Gators Ran Over by Wildcats, Fall 33-14
"Ray Davis is getting his Heisman campaign kicked off here today," ESPN color commentator and former Florida quarterback Jesse Palmer said during the broadcast on Saturday afternoon.
The quip came in the early stages of the Kentucky running back's career day, as he neared the 200-yard mark while averaging 21.1 yards per carry in the second quarter. Davis finished the day with 280 yards, 10.8 yards per carry and three touchdowns on the ground and a nine-yard reception score for to accentuate the Wildcats' 33-14 dismantling of the Gators at Kroger Field on Saturday afternoon.
The Wildcats burst out of the gates quickly on both sides of the ball, halting the Gators to just 26 plays for 59 yards in the first five drives.
Davis' 75-yard score to go up 16-0 in the first quarter notably highlighted their 23 unanswered points during that span, opening the floodgates for a Gators team not built to play from behind.
Florida closed the gap slightly to close the first half, set up by back-to-back explosive passes from quarterback Graham Mertz to wideouts Ricky Pearsall and Caleb Douglas, respectively. Moving into the red zone, Mertz found tight end Hayden Hansen on the sideline for the score two plays later with 0:34 remaining in the first half.
The Gators hoped to capitalize on the newfound momentum to crawl back into the contest.
Despite allowing a score to the Wildcats on their first possession of the second half, Florida's offense maintained the rhythm it witnessed to end the half, effectively moving the football into plus-territory for just the second time in the afternoon.
A heads-up play by Mertz on 4th and 3 kept the drive alive, as he found running back Trevor Etienne — who was performing as a pass protector — in the backfield to evade a sack by UK linebacker Trevin Wallace. Etienne worked forward for a gain of 10 yards.
On the ensuing down, Mertz found Pearsall for a 33-yard touchdown after the wideout went airborne over a defender to trim the deficit back to two possessions.
The defense held to get UF the ball back twice with the ability to climb back into the contest further. A false start and failed conversion on fourth down on those drives stalled the Gators' comeback effort.
Kentucky kicker Alex Raynor knocked through his second field of the day from 50 yards out with 7:44 remaining to put an exclamation point on the Wildcats' victory.
The Gators move to 0-9 under head coach Billy Napier when trailing by 10 or more points at any stage in a game. Florida drops to 3-2 (1-1 SEC), while Kentucky advances to 5-0 (2-0 SEC) on the year.
Florida will look to return to the win column in Week 6 as it returns home to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores at 4 p.m. ET.
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