Missouri Tigers maul Florida Gators 36-17

By Adam Silverstein
October 19, 2013

An unrelenting offensive attack from the No. 14/14 Missouri Tigers (7-0, 3-0 SEC) dominated an injured No. 22/22 Florida Gators (4-3, 3-2 SEC) defense, picking up a 36-17 victory on Saturday afternoon at in Columbia, MO.

The Gators allowed the Tigers to rack up 500 yards of offense, the most given up by Florida in 2013, as Missouri became the first Southeastern Conference team in 14 tries to post more than 20 points in a single game against UF’s stout defense.

The visitors were outmatched all afternoon as the Gators struggled on the way to gaining just 151 yards of offense. Florida was 3-for-15 on third down as the Gators’ offensive line allowed six sacks and failed to adequately protect the quarterback throughout the contest or open up holes in the running game most of the afternoon.

After Florida deferred until the second half, Missouri started on offense and got on the board in just 22 seconds.

Quarterback Maty Mauk completed a 41-yard pass on the first play of the game to wide receiver L’Damian Washington, and the Tigers gained 15 additional yards on the play after a targeting penalty was called against Gators redshirt junior safety Cody Riggs. He was subsequently ejected from the game. On the very next play, Mauk hit WR Bud Sasser for a 20-yard touchdown.

Florida went three-and-out on its first possession, running the ball three-straight times, but lucked out on the ensuing punt, which was muffed and recovered by junior cornerback Loucheiz Purifoy.

Facing first down at Missouri’s 24-yard line, UF gained 17 yards on a rush by freshman running back Kelvin Taylor before stalling and settling for a 23-yard field goal by redshirt junior kicker Frankie Velez.


Near the end of the first quarter, Gators redshirt junior QB Tyler Murphy was intercepted by Tigers defensive back Aarion Penton after a high pass went through the hands of freshman WR Demarcus Robinson, who alligator-armed the throw.

Missouri started at Florida’s 46-yard line with 2:42 left in the first quarter but settled for a 43-yard field goal after UF CB Marcus Roberson batted down a touchdown and sophomore DB Brian Poole registered a tackle for loss on third down.

The Tigers added another field goal early in the second quarter after moving the ball 68 yards on 12 plays, taking a 13-3 lead on the Gators.

Though Florida’s offense was struggling, the defense provided an opportunity to score before the half was out. Down on UF’s 31, Mauk was intercepted by Poole, who returned the ball 25 yards out to midfield. The Gators gained 23 yards on the next two plays, but Murphy was eventually strip-sacked on 3rd-and-11, turning the ball over and failing to give UF an opportunity to kick a field goal before heading into the locker room.

Florida’s offense did not need to step on the field for the Gators to add some points at the start of the second half as senior wideout Solomon Patton brought back the opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, the first return score of his career.

Only trailing by three, UF suddenly collapsed on defense and allowed Mizzou to gain 75 yards on five plays – including a 52-yard throw by Mauk to Jimmie Hunt – and regain its 10-point lead after a six-yard rushing touchdown from running back Henry Josey.

The Gators relented on the Tigers’ next possession, too. Purifoy gave up a 37-yard reception to Washington, and Missouri ended the drive with a 39-yard field goal to take a 23-10 lead with 6:40 left in the third quarter.

Florida jumped on the back of freshman RB Kelvin Taylor during the next drive, running him five times for 52 yards. Facing 1st-and-10 at Mizzou’s 34, Taylor gained 14 yards on a rush. On the very next play, he took a handoff from senior WR Trey Burton 20 yards to the house for the first touchdown of his career.

As was the case all game, the Tigers negated a successful play by the Gators with one of their own, gaining 50 yards up the middle on a rush by Josey. Missouri settled for a 33-yard field goal on that possession and added a 38-yard kick on its next drive to take a 12-point lead with 8:04 left in the game.

The Florida defense that bent all game finally broke on the following series. After Murphy was strip-sacked on 3rd-and-6 at UF’s 20, Mauk rushed 17 yards into the end zone and stepped on the Gators’ collective throat in the process.

Florida will have a chance to breathe and lick its wounds with a bye week upcoming. The Gators will next take the field on Nov. 2, squaring off with the Georgia Bulldogs in the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party in Jacksonville, FL.

40 Comments

  1. joe says:

    This team will not finish bowl eligible. Muschamp has lost the locker room. Its obvious the players no long buy what he’s selling. Pease, Davis and Lewis will be gone at the end of the season.

    • G2 says:

      Not sure Muschamp shouldn’t join them. Total ineptitude on both sides of the ball. Reminds me of Zooks Mississippi State game and you know what happened next. Think Foley will give him 1 more year but then its all new assistants, new system to learn that sets everyone back. This is a cluster!!

