COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Florida's offensive struggles continued Saturday in a 36-17 road loss at unbeaten Missouri.
Redshirt
freshman Maty Mauk, making the first start of his career, passed for
295 yards against the Southeastern Conference top-rated defense,
placekicker Andrew Baggett tied a school record with five field goals
and UF quarterback Tyler Murphy was punished and panicked all day as the
14th-ranked Tigers dominated the No. 22 Gators at Faurot Field.
In
losing for the second straight week on the road, the Gators (4-3, 3-2)
gained just 151 yards of total offense and now have scored just one
touchdown the last two games. UF lost 17-6 last weekend at LSU, managing
just two field goals.
Murphy was under siege the entire game,
with the Gators mostly helpless in the running game (31 carries, 59
yards) and the offense providing no time in pass protection. Murphy
finished 15 of 29 for 92 yards and an interception against a Missouri
(7-0, 3-0) defense that was perpetual attack mode during the entire
sun-splashed afternoon. Murphy was sacked six times and hit a bunch
more.
Florida's best offensive output of the game came on a
six-play, 70-yard drive that true freshman tailback Kelvin Taylor capped
with a all-out effort 21-yard touchdown run, the first score of his
career. Taylor finished with 74 yards on 12 carries. The rest of UF's
rushing attack totaled 15 yards on 19 carries.
Mauk, meanwhile,
completed 18 of his 36 throws, including a 20-yard touchdown on the
game's second play from scrimmage. Mauk also had a 17-yard scoring run
in the fourth quarter.
The foamer was a tone-setter for the day
and came after Mauk hit wideout L'Damian Washington on the first play of
the game for a 52-yard completion over true freshman cornerback Vernon
Hargreaves. If that wasn't bad enough, UF safety Cody Riggs, who came
with help on the play, was flagged for a "targeting" violation and
ejected.
It was downhill from there, in Florida's first game ever in the Show Me State.
The
Gators answered Mizzou's touchdown with a 23-yard field goal from
Frankie Velez, thanks to a muffed punt by MU return man Marcus Murphy.
Baggett
canceled out Velez's field goal with a 43-yard of his own. That score
was set up after UF true freshman wideout Demarcus Robinson let a
wide-open pass from Murphy skip through his arms and into the hands of
MU cornerback Aarion Penton, who returned it seven yards to the UF 46.
The
score was 13-3 at halftime, but UF's Solomon Patton started the second
half with a 100-yard kickoff return that quickly made it a 13-10 game.
Undeterred,
Mauk hit wideout Jimmie Hunt for a 52-yard completion on Mizzou's
second offensive play of the half, and three plays later Josey scored on
a 6-yard on third-and-5 to stake the lead back to 10.
Baggett's
third field goal, a 39-yarder, pushed the margin to 23-10, but the
Gators put together their best drive in two weeks: six plays, 70 yards,
with Taylor dashing in from 21 yards out to make the score 23-17.
But Josey took off on a 50-yard run to set up field goal No. 4 from Baggett. His fifth came early in the fourth quarter.
If
the game wasn't out of reach there, Murphy's fumble deep in his own
territory did, with Mauk scoring his 17-yard run for a 36-17 lead with
6:30 to go.
