Takeaways From Florida's Crushing Loss To Kentucky

The Gators suffered a massive setback with a terrible loss to Kentucky on Saturday.

Kentucky week is always a tough one for the Florida Gators, and they suffered the consequences of it on Saturday night.

The Gators went into a hostile environment in Lexington and looked completely unprepared and lackadaisical. It was a shocking lack of composure from a team that plays in arguably the most hostile environment in the country.

With a loss already on their record, this one virtually ruins any playoff hopes the Gators had. They will need to win out and have Georgia drop a game somewhere unexpected to even get a look come December.

What seemed like a promising season has now whittled into an all too familiar feeling of coming up short. Here is how it happened on Saturday night in Lexington.

The Gators Beat Themselves

It would be really hard to argue on the contrary. The Gators had 15 penalties - eight of which were false starts - for 115 yards on Saturday night, the most penalties a Florida team had since 2001. The lack of discipline was uncharacteristic of Dan Mullen teams in his time at UF.

So many of those penalties came at bad times too. 

One in particular that stood out happened midway through the third quarter with the Gators facing 3rd and 3 at the Kentucky 24. The Gators had just been set up with great field position following an interception by Tre'Vez Johnson, although a personal foul on Antonio Valentino set the Gators back 15 yards immediately after the pick.

Dameon Pierce ran around the edge and picked up the first down, a great run that gave the Gators a great chance to score. However, the play was called back for a hold on Kingsley Eguakun - who had a nightmare of a game on Saturday - and forced the Gators into 3rd and 13.

After failing to convert, the Gators lined up for a field goal. The kick was then blocked and returned for what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown as Kentucky took the lead and never looked back.

The Gators also had two false starts on their final drive of the game in goal-to-go situations that made it really difficult on them to score in that situation.

The penalties put the Gators into third and goal from the 10 and second and goal from the 14. One of them came after a Kentucky penalty that gave the Gators a second chance on first and goal from the five. 

Kentucky did not do a whole lot to win the game, and it seemed like everything that went wrong for the Gators was of their own doing.

The Gators Had Not Played A Real Road Game In A Long Time

This one kind of gets forgotten but the Gators did not have to deal with an SEC atmosphere at all due to COVID-19 last year.

This was the first real road game - USF was half-full and a favorable Gator crowd - the Gators had played since 2019 and it showed.

The communication was awful, the offensive line did not know the snap count and the team was completely rattled.

It was pretty shocking from a team that plays in The Swamp, but it was extremely evident on the field.

Emory Jones and his center, the aforementioned Eguakun, could not get on the same page all night long and it cost the Gators. Eight false starts are completely inexcusable and so many of them came with brutal timing.

The offensive line had been the strength of the team all season, and their mental mistakes were the downfall of the team in this one. It was a shocking reversal from what had been seen all season.

Florida was clearly unprepared to go into that kind of environment and that just cannot happen in the SEC. The Gators should know by now how much Kentucky gets up for that game and they should never be caught off guard by a good effort from the Wildcats.

It all bubbled over on the blocked field goal. 

The Gators showed a complete lack of focus after what was clearly a frantic sequence that left them with that attempt. It was one of those things that leaves you with your jaw dropped and in complete disbelief that something like that could happen. 

It was at that point it became clear the Gators were in danger and it was mostly their own fault.

Something Is Missing With Emory Jones

For as great as Jones had been the last couple weeks, a lot of that was reversed on Saturday.

His number looked fine, going 23/31 (74.2%) for 203 yards (6.5 yards per attempt) a touchdown and an interception.

That interception showed once again the flaws that Jones has. He threw a desperately under thrown ball to a predetermined read and it went the other way. The ensuing Kentucky drive led to a touchdown that put them up 20-10, which turned out to be insurmountable.

He also looked to a predetermined read on the final play, even though Malik Davis leaked open after checking the blitz and Kemore Gamble was open as well.

It was evident that Mullen did not trust Jones to push down the field until he had to at the end of the game, even though Jones did it with success.

Dan Mullen is a really smart offensive coach, so there has to be some reason he was not trusting Jones to cut it loose. There is some element that the Gators miss when he is on the field, and it is in the game-breaking play department.

Jones is not going to lose Florida a lot of games, but it remains unclear how many he can take over and win. They needed somebody to take control of that game and not let them lose it. While he played well, Jones just did not come up with that kind of performance and it cost the Gators.

Whether he can find that next gear remains to be seen, but until he does the Gators will have to rely on other aspects of their team to win.

The Defense Was Not The Problem

The most frustrating thing about this performance for Gator fans is that this was their best defensive performance of the season.

The Gators allowed 224 yards of total offense and held the Wildcats to just 1-9 on third-down conversions.

Third down has been such a problem for the Gators for so many years, and they dominated in that aspect on Saturday. The defense gave their offense chances and they were simply unable to take advantage. 

Zach Carter was great once again, wreaking havoc in pass rush and picking up another sack. His 5.5 sacks on the season lead the SEC.

Freshman cornerback Jason Marshall was also extremely impressive. He was great in coverage all game and added a tackle for loss.

Marshall has had to step up without Jaydon Hill and Kaiir Elam and shown his potential for greatness. He looks like the next great cornerback to come from the University of Florida.

Dan Mullen Has a Bad-Loss Problem

There is now a concerning trend of inexcusable losses during Dan Mullen's tenure at Florida.

Since Mullen took over, I counted five losses that the Gators could chalk up to a lack of focus or preparation: 2018 Kentucky, 2018 Missouri, 2020 Texas A&M, 2020 LSU and now 2021 Kentucky. 

Florida had not lost to Kentucky in 32 years when Mullen lost to them his first year, and he has now lost to them twice.

That was the Wildcats' first win against the Gators at home since 1986.

This is not your father's Kentucky, but Florida should not be losing these kinds of games if they want to reach the level Mullen says they do.

These are the types of losses that prevent the Gators from having a shot at the playoff. After already having a loss to Bama on their resume, the Gators season is now virtually over because of a loss that never should have happened.

It is hard to understand what happens to Mullen in some of these games. This did not look like the same team that gave Alabama a run for their money two weeks ago. The team that lost to LSU last year did not look like the same team that took Georgia to the woodshed a month earlier.

It is a concerning trend that can change in one of two ways: A look in the mirror or better recruiting.

The Gators showed little urgency even when down 10, and just seemed to think they could waltz right in and take a victory.

The lack of aggression before halftime ended up costing the Gators, and if they had gone up 17-7 there the game is probably in the books.

Mullen has to stop letting up in these games and show the same type of aggression he shows against teams like Alabama and Georgia.

Until the Gators right this wrong they will continue to come up short of their ultimate goal.

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