The Good, the Great and the Ugly From Florida’s Comeback Victory Over South Carolina
The Gators trailed the Gamecocks by ten points on the road with under ten minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
Instead of crumbling under pressure, as it has several times away from The Swamp under head coach Billy Napier, Florida rallied to produce an eventful and unexpected late-game surge to best the SEC East foe, 41-39.
To recap the impressive comeback victory, All Gators analyzes the good, the great and the ugly from Florida's win, an adjusted version of our weekly "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" series.
Good: Gators get in the win column on the road
Sitting at 1-7 away from The Swamp in Billy Napier's tenure at the University of Florida prior to Saturday's contest, the Gators' win over South Carolina is more monumental than it may appear on the surface.
It's not easy to win on the road in the SEC, and Napier became very aware of that reality in his first eight attempts. The lapses the team has endured on the road have served as a deterrent for optimism when it came to projecting positive outcomes for the Gators, despite favorable on-field matchups with their opponent, like against South Carolina.
But try No. 9 brought a different, more inspired approach and result.
"We've struggled on the road and certainly tonight was one heck of a football game," Napier said postgame on Saturday. "But I do think some of the toughness that we've built, some of the resolve that we've built, some of the relationships, this group has done nothing but get closer. I think it's almost galvanized the group and we came here today to prove something. What a way to win a football game."
Falling down ten points in the fourth quarter in a hostile environment, Florida refused to crumble under the pressure of the two-score deficit as it has in the past.
Instead, the Gators rallied, playing complementary football in the final eight minutes to mount two scoring drives and create crucial stops at the time of need despite the defense's overall lackluster outing.
Florida showed perseverance in the face of adversity. It flashed the resolve Napier mentioned. And, most importantly, the Gators proved to the nation and themselves that they can take care of business even when they're not met with the warmth of their home crowd.
The team now sits one game away from bowl eligibility and hitting the over on the 5.5-game win total it was offered in the preseason.
Great: Quarterback Graham Mertz
Have yourself a day, Graham Mertz. A career day, in fact.
When the former Wisconsin signal caller announced his transfer to the University of Florida in December, the idea was that he'd present a mere even-keeled operator of the offense.
He'd complement the Gators' rushing attack — the unit's foremost focal point — and avoid the mistakes that could potentially cost UF games. The contingency was that he wouldn't star as a dynamic passer equipped to elevate the team to victory.
Through the first six weeks, while shattering the exterior expectations set for him in the preseason with the nation's second-best completion percentage (80%), he proved the game-manager tag to be true.
But he did more than that when he jogged onto the field at Williams-Brice Stadium. He won it for the Gators.
"Graham Mertz, in particular, you can't help but respect the competitive spirit of the kid, the toughness, the decision-making," Napier said of the Florida signal-caller on the day.
"I just thought he was fantastic. Never flinched. Look, I get to be around the guy every day. I know how much the guy's worked all the way going back to the beginning of the process. This is a young man that came here on a mission and had a plan and he's worked. He's a product of his work. For him to operate in our system in the first year the way he does, the level of comprehension, the high-level decision making that's happening out there, I couldn't be more impressed with the kid."
Mertz went 30-for-48 (62.5%) for 423 yards and three touchdowns to piece together a career-best showing in a matchup in need of it.
The performance was sustained from start to finish as Mertz proved he could push the ball downfield to expand the Gators' offensive arsenal in an unsuspected shootout with South Carolina's Spencer Rattler.
Florida's passer won the duel, aided by his usage of the intermediate middle of the field — a zone in which the Gamecocks have struggled — finishing 5-for-6 for 83 yards and a touchdown when throwing between the numbers just beyond the first down marker.
He received a perfect NFL passer rating of 158.3, according to PFF, targeting the area. It highlighted his strong day through the air from a statistical perspective.
Overall, Mertz produced on paper and tape, showcasing a form of himself many outsiders didn't believe existed just a week ago. If he finds a way to maintain the high level of play, the inconsistent Gators offense could see a drastic uptick in efficiency even against a daunting stretch of opponents over the final five weeks of the season.
Ugly: Florida's defense
Following the Gators' late-game rally, it's easy to get caught up in what went right to pull off the victory in the final minute. However, not everything operated smoothly for Florida, which created the scenario for a comeback in the first place.
The Gators' defense concerningly sputtered.
Florida has witnessed a drastic defensive turnaround on a down-to-down basis to begin 2023 under Austin Armstrong, reconciling the woeful efforts from the previous three campaigns to rank No. 14 in total defense heading into Columbia on Saturday. They did not live up to that form in Week 7.
The defense allowed a previously one-dimensional Gamecocks offense to find its legs on the ground, producing nearly two times its yearly average with 152 yards rushing on the afternoon behind Mario Anderson's 98 yards and six carries of 10+ yards.
Early rushing success opened passing lanes for Rattler and his talented pass catchers — Xavier Legette, Trey Knox, O'Mega Blake, Nyck Harbor and Joshua Simon, among others — to take advantage. He did.
The redshirt senior passer lived up to the billing as the best quarterback the Gators have faced in their first seven outings, picking apart the unit at all levels in the first two quarters. He produced 148 and two scores on 11-for-12 passing before halftime, including connecting on his first 10 attempts before his lone incompletion came with 2:31 remaining in the second.
Rattler carried the momentum into the final 30 minutes of action, including five straight completions to begin the fourth quarter and boost the Gamecocks lead to 10. For most of the matchup, Rattler was unimpeded from moving the ball downfield, showcased by his four completions of over 30 yards and three of over 40 on the afternoon.
He finished 23-of-30 for 313 yards, three scores and a late interception on a desperate heave with under a minute remaining in the contest, proving to be the catalyst for the Gamecocks' near victory.
The Gators defense unit held firm when it mattered, once to put the ball back in the hands of Mertz and Co. for the game-winning drive and again to come away with the deal-sealing interception, but it shouldn't result in overlooking the 465 yards of total offense, eight plays of over 20 yards (six pass, two rush) and 37 points allowed to South Carolina.
So, while the victory provides optimism and momentum heading into the bye week, there is still a glaring lapse the team needs to address before their Oct. 28 battle with the top-ranked team in the country, Georgia Bulldogs, in the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party in Jacksonville, Fla.
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