Gators Outrun Owls in Season Opener

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — It was a special night here at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Urban Meyer, who is now head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, was present in the building for his first game at The Swamp in 11 years. Meyer led the Florida Gators to two national championships during his tenure as head coach and was greeted by thousands of fans alongside another former Gator in Steve Spurrier.

“First one here since I was the coach,’’ says Meyer. “First one I had to drive in my own car.”

The energy was sky-high, and the 13th ranked Gators defeated the FAU Owls 35-7 to begin the season 1-0.

The Gators started off with possession first, and it was their show from the jump. QB Emory Jones kicked things off with a 15-yard pass on the third play of the game, and RB Malik Davis followed up with a 31-yard gain to push the Gators in opponent territory. A few plays later, the Gators scored the first points of the game on a two-yard run by RB Dameon Pierce.

FAU took over for their first drive of the game and struggled to find the tempo. Their time of possession on the first drive was two minutes more than Florida, and they only gained 37 yards on the series. FAU QB N’Kosi Perry found ways to break free and try to create plays, but the Gators defense was on him all game, and they set the trend on that initial drive. After 10 plays, the Owls punted, and the Gators marched down the field for 80 yards to increase the lead 14-0 after Jones found WR Rick Wells for a nine-yard touchdown.

The Owls switched things up a bit on their second drive. After failing to create anything through the air, they rushed the ball four times, having to punt after six plays as the ground game also fluttered. The only yardage gained on the drive was from a pass interference call against the Gators defense, and the Owls did not capitalize.

After the first couple of series, the Gators took their foot off the pedal. Jones threw an interception in the red zone that could have put them up by three scores, and the Owls defense held up throughout the second quarter to enter the half down 14-0.

The start of the third quarter was no different. After the Owls were forced to punt quickly, the Gators went on a 15-play, 88-yard drive to go up 21-0. The Owls were gassed, and the defense did end up forcing another interception on Jones, but they failed to make anything of it. Perry finished 19-33 for 261 yards with one TD. Malcolm Davidson led the team in rushing on nine carries for 52 yards. Johnny Ford notched the lone rushing touchdown for FAU.

Jones finished 17-27 for 113 yards, 1 TD, and 2 INT for the Gators, while Davis pummeled the Owls defense for 104 yards on 14 carries. Anthony Richardson stepped in at QB towards the end of the game and broke free for a 73-yard touchdown run that had the stadium roaring. Richardson exploded onto the scene and led the team in rushing with 160 yards on seven carries. Jones also added 74 yards on the ground, and head coach Dan Mullen may now have a good problem on his hands. Richardson was taking deep shots up until the final seconds, and they may experiment with the signal-callers more as the season goes on.

The Gators will take on the South Florida Bulls next week in Tampa, while the Owls will try and bounce back against Georgia Southern at home.

 

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