’ squad.
“It’s a 60-minute game and you’re getting into the flow of the game,” Mullen said. “I’m a perfectionist. I want to come out and we absolutely dominate, they never gain 1 yard from the first play to the last and we average 15 yards per play every single play we can, but that’s not a reality.
“It’s a game of adjustments and it’s a long four-quarter game.”
The Wildcats’ last trip to Gainesville was one of the longest days during Mullen’s three seasons at
the school. Kentucky’s 27-16 win in his first SEC game as Florida head coach snapped a 31-game losing streak in the series and signaled that much work lay ahead.
The Wildcats’ latest visit to Florida’s home field shaped up as another rough ride for the Gators, raising further concerns about a struggling defense and questions about the ceiling for a team with College Football Playoff semifinal aspirations.
Until Toney’s return, the Gators (7-1) looked sluggish, out of sorts and vulnerable against a Kentucky team coming off a demoralizing 63-3 loss to Alabama, UF’s likely opponent in the conference championship game Dec. 19 in Atlanta.
“We definitely started off the game kind of slow,” linebacker James Houston said.
The Wildcats (3-6) entered the game as 24-point underdogs but led 10-7 when All-America punter Max Duffy shanked a punt that ended up in the hands of Toney, the Gators’ dynamic do-everything senior.
Anticipating Duffy’s ability to place the football, Mullen said the Gators lined up freshman receiver Xzavier Henderson on the other side of the field. Henderson even feigned a fair catch to fool some members of the Kentucky coverage team while the ball headed Toney’s way.
“We wanted to use two returners to take advantage of that situation that they were in and see if he made a mistake,” Mullen said.
Duffy, the reigning Ray Guy Award winner, did and Toney capitalized.
UF was in danger of trailing for the first time all season at halftime until Toney crossed the goal line with just 42 seconds to spare.
“Once he got in the open field, he is a dangerous guy with the ball in his hands,” Mullen said.
Kentucky was not the same following the dramatic turn of events as an announced crowd of 14,453 looked on in the Swamp.
The Gators grabbed a 21-10 lead on the opening series of the second half on a 2-yard pass from Trask to Pitts — one of three touchdown hookups Saturday between the two Florida stars. The Wildcats set up the score by committing three consecutive penalties, including back-to-back face-mask calls — one when linebacker J.J. Weaver hit Trask in the face.
“There’s nothing more aggravating to a defense than when you have a chance for a sack or no-yard gain or lost yards, and you have a 15-yard penalty,” Stoops said. “It just breaks your back.”
A 34-yard field goal by Evan McPherson on UF’s next series pushed the advantage to 24-10. Following an interception of Terry Wilson, one of two during the second half surrendered by Kentucky’s quarterback, Pitts completed the hat track with a 7-yard touchdown catch on another Trask pass.
Pitts finished with five catches for 99 yards and has 11 touchdowns during just six games, having missed the past two outings following a concussion Nov. 7 against Georgia and ensuing nose surgery. The Gators scored 111 points during Pitts’ two-game absence, and no one on Kentucky’s SEC-leading pass defense could match up with the 6-foot-6, 240-pound junior.
“It was just getting back in the groove and play liked I’ve been playing,” Pitts said.
Meanwhile, Florida’s defense once again started slowly, leading at one point to some testy exchanges between Mullen and defensive coordinator Todd Grantham.
Three of Kentucky’s first four drives reached UF territory, though one of them followed a fumble by Gators receiver Justin Shorter that gave Kentucky the ball on his team’s 38-yard line. The Wildcats scored in six plays, culminating with a 4-yard touchdown pass from Wilson to tight end Keaton Upshaw.
An offside call following a last-second substitution l ed Mullen and Grantham to exchange words multiple times.
But after a 22-yard field goal by Matt Ruffolo gave Kentucky a 10-7 lead, the Wildcats did not again cross midfield.
“We have good defensive coaches and we have defensive guys that take a lot of pride in what they’re doing,” Mullen said. “We didn’t play very well to start.
“Our coaches understand that too. I think our guys came in, made a great adjustment and came out really motivated.”
The Gators now turn their energies and attention to Saturday’s trip to rival Tennessee. The Volunteers (2-5) are struggling and have beaten UF once since 2004, but cold weather and possibly snow are forecast.
“We’re going to have to get a big-time win up there at ol’ Rocky Top,” Trask said.
“It’s going to be a big-time game, a huge SEC opponent. I’m always a little excited to play in a big-time SEC game.”