Florida gave a spirited effort in Oxford Saturday night, taking Mississippi deep into the 4th quarter before falling 34-24.  Credit to the defense for bouncing back (somewhat) after it’s dreadful effort the previous week at Kentucky, and the offense actually looked good for one half before tanking.  With all of the hysteria around the Kiffin Bowl, the players stayed focused and played hard for the entire game……just not always well.

The Gator offense shocked everyone – including their own fans – by moving the ball well the entire first half.  The Rebels were loading up the box to stop Jaden Baugh at all costs, so DJ Lagway started taking shots downfield to TJ Abrams and J Michael Sturdivant, and actually made some accurate throws to set up touchdowns and loosen up the defense.  The running game was able to get going in the second quarter, and Florida was able to keep up with the powerful Ole Miss offense, giving the Gators a 24-20 halftime lead.  This was Lagway’s best half of football since last year’s Ole Miss game.  The playcalling was aggressive and kept the Rebel defense off balance..

However……the second half was mostly a dud.  Once again, the ghost of Billy Napier seemed to affect the playcalling, as it became painfully conservative and allowed the Rebels to dictate the action.  The Gator defense was hung out to dry, and Mississippi moved the ball at will.  The only thing that kept Florida in the game was a goal line stand and some key 4th down stops, and Lane Kiffin ignored taking easy FGs and almost cost his team the game and a Playoff spot……again.  DT Michael Boireau, LB Myles Graham, and DB Devon Moore all came up with big plays to thwart scoring drives until finally capitulating early in the 4th quarter.  After falling behind 27-24, the Gators put together their only drive of the second half, mixing the run and pass well to move inside the 30-yard line.  Then came the play of the game – Lagway rolled left on 3rd down, and made another of his trademark off-balance throws behind his receiver, resulting in a tipped pass and interception, killing the drive and momentum.  The Rebels immediately drove the length of the field, but again threw Florida a lifeline with an ill-advised 4th down double-pass attempt near the goal line that never had a chance.  The Gators still had almost 3 minutes and all of their timeouts, but couldn’t even muster one first down.  Ole Miss then got a window-dressing TD from close range to end the game.  That last Florida possession was a microcosm of the entire Napier Error regarding never developing a 4- or 2-minute offense that could have success when having to play under a time crunch.

I suppose you could take some positives from the game, including the effort and brief signs of life from the offense.  But the defense gave up over 500 yards, the offensive staff for no good reason went into a shell, and the final result was another road loss.  This is what bad teams and losing programs do, and right now that’s what Florida is.  There’s no let up in the schedule, with Tennessee coming to the Swamp and looking to pile on to the Gators’ misery.  It will be a tall order to win next week with all of the injuries piling up along with the losses.