    • Tractorr says:

      Pease should be gone today and Joker should be moved up to OC so he can have two week to get the offense ready.

  2. Michael Jones says:

    All you need to know about how goofy Muschamp and his coaching staff are is to see Taylor run the ball down the field for our only offensive touchdown–practically unstoppable–only to see him not touch the ball on our next possession and then taken out of the game for the possession after that.

    Murphy stares down his receivers and misses wide open guys. We run little dink and dunk routes, never stretch the field, so they load up on defense–blitzing and pressing our receivers–because the defense never has to pay for loading up. Our offensive play selection continues to be a joke. No continuity, no flow, it’s like they drawing plays out of a grab bag. Our whole offense looks dazed and confused. Even Humphries, a former 5 star, got manhandled today. And the WR’s–Burton and Robinson in particular–starting short arming balls and basically quit when it looked like they were about to get hit.

    Our defensive coaching staff never did seem to figure out that Mizzou ran the ball out of the pistol every time they lined up in it. Muschamp rushed 3-4 linemen most of the day against a red shirt freshman QB making his first start. It was like a 7-on-7 drill for him for most of the day.

    And the pathetic drive-stopping pussycat formation. Yes, coach, that’s working great. Nothing stops the momentum of our few drives like the pussycat (and, yes, I know Taylor scored out of the pussycat but that was more Taylor and good WR blocking than the pussycat and Murphy could have handed the ball off to him just as well as Burton). Rather than run the pussycat in the red zone, why don’t we just forfeit 1st down and start on 2nd down? At least that way we can throw away a down without losing any yards.

    Hey, all you geniuses that said Driskel sucked and Murphy was right up there with Spurrier, Tebow, and Wuerffel, you still loving life?

    • gatorboi352 says:

      “Hey, all you geniuses that said Driskel sucked and Murphy was right up there with Spurrier, Tebow, and Wuerffel, you still loving life?”

      Uhhh are you including yourself in that group? Because you should.

      There were multiple plays today that Murphy actually did make a play where it would have been sure fire sacks or turn overs with Driskel in there.

      Regardless, the problems on this team run deeper than player execution play by play. Foley doesn’t tolerate mediocrity, so unless Muschamp runs the table here on out, we will have a new staff in place next year. Charlie Strong is on speed dial.

      • Tractorr says:

        Tyler Murphy was responsible for 47 yards of offense total today. Driskel has never done that bad. I think it is becoming painfully clear that our offensive line is terrible.

  3. SJ210 says:

    I pray this is Muschamp’s Miss St moment. 102nd in NCAA in offense, 112th in penalties, 114th in RZ offense. I’ve seen all I need to see. Hate to change coaches again so soon, but how much more evidence do you need that this guy doesn’t know what he’s doing? Keep in mind Mizzou did this to us with their backup QB. Embarrassing!

  4. Uf_84 says:

    Nothing much left to play for this year. The Vandy and Georgia Southern games will determine our bowl eligibility as there is pretty much no hope of winning the others. I do hope we can go bowling just to get the extra practice in. Time to let the young guys play. We can’t fire Brent Peace fast enough. Worst OC we’ve had since Lynn Adamee.

    • Michael Jones says:

      I’m still not convinced that the play-calling is Pease. Yes, I read Adam’s interview of Pease but I’ve got to believe that he was protecting Muschamp. No way a Boise State OC calls a game like that.

      • gatorboi352 says:

        Pease was Boise’s OC for one (1) year. One.

        The guy is not who we thought he was. At this point, I’d love to just have Charlie cheeseburger back, let alone a Larry Fedora.

  5. Ted says:

    The way Tyler Moore was bitch slapped most of the game an acute offensive coordinator would have possibly called an option to the right or a fullback led run thru those gapping holes.

  6. CH says:

    I’m ready for a change in coaching too. Boom has proved nothing. These are his players and his system and it isn’t working. How can Ole Miss and Auburn have better offenses than UF? It’s not the talent- it’s the coaching. I agree with Michael Jones that the play calling is incoherent. I don’t care if it’s pease or muschamp- it falls on muschamp and they both need to go.
    Charlie Strong is obvious #1 but may not leave. Kliff Kingsbury is #2. Auburn wasted no time getting Gus back- Foley should do the same with Strong.

    • Tractorr says:

      These are not Muschamp’s guys on offense. Many of them are seniors or red shirt juniors. That means they were Meyer’s and recruited into a very different system. What we need is an offense coordinator who can craft an offense that works with the talent we have now. Meyer won a damn championship with players who weren’t exact fits for his system, he adjusted the system to his players’ strengths.

      • gatorboi352 says:

        You start your comment by defending Muschamp and claiming these aren’t his players…. and then contradict your own argument by saying Meyer won with Zook’s players and adjusted his scheme to fit those players.

