Thompson believes in ground game

GAINESVILLE — UF senior TB saw the opening, cut to the middle of the field and sprinted untouched to the end zone for a 47-yard score.

But instead extending the Gators’ 17-13 lead as halftime neared Saturday against Michigan, the play was negated by C holding penalty.

Otherwise, UF’s tailbacks were corralled by Michigan, who dominated up front during a 33-17 win.

Thompson had another theory: Gators coaches abandoned the run.

“In my opinion, receivers are gonna hate me for this, but we need to run the ball more,” he said. “I feel that after the run I had that was called back, regardless of if it got called back or not, that's momentum. But get right back and run the ball. I just think we have to trust the running game and continue to do it.

“When something doesn't work, you don't just give up. You keep going until it works." The numbers paint a different picture than Thompson. UF ran 13 times on 21 first-half plays, but a quarterback fumble and sack counted as two of the rushing attempts. Six of 13 plays were runs during the third quarter, which ended with Michigan leading 26-17.

In short, the Gators were fairly balanced, just ineffective en route to 192 yards of total offense.

No. 22 Florida vs. Northern Colorado, Saturday, 7:30 p.m., SEC Network

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