Florida vs. Mississippi State score, takeaways: Gators dominate on road as defensive issues persist

Image Credit: Logan Bowles, UAA

The Florida Gators took advantage of a talent disparity and overmatched opponent while picking up a 45-28 win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Saturday. It marked Florida’s first victory over an FBS program in 343 days and the Gators’ highest-scoring game against FBS opposition during the entire tenure of head coach Billy Napier.

While Florida’s offense hummed all day behind both quarterbacks, redshirt senior Graham Mertz and freshman DJ Lagway, the defense was a total sieve against one of the worst rushing attacks in the nation. That once again leaves the Gators with plenty to work through — despite the victory — entering their first of two off weeks this season.

Mertz completed 19 of 21 passes for 203 yards and three touchdowns, adding another rushing score along with 24 yards on the ground. Lagway connected on all seven of his passes for 76 yards while leading two touchdown drives — each over 90 yards.

“Thought we played well around the quarterbacks, and I thought the quarterbacks did a really good job kind of being the point guard of the offense and distributing the ball,” Napier said. “We had some balance. … We did a lot of good.”

Florida held a 28-7 lead late in the second quarter posting its most points in a half against an FBS opponent under Napier. This as Napier stuck to a predetermined quarterback rotation that saw Lagway play the third, sixth and ninth possessions of the game. Seven different pass catchers caught at least two balls, and the Gators showed more offensive variety than it had at any prior point this season.

Let’s take a look at everything that went down in UF’s second victory of the season.

If you have two quarterbacks …

… you can still run quality offense against an overmatched defense. That was the name of the game Saturday for a Gators team that badly needed a get-right game for an offense that has struggled to find rhythm this season.

Napier during the week claimed Mertz would start each half with Lagway getting a possession early on each side of the break. Instead, as ESPN reported moments before kickoff, Napier decided that Lagway would man the offense on the third, sixth and ninth drives. That seemed to be a problematic predetermination, and yet, it actually worked for Florida. Whether that was due to planning or happenstance is tough to say.

“We evaluated how the week went just in terms of Graham being back healthy. Really was impressive this week in practice,” said Napier regarding what determined the drive split. “… We just kind of went with our gut there, what we felt was best for our team. We’re still committed to playing DJ. Today, he showed that he’ll get a little better with the more experience he gets. We’re getting the best of both worlds there. Both guys make our team better.”

Lagway’s first effort ended in a lost fumble from redshirt senior running back Montrell Johnson Jr. (15 carries, 68 yards). His last two both started inside the UF 10-yard line; each ended in touchdowns after 10 plays (91 yards, 93 yards). Across all three, he was excellent converting third downs.

“These things work best when you define the plan and stick to the plan,” explained Napier when asked why he decided to twice put Lagway in that position. “You got to play the long game a little bit. … We practiced those situation. He knows how to manage the game, and he did a great job. He did what he was coached to do.”

And yet, Mertz was the star of the game with a nearly flawless performance including two key rushing plays that extended drives. The Gators may not have the luxury of sticking with this predetermined pattern against more talented defenses, and given Mertz’s high level of play that reminded of his 2023 efficiency, it remains to be seen what Napier will decide coming out of the off week.

Defense remains a major problem

As well as Florida played offensive is how poorly it performed defensively. Mississippi State entered having been outscored 55-6 across its last two first halves while totaling 90 combined yards rushing in its last two games against Arizona State and Toledo. UF allowed it to score 14 points in the first half and rush for 239 yards in the contest.

The middle of the defense was an absolute disaster. Yes, the Gators are missing three significant defensive linemen, including two starters. They still have a major talent edge and should, theoretically, have a coaching advantage as well given there are two coordinators employed, each of whom is paid over $1 million to lead the unit.

“We got to get it fixed,” Napier said. “If you want to play really good defense, you got to be strong up the middle. It’s discouraging because it’s at the core of what you do.”

Beyond the run-game issues, there were continued missed assignments at the second and third levels. (The secondary was also missing three key players, including two starters.) Florida struggled to get lined up properly against tempo and missed tackles so frequently that one would believe it was taught in practice. What exactly did the Gators work on all week while preparing for the Bulldogs?

Florida has now allowed 28+ points to eight of its last nine FBS opponents; the lone outlier was Florida State, which played its backup quarterback to end the 2023 season.

“There’s three or four or five possessions there where we disappear,” Napier said. “… We were a little more consistent across the board today, but we know that there’s going to be more consistency required. The rush and the coverage got to work together. Overall, the rush defense has got to get shored up, and we have to eliminate some of these penalties that we had.”