        What are you trying to say here?

        • Tractorr says:

          I am saying that these are not his players so to say otherwise is wrong, but despite these not being his players that doesn’t matter and he and his coaching staff needs to find a way to win.

        • Tractorr says:

          CH said these were Muschamp’s players. I was correcting that misrepresentation.

  7. W says:

    I think this is a good time for UF to have a meeting of the minds and decide what kind of identity this offense wants to have. You can’t run a power offense with no offensive line. We certainly have the skill players to have a competent offense, there’s no doubting that. But the playcalling is so transparent, the philosophy is so muddled, the execution is so poor, you have to think there will be some sort of major change soon. I loved the Pease hire at the time, but I’m over him and I’m over Tim Davis.

    I’m not going to call for Muschamp’s head because he’s been great on the recruiting trail and, despite what happened today, he is a great defensive mind. But he and Foley need to sit down pretty soon and figure this out before Ermon Lane and Dalvin Cook realize they’re going to be lame ducks in this offense.

    • Michael Jones says:

      Very well-said. I woke up this morning thinking about how much underused talent we have on offense. A guy like Burton, for example, who’s NFL stock right now is probably nowhere near where it should be.

      Taylor begs for the ball and begs for an up tempo “let’s keep it going” attack. Asking most NCAA QB’s, and certainly including Murphy, to audible at the line is probably not a good idea either. Call a play, run the play, then get back in the huddle and call the next one. I’ve never seen an entire unit look as befuddled as our guys do.

      Good comment and analysis in your comments, W.

  8. SW FL Joe says:

    Laugh if you want but number 1 on Foley’s list is Mike Mularkey

  9. Aligator says:

    People, this is Zook two! Foley hired another D coordinator who had no head coaching experience. The facts are playing themselves out. Call it poor coaching or bad breaks, but three more losses and he is out of here! Do you all really see us beating UGA, SC and FSU with this bunch? I sure hope FOLEY hires a better coach next time!

  10. NYC Gator says:

    I’m watching Oregon play right now and can’t believe how far we’ve sunken. Florida used to be the gold standard for dynamic offenses, now we’re a total laughingstock. Muschamp will probably get a pass this year because of the injuries but he needs to change his offensive philosophy and stop trying to take this program back to the 19th century like some crazed Taliban warlord.

  11. gator says:

    Ill check back next year,MAYBE

  12. Alex says:

    FSU is going to destroy us.

  13. Michael Jones says:

    Charlie Strong or Dan Mullen. Either one–with this talent–would do a better job.

  14. EC says:

    Muschamp is going to get this program back on top and I think hes done the right thing by letting the OC do his job and has been supportive and patient. Now he knows Pease is not the right man for the job so its time for him to catch a case of the ass and send him back to Boise to coach the idaho school of cosmatology. my spelling sucks but these beers aint helping much. just kidding. i just cant spell kinda like Pease cant coach! We are an O Line away from being back on top of the east. Is it that hard to find 300lb guys that know how to block and make ways for our rbs to run thru. I bet gilisee is still sore from the beating he took last year. hes the toughest RB ive ever seen play and take all them licks chipping off 2yrd a carry and still had a 1000yrd season. he had heart. the guys on our O Line dont.

    • Michael Jones says:

      Gillislee did have heart but something in my gut tells me that Pease has never truly “been allowed to do his job.” I just can’t believe that a former Boise State OC (he may have OC for 1 year but was in that program for several years, Gatorboi) would have such bizarre sequences of random, haphazard, disjointed play calling.

      Play Calling 101: you have a strategy, plays set up other plays, and you keep calling a successful play until the other team stops it. In the 1st half we ran Taylor off left tackle for about 17 or so yards and NEVER called it again. I saw that all year last season with Omarius Hines. A real headscratcher.

      • Tractorr says:

        Or was Petersen the real mastermind in Boise? The strategy should be hire the coordinator who does a good job and is the opposite of the head coach. For instance, a team should not hire DJ Durkin because they will have no idea how good he is since he coaches under Muschamp. Not saying that Durkin couldn’t be a good HC or DC elsewhere but it is a shot in the dark.

  15. Alex says:

    Lmao at Dan Mullen

    I guess everybody forgot 2005 and 2006

    Percy Harvin carried us through those years.

  16. Alex says:

    And by those years I mean 2007 and 2008

    2006 Harvin spent most of the year hurt

    • Michael Jones says:

      And by Dan Mullen I mean the guy who was given a headcoaching job at MSU and then promptly kicked our a-ses with half of the talent and a fraction of the budget. . . you know, in case you’ve forgotten. I’m referring to the guy who’s absence was so glaring when blockhead Adazzio replaced him as OC that with plenty of talent still in the fold (e.g. Tebow, Cooper, et. al.), the Gators fell woefully short of their offensive production under Mullen the year before. Mullen’s absence is widely credit for our inability to repeat as national champions in 2009 .

