Takeaways From Florida's Nail-Biting Victory Over Missouri

Breaking down the positives and negatives from Florida's first conference win of the 2022 season.

Photo: Billy Napier and the Florida Gators; Credit: Zach Goodall

It wasn't always pretty, but the Florida Gators managed to snap their six-game SEC losing streak and avoid a two-game skid to Missouri by defeating the Tigers, 24-17, on Saturday. 

You can find All Gators' five biggest takeaways from the performance below. 

Montrell Johnson Jr. and Trevor Etienne carve up a typically stout Tigers run defense

The tandem of Montrell Johnson Jr. (eight yards per carry) and Trevor Etienne (6.8 YPC) continues to prove itself as one of the most efficient running back duos in the country this season. 

It's really only challenged by Alabama-Birmingham's DeWayne McBride (7.4 YPC) and Jermaine Brown Jr. (7.1 YPC), Alabama's Jahmyr Gibbs (8.3 YPC) and Jase McClellan (6.4 YPC) and Oregon's Bucky Irving (7.2 YPC) and Noah Whittington (6.5 YPC) through Week 6.

Florida only posted eight explosive plays (gains of 10+ yards rushing and 15+ yards receiving) against Missouri, seven of which came on the ground for 190 yards in total. Johnson and Etienne combined for five of those plays and 148 of those yards. Each big gain of Johnson's and Etienne's came in the second half when UF's offense found its life.

The duo combined for 169 yards on 18 carries on Saturday, with Johnson finding the endzone in the middle of the third quarter to give Florida a lead it would hold onto through the final whistle. Johnson finished the day averaging 10.8 yards per attempt on eight carries while Etienne compiled 8.3 yards per rush on a career-high 10 runs. Entering the game, Missouri was allowing 3.5 yards per carry on average through five games.

Without Jaydon Hill, the Gators likely would not have won this game

We've written about Jaydon Hill's impact on the win at length and in our first batch of observations, but he's worth mentioning again. The subheader says it all. 

Hill's two interceptions resulted in a critical 14 points that gave the Gators separate two-possession leads, first in the first quarter when they were up 10-0 and again in the fourth quarter when Ricky Pearsall's nine-yard score made it a 24-10 game. 

Missouri was in the red zone on Hill's second pick largely due to two big third-down conversions by quarterback Brady Cook. If not for the interception, the Tigers very well could have held a touchdown lead entering the fourth quarter.

“He was the first person we called out in front of the team to give out game balls and we give one to him today. What a story, right?" head coach Billy Napier pondered after the game. "He was a difference-maker today."

He was a difference-maker Florida's secondary needed, that's for sure. Hill now leads the Gators in interceptions this year with two, equating to half of the team's production in that department entering Week 6.

Third-down play was a significant issue for Florida, and has been offensively all season

The biggest threat to Florida winning on Saturday was its performance on third downs, offensively and defensively. UF couldn't get it going on third downs offensively, converting just three-of-11 times with quarterback Anthony Richardson turning the ball over on a 3rd and 5 in the second quarter and a 3rd and 14 in the fourth.

Florida is 27-of-68 on third downs offensively this season, good for a conversion rate of 39.7 percent, ranking No. 9 in the SEC. Remove UF's three conversions of six attempts against FCS Eastern Washington in Week 4 — the team's best performance on third downs this year (three-of-six, 50 percent) — and the Gators would own a conversion rate of 38.7 percent in 2022.

That just isn't going to cut it. And while UF has faced some solid defenses this season, it has yet to face as sturdy of a unit as Georgia, who the Gators will face in three weeks, meaning significant improvements will need to be made in this area in order to stand a chance against the No. 1 Bulldogs. 

The same can be said on the other side of the ball. Missouri went nine-of-17 on third downs on Saturday with second half conversions from nine 22, 15 and 18 yards away.

The second half was a far different showing than the first, when UF held UM to a 25 percent conversion rate (one-of-four) on 3rd and 6 or longer, the lone conversion being a completion on 3rd and 9 on UM's opening drive. The other three occasions ended in a punt, Hill's pick six and a Gervon Dexter Sr. sack.

Still, Missouri's ability to convert long third downs in crunch time could have let the game slip away from the Gators, and their inefficiency on third downs offensively made the defensive issues that much more drastic.

Napier is expected to address UF's defensive third down woes in his Monday press conference.

"We’ll see, I can talk to you about that on Monday," Napier said after the game. "But you know, I mean third and long, the national average is under 15 percent right? So, when you give up that many there are some things you need to look at, but it’s all very fixable I think.”

Where was Kamari Wilson?

Upon his return to the starting lineup after missing Week 5 with an injury, safety Trey Dean III once again struggled in coverage against Missouri as he has throughout the 2022 campaign. According to Pro Football Focus, Dean gave up a perfect completion percentage for his second appearance in a row, with Cook going five-of-five for 77 yards when he targeted the fifth-year safety.

Despite Napier indicating this past Wednesday that he'd continue to play as a result of his five-tackle showing last week in place of the injured Dean, freshman safety Kamari Wilson compiled a career-low of seven snaps against the Tigers, per PFF. Dean took the field for 66 snaps, comparatively, opposite of free safety Rashad Torrence II who led the team with 73 snaps.

While Wilson is listed as Torrence's backup at free safety on Florida's depth chart, he assumed Dean's starting role of strong safety against Eastern Washington and impressed across his 65 snaps in Week 5.

Napier praised Wilson for his efforts in the start, acknowledging that Wilson naturally made some mistakes as a young player but admitted that he will continue to develop by taking the field.

"Kamari is going to only get better with reps and experience," Napier said. "[He] had a great practice today, made some really good plays in practice. Good young player. Got character, really cares. He has a good tool set, skill set to work with."

Dean's struggles and Napier's remarks beg the question: Where were Wilson's reps on Saturday?

UF is making progress with penalties 

One of the most significant areas of concern for the Gators upon Napier's arrival was penalties. Florida ranked No. 12 in the SEC in penalties per game against FBS schools with 7.8 on average in 2021, resulting in an average of 69.1 yards for the opponent per FBS contest, the second-worst mark in the conference.

The Gators' efforts to reduce flags, something Napier repeatedly emphasized a need for over his first offseason in charge, haven't been perfect but have been much improved, and Saturday's game was a perfect example.

Florida formally committed just one penalty for five yards against Missouri, although it could have proven to be a critical foul. 

Left guard Ethan White was flagged for a false start on 2nd and 14 at the UM47 with 3:50 left in the game, as UF led 24-17. The Gators managed five yards on 2nd and 19, but Richardson was intercepted 15 yards down the field as a result of 3rd and long.

A second quarter offensive holding penalty was offset by the Tigers jumping offsides, as well.

While White's penalty would have proven costly if Missouri managed to score in the final minutes, it was the only flag thrown on a Gators squad that, albeit featuring plenty of new faces and missing some contributors from last year, committed nine penalties for 80 yards against the Tigers in November 2021.

Outside of a ten-penalty showing against Tennessee, although those were mainly minor infractions that turned into 47 yards for the Vols, Florida's improved discipline has been reflected by a decrease in the ref's dirty laundry this year. The Gators' single game-high in penalty yards is 48 against USF, and as a whole, the team has averaged 5.3 flags for 34.3 yards per contest under Napier.

Stay tuned to All Gators for continuous coverage of Florida Gators football, basketball and recruiting. Follow along on social media at @AllGatorsOnFN on Twitter and All Gators on FanNation-Sports Illustrated on Facebook.

Get your Gators football, basketball and other sporting events tickets from SI Tickets here.