Samford Bulldogs at Florida Gators 9.7.24

hello everyone Welcome to our review of the Florida Gators versus Samford Bulldogs and the operational issues that were inside the game it's good to see you again so let's get into the game before an announced crowd of 89,90 the Florida Gator defeated the Sanford Bulldogs 45-7 in the game that lasted 3 hours and 20 minutes here's a look at some of the key takeaways from the gator 45 to7 Victory and we're going to focus on the offensive production the defensive strengths and the concerning operational and consist consistencies quarterback lagway demonstrated exceptional playmaking ability showcasing both his arm strength and his Mobility he finished 456 passing yards three touchdowns and no interceptions this included two long connections one of a 77 yard bomb to Elijah Badger and the other one to Eugene Wilson on an 85 yard touchdown capture the pass to Badger was a playaction wheel route which allowed some time for lagway to show off his perfectly plac pass over the defense into baders awaiting arms down the field then we saw a play action pass by lagway creating big play opportunities for his receivers specifically a 44 yard pass to DK then Florida using the play action pass again went to Melle for a 41 yard touchdown pass on the right side on a sto and go route two Gator receivers collected over 100 yards in the game you see here Badger had 123 and Wilson had 141 plus the 8 5 yard touchdown pass from lagway the running game for Florida was led by Montreal Johnson Who provided a consistent ring attack uh inside the tackles and outside the tackles his two touchdowns highlighted his Red Zone efficien efficiencies and finished the game with 67 yards and two touchdowns the gator defense pressured Sanford quarterback and four saacks with 26 yards of total lost they forced nine punts forced four fumbles five pass breakups and six six quarterback pressures to go along with eight different tackles for loss the defense only created one turnover though it was a fumbled recovery on Sanford's very first possession the defense held sford to 205 total yards on 68 plays however the defense exhibited lapses in discipline committing costly penalties including personal fouls that extended Samford drives despite the dominant win the gator displayed concerning operational inconsistencies particularly in the second half confusion and miscommunication were evident on multiple occasions the Gators were called for seven penalties that total 77 yards the numerous missed assignments that stalled drives were a highlight of and a lack of focus the start of the fourth quarter for instance when the Gators came out of the break after the Tom Petty song lagway was not able to snap the ball which caused the Gators to call a timeout out of a break that happens way too much for the Gators and then a holding call on the line of scrimmage by George and then a loss of a yard play brought up an the Le and then the legal formation all those things led to the gator not scoring a touchdown the start of the fourth quarter but they were there that dish couldn't get it in some of the strengths for the Gators on this day was the ability to create big plays particularly through the passing game lway again connected with Badger and then Hawkins and then a 44 y to Melle with lweight passing for 456 yards it was the most ever for a freshman starting quarterback for the Gators uh the Run game The Run game was effective again with Johnson be away with two more touchdowns and then the defense was opportunistic keeping sford off guard forcing punts and creating fumbles only gaining one of those those special teams was actually probably the highlight of the game for the Gator again two the two punts they connected on were for 100 total yards averaging 50 yards per punt one was fair caught the other one was tried to return they but Runner only got to the nine yard line so definitely doing better on special teams plus the seven extra points uh that Trace smack connected on was definitely looking good for the Gators now the weaknesses Florida committed way too many penalties as we said 7 for 77 holding calls that negated first downs a face mask penalty that allowed the scoring drive for Sanford to continue um then we have holding and illegal procedures in the Red Zone those are going to be disastrous against tougher oppon opponents you see coverage breakdowns by the defense and occasional lapses in where and who they should be covering uh the Deep pass were 45 yards by Samford uh that fell right into the hands of the receiver as the defensive back fell down should have gone for a touchdown but the Gators were lucky that the receiver fell down as he caught the ball now sford had some strengths against Florida specifically they were able to move the ball whenever they wanted to in the first half they just weren't able to sustain long drives but they were able to get big plays 10 yards here 12 yards there and that allowed them to keep going especially when Florida was committing the penalties that they were for the Gator securing convincing victory was object number one um they showed offensive Firepower that they had lacked to show previous to this uh the defense uh showing potential and hopefully they can continue uh providing the Gators with what they need in this disciplined area that which they were raising concerns these inconsistencies though will be crucial to the Gators if you can't fix those they're definitely going to have a hard time and well congratulations to the Gators it's been the first win for them in 11 months 30 what 29 days since they last won a football game so congratulations to them and we'll see what happens to them next week