      Give Dan Mullen our exact same offensive roster and watch the scoreboard light up.

  17. Geoff says:

    1. Yes I think we should fire Pease.
    2. Have you all forgotten how many injuries we actually have????? Driskel, Debose, Jones, Chaz Green, Easly, and yesterday we were with out Powell and Jacobs… Add on Riggs being tossed on the first play. We are the walking wounded. You can’t blame Muschamp when he has this many quality guys out. All those players are top tier talent. We are having a very unlucky season. The D was ranked #3 nationally before this game and #1 in the SEC and that was without Easly. Muschamp has done an amazing job with the Defense. If everyone wants to overreact that’s fine but let the loss settle before you go off the handle. If they were to fire Will the only hire and I mean only! Would have to be Strong. If we could get Strong I don’t think we’d miss a beat in recruiting nor would the defensive mindlessness change. Defense wins championships.

    • Frank says:

      Thank you, Goeff for finally providing a sensible perspective. This was my thought yesterday. Along with the thought of how sweet it’s going to be to host Mizzou in the Swamp next year. To watch them celebrate and mock Gator Nation when we’re fielding a team without multiple starters due to the insane amount of injuries. All the “sunshine fans” refuse to recognize how good Coach Boom is for this program. He WILL fix this and watch out to all those doubters!

    • Michael Jones says:

      Those are all good points, Geoff. Consideration does need to be given for the injuries. But I would argue that even our defensive stats are a little misleading because it was clear to me that LSU called off the dogs and went very conservative once Miles figured out (rather quickly) that no way our offense was going to score a touchdown.

      Injuries have been crippling. No question about that. But we still all-too-often look like a poorly coached team. There is so much that I like about Muschamp, but he often looks outclassed in the coaching department. The offense is a nightmare and there’s still plenty of talent there, but the output doesn’t match the talent.

      Everyone is quick to say “fire Pease” but I’m not sure that Pease isn’t just a scapegoat. Still not buying that Muschamp doesn’t keep Pease’s hands tied, especially on the vertical passing game. I think Muschamp dictates that Pease calls a super conservative game because Muschamp over-relies on an injury-riddled defense to win the game. It’s not a good recipe, obviously. You have to have balance to win in the SEC.

      Strong would do well but so would Mullen. I’d like either hire. Remember, Strong just got spanked at home against a UCF team that came from way back against his defense. I prefer Mullen. Very cerebral guy. I like Strong’s discipline, too, though. His squad and his staff clearly outclassed us in the Sugar Bowl last year.

  18. Geoff says:

    Michael,
    You make some good points as well, but I don’t buy that the offense has the weapons to perform and that Muschamp is handcuffing Pease. Maybe to a small degree he has him calling a conservative game, but it’s more due to the fact that the talent is not fully there. Last year our offense was good enough because we had a fully healthy line and much more depth. We lost a few guys on the oline to graduation and then Chaz green to injury this season. It starts upfront. Our Oline looks miserable. We beat LSU last year by pounding them on the ground. It worked because of the strength of the offensive line and obviously our defense. Another major factor that we are missing is JORDAN REED. Fantastic athlete. I worked for the team in the spring of 2011. Jordan Reed was by far our most outstanding athlete on offense. Last year he even made the passing game seem half decent. We have not made up for him. There is absolutely no TE safety valve for our QB. Which is where I turn to next. I love Murphy’s intangibles, but he is not a great QB. The past two weeks have shown how inaccurate he can be. Unlike Jeff he has a knack for being able to see when defenders are about to hit him and can get away and hold on to the ball, but that’s where my praise ends. He missed Dunbar at a crucial moment vs lsu and then Trey Burton on an easy touchdown this week that would have been a major factor for momentum. Jeff was looking bad early on but is by far the better overall choice at QB. Hopefully he uses this down time to learn the game and mature for next season.
    As for coaches I wouldn’t mind Mullen , but Strong would be amazing on the recruiting trail especially in Florida. He runs a very disciplined team. As fit his loss last week , he is still limited when it comes to recruits. Not all top tier guys want to head to Louisville. If he had the Florida Gators name behind him he would have a dominant recruiting class every year.

  19. SJ210 says:

    Well if we do get rid of Muschamp, count me on the Kliff Kingsbury bandwagon. He’s got Texas Tech at 7-0 with a true freshman starting at QB! The kid threw for 462 yards in a road win at WVU on Saturday. KK knows how to develop QBs – worked with Case Keenum at Houston and Johnny Football last year. KK is the next great young offensive mind in CFB.

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