What went right

• Special teams continued to be a shocking bright spot for the Gators. Beyond the 47-yard game-clinching field goal by junior kicker Trey Smack, Florida was immensely strong across the board on punts and returns. It did allow one long run to MSU, but individual mistakes happen.
• Running backs redshirt junior Ja’Kobi Jackson, sophomore Treyaun Webb and freshman Jadan Baugh all stood out. Jackson compiled 45 combined yards and a touchdown on five touches. Baugh rumbled for 53 yards on four carries. Webb picked up 41 yards on eight hauls. In fact, Johnson was the only Florida runner (including quarterbacks) who did not average at least 5.0 yards per carry.
• Redshirt freshman wide receiver Aidan Mizell had his best game in orange & blue catching five passes. He only totaled 35 yards in the box score but flashed immense athleticism and agility on two touchdowns called back due to penalties, one an incredible 65-yard effort. It had been confounding that Mizell did not get more run until this point; now, there should be no excuse. He is explosive with the ball in his hands and deserves to be a regular part of the offense. “I told Aidan pregame I thought it was going to be a great game for him,” Napier said. “Look, he still made that play. He did a lot of good things run-after-catch today. His speed shows up. He’s another young player that’s gaining confidence.”
• Redshirt sophomore tight ends Hayden Hansen and Arlis Boardingham each scored; the latter in his first game back from injury. Sophomore Tony Livingston also caught three balls for 18 yards.
• Wide receivers senior Chimere Dike (43 yards), senior Elijhah Badger (45 yards) and redshirt junior Marcus Burke (45 yards) all flashed in the passing game filling in for three injured players. Burke hauled in a beautiful TD from Mertz, too.
• It was a mixed bag for sophomore defensive back Sharif Denson, who was all around the ball with seven tackles (five solo, 2.5 for loss), a sack, a forced fumble and a pass breakup; however he also committed two pass interference penalties. Still, his energy and ability to swarm to the ball was a plus.
• Redshirt junior offensive lineman Austin Barber fell on a Lagway fumble into the end zone for Florida’s final touchdown of the afternoon.

What went wrong

• Napier once again struggled coaching inside the “middle eight.” The Gators had a chance to take a 21-point lead into halftime with possession coming out the other side. That would have been an opportunity to go up 28 points and effectively put the game away minutes into the second half. Instead, Florida allowed a 54-second (!) touchdown drive — cutting its lead to 14 — and failed to score to open the second half, allowing Mississippi State to go down the field and cut its deficit to 7 points. That’s straight up losing football.
• It wound up not mattering, but outside of Florida’s lackluster defense, the officiating was again the most glaring issue in this game. Mizell’s 65-yard touchdown was called back due to a blindside block on Johnson that was clearly anything but. There were at least two occasions where flags were picked up with no calls. The Gators were also the victim of three pass interference penalties; one of which was legitimate with two undoubtedly questionable as bang-bang plays.
• The Gators offensive line eventually found a groove, but it was rough in the early going, especially in pass protection. The most notable error came from redshirt senior Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson, a transfer from San Diego State who was supposed to make a major impact this season. Crenshaw-Dickson didn’t get the starting nod in Week 1 and continues to make mistakes, including two blatant blocks in the back on a single play that wiped out Mizell’s first touchdown.
• The defense was truly terrible. On one possession, Florida was unable to grab two loose balls on forced fumbles. It also — on the same possession – gave up a third-and-10 conversion and ultimately allowed a third-and-16 to get converted in two plays via runs up the middle.

Odds & ends

Florida improved to 35-19-2 all-time against Mississippi State with three straight wins in Starkville (6-7) … the Gators snapped a seven-game losing streak to FBS opponents … UF under Napier is now 12-2 when leading after the third quarter, 11-3 when leading at halftime and 11-4 when rushing for at least 150 yards … it also improved to 3-7 on the road, 5-16 when allowing 21+ points and 3-11 when being outrushed under Napier … the Gators are 39-13 against unranked opponents since 2018 … Florida has scored in 452 consecutive games, an NCAA record

What it means / what’s next?

The first of two bye weeks is ahead for Florida, and coming off as lackluster a start as the program could have expected through four games, it is most certainly needed. However, despite the extra preparation time, there should be no expectation that Napier is fired at this juncture. He still gives the Gators their best chance to win on a week to week basis — largely because neither of the three coordinators nor anyone else on the staff would be a notable upgrade holding the whistle on the sideline.

Florida hosts UCF in two weeks on Saturday, Oct. 5 before playing at Tennessee and hosting Kentucky for homecoming. That precedes the second off week ahead of the toughest stretch of the schedule. It would be far more likely for a move to be made before the Georgia game, but UF might also be at a point where — barring something truly unforgivable — it sticks with Napier because there are simply no better options until the end of the season.

The Gators showed more fight Saturday than they have at any other point this season. They were strong offensively, overcame adversity created by poor defensive play and never allowed doubt to creep in despite that tough stretch crossing halftime. Florida should get some reinforcements back for the UCF game, and if it does, perhaps there can be some further improvement over the second “segment” of the season.

“We’re capable of better: We can play better, we can coach better,” Napier said. “We have an open date here, and we need to take a good look in the mirror — on both sides of the spectrum, players and coaches. Maybe we need to adjust who plays and who doesn’t play. We still need to handle the tempo better; we know we’re going to play teams that do that in the future, and we need to get ready for it. It’s good to win a game like that [going] into the open date.”

He added later: “We have more work to do. We won today, but we are very much a work in progress. This group can get so much better. We had so many individual players, position group and units on our team that we’re not even close to being who we can be — and they know that. We saw flashes of it today, but we have to become a more consistent team. That’s going to be the emphasis here in the open date. I just want to see a little more scrap, a little more fight — in particular on defense.”