Gators seek bounce-back win against Missouri
The chances for Florida to reach the SEC title game in Atlanta took a severe blow when rival Georgia knocked off the Gators on Saturday in Jacksonville.
But first-year Florida coach Dan Mullen is trying to make sure the dispirited Gators don’t lose their edge when they return home for their homecoming game against Missouri.
“Every game, win or lose, it’s how you respond and continue to go during the season,” Mullen said. “So, it’ll be interesting to see now. Our first loss of the season, I think we handled it really well. Then we started handling success pretty well and now we want to see how we handle this adversity.”
Florida (6-2, 4-2 SEC) won five straight after its first loss of the season against Kentucky. But that streak came to an end in a 36-17 loss to the Bulldogs. Florida led 14-13 early in the third quarter but couldn’t overcome three turnovers and breakdowns in pass coverage in the second half against the Bulldogs. Florida redshirt sophomore quarterback Feleipe Franks accounted for two of UF’s three turnovers on an interception and a lost fumble.
Franks also missed a wide-open Van Jefferson throw on a flea-flicker play on Florida’s first offensive play that could have been a touchdown.
“You can’t dwell on it too much,” Franks said. “You just have to move on to the next week, just finish up the season strong. We have a chance to have a really good record.”
Missouri (4-4, 0-4 SEC) is coming off a tough loss of its own, falling 15-14 to Kentucky in a game decided by a Wildcats’ touchdown pass on an untimed down to finish the game. The Tigers have struggled all season defending the pass, ranking last in the SEC in pass defense, allowing 288.2 yards per game.
Florida will be playing its first game at home since upsetting LSU 27-19 on Oct. 6. The Missouri game begins a three-game homestead that includes games against South Carolina (Nov. 10) and Idaho (Nov. 17). Florida will close the season on Nov. 24 at rival Florida State.
“The last time we were here in the stadium we had an unbelievable home-field advantage and it really showed with how we played,” Mullen said. “That was such a huge deal for us winning that game over LSU the last time we were in The Swamp.
“It’s a great challenge for everybody in the Gator Nation to pack The Swamp again and create the exciting atmosphere, exciting energy and make it that home-field advantage for us